All praise and gratitude are for God, Who has created the heavens and the earth, and (as a dimension of their existence and result of their movement) brought into being veils of darkness and the light. Yet those who disbelieve ascribe equals to their Lord (Who raises, sustains, and maintains them such things as idols, certain celestial bodies, and certain people).
He it is Who has created you from clay (in the beginning, and the material origin of every one of you is clay), and then decreed a term (of life for you), and there is with Him another unchanging term determined by and known to Him. Yet, you are in doubt (concerning these manifest truths, some of which you experience and some others you can deduce).
He is (the One, True) God (executing His absolute sovereignty and manifesting His Attributes and Names) both in the heavens and on the earth. He knows what you keep concealed and what you declare (and do) openly, and He knows what you earn (of good or bad – what you are doing in your life).
Yet whenever any of their Lord’s signs and Revelations comes to them, they turn away from it in aversion.
And so they willfully deny the truth (embodied by the Qur’an) when it has come to them (and mock the truths, warnings, and especially the tidings of the Resurrection). Even so, they will come to understand what it was they were mocking.
Do they not see (even though they pass by the ruins on their journeys) how many a generation We have destroyed before them, whom We established on the earth more firmly than We ever established you (We gave them means and possibilities such as We have not given you), and upon whom We showered blessings from heaven (above them), and from beneath them We made rivers flow. And yet We destroyed them for their sins, and after them We raised up another generation.
Had We sent down on you (O Messenger) a book on parchment such that they touched it with their hands, yet those who insist on their unbelief would indeed have said: "This is clearly nothing but sorcery."
"Why has not an angel been sent down on him?" they say. Yet, had We sent down an angel (i.e. one they could see, as We did to some of the previous peoples such as those of Lot), then the matter would surely have long been decided and they would have been allowed no respite (since angels coming in this way heralds the destruction).
Had We appointed an angel (as Our Messenger) We would surely have made him (since he would have to guide humankind in all aspects of life, in the form of) a man, and thus We would have confused for them what they themselves are confusing.
Messengers indeed were mocked before you (O Messenger), but what they used to mock overwhelmed those who scoffed (at the Messengers to humiliate them).
Say: "Go about on the earth and look: how was the outcome for those who denied (God’s signs and Messengers)?
Say: "To whom belongs all that is in the heavens and on the earth?", and say: "To God." He has bound Himself to mercy (so that, despite the errors and false beliefs of His servants, He sustains all that is in the heavens and the earth by His Mercy. He does not leave anybody to their own devices and, as a requirement of His Mercy) He will assuredly gather you together on the Day of Resurrection, about (the coming of) which there is no doubt: yet those who ruin their own selves (by misusing and corrupting their primordial nature, sound reasoning and the capacity to believe, which are their capital share in God’s Mercy) – they do not believe.
And His is whatsoever dwells in the night and the day; and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.
Say: "Shall I take for guardian and confidant anyone other than God, the Originator of the heavens and the earth each with particular features, and He Who feeds and Himself never needs to be fed?" Say: "Moreover, I have surely been ordered to be the foremost in submitting to Him wholly, and (I have been warned): ‘Do not be among those who associate partners with Him’."
Say: "Indeed I fear, if I should disobey my Lord, the punishment of an awesome Day."
Whoever has been spared punishment on that Day, surely God has had mercy on him; and that is the manifest triumph.
If God touches you with affliction, there is none who can remove it but He; and if He touches you with good – it is He Who has full power over everything.
He is the All-Omnipotent over His servants; He is the All-Wise, the All-Aware.
Say: "What is most weighty in testimony?" Say: "God: a witness between me and you; and to me is being revealed this Qur’an so that I may warn you thereby, and whomever it may reach." (O you who associate partners with God:) Do you truly testify that there are deities besides God? Say (to them): "I give no such testimony." Say: "He is only One God, and surely I am absolutely free from your association of partners with Him and from whatever you associate with Him as partners."
Those who were given the Book (before) know him (the Messenger with all his distinguishing attributes) as they know their own sons; yet those who ruin their own selves (by concealing this truth, being overcome by their lusts and worldly interests) – they do not believe.
Who is more in wrong than he who fabricates falsehood in attribution to God and denies His signs (in the universe and their own selves pointing to Him) and His Revelations. Assuredly, the wrongdoers will not prosper.
A Day will come when We raise them all from the dead and gather them together, and then ask those who (while they were in the world) associated partners with God: "Where, now, are those of yours whom you asserted to have a part in Divinity?"
Then they will have no argument except to say: "By God, our Lord, we were not of those who associated partners with God."
Look! – How they lie against themselves, and (how) what they fabricated as partners (to worship besides God) has failed them!
There are among them such as could not help but listen to you (reciting the Qur’an), but We have laid veils over their hearts (made by their ill-intention, wrongdoing, and arrogance, which caused them to lose the capacity to believe) so that they do not comprehend it (and so cannot believe), and in their ears, heaviness: even if they see whatever manifest sign (pointing to God’s Unity and other truths of faith), they will not believe in it – so much so that when they come to you (only in order) to dispute with you, they, who have disbelieved, say: "This is nothing but fables of the ancients."
