The Cattle

He is God in the heavens and the earth; He knows your secrets, and what you publish, and He knows what you are earning.

Not a sign of their Lord comes to them, but they turn away from it.

They cried lies to the truth when it came to them, but there shall come to them news of that they were mocking.

Praise belongs to God who created the heavens and the earth and appointed the shadows and light; then the unbelievers ascribe equals to their Lord.

It is He who created you of clay, then determined a term and a term is stated with Him; yet thereafter you doubt.

Have they not regarded how We destroyed before them many a generation We established in the earth, as We never established you, and how We loosed heaven upon them in torrents, and made the rivers to flow beneath them? Then We destroyed them because of their sins, and raised up after them another generation;

Had We sent down on thee a Book on parchment and so they touched it with their hands, yet the unbelievers would have said, 'This is naught but manifest sorcery.'

'Why has an angel not been sent down on him?' they say; yet had We sent down an angel, the matter would have been determined, and then no respite would be given them.

And had We made him an angel, yet assuredly We would have made him a man, and confused for them the thing which they themselves are confusing.

Messengers indeed were mocked at before thee; but those that scoffed at them were encompassed by that they mocked at.

Say: 'Journey in the land, then behold how was the end of them that cried lies.'

Say: 'To whom belongs what is in the heavens and in the earth?' Say: 'It is God's. He has prescribed for Himself mercy. He will surely gather you to the Resurrection Day, of which is no doubt. Those who have lost their souls, they do not believe.

And to Him belongs whatsoever inhabits the night and the day; and He is the All-hearing, the All-knowing.'

Say: 'Shall I take to myself as protector other than God, the Originator of the heavens and of the earth, He. who feeds and is not fed?' Say: 'I have been commanded to be the first of them that surrender: "Be not thou of the idolaters."'

Say: 'Indeed I fear, if I should rebel against thy Lord, the chastisement of a dreadful day.'

From whomsoever it is averted on that day, He will have mercy on him; that is the manifest triumph.

And if God visits thee with affliction none can remove it but He; and if He visits thee with good, He is powerful over everything.

He is Omnipotent over His servants, and He is the All-wise, the All-aware. Say: 'What thing is greatest in testimony?'

Say: 'God is witness between me and you, and this Koran has been revealed to me that I may warn you thereby, and whomsoever it may reach. Do you indeed testify that there are other gods with God?' Say: 'I do not testify.' Say: 'He is only One God, and I am quit of that you associate.'

Those to whom We have given the Book recognize it as they recognize their sons. Those who have lost their own souls, they do not believe.

And who does greater evil than he who forges against God a lie, or cries lies to His signs? They shall not prosper, the evildoers.

And on the day when We shall muster them all together, then We shall say unto those who associated other gods with God, 'Where are your associates whom you were asserting?

Then they shall have no proving, but to say, 'By God our Lord, we never associated other gods with Thee.'

Behold how they lie against themselves, and how that which they were forging has gone astray from them!

And some of them there are that listen to thee, and We lay veils upon their hearts lest they understand it, and in their ears heaviness; and if they see any sign whatever, they do not believe in it, so that when they come to thee they dispute with thee, the unbelievers saying, 'This is naught but the fairy-tales of the ancient ones.'

And they forbid it, and keep afar from it, and it is only themselves they destroy, but they are not aware.

If thou couldst see when they are stationed before the Fire, and they say, 'Would that we might be returned, and then not cry lies to the signs of our Lord, but that we might be among the believers!'

No; that which they were concealing before has now appeared to them; and even if they were returned, they would again commit the very thing they were prohibited; they are truly liars.

And they say, 'There is only our present life; we shall not be raised.'

If thou couldst see when they are stationed before their Lord! He will say, 'Is not this the truth?' They will say, 'Yes indeed, by our Lord!' He will say, 'Then taste the chastisement for your unbelief.

When night outspread over him he saw a star and said, 'This is my Lord.' But when it set he said, 'I love not the setters.'

