The Heights

We inspired Moses to throw his staff, and suddenly it began to swallow-up all that the magicians had (falsely) invented.

Thus the Truth prevailed and their false art was banished.

The magicians who were defeated on the spot and were proved to be worthless,

threw themselves down in prostration

saying, "We declare our belief in the Lord of the Universe,

the Lord of Moses and Aaron."

(Noah) said, "My people, I am not in any error, rather I am a Messenger from the Lord of the Universe,

sent to preach to you the message of my Lord and to give you good advice. I know what you do not know about God.

Why will they not understand that their companion (Muhammad) is not possessed by jinn. (Muhammad) is only a (Divinely) authorized preacher.

Lam. Mim. Sad.

A book has been revealed to you, (Muhammad). You should not hesitate to convey its warning and its good advice to the believers.

(People), follow whatever is revealed to you from your Lord and do not follow other guardians besides Him. However, you pay very little attention (to Our words)

How many cities have We destroyed! Our wrath struck their people at night or during their midday siesta.

When Our wrath struck them, they could do nothing but confess to their sins.

We will certainly question the people and the Messengers sent to them.

We will tell them with absolute certainty (what they had done) for We had never been absent from them (during their lifetime).

(Everyone's deeds) will certainly be weighed (and evaluated) on the Day of Judgment. Those whose good deeds weigh heavier than their bad deeds will have everlasting happiness.

As for those whose bad deeds weigh heavier, they will lose their souls for their injustice to Our revelations.

We have made you inhabit the land and provided you with the means of sustenance. Only a few of you give thanks.

We created and shaped you, then told the angels to prostrate themselves before Adam. All the angels obeyed except Satan who did not.

God asked, "What made you disobey Me?" Satan replied, "I am better than Adam, for You have created me out of fire and Adam out of clay."

The Lord ordered Satan to get out (of Paradise) saying, "This is no place for you to be proud. Get out of this place, for you are worthless".

Satan asked the Lord to give him respite (keep him alive) until the Day of Resurrection.

The Lord told him, "We will grant you this respite."

Then Satan said, "Because you have made me go astray, I shall certainly try to seduce people into straying from the right path.

I shall attack them from all directions and You will not find many of them giving You thanks".

The Lord told Satan, "Get out of this garden, for you are banished and despised. Hell will be filled with all of those who follow you."

Then the Lord said, "Adam, stay in the garden with your spouse and eat whatever you want therein, but do not go near this tree lest you transgress".

Satan tempted them to reveal that which was kept private from them and said, "Your Lord has not prohibited you (to eat the fruits of this tree) unless you want to be angels or immortal."

Satan swore before them that he was giving them good advice.

Thus, he deceitfully showed them (the tree). When they had tasted (fruits) from the tree, their private parts became revealed to them and they began to cover their private parts with leaves from the garden. Their Lord then called out to them saying, "Did I not forbid you to eat (fruits) from the tree and tell you that Satan was your sworn enemy?"

They replied, "Lord, we have done injustice to our souls. If You will not forgive us and have mercy on us, we shall certainly have incurred a great loss."

The Lord told them to leave the garden as each other's enemies and go to earth to dwell and benefit from the means therein for an appointed time.

He told them that, on earth, they would live, die, and be resurrected.

Children of Adam, We have given you clothing to cover your private parts and for beauty, but the robe of piety is the best. Thus is the guidance of God so that you may take heed.

Children of Adam, do not let Satan seduce you, as he caused your parents to be expelled from the garden and made them take off their clothes in order to show them their private parts. Satan and those like him see you but you do not see them. We have made the Satans as friends for those who have no faith.

When (The faithless) commit indecent acts they say, "We found our fathers doing this and God has commanded us to do the same." (Muhammad) tell them that God does not command anyone to commit indecency. Do you speak for God, saying things of which you have no knowledge?

Say, "My Lord has ordered me to maintain justice. (People), pay due attention (when worshipping God). Pray to Him sincerely and be devoted in your religion. Just as He gave you life, He will bring you back to life again (after you die.)"

He has guided one group (of people) and the other group go is doomed to astray; the latter group took Satan as their guardian instead of God and thought that they were rightly guided.