They bar others from it (the Qur’an), as they themselves keep afar from it; and in doing so, they destroy only their own selves, though they do not perceive it.
If you (O Messenger) could see them when they are made to stand by the Fire, and (in dread of being thrown into it, as if they forgot that they denied their associating partners with God) they say: "Oh, would that we were brought back (to the world)! Then we would not deny the signs and Revelations of our Lord and would be among the believers!"
No! Rather, they say this because what they used to hide (the manifest truth, and their own evil intentions, intrigues, and actions in response to it) has become obvious to them; and if they were brought back to the world, they would revert to the very thing they were forbidden: indeed, they are just liars.
(They always behaved so whenever they got into distress while in the world, but when relieved of it) they would say: "There is no life beyond our present life of the world, and we are not to be raised (from the dead)."
But if you could see when they are made to stand in their Lord’s Presence: He says: "Is not this (your being raised from the dead and gathered in My Presence) the truth?" They say: "Yes indeed, by our Lord!" He says: "Taste, then, the punishment for what you used to disbelieve."
Assuredly, those have lost who deny the (truth of the final) meeting with God until, as the Hour comes upon them all of a sudden, they cry, "Alas for us! how negligent we have been in this regard," when they have already loaded their burdens on to their backs . Evil indeed is the burden they are loading themselves with!
And the present, worldly life is nothing but a play and pastime, and better is the abode of the Hereafter for those who keep from disobedience to God in reverence for Him and piety. Will you not, then, reason and understand?
(O Messenger!) We know indeed that the things (lies, mockery, and slanders) that they say grieve you: yet, it is not you that they deny (they cannot very well call you a liar since they themselves have called you ‘the trustworthy one’); rather, it is the signs and Revelations of God that the wrongdoers obstinately reject.
(Do not be grieved at what they do!) Indeed, Messengers before you were denied (regarding the Message they brought), but they endured with patience the charge of falsehood and the hurt done to them, until Our help reached them: there is none that can change God’s words (alter His decrees and His execution of them). And, indeed, some account of those Messengers has already come to you.
If their recalcitrance is distressful for you, then if you are able seek a way down into the earth or a ladder up to the heavens to bring them a sign (a miracle of the kind that they wrongly think would persuade them to believe) – then know that had God so willed, He could surely have gathered them all to the true guidance (whether by a single miracle or by some other means. Seeing that God wills otherwise: that the truth be set before people with its supporting arguments through Messengers, and people should choose their way by exercise of their free will and judgment, then) do not be among those who act as if ignorant (of this fact).
Only they who have the ability to hear can respond (to a call); as for the dead, God will raise them to life, and then to Him they will be returned.
And they say: "Why is not a miraculous sign (of the kind we desire) sent down on him from his Lord?" Say (to them): "Surely God has the power to send down a sign (of any kind)." But most of them have nothing to do with knowledge (so that they would know the nature of the signs, Revelation, and Prophethood, and the purpose for them).
(Should not those whose ears are closed to the Qur’an look around themselves to see the signs of the truth?) No living creature is there moving on the earth, no bird flying on its two wings, but they are communities like you. We have neglected nothing in the Book (the Qur’an, the Supreme Preserved Tablet, which is the source of all books, and the Book of Creation: We have created everything just in its place and for a purpose, so that the universe is maintained in perfect balance and order). Then, (a Day will come when the universe will be changed into a new one, and) they will be raised from the dead and gathered to their Lord.
Those who deny Our signs and Revelations are deaf and dumb in veils of darkness. Whomever God wills, He leads astray, and whomever He wills, He sets on a straight path.
Say (to them): "Do you ever consider: if some punishment of God comes upon you or the Last Hour comes upon you, do you then invoke other than God? (Answer that) if you are truthful (and admit the voice of your conscience)"!
(No indeed!) Rather, it is Him alone that you invoke – then He may, if He wills, remove that which caused you to invoke Him – and you forget (then) whatever partners you have been associating with Him.
And We did indeed send Messengers to the communities before you, and We seized those (communities) with trials and tribulations so that they might invoke Us with humility (seeking the truth and forgiveness).
If only, when Our trial came upon them, they had invoked Us with humility! But their hearts grew hard and Satan decked out whatever they were doing as appealing to them.
Then, when they forgot (the advice and warnings) that they were reminded of, We opened for them the gates of all things, until, even while they were rejoicing in what they were granted, We seized them suddenly, so then they were plunged into despair.
And so (in the end) was uprooted that people who had been bent on wrongdoing. All praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds!
Say: "What do you think, if God should take away your hearing and your sight and set a seal upon your hearts, what deity but God is there that could restore it to you?" Look, how We set out the Revelations and signs (of God’s Existence and Unity and other truths of faith) in diverse ways, and yet they turn away.
Say: "What do you think, if God’s punishment comes upon you unawares or perceptibly (so that you see its approach), will any be destroyed but the people of wrongdoing?
We do not send the Messengers except as bearers of glad tidings (of prosperity in return for faith and righteousness) and warners (against the consequences of misguidance). So, whoever believes and mends his way, they will have no fear, nor will they grieve.