Lost indeed are they that cried lies to the encounter with God, so that when the Hour comes to them suddenly they shall say, 'Alas for us, that we neglected it!' On their backs they shall be bearing their loads; O how evil the loads they bear!

The present life is naught but a sport and a diversion; surely the Last Abode is better for those that are godfearing. What, do you not understand?

We know indeed that it grieves thee the things they say; yet it is not thee they cry lies to, but the evildoers - it is the signs of God that they deny.

Messengers indeed were cried lies to before thee, yet they endured patiently that they were cried lies to, and were hurt, until Our help came unto them. No man can change the words of God; and there has already come to thee some tiding of the Envoys.

And if their turning away is distressful for thee, why, if thou canst seek out a hole in the earth, or a ladder in heaven, to bring them some sign but had God willed, He would have gathered them to the guidance; so be not thou one of the ignorant.

Answer only will those who hear; as for the dead, God will raise them up, then unto Him they will be returned.

They also say, 'Why has no sign been sent down upon him from his Lord?' Say: 'Surely God is able to send down a sign, but most of them know not.'

No creature is there crawling on the earth, no bird flying with its wings, but they are nations like unto yourselves. We have neglected nothing in the Book; then to their Lord they shall be mustered.

And those who cry lies to Our signs are deaf and dumb, dwelling in the shadows. Whomsoever God will, He leads astray, and whomsoever He will, He sets him on a straight path.

Say: 'What think you? If God's chastisement comes upon you, or the Hour comes upon you, will you call upon any other than God if you speak truly?'

No; upon Him you will call, and He will remove that for which you call upon Him if He Will, and you will forget that you associate with Him.

Indeed We sent to nations before thee, and We seized them with misery and hardship that haply they might be humble;

if only, when Our might came upon them, they had been humble! But their hearts were hard, and Satan decked out fair to them what they were doing.

So, when they forgot what they were reminded of; We opened unto them the gates of everything until; when they rejoiced in what they were given, We seized them suddenly, and behold, they were sore confounded.

So the last remnant of the people who did evil was cut off. Praise belongs to God the Lord of all Being.

Say: 'What think you? If God seizes your hearing and sight, and sets a seal upon your hearts, who is a god other than God to give it back to you?' Behold how We turn about the signs! Yet thereafter they are turning away.

Say: 'What think you? If God's chastisement comes upon you, suddenly or openly, shall any be destroyed, except the people of the evildoers?'

We do not send the Envoys, except good tidings to bear, and warning; whoever believes and makes amends -- no fear shall be on them, neither shall they sorrow.

But those who cry lies to Our signs, them the chastisement shall visit, for that they were ungodly.

Say: 'I do not say to you, "I possess the treasuries of God"; I know not the Unseen. And I say not to you, "I am an angel"; I only follow what is revealed to me. Say: 'Are the blind and the seeing man equal? Will you not reflect?'

And warn therewith those who fear they shall be mustered to their Lord; they have, apart from God, no protector and no intercessor; haply they will be godfearing.

And do not drive away those who call upon their Lord at morning and evening desiring His countenance; nothing of their account falls upon thee, and nothing of thy account falls upon them, that thou shouldst drive them away, and so become one of the evildoers.

Even so We have tried some of them by others that they may say, Are these the ones God has been gracious to among us?' Knows not God very well the thankful?

And when those who believe in Our signs come to thee, say, 'Peace be upon you. Your Lord has prescribed for Himself mercy. Whosoever of you does evil in ignorance, and thereafter repents and makes amends, He is All-forgiving, All-compassionate.'

Thus We distinguish Our signs, that the sinners' way may be manifest.

Say: 'I am forbidden to serve those you call on apart from God.' Say: 'I do not follow your caprices, or else I had gone astray, and would not be of the right-guided.'

Say: 'I stand upon a clear sign from my Lord, and you have cried lies to it. Not with me is that you seek to hasten; the judgment is God's alone. He relates the truth, and He is the Best of deciders.'

Say: 'If what you seek to hasten were with me, the matter between you and me would be decided; and God knows very well the evildoers.'