Children of Adam, dress well when attending the mosques, eat and drink but do not be excessive for God does not love those who are excessive (in what they do).

(Muhammad), ask them, "Who has made it unlawful to maintain beauty and to eat the pure foods which God has created for His servants? They are made for the believers in this world and are exclusively for them in the life hereafter." Thus do We explain Our revelations to the people who have knowledge.

(Muhammad), tell them, "My Lord has only prohibited indecent acts committed in public or in secret, all sins, unjust rebellion, considering things equal to God without any heavenly authority, and speaking for God without having any knowledge (of what He has said)."

All people can only live for an appointed time. When their term ends, they will not remain (alive) even for a single hour, nor will they die before the appointed time.

Children of Adam, when Messengers from among your own people come to you to preach My revelations, those who choose piety and reform themselves will have nothing to fear nor will they be grieved.

But those who have rejected Our revelations out of pride will be the dwellers of hell fire wherein they will live forever.

Who are more unjust than those who invent falsehoods against God and reject His revelations? These will have their share (of torment) which is ordained for them and when Our (angelic) Messengers come to them to cause them to die and ask them, "Where are those whom you had been worshipping besides God?" they will reply, "We had gone astray from the path of God." Thus, they will testify against their own souls by confessing their disbelief.

(On the Day of Judgment) the Lord will say to them, "Join the group of jinn and people who lived before you, in hell." Each group, on entering hell, will curse the other dwellers, until all of them are brought together therein. The last group will accuse the first saying, "Lord, they made us go astray. Therefore, double their torment in the Fire." The Lord will reply, "For everyone of you there is a double torment, but you do not know it".

The first will then say, "You are no better than us; suffer the torment as the result of your deeds.

He replied, "Throw yours first." Their great magic bewitched people's eyes and terrified them.

For those who have rejected Our revelations out of pride, no door to the heavens will be opened, nor will they be admitted into Paradise until a camel passes through the eye of a sewing needle. Thus do We recompense the criminals.

For them, hell will be both a cradle and a blanket. Thus do We punish the unjust.

The righteously striving believers - We do not impose on any soul that which is beyond its ability - are the dwellers of Paradise wherein they will live forever.

We shall remove all grudges from their hearts. They will enjoy the flowing streams in the garden and will say, "God who guided us to this, deserves all praise. Had He not guided us, we would never have been able to find the right direction. The (angelic) Messengers of our Lord came to us with the Truth." They shall be told, 'This is the Paradise which you have inherited because of your good deeds."

The people of Paradise will say to the dwellers of the fire, "We have found whatever our Lord promised has come true. Have you found whatever the Lord promised you to be true?" They will reply, "Yes, we have also found it to be true." Thereupon, someone will cry out, "God has condemned the unjust,

who prevented others from the way of God, sought to make (the path) appear crooked, and had no belief in the Day of Judgment."

There will be a barrier between the people of Paradise and hell. There will be people on the heights who know everyone by their faces and who will say to the people of Paradise, "Peace be upon you." They hope to enter Paradise but are not yet therein.

When their eyes turn to the dwellers of hell, they will pray, "Lord, do not place us among the unjust."

The people of the Heights will say to those (in hell) whose faces they recognize, "Why did your supporters and your pride not help you?"

They will also say, "Are these (the people of Paradise) the ones of whom you swore would receive no mercy from God?" They will continue, " People of Paradise, live therein without any fear or grief."

The dwellers of the fire will ask the people of Paradise to give them some water or other things which God has granted to them. They will reply, "God has deprived the unbelievers of the blessings of Paradise."

On that Day We will neglect those who were deceived by the worldly life and who treated their religion as a useless game, because they had forgotten such a day and rejected Our revelations.

We have revealed the Book of guidance and mercy to the believers and We know all of its details.

(Despite the clear details of Our guidance in the Book) do they still wait for further interpretations? On the Day (of Judgment) when its interpretations will be revealed, those who had ignored its guidance will confess, saying, "The Messengers of our Lord had certainly come to us with the Truth. Will anyone intercede for us or send us back (to life) so that we would be able to act in a different manner to that which we had done before?" These people have certainly lost their souls and their evil inventions (which they had used for false excuses) will vanish.