And as for those who deny Our signs and Revelations, the punishment will touch them on account of their transgressing (the bounds in belief and conduct).
Say (to them, O Messenger): "(You want me to do miracles. However,) I never tell you that with me are the treasures of God, or that I know the Unseen; nor do I tell you that I am an angel. I only follow what is revealed to me." And say: "Are the blind and the seeing alike? Will you not, then, reflect?"
Warn with this (Qur’an) those who (whether they already have true belief or not yet) are fearful in their hearts because they will be raised from the dead and gathered to their Lord, that they have, apart from Him, no guardian and confidant, nor intercessor, so that they may keep from disobedience to God in reverence for Him and piety, and be protected against His punishment.
And do not (in the hope of persuading the chieftains of the unbelievers) drive away any of those (poor believers of humble social standing) who, in the morning and afternoon, invoke their Lord, seeking His "Face" (i.e. the meeting with Him hereafter and His eternal, good pleasure). You are not accountable for them in anything just as they are not accountable for you in anything, that you should drive them away, and so become among the wrongdoers.
And it is in this way that We try people through one another: so that they (who think that such things as wealth and social status are the means of superiority) say (of the believers who are poor and lacking in recognized social status): "Are these the ones among us on whom God has bestowed His favor?" Does God not know best who are the thankful (who recognize the real source and bestower of every good thing one receives, and act accordingly)?
When those who believe in all of Our Revelations and signs (whenever they come to them,) come to you, say in welcome: "Peace be upon you! Your Lord has bound Himself to mercy (to treat His servants with mercy) – so that if any of you does a bad deed due to ignorance (an instance of defeat to the evil-commanding soul), and thereafter repents and mends his way and conduct, surely He is All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate."
Thus We set out in detail the signposts of Our way and the relevant Revelations (included in the Qur’an), and (We do so) so that the path of the disbelieving criminals might become distinct (from that of the righteous believers).
Say (to those associating partners with God): "I have been forbidden to worship those beings whom you deify and invoke apart from God." Say: "I do not follow your lusts and fancies – or else I would go astray and would not be of those who are rightly guided."
Say: "I take my stand on clear evidence from my Lord, whereas you deny it. Not within my power is what you (deridingly) ask to be hastened, (saying: ‘If there is a punishment with which you threaten us, let it come immediately’). (In the absolute sense) judgment and authority rest with none but God alone. He always relates the truth, and He is the best judge between truth and falsehood.
Say: "If it were within my power (to bring) what you ask to be hastened, the matter between me and you would have been decided." God best knows the wrongdoers.
With Him are the keys to the Unseen; none knows them but He. And He knows whatever is on land and in the sea; and not a leaf falls but He knows it; and neither is there a grain in the dark layers of earth, nor anything green or dry, but is (recorded) in a Manifest Book.
He it is Who recalls your souls at night (while you sleep, a state comparable to death), and He knows what You already worked in the daytime. Then He raises you to life therein (the next daytime) so that the term appointed by Him is fulfilled. (He causes you to die after the completion of this term, and, just as He raises you again to life each day after sleep, He resurrects you from that death when the appointed time is due.) Your final return is to Him; and then He will make you understand what you were doing (and call you to account for it).
He is the All-Omnipotent over His servants; and He sends to you (angel) guardians (who watch over, and keep a record of, whatever you do). When death finally approaches any of you, Our envoys (the angels assigned to this duty) take his soul, and they do not neglect (any part of their tasks).
Then they are restored to God, their All-True Master and Protector. Indeed His alone is the judgment and authority, and He is the most swift in reckoning.
Say: "Who is it that saves you from the veils of darkness on land and the sea, (when) you call upon Him most humbly and in the secrecy of your hearts: ‘If You but save us from this (distress), we will most certainly be among the thankful (who turn to You in faith and righteousness)’?"
Say: "God alone saves you from this and from every distress, but then you associate partners with Him (instead of being thankful to Him by believing in and obeying Him)."
Say: "He it is Who has the power to send punishment upon you from above you or from beneath your feet, or to confound you by splitting you into hostile groups and make you taste the violence of one another. Look, how We set out the signs (of God’s Existence and Unity and other truths of faith) in diverse ways, so that they may ponder and penetrate the essence of matters to grasp the truth.
And yet, your people (O Messenger) deny the Qur’an, even though it is the truth. Say: "I am not one appointed as a guardian over you to assume your responsibility for you."
Every tiding (from God) has a term appointed for its fulfillment; and in time you will come to know (the truth).
When you meet such as indulge in (blasphemous) talk about Our Revelations, turn away from them until they enter into some other discourse. And should Satan cause you to forget, no longer remain, after recollection, in the company of such wrongdoing people.
Those who keep from disobedience to God in reverence for Him and piety are not accountable for them in anything. But (what rests with them is) to remind and thereby admonish them so that they may fear (the evil of what they do) and avoid it.