With Him are the keys of the Unseen; none knows them but He. He knows what is in land and sea; not a leaf falls, but He knows it. Not a grain in the earth's shadows, not a thing, fresh or withered, but it is in a Book Manifest.

It is He who recalls you by night, and He knows what you work by day; then He raises you up therein, that a stated term may be determined; then unto Him shall you return, then He will tell you of what you have been doing.

He is the Omnipotent over His servants. He sends recorders over you till, when any one of you is visited by death, Our messengers take him and they neglect not.

Then they are restored to God their Protector, the True. Surely His is the judgment; He is the swiftest of reckoners.

Say: 'Who delivers you from the shadows of land and sea? You call upon Him humbly and secretly, "Truly, if Thou deliverest from these, we shall be among the thankful."

Say: 'God delivers you from them and from every distress; then you assign Him associates.'

Say: 'He is able to send forth upon you chastisement, from above you or from under your feet, or to confuse you in sects and to make you taste the violence of one another.' Behold how We turn about the signs; haply they will understand.

Thy people have cried it lies; yet it is the truth. Say: 'I am not a guardian over you.

Every tiding has its time appointed; you will surely know.'

When thou seest those who plunge into Our signs, turn away from them until they plunge into some other talk; or if Satan should make thee forget, do not sit, after the reminding, with the people of the evildoers.

Nothing of their account falls upon those that are godfearing; but a reminding; haply they will be godfearing.

Leave alone those who take their religion for a sport and a diversion, and whom the present life has deluded. Remind hereby, lest a soul should be given up to destruction for what it has earned; apart from God, it has no protector and no intercessor; though it offer any equivalent, it shall not be taken from it. Those are they who are given up to destruction for what they have earned; for them awaits a draught of boiling water and a painful chastisement, for that they were unbelievers.

Say: 'Shall we call, apart from God, on that which neither profits nor hurts us, and shall we be turned back on our heels after that God has guided us? -- Like one lured to bewilderment in the earth by Satans, though he has friends who call him to guidance, "Come to us!" Say: 'God's guidance is the true guidance, and we are commanded to surrender to the Lord of all Being,

and: "Perform the prayer, and fear Him; it is unto Him you shall be mustered."

It is He who created the heavens and the earth in truth; and the day He says 'Be', and it is; His saying is true, and His is the Kingdom the day the Trumpet is blown; He is Knower of the Unseen and the visible; He is the All-wise, the All-aware.

And when Abraham said to his father Azar, 'Takest thou idols for gods? I see thee, and thy people, in manifest error.'

So We were showing Abraham the kingdom of the heavens and earth, that he might be of those having sure faith.

When he saw the moon rising, he said, 'This is my Lord.' But when it set he said, 'If my Lord does not guide me I shall surely be of the people gone astray.'

When he saw the sun rising, he said, 'This is my Lord; this is greater!' But when it set he said, 'O my people, surely I am quit of that you associate.

I have turned my face to Him who originated the heavens and the earth, a man of pure faith; I am not of the idolaters.'

His people disputed with him. He said, 'Do you dispute with me concerning God, and He has guided me? I fear not what you associate with Him, except my Lord will aught. My Lord embraces all things in His knowledge; will you not remember?

How should I fear what you have associated, seeing you fear not that you have associated with God that whereon He has not sent down on you any authority?' Which of the two parties has better title to security, if you have any knowledge?

Those who believe, and have not confounded their belief with evildoing -- to them belongs the true security; they are rightly guided.

That is Our argument, which We bestowed upon Abraham as against his people. We raise up in degrees whom We will; surely thy Lord is All-wise, All-knowing.

And We gave to him Isaac and Jacob -- each one We guided, And Noah We guided before; and of his seed David and Solomon, Job and Joseph, Moses and Aaron -- even so We recompense the good-doers --

Zachariah and John, Jesus and Elias; each was of the righteous;

Ishmael and Elisha, Jonah and Lot-each one We preferred above all beings;

and of their fathers, and of their seed, and of their brethren; and We elected them, and We guided them to a straight path.