Your Lord is God who established His dominion over the Throne (of the realm) after having created the heavens and the earth in six days. He made the night darken the day which it pursues at a (considerable) speed and He made the sun and the moon submissive to His command. Is it not He Who creates and governs all things? Blessed is God, the Cherisher of the Universe.

Pray to your Lord humbly and privately. God does not love the transgressors.

Do not destroy the land after it has been well established but pray to God, have fear of Him, and hope to receive His mercy. God's mercy is close to the righteous people.

God sends the wind bearing the glad news of His mercy. When heavy clouds are formed, We drive them unto a barren country and rain down on it water to cause all kinds of fruits to grow. In the same way do We bring the dead to life again. Perhaps you would take heed.

A good land produces plants, by the permission of its Lord, but a wicked land produces only miserable, bitter plants. Thus do We show a variety of evidence for those who give thanks.

We sent Noah to his people. He told them, "Worship God for He is your only Lord. I am afraid of the punishment that you might suffer on the great Day (of Judgment)".

A group of his people said to him, "You are absolutely wrong."

Does it seem strange to you that a reminder from your Lord should be sent to a man, from among you, to warn you so that you might receive mercy?"

They accused him of telling lies. So We saved him and his companions in an ark and drowned those who called Our revelations mere lies. They were, no doubt, a blind people.

We sent Hud to his brethren, the tribe of `Ad, who told them, "Worship God for He is your only Lord. Will you not become pious?"

A group of the unbelievers among his people said, "You look to us like a fool and we think that you are a liar".

He replied, "My people, I am not a fool but a Messenger of the Lord of the Universe.

I preach the message of my Lord to you and am a trustworthy advisor for you.

Does it seem strange to you that a reminder from your Lord should be sent to a man among you so that He may warn you? Recall when God appointed you as successors of the people of Noah and increased your power over other people. Give thanks to God for His blessings so that perhaps you will have everlasting happiness."

They said, "Have you come to make us worship God alone and give up what our fathers worshipped? If you are truthful, let the torment with which you have threatened us, strike us".

He replied, "You will certainly be afflicted by wickedness and the wrath of God. Do you dispute with me about the names of that which you and your fathers have invented? God has given no authority to those names. Wait for God's decree and I, too, am waiting with you."

Through Our mercy, We saved him and his companions and destroyed the unbelievers who called Our revelations mere lies.

We sent Salih to his brethren, the tribe of Thamud, who told them, "Worship God your only Lord. Authoritative evidence has come to you from your Lord and this she-camel is the evidence for you from God. Let her graze in the land of God. Do not give her any trouble lest a painful torment will strike you.

Recall (the time) when We settled you in the land as the heirs of the tribe of Ad and how you established mansions in the plains and carved homes out of the mountains. Give thanks to God for His favors and do not commit evil in the land."

The proud ones among Salih's people asked his oppressed followers, "Do you (really) know that Salih is a Messenger of his Lord?" They replied, "We have faith in the Message which he preaches".

The proud oppressors said, "We reject that which you believe in".

They then slew the camel and rebelled against the orders of their Lord saying, " Salih, if you are truly a Messenger, let that torment with which you have threatened us come to pass."

Suddenly, an earthquake jolted them and they were left motionless in their homes.

He turned away from them saying, "My people, I preached the Message of my Lord to you and gave you good advice, but you do not love advisors."

Lot told his people, "Why do you commit such indecent acts that have never been committed by anyone before?

You engage in lustful activities with people instead of women. You have become transgressing people.

His people had no answer to his remarks but to tell one another, "Expel him from our town; he and his people want to purify themselves."

We saved (Lot) and his family except his wife who remained with the rest.

We sent a torrential rain unto the (unbelievers). Consider how disastrous the end of the criminals was!

We sent to the people of Midian their brother Shu'ayb who also told his people to worship God their only Lord. He said, "A guidance has come to you from your Lord. Maintain proper measures and weights in trade. Do not cause any deficiency in people's property or destroy the land after it has been reformed. This is for your own good, if you have any faith.