Quit those who take their Religion (the one appointed for them by God) for a play and pastime (and have made play and fun their own religion), and whom the present, worldly life has deluded. But remind them (through the Qur’an) lest any soul should be given up to destruction for what it has earned, for there will neither be any protecting friend nor intercessor apart from God, and even though it may offer any ransom (in return for its unforgivable sins such as unbelief and associating partners with God), it will not be accepted from it. They are those who are given up to destruction for what they have earned; for them is a drink of boiling water and a painful punishment because they were persistently disbelieving.
Say: "Shall we invoke, apart from God, the things that can neither benefit us (when we invoke them) nor harm us (when we do not invoke them), and (thus) be turned back on our heels, after God has guided us – like the one whom the satans have infatuated on earth so that they blunder about in valleys of misguidance, though he has companions calling him to the Guidance, saying: ‘Come to us!’?" Say: "Surely God’s guidance is the (only true) Guidance, and we have been commanded to submit with all our being to the Lord of the worlds;
And to establish the Prayer in conformity with all its conditions, and keep from disobedience to Him in reverence for Him and piety." He it is to Whom you will be gathered.
He it is Who has created the heavens and the earth in truth (meaningfully and for definite purpose, and on solid foundations of truth). Whenever He says "Be!" it is. His word is the truth. And His is the Sovereignty on the day when the Trumpet is blown, the Knower of the Unseen and the witnessed. He is the All-Wise, the All-Aware.
And (call to mind) when Abraham spoke to his father Azar: "Do you take idols for deities? Indeed, I see you and your people lost in obvious error."
Thus (he spoke and acted for) We had showed Abraham (the ugliness and irrationality of polytheism and) the inner dimension of (the existence of) the heavens and the earth, and the eternal truth (which this outer, corporeal dimension manifests and depends upon} – this We had done so that he might be one of those who have achieved certainty of faith (that he might attain the final degree in his certainty as a Messenger of God):
When the night overspread over him, he saw a star; and he exclaimed: "This is my Lord, (is it)?" But when it set (sank from sight), he said: "I love not the things that set."
And when (on another night), he beheld the full moon rising in splendor, he said: "This is my Lord, (is it)!" But when it set, he said: "Unless my Lord guided me, I would surely be among the people gone astray."
Then, when he beheld the sun rising in all its splendor, he said: "This is my Lord, (is it)?. This one is the greatest of all!" But when it set, he said: "O my people! Surely I am free from your association of partners with God and from whatever you associate with Him as partners."
"I have turned my face (my whole being) with pure faith and submission to the One Who has originated the heavens and the earth each with particular features, and I am not one of those associating partners with God."
His people set out to remonstrate with him. Abraham said: "Do you remonstrate with me concerning God, when He has guided me? I do not fear those that you associate with Him as partners (and that cannot even benefit or harm themselves, so what do I have to fear of your threats?). Whatever my Lord wills happens, and no evil befalls me unless He so wills. My Lord embraces all things in His Knowledge. Will you not, then, reflect and take heed?
"And how should I fear those that you associate with God as partners when you do not fear to associate partners with Him without His having sent down on you any authority (to do so)? (Tell me,) then, which of the two parties has right to feel secure, if you have anything of knowledge?
"Those who have believed and not obscured their belief with any wrongdoing (of which, associating partners with God is the most grave, unforgivable kind) – they are the ones for whom there is true security, and they are rightly guided."
That was Our argument which We granted to Abraham against his people. We raise in degrees whom We will. Your Lord is All-Wise (having many wise purposes for what He does), All-Knowing (whatever He does is based on His absolutely comprehensive Knowledge).
And later, We bestowed upon him (a son) Isaac and (a grandson) Jacob, and each of them We guided (and distinguished them with Prophethood). Earlier We had guided Noah (and distinguished him with Prophethood). And of Abraham’s descendants (We guided and distinguished with Prophethood) David and Solomon, Job, Joseph, Moses and Aaron. Thus do We reward those devoted to doing good as if seeing God.
And Zachariah, John, Jesus and Elijah: every one of them was of the righteous.
And Ishmael, Elisha, Jonah, and Lot: every one of them We favored above all other people.
And some from among their forefathers, and their descendants, and their brothers: We chose them and guided them to a straight path (which has characteristics particular to each according to his epoch).
That is God’s guidance with which He guides whomever He wills of His servants. And had they (the ones mentioned above) associated partners with God, then all that they did (of good and the recompense they had earned) would have gone to waste.
Those are the ones to whom We granted the Book, and authority with sound, wise judgment, and Prophethood. Then if those (people of yours, O Messenger,) disbelieve it (Our guidance which We have sent them with you), then certainly We entrust it to a people who do believe therein.
Those are the (illustrious) ones whom God guided. Follow, then, their guidance, and say (to your people): "I ask of you no wage for it (for conveying the Message); it is a reminder (an admonition and advice) to all created, conscious beings (humankind and jinn).
And they (some of the Jews) had no true judgment of God as His right (in being God requires), when they say: "God has not sent anything down on any human being." Say: "Then, who sent down the Book which Moses brought as a light, and guidance for the people (you know), and which you put into, and treat as, mere leaves of paper to make show of, while you conceal much of it, and you have been taught (by it) what neither you knew nor your forefathers?" Say: "God (sent it down)," and then leave them to their game of plunging into vanities.
