EXTOL the limitless glory of thy Sustainer's name: [the glory of] the All-Highest,
who creates [every thing], and thereupon forms it in accordance with what it is meant to be, 1
and who determines the nature [of all that exists], 2 and thereupon guides it [towards its fulfilment],
and who brings forth herbage,
and thereupon causes it to decay into rust-brown stubble! 3
WE SHALL teach thee, and thou wilt not forget [aught of what thou art taught],
save what God may will [thee to forget] 4 - for, verily, He [alone] knows all that is open to [man's] perception as well as all that is hidden [from it] 5 -:
and [thus] shall We make easy for thee the path towards [ultimate] ease. 6
REMIND, THEN, [others of the truth, regardless of] whether this reminding [would seem to] be of use [or not]: 7
in mind will keep it he who stands in awe [of God],
but aloof from it will remain that most hapless wretch -
he who [in the life to come] shall have to endure the great fire
wherein he will neither die nor remain alive. 8
To happiness [in the life to come] will indeed attain he who attains to purity [in this world],
and remembers his Sustainer's name, and prays [unto Him].
But nay, [0 men,] you prefer the life of this world,
although the life to come is better and more enduring
Verily, [all] this has indeed been [said] in the earlier revelations -
the revelations of Abraham and Moses. 9