Do not ambush the believers or hinder them from every path that leads them to God just because you wish to make such ways seem crooked. Recall the time when you were just a few in number and God multiplied you. Consider how terrible the end of the evil-doers was!

If there are some of you who believe in the Message that I have been commanded to preach and there are others who do not, exercise patience until God judges among us. He is the best Judge."

A proud group among Shu'ayb's people said, "We must expel you (Shu'ayb) and your followers from our town unless you give-up your faith and live as our own people." Shu'ayb asked them, "Will you use force against us?

We would certainly be inventing falsehoods against God if we were to accept your way of life, when God has already saved us from it. We do not have to accept it unless God, our Lord, wills it. Our Lord's knowledge covers all things. We trust in Him and ask Him to judge among us and our people, for He is the best Judge."

A group of the unbelievers among his people told the others, "If you follow Shu'ayb, you will certainly lose a great deal."

Suddenly, an earthquake struck them and left them motionless in their homes.

Those who called Shu'ayb a liar were destroyed as though they never existed. They certainly were the ones to lose a great deal.

He turned away from them saying, "My people, I preached the Message of my Lord to you and gave you good advice. How could I be sorry for the unbelievers?"

To every town that We sent a Prophet, We tested its inhabitants through distress and adversity so that perhaps they would submit themselves to Us.

We then replaced their misfortune with well-being until they were relieved and began saying, "Our fathers had also experienced good and bad days." Suddenly, We struck them (with torment) while they were all unaware (of what was happening).

Had the people of the towns believed (in Our revelations) and maintained piety, We would have certainly showered on them Our blessings from the sky and the earth. But they called Our revelations lies, thus Our torment struck them for their evil deeds.

Did the people of the towns think themselves secure from Our wrath that could strike them at night during their sleep

or that which could seize them during their busy hours of the day?

Did they consider themselves secure from the retribution of God? No one can have such attitude except those who are lost.

Is it not a lesson for the successors of the past generations that had We wanted, We could have punished them for their sins, sealed their hearts and deprived them of hearing?

(Muhammad), such were the stories of the people who lived in (different) towns in the past. We had sent Our Messengers to them with (certain) miracles but the people still did not believe in what they had rejected before. Such is how God seals the hearts of the unbelievers.

We did not find many among them keeping their promises. However, We did find many evil-doers among them.

After the time of those people, We sent Moses with Our miracles to Pharaoh and his people, but they too rejected Our miracles. Consider, how terrible the end of the evil-doers is!

Moses told the Pharaoh, "I am a Messengers from the Lord of the Universe.

I must only speak what is true about God. I have brought you miracles from your Lord; therefore, let the children of Israel go free".

The Pharaoh asked Moses to show his miracles if he was telling the truth.

So Moses threw down his staff and suddenly it turned into a real serpent.

Then he uncovered his hand and it appeared sheer white to the onlookers.

Some of the Pharaoh's nobles considered him to be no more than a skillful magician

and said, "He wants to expel you from your land." They asked (others), " what is your opinion in the matter?

The others suggested holding Moses and his brother off and sending to all the cities

to bring together at the Pharaohs court all the skillful magicians.

The magicians came to the Pharaoh and said, "We must have our reward if we are to gain a victory over him (Moses)".

The Pharaoh replied, "In addition to your rewards, you will become my close friends thereafter."

The magicians asked Moses, "Will you throw your staff first or shall we?"

The Pharaoh said to the magicians, "You declared your belief in him (Moses) without my permission. This is a plot to throw my people out of their city. But you will soon know.

I will cut off your hands and feet on the alternate sides and crucify you all."

The magicians said, "We will certainly return to Our Lord.

You only take revenge on us because we believed in the Lord when we saw His miracles. Lord, grant us patience and let us die Muslims (submitted to God)."

Some of the Pharaohs people said, "Will you let Moses and his people destroy the land and disregard you and your gods?" The Pharaoh said, "We will kill their sons and leave their women alive; they are under our domination."

Moses told his people to seek help from God and exercise patience. The earth belongs to Him and He has made it the heritage of whichever of His servants He chooses. The final victory is for the pious ones.