That is God's guidance; He guides by it whom He will of His servants; had they been idolaters, it would have failed them, the things they did.

Those are they to whom We gave the Book, the Judgment, the Prophethood; so if these disbelieve in it, We have already entrusted it to a people who do not disbelieve in it.

Those are they whom God has guided; so follow their guidance. Say: 'I ask of you no wage for it; it is but a reminder unto all beings.'

They measured not God with His true measure when they said, 'God has not sent down aught on any mortal.' Say: 'Who sent down the Book that Moses brought as a light and a guidance to men? You put it into parchments, revealing them, and hiding much; and you were taught that you knew not, you and your fathers.' Say: 'God.' Then leave them alone, playing their game of plunging.

This is a Book We have sent down, blessed and confirming that which was before it, and for thee to warn the Mother of Cities and those about her; and those who believe in the world to come believe in it, and watch over their prayers.

And who does greater evil than he who forges against God a lie, or says,, 'To me it has been revealed', when naught has been revealed to him, or he who says, 'I will send down the like of what God has sent down'? If thou couldst only see when the evildoers are in the agonies of death, and the angels are stretching out their hands: 'Give up your souls! Today you shall be recompensed with the chastisement of humiliation for what you said untruly about God, waxing proud against His signs.'

'Now you have come to Us one by one, as We created you upon the first time, and you have left what We conferred on you behind your backs. We do not see with you your intercessors, those you asserted to be associates in you; the bond between you is now broken; that which you ever asserted has now gone astray from you.

It is God who splits the grain and the date-stone, brings forth the living from the dead; He brings forth the dead too from the living. So that then is God; then how are you perverted?

He splits the sky into dawn, and has made the night for a repose, and the sun and moon for a reckoning. That is the ordaining of the All-mighty, the All-knowing.

It is He who has appointed for you the stars, that by them you might be guided in the shadows of land and sea. We have distinguished the signs for a people who know.

It is He who produced you from one living soul, and then a lodging-place, and then a repository. We have distinguished the signs for a people who understand.

It is He who sent down out of heaven water, and thereby We have brought forth the shoot of every plant, and then We have brought forth the green leaf of it, bringing forth from it close-compounded grain, and out of the palm-tree, from the spathe of it, dates thick-lustered, ready to the hand, and gardens of vines, olives, pomegranates, like each to each, and each unlike to each. Look upon their fruits when they fructify and ripen! Surely, in all this are signs for a people who do believe.

Yet they ascribe to God, as associates, the jinn, though He created them; and they impute to Him sons and daughters without any knowledge. Glory be to Him! High be He exalted above what they describe!

The Creator of the heavens and the earth -- how should He have a son, seeing that He has no consort, and He created all things, and He has knowledge of everything?

That then is God your Lord; there is no god but He, the Creator of everything. So serve Him, for He is Guardian over everything.

The eyes attain Him not, but He attains the eyes; He is the All-subtle, the All-aware.

Clear proofs have come to you from your Lord. Whoso sees clearly, it is to his own gain, and whoso is blind, it is to his own loss; I am not a watcher over you.

So We turn about the signs, that they may say, 'Thou hast studied'; and that We may make it clear to a people having knowledge.

Follow thou what has been revealed to thee from thy Lord; there is no god but He; and turn thou away from the idolaters.

Had God willed, they were not idolaters; and We have not appointed thee a watcher over them, neither art thou their guardian.

Abuse not those to whom they pray, apart from God, or they will abuse God in revenge without knowledge. So We have decked out fair to every nation their deeds; then to their Lord they shall return, and He will tell them what they have been doing.

They have sworn by God the most earnest oaths if a sign comes to them they will believe in it. Say: 'Signs are only with God.' What will make you realize that, when it comes, they will not believe?

We shall turn about their hearts and their eyes, even as they believed not in it the first time; and We shall leave them in their insolence wandering blindly.

Though We had sent down the angels to them, and the dead had spoken with them, had We mustered against them every thing, face to face, yet they would not have been the ones to believe, unless God willed; but most of them are ignorant.