And this (the Qur’an) is a (Divine) Book that We send down – blessed and full of blessing, confirming (the Divine authorship of) whatever was revealed before it – so that you may warn (the people of) the Mother of Cities (Makkah) and those around it. Those who believe in the Hereafter do believe in it; and they are ever mindful guardians of their Prayers.
Who is more in wrong than he who fabricates falsehood in attribution to God, or says, "I receive Revelation from God," when nothing has been revealed to him, and he who claims, "I will produce the like of what God has sent down"? If you could but see how it will be when those wrongdoers find themselves in the agonies of death when the angels (appointed to take their souls), stretching forth their hands (say): "Yield up your souls! Today you will be recompensed with the punishment of humiliation for having continuously and persistently spoken about God other than the truth, and in persistent arrogance scorned His Revelations."
(God says:) "Now assuredly you (having died and been buried alone) have come to us quite alone, as We created you in the first instance; and you have left behind all that We bestowed upon you (in the world). And We do not see with you any of those intercessors (whom you associated with God as partners, and) of whom you supposed that they had shares in you (i.e. authority to order your life in certain ways). Indeed, all the bonds between you and them have now been severed, and all that you supposed (to be God’s partners in your affairs) has failed you.
God is He Who splits the grain and the fruit-stone (so that they germinate by His command). He brings forth the living from the dead, and He is One Who brings forth the dead from the living; Such is God: how then are you turned away from the truth and make false claims?
He it is Who splits the dawn (from the darkness of night). He has made the night for repose, and the sun and the moon a means for reckoning (the divisions of time). This is the ordaining of the All-Glorious with irresistible might, the All-Knowing.
He it is Who has made for you the stars (in their present conditions and positions) so that you may find your way by them in the darkness of the land and the sea. Assuredly, We have set out in detail the signs and proofs (of the truth) for a people seeking knowledge.
He it is Who developed you from a single human self, and has appointed (in each station of your journeying from mother’s womb to eternal life) for each of you a lodging-place where, and time-limit during which, you will stay and then be transferred. We have certainly set out in detail the signs and proofs (of the truth) for a people seeking to attain profound understanding.
He it is Who sends down water from the sky, and therewith We bring forth vegetation of every kind (from their seeds under the soil), and then from it We bring forth a lively shoot, from which We bring forth close-packed and compounded ears of grain, and from the palm-tree – from the spathe of it – dates thick-clustered hanging (ready to the hand), and gardens of vines, and the olive tree, and the pomegranate: alike (in the fundamentals of life and growth) and diverse (in structure, look, taste, and smell). Look at their fruit, when they begin to fruit and as they ripen. Surely in that there are signs for people who will believe and who will deepen in faith (as they see new signs).
Yet they associate the jinn as partners with God, although He created them, and, devoid of any knowledge, they invent for Him sons and daughters. All-Glorified He is, and absolutely Exalted above what they attribute (to Him).
The Originator of the heavens and the earth with nothing before Him to imitate. How can He have a child, when there is for Him no consort, and He has created all things (i.e. nothing created can be a consort for Him)? And He has full knowledge of everything.
Such is God, your Lord; there is no deity but He, the Creator of all things; therefore worship Him alone. He holds all things in His care and control.
Eyes comprehend Him not, but He comprehends all eyes. He is the All-Subtle (penetrating everything no matter how small), the All-Aware.
Lights of discernment and insight have come to you from your Lord. Whoever therefore (by choosing to open the eye of his heart and place his eyes in its service) discerns, does so for his own good; and whoever chooses to be blind (to the truth), does so to his own harm. And (O Messenger, say to them): "I am not a keeper and watcher over you."
Thus do We set out the signs of the truth and Revelations in diverse ways, so that they (who choose blindness) say, "You have learned it (from somebody else);" this We do in order that We may make it (the truth, the Qur’an) clear to a people seeking knowledge.
Follow (O Messenger) what has been revealed to you from your Lord; there is no deity but He; and withdraw from those who associate partners with God (do not care what they say and do).
Yet if God had so willed (and not enabled their free choice), they would not have associated partners with Him, (so do not torment yourself to death with grief because they do not believe). And We have not made you a keeper over them, and you are not charged with care and control of them.
And do not (O believers) revile the things or beings that they have, apart from God, deified and invoke, lest (if you do so) they attempt to revile God out of spite, and in ignorance. Thus have We made their deeds seem fair to every people; then to their (true) Lord is the return of all of them, and He will make them understand what they were doing (and call them to account for it).
They swear by God with their most solemn oaths that if a miracle (of the kind they desire) is shown to them, they will believe in it. Say: "Miracles are in God’s power alone (His is the sole authority to produce them or not)." (O believers, who think that if such a miracle were produced, the unbelievers would believe:) Are you not aware that even if such a miracle were shown to them, they would not believe?
Just as they did not believe in it before (despite many evidences sufficient to convince one who really means to believe), and (because of their actions and attitudes preventing them from belief,) We confound their hearts and eyes, and leave them blindly wandering in their rebellion.