His people said, "We suffered a great deal before you came and we are still suffering even after you have come." Moses (tried to encourage them) by saying, "There is hope that your Lord will destroy your enemies and make you (their) successors in the land. So consider how you act."

For years We afflicted Pharaoh's people with shortages in food so that perhaps they would take heed.

But they would always ascribe their well-being to themselves and the misfortunes that they would experience to Moses and his people. Their fate is certainly in the hands of God but many of them do not know.

They said to Moses, "No matter what miracle you show to bewitch us, we will not believe you."

We sent upon them widespread calamities: floods of locusts, lice, frogs, and blood. All were distinct miracles but these criminals all the time remained proud.

When the torment would strike them, they would ask Moses, "Pray for us to your Lord through your covenant with Him. If He saves us from the torment, we shall certainly believe in you and permit you and the children of Israel to leave".

But when We relieved them from the torment for a given time, they again broke their promise.

We took revenge on them for their rejecting Our miracles, by drowning them in the sea, but they were not aware of (reality).

We gave the suppressed people the blessed eastern and western regions as their inheritance. Thus, the promises of your Lord to the children of Israel all came true because of the patience which they exercised. He destroyed all the establishments of the Pharaoh and his people.

We helped the children of Israel to cross the sea. They came to a people who worshipped idols. The Israelites demanded Moses to make gods for them like those of the idol-worshippers. Moses told them, "You are an ignorant people.

What these people worship is doomed to be destroyed and their deeds are based on falsehood.

Should I choose for you a lord other than God who has favored you above all other people?

"Children of Israel, when I saved you from the Pharaoh and his people who made you suffer the worst kinds of torment, killing your sons and keeping your women alive, it was a great trial for you from your Lord."

We told Moses to stay with Us for thirty nights (in the mountains) but added ten nights more so his appointment with his Lord came to an end after forty nights. Moses had appointed his brother Aaron as his deputy among his people during his absence saying, "Try to reform them and do not follow the way of the evil-doers."

During the appointment, the Lord spoke to Moses. He asked the Lord to show Himself so that he could look at Him. The Lord replied, "You can never see Me. But look at the mountain. If the mountain remains firm only then will you see Me." When the Lord manifested His Glory to the mountain, He turned it into dust and Moses fell down upon his face senseless. After regaining his senses, Moses said, "Lord, You are all Holy. I repent for what I asked you to do and I am the first to believe in You."

The Lord said to Moses, "I have given you distinction above the people by speaking to you and giving you My Message. Receive what I have given to you and give Us thanks."

We wrote advice and laws for him on Tablets about all kinds of things, saying, "Follow them and command your people to follow the good advice therein, and I will show you the dwellings of the evil-doers."

We will deprive those who are wrongly proud in the land of the blessing of revelations. Even if they would see all kinds of miracles, they would not have faith, or even to see the right path, they would not follow it. They would follow the rebellious way if they were to find one; in their ignorance, they have called Our revelations mere lies.

The deeds of those who have called Our revelations and belief in the Day of Judgment mere lies, will be turned devoid of all virtue. Can they expect to receive a reward for their deeds other than that which is the result of their deeds?

In Moses' absence, his people manufactured a hollow sounding calf out of their ornaments. Could they not see that it could not speak to them or provide them with any guidance? They gained only evil by worshipping the calf.

When they found that they had believed in the wrong thing, they regretfully said, "If our Lord will not have mercy on us and forgive us, we will certainly be lost."

When Moses returned to his people with anger and sorrow, he said, "What you have done in my absence is certainly evil. Why were you hasty about the commandments of your Lord?" He threw away the Tablets (which contained the commandments of God), grabbed his brother and started to pull him to himself. His brother begged him saying, "Son of my mother, the people suppressed me and almost killed me. Do not humiliate me before the enemies or call me unjust".

Moses prayed, "Lord, forgive me and my brother and admit us into Your mercy; you are the most Merciful."

(The Lord said), "Those who worshipped the calf will be afflicted by the wrath of their Lord and disgraced in their worldly life. Thus, We will recompense those who invent falsehood.

To those who commit bad deeds, but, then, repent and believe (in God), Your Lord will certainly be All-forgiving and All-merciful."

When Moses' anger calmed down, he collected the Tablets. On one of them was written, "God's mercy and guidance are for those who have fear of Him."

Moses selected seventy men from his people to attend Our appointment. (In Our presence). When an earthquake jolted them to death, Moses said, "Lord, had You wanted to destroy them, why did You not destroy them and me before. Are You destroying us for what the fools among us have done? This (destruction) is only a trial through which You cause some to go astray and guide others. You are our Guardian. Forgive us and have mercy on us; You are the best of those who forgive.

"Grant us well-being in this life and in the life hereafter for we have turned ourselves to You." The Lord replied, "My torment only afflicts those whom I want to punish, but My mercy encompasses all things. I shall grant mercy to those who maintain piety, pay their religious tax, and those who have faith in Our revelations."

There are those who follow the Messengers, the illiterate Prophet (not conventionally educated), whose description they find written in the Torah and the Gospel. [He (the Messengers) enjoins them to do good and forbids them to do all that is unlawful, makes lawful for them all that is pure and unlawful all that is filthy, removes their burdens and the entanglements in which they are involved]. Those who believe in him, honor and help him, and follow the light which is sent down to him, will have everlasting happiness.

(Muhammad), tell them, "People, I have come to you all as the Messengers of God, to whom the Kingdom of the heavens and the earth belongs. There is no God but He. In His hands are life and death. Have faith in God and His Messengers, the unlettered Prophet who believes in God and His words. Follow him so that you will perhaps have guidance."

Among the people of Moses are some whose guidance and Judgment are based on the Truth.

We divided the descendants of Israel into twelve tribes and told Moses to strike the rock with his staff to let twelve fountains gush out therefrom; his people had asked him to supply them with water. The twelve flowing springs were divided among them (a spring for each tribe) and each tribe knew its drinking place well. We provided them with shade from the clouds, sent down manna and quails to them for food, and told them to eat the pure things which We had given them. They did not do injustice to Us but they wronged themselves.

When they were told, "Settle down in this town, eat as you wish, seek forgiveness and enter the gate prostrating yourselves (in obedience to the Lord) and We will forgive you your sins and increase the reward of the righteous people,

the unjust among them changed the words which they were told to say (in the prayer). Therefore, We sent upon them torment from the sky for their wrong deeds.

(Muhammad), ask them about the (people of the) towns on the seashore. They had transgressed by catching fish on the Sabbath. Each Sabbath the fish came openly within their reach but not so on other days. Thus, We were testing them because of their evil deeds.

When a group of them questioned another group saying, "Why do you preach to those whom God has decided to destroy or punish by a severe torment?" they replied, "We preach to them for we are responsible in the sight of your Lord and so that perhaps they may have fear of God."

When they (the unjust people) forgot what was preached to them, We saved the preachers from evil and afflicted the unjust for their evil deeds, with a dreadful torment.

When they crossed the limit of the prohibition, We made them turn into detested apes.

(Muhammad), consider, when your Lord declared to the (Israelites) His decision to raise a people above them who would make them suffer the worst kinds of torments until the Day of Judgment. Certainly your Lord's retribution is swift. He is All-forgiving and All-merciful.

We divided them into nations on the earth; some are righteous and others are not. We tested them with well-being and hardship so that they might return (to the right path).

Their descendants who inherited the Book gained (by bribery only) worthless things from the worldly life saying, "We shall be forgiven (for what we have done). They would have even doubled such gains if they could have received more. Did they not make a covenant (with God) in the Book not to speak any thing other than the Truth about God and to study its contents well? The life hereafter is much better for the pious ones. Will you not then think?

Those who devote themselves to the teachings of the Book and are steadfast in prayer (should know that) the reward of those who reform themselves will not be lost.

When We raised the mount above them as a shadow and made it speak to them, they thought that it would fall on them. We told them to devote themselves decisively to what was given to them and follow its guidance so that they would have fear of God.

When your Lord asked all the offspring of Adam (before their birth), "Am I not your Lord?" All of them testified and bore witness to their testimony that on the Day of Judgment they would not say, "We were not aware of this (fact),"

or say, "Our fathers worshipped idols before us and we as their descendants followed them. Would you then destroy us because of what the followers of falsehood have done?"