Even if We were to send down angels to them (whenever they wished it), and the dead were to speak to them, and We were to assemble before them, face to face, all the creatures (to bear witness to the truth of the Message you bring), they would still not believe, unless God so willed (and came to their aid out of His pure grace); but most of them are ignorant (they pursue worldly pleasures completely unaware of belief and mindless of their own selves).
And thus it is that (as a dimension of human earthly life taking place according to Our eternal Will embracing human free will, and according to the wisdom in sending the Religion) We have set against every Prophet a hostile opposition from among the satans of humankind and jinn, whispering and suggesting to one another specious words, by way of delusion. Yet had your Lord willed (and compelled everybody to behave in the way He wills), they would not do it. So leave them alone with what they have been fabricating.
And the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter incline towards it (their deluding speech) and take pleasure in it, and they continue perpetrating the evils that they have long been perpetrating.
(Say to them, O Messenger:) "What! shall I seek other than God for judge (to settle the matters between you and me), when it is He Who has sent down to you this (unique, most perfect) Book (in which truth and falsehood, right and wrong are) fully distinguished?" (The scholars among) those to whom We gave the Book before know that it is one being sent down in parts in truth by your Lord. So never be among the doubters (concerning the truth of your way).
The Word of your Lord (which He sent down in parts in different periods considering the conditions of each period) is perfected (with the Qur’an) as the embodiment of truth (with respect to the essentials of belief, principles of worship and good conduct, the rules to govern human life, and all the tidings it gives considering the past and future including the Hereafter), and of justice (regarding all the commandments it contains): there is no altering of His words (the laws He has established for life, and the operation of the universe; attempting to interfere with them will bring about great disasters, so no one must ever attempt to change His commandments, which are contained in the Book). He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing (Who knows every need of every creature, every requirement of every age, just as He knows how you respond to His commandments).
And if you pay heed to the majority of those on the earth, they will lead you astray from God’s way. They follow only conjecture (not knowledge), and they themselves do nothing but make guesses (they pronounce and act according to their fancies, selfish interests, and personal value judgments).
Indeed your Lord is He Who knows best who goes astray from His way, and He knows best (those who are) the rightly-guided.
Eat, then, of (the flesh of) that over which God’s Name has been pronounced, if you are sincere believers in His Revelations.
And why should you not eat of (the flesh of) that over which God’s Name has been pronounced, seeing that He has clearly spelled out to you what He has made unlawful to you unless you are constrained to it by dire necessity? But, indeed many people lead others astray, driven by their lusts and caprices without any knowledge (from God). Indeed your Lord is He Who knows best those who exceed the bounds.
Abstain from sinning, whether done in public or secret, (and the intentions and attitudes that accompany either). Indeed, those who record sins to their account will be recompensed for what they have earned.
And do not eat of that which is slaughtered in the name of other than God and over which God���s Name has not been pronounced (at the time of its slaughtering), for that is indeed a transgression. And the satans do whisper and make suggestions to their confidants to contend with you. If you obey them, you are indeed those who associate partners with God.
Is he who was dead (in spirit), and We raised him to life, and set for him a light by which he moves (without any deviancy) among people, is he like the one who is as one lost in depths of darkness, from which he cannot get out? (But) thus it is: to the unbelievers are the things they have been doing decked out as appealing.
And in that way have We set up in every township as leaders its most prominent criminals so that they scheme (against the believers). But they scheme only against their own selves – and they do not perceive it.
When a Revelation is conveyed to them, they say: "We will not believe unless we are given the like of what God’s Messengers were given." God knows best upon whom to place His Message. Soon will an abasement from God’s Presence befall these criminals and a severe punishment for their scheming.
Thus, whomever God wills to guide, He expands his breast to Islam, and whomever He wills to lead astray, He causes his breast to become tight and constricted, as if he were climbing towards the heaven. Thus God lays ignominy upon those who do not believe (despite many signs and evidences).
And this (the way of Islam) is the Straight Path of your Lord. We have assuredly set out in detail the signs (of the right and wrong ways) for a people who reflect and are mindful.
For them is the Abode of Peace with their Lord (where they will enjoy perfect bliss, peace, and safety), and He is their Guardian because of what they have been doing.
On the day when He will raise to life and gather them (jinn and humankind, believers and unbelievers) all together, (He says): "O you assembly of the jinn! You have seduced a good many of humankind (and included them in your company)." Their closest fellows from among humankind will (confess and) say: "Our Lord! We enjoyed one another (in self-interested fellowship, serving one another’s selfish ends), and now we have reached the end of our term that You appointed for us." He (God) will say: "The Fire is now your dwelling to abide therein – God decrees however He wills." Indeed your Lord is All-Wise, All-Knowing (Whose every decree and act are based on absolute wisdom and knowledge).
In this manner We cause the wrongdoers to befriend and help one another (with seduction and sinning) because of what they are engaged in earning.
"O assembly of the jinn and humankind! Did there never come to you Messengers from among yourselves, relating to you My signs and Revelations, and warning you of encountering this Day of yours?" They say: "We bear witness against ourselves." The life of the world had deluded them, and (just as their speeches and actions in the world testified to their unbelief, so) they have borne witness against themselves that they were unbelievers.
Clearly it is not the way of your Lord that He would destroy lands unjustly without their people being warned (beforehand of the consequence of their way of life) and therefore unmindful (of the distinctions between right and wrong, truth and falsehood).
For everyone there are (different) ranks according to what they have done (of right and wrong). Your Lord is not unmindful of what they do.
Your Lord, having boundless, all-encompassing mercy, is absolutely self-sufficient (with no need of any kind, including His servants’ belief and worship). If He so wills, He can put you away and cause whom He wills to succeed you just as He produced you from the seed of another people.
What you have been promised (and warned of, concerning your future and the Hereafter), is indeed bound to happen, and you have no power at all to frustrate it.
Say: "O my people! Do all that lies within your power, indeed I (too) am at work (doing my task). So in time you will come to know to whom the ultimate abode of happiness will belong. Indeed the wrongdoers do not prosper and attain their goals.
They assign to God, of the produce and cattle that He has created, a portion, and they say: "This is God’s" – so they assert – "and this (the rest) is for our associate-deities." Then (acting in what they deem to their own interest), what is assigned for their "associate-deities" does not reach God, while what is assigned for God reaches their "associate-deities." How evil is what they ordain as laws (and how badly they enforce them)!
And, in the way they follow, their associate-deities (their association of partners with God or their idol-worshipping, and satans of jinn and humankind they obey) deck out the killing of their children as appealing to many among those who associate partners with God, so as to bring them to ruin and confound them in their religion. If God had so willed (if He had not decreed freedom of will to humankind, thus compelling them to act in a particular way like other beings), they would not be doing all this. So, leave them alone with what they have been fabricating.
(Putting some of the produce and cattle to one side,) they say: "These animals and crops are taboo; none can eat of them save those whom we will – so they assert – and there are cattle whose backs they declare are forbidden (to bear loads), and cattle over which they do not pronounce God’s Name. (Their attributing these customs to God) is a lie against Him. He will soon recompense them for all that they fabricate in attribution to God.
They also say (concerning certain other cattle they consecrate): "All that is in the wombs of these cattle is (if they are born alive) exclusively for our males and is unlawful for our wives. If it (the newborn) is born dead or dies soon after birth, all of them (men and women) may share therein." He will soon recompense them for their attributing (these rules falsely to Him). Surely, He is All-Wise (in Whose every act and commandment are many instances of wisdom), All-Knowing (whose every act is based on absolute knowledge).
Assuredly those are lost who, in folly and without knowledge, kill their children (either in the wombs of their mothers or after birth), and make unlawful (the lawful and pure, wholesome things) that God has provided them as sustenance, falsely attributing that to God. Assuredly, they have gone astray, and have never been able to find the right way.
(Ever providing you with lawful, pure and wholesome food), He it is Who produces gardens (and vineyards, and orchards) trellised and untrellised, and date-palms, and crops varying in taste, and olives, and pomegranates, resembling one another and yet so different. Eat of their fruits when they come to fruition, and give (to the poor and the needy) the due thereof on harvest day. And do not be wasteful (by over-eating or other unnecessary consumption, or by giving to others so much as to leave in need those whose maintenance is your responsibility); indeed He does not love the wasteful.
And of the cattle (He has created) some for carrying loads, and some for the sake of their flesh, and skins and fur. Consume from what God has provided for you as sustenance, and do not follow in the footsteps of Satan (by laying down rules other than those of God and adopting ways other than God’s); surely he is a manifest enemy to you.
Eight in pairs of cattle: two of sheep, two of goats. Say (to them, O Messenger): "Is it the two males that God has made unlawful or the two females, or what the wombs of the two females may contain? Inform me about this with sound, authoritative knowledge, if you are truthful (in your claim that God has made them unlawful)."
And likewise of camels there are two, and of oxen there are two. Say: "Is it the two males that God has made unlawful or the two females, or what the wombs of the two females may contain? Or were you present there to witness when God laid down this (the commandment you attribute to Him) for you?" Who is more in wrong than he who fabricates falsehood in attribution to God, and thus leads people astray without sound, authoritative knowledge? Indeed, God does not guide wrongdoing people (to the truth and the attainment of their goals).
Say (O Messenger): "I do not find in what has been revealed to me anything made unlawful to one who would eat except it be carrion or blood outpoured (not that which is left in the veins of such organs as the liver and spleen), or the flesh of swine, which is loathsome and unclean, or that which is profane having been slaughtered in the name of other than God (or without pronouncing God’s Name over it). Yet whoever is constrained by dire necessity (to eat thereof) provided he does not covet nor exceed (the bounds of the necessity): (no sin shall be on him). Your Lord is indeed All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate.
And for those who are Jews We have made unlawful all beasts with claws, and of oxen and sheep We have made unlawful for them their fat, save that which is in their backs or entrails, or that which is mixed with the bone. Thus did We recompense them for their continuous rebellion. And We are indeed true (in all Our decrees and deeds).
Then, if they still deny you (O Messenger), say to them: "Your Lord (Who creates, nourishes, and provides you,) has an all-embracing mercy (and so does not immediately punish you for your acts of insolence but gives you respite so that you may repent and ask Him for forgiveness). However, (if you do not mend your ways, know that) His punishment cannot be averted from disbelieving criminals.