Thus do We explain Our revelations so that they might return to (the right path).

(Muhammad), tell them the story of the person whom We inspired with Our guidance, but who detached himself from it and who was then pursued by Satan until he turned into a rebel.

Had We wanted, We could have raised him to an exalted position but he clung to his earthly life and followed his own (evil) desires. Such person's bad habits are like those of a lazy dog (in a warm climate) who always has its tongue hanging out whether you chase it away or leave it alone. Such are the people who have called Our revelations mere lies. (Muhammad), tell them such stories so that perhaps they will think.

How terrible is the example of those who have rejected Our revelations and have done injustice only to themselves!

Those whom God has guided have the true guidance, but those whom He has caused to go astray are certainly lost.

We have destined many men and jinn for hell. They have hearts but do not understand, eyes but do not see. They have ears but do not hear. They are worse than lost cattle. These are the heedless ones.

God has the most blessed Names. You should address Him in your worship by these Names and keep away from those who pervert them. They will be recompensed for their (evil) deeds.

Among Our creatures are a group who guide and judge with the Truth.

We gradually lead those who have called Our revelations mere lies, to destruction. Their destruction will be such that they will not even notice how it seized them.

Though I have given them a respite, My plan against them is well established.

Have they not considered the Kingdom of the heavens and the earth and everything that God has created? Perhaps death approaches them. In what kind of guidance can they have faith besides that of the Quran?

No one can guide those whom God has caused to go astray and has left to continue blindly in their rebellion.

They ask you (Muhammad), "When will the Day of Judgment be?" Tell them, "My Lord knows best. It is He who has appointed its time. It will be a grave hour both in the heavens and the earth. It will only approach you suddenly." They say, "It seems that you know about the coming of the Day of Judgment." Tell them, "Only God knows about it and most people do not know."

(Muhammad), say, "I have no control over my benefits or sufferings, without the will of God. Had I known about the unseen, I would have gained much good and would have faced no suffering. I am only a warner and I preach the glad news to the believing people."

It is God Who created you from a single soul and out of it made its spouse to bring it comfort. When he (man) engaged in carnal relations with her, she conceived a light burden which she had to carry. When the baby grew in her womb, they (husband and wife) both prayed to their Lord, "If You grant us a healthy son we shall certainly give you thanks."

When they were given a healthy son, they began to love him as much as they loved God. God is too exalted to be loved equally to anything else.

Do they (the pagans) consider things that do not create anything but are themselves created equal to God?

The idols are things that are not able to help others or even themselves.

Believers, even if you invite them to true guidance, they will not follow you. It makes no difference whether you invite them or whether you keep quiet.

Those whom you (pagans) worship besides God, are themselves servants just like yourselves. If your claim was true, they should answer your prayers.

Do they (the idols) have feet to walk, hands to hold things, eyes to see, and ears to hear? (Muhammad), tell them (the pagans) to call on their idols for help and to plan against Me without delay.

The (true) Guardian is certainly God who has revealed the Book and is the Guardian of the righteous ones.

The idols which you (the pagans) worship besides God can neither help you nor themselves.

(Muhammad), if you invite them to the right guidance, they will not listen to you. You will see them looking at you but they do not really see.

Have forgiveness, preach the truth, and keep away from the ignorant ones.

If Satan will try to seduce you, seek refuge from God. God is All-hearing and All-knowing.

When a satanic thought starts to bother the pious ones, they understand and see the light

while their brethren ceaselessly try to drag them into error.

If you, (Muhammad), do not show them a miracle, they will keep on insisting that you must show them one. Say, "I only follow what is revealed to me from my Lord. This (Quran) contains wisdom for you from your Lord. It contains guidance and mercy for those who have faith.

Whenever the Quran is recited (to you), listen to it quietly so that you may receive mercy.

Remember your Lord deep within yourselves, humbly and privately - instead of shouting out loud - (in prayer) in the mornings and evenings and do not be of the heedless ones.

Those who are near to your Lord do not disdain from worshipping Him. They glorify Him and prostrate themselves (in obedience to Him).