Those who persist in associating partners with God will say: "Had God willed, neither we nor our forefathers would have associated partners with Him, nor would we have declared anything (which God has made lawful) unlawful." Even so did those who lived before them deny (their Prophets with similar false excuses) until they tasted Our mighty punishment. Say (to them): "Do you have any sound, authoritative knowledge (to support your claim)? (If you have) then bring it out for us! In fact you follow only conjecture, and you yourselves are only making false surmises (you pronounce judgments and act only according to your fancies, interests and personal value judgments)."
Say: "(As against what you argue) God’s is the final, conclusive argument. And had He so willed (and compelled you act in a certain way, rather than letting you associate partners with Him and make unlawful what He has made lawful) He would have guided you all together to the truth.
Say: "Bring forward your witnesses who could testify that God has made unlawful (what you claim to be forbidden.)" Then if they bear witness (falsely), do not bear witness with them, and do not follow the lusts and fancies of those who deny Our signs and Revelations, who do not believe in the Hereafter, and who (as the main source of their unbelief in other essentials of faith) ascribe equals to their Lord.
Say: "Come, let me recite what your Lord has made unlawful for you: that you associate nothing with Him; and (do not offend against but, rather) treat your parents in the best way possible; and that you do not kill your children for fear of poverty – it is We Who provide for you as well as for them; and that you do not draw near to any shameful thing (like adultery, fornication, and homosexuality), whether committed openly or secretly; and that you do not kill any soul, which God has made sacred and forbidden, except in just cause. All this He has enjoined upon you, that you may use your reason (and so believe, know right from wrong, and follow His way).
"And do not draw near to the property of the orphan except in the best way (such as to improve and increase it) until he comes of age. Weigh and balance with full measure and equity." We do not burden any soul beyond its capacity. "And when you speak, be just, even though it be against one near of kin; and fulfill God’s covenant (and the covenants you make with one another in God’s Name). All this He has enjoined upon you, that you may reflect and be mindful.
"This is my straight path, so follow it, and do not follow other paths, lest they scatter you from His Path. This He has enjoined upon you, that you keep from disobedience to Him in reverence for Him and piety to deserve His protection."
And once again: We gave Moses the Book, completing Our favor upon those devoted to doing good in the awareness that God sees them, and detailing everything (concerning truth and falsehood, and right and wrong), and as a guidance and mercy, that they may have ever-deepening faith in the (final) meeting with their Lord.
And likewise, this (Qur’an) is a Book We have sent down, blessed and giving blessing; so follow it and keep from disobedience to it, that you may be shown mercy (to be granted a virtuous life in this world and eternal happiness in the Hereafter).
(We have sent it down) lest you should say (as an excuse), "The Book was sent down only on the two groups of people before us and indeed we were unaware of what they were taught by it."
Or lest you should say, "Had the Book been sent down on us, we would surely have been more rightly guided than they are." Now there has come to you a manifest proof from your Lord, and a guidance, and a mercy. Who, then, is greater in doing wrong than he who denies God’s Revelations and turns away from them? We will recompense those who turn away from Our Revelations with an evil punishment for turning away.
Do they wait only for the angels to come to them (to take their souls or bring them a disaster), or for your Lord to judge them (and bring forth Hell for them), or for some clear signs of your Lord to appear (such as rocks pouring down on them, which they want you to show them, or signs signaling the final destruction of the world)? When some clears signs of your Lord appear, believing will be of no avail to anyone who did not believe before, or who has earned no good through his belief. Say (to them, O Messenger): "Wait on, we too are waiting!"
Those who have made divisions in their Religion (whereas they must accept it in its totality), and have been divided into different parties – you have nothing to do with them. Their case rests with God, and then He will make them understand what they were doing.
Whoever comes to God with a good deed will have ten times as much, and whoever comes with an evil deed, will be recompensed with only the like of it; and they will not be wronged.
Say: "Surely my Lord has guided me to a Straight Path, being an upright Religion leading to prosperity (in both worlds), the way of Abraham based on pure faith (free from unbelief, associating partners with God and hypocrisy). He was never of those associating partners with God."
Say: "My Prayer, and all my (other) acts and forms of devotion and worship, and my living and my dying are for God alone, the Lord of the worlds.
"He has no partners; thus have I been commanded, and I am the first and foremost of the Muslims (who have submitted to Him exclusively)."
Say: "Am I, then, to seek after someone other than God as Lord when He is the Lord of everything?" Every soul earns only to its own account; and no soul, as bearer of burden, bears and is made to bear the burden of another. Then, to your Lord is the return of all of you, and He will then make you understand (the truth) concerning all that on which you have differed.
He it is Who has appointed you vicegerents over the earth (to improve it and rule over it according to God’s commandments), and has exalted some of you over others in degrees (of intelligence, capacity, and then wealth and status): thus He tries you in what He has granted you. (Always remember that) your Lord is the most swift in retribution (when it is due), and assuredly, He is the All-Forgiving, the All-Compassionate (especially toward those who turn to Him in repentance as His believing servants).