So We have appointed to every Prophet an enemy -- Satans of men and jinn, revealing tawdry speech to each other, all as a delusion; yet, had thy Lord willed, they would never have done it. So leave them to their forging,

and that the hearts of those who believe not in the world to come may incline to it, and that they may be well-pleased with it, and that they may gain what they are gaining.

What, shall I seek after any judge but God? For it is He who sent down to you the Book well-distinguished; and those whom We have given the Book know it is sent down from thy Lord with the truth; so be not thou of the doubters.

Perfect are the words of thy Lord in truthfulness and justice; no man can change His words; He is the All-hearing, the All-knowing.

If thou obeyest the most part of those on earth they will lead thee astray from the path of God; they follow only surmise, merely conjecturing.

Thy Lord knows very well who goes astray from His path; He knows very well the right-guided.

Eat of that over which God's Name has been mentioned, if you believe in His signs.

How is it with you, that you do not eat of that over which God's Name has been mentioned, seeing that He has distinguished for you that He has forbidden you, unless you are constrained to it? But surely, many lead astray by their caprices, without any knowledge; thy Lord knows very well the transgressors.

Forsake the outward sin, and the inward surely the earners of sin shall be recompensed for what they have earned.

And eat not of that over which God's Name has not been mentioned; it is ungodliness. The Satans inspire their friends to dispute with you; if you obey them, you are idolaters.

Why, is he who was dead, and We gave him life, and appointed for him a light to walk by among the people as one whose likeness is in the shadows, and comes not forth from them? So it is decked out fair to the unbelievers the things they have done.

And even so We appointed in every city great ones among its sinners, to devise there; but they devised only against themselves, and they were not aware.

And when a sign came to them, they said, 'We will not believe until we are given the like of what God's Messengers were given.' God knows very well where to place His Message; and humiliation in God's sight shall befall the sinners, and a terrible chastisement, for what they devised.

Whomsoever God desires to guide, He expands his breast to Islam; whomsoever He desires to lead astray, He makes his breast narrow, tight, as if he were climbing to heaven. So God lays abomination upon those who believe not.

This is the path of thy Lord; straight; We have distinguished the signs to a people who remember.

Theirs is the abode of peace with their Lord, and He is their Protector for that they were doing.

On the day when He shall muster them all together: 'Company of jinn, you have made much of mankind.' Then their friends among mankind will say, 'Our Lord, we have profited each of the other, and we have reached the term determined by Thee for us. He will say: 'The Fire is your lodging, therein to dwell forever' - except as God will; surely thy Lord is All-wise, All-knowing.

So We make the evildoers friends of each other for what they have earned.

'Company of jinn and mankind, did not Messengers come to you from among you, relating to you My signs and warning you of the encounter of this your day?' They shall say, 'We bear witness against ourselves.' They were deluded by the present life, and they bear witness against themselves that they were unbelievers.

That is because thy Lord would never destroy the cities unjustly, while their inhabitants were heedless.

All have degrees according to what they have done; thy Lord is not heedless of the things they do.

Thy Lord is All-sufficient, Merciful. If He will, He can put you away, and leave after you, to succeed you, what He will, as He produced you from the seed of another people.

The thing you are promised, that will surely come; you cannot frustrate it.

Say: 'O my people, act according to your station; I am acting. And assuredly you will know who shall possess the Abode Ultimate. Surely the evildoers will not prosper.'

They appoint to God, of the tillage and cattle that He multiplied, a portion, saying, 'This is for God' -- so they assert -- 'and this is for our associates.' So what is for their associates reaches not God; and what is for God reaches their associates. Evil is their judgment!

Thus those associates of theirs have decked out fair to many idolaters to slay their children, to destroy them, and to confuse their religion for them. Had God willed, they would not have done so; so leave them to their forging.

They say, 'These are cattle and tillage sacrosanct; none shall eat them, but whom we will'-- so they assert -- 'and cattle whose backs have been forbidden, and cattle over which they mention not the Name of God.' All that they say, forging against God; He will assuredly recompense them for what they were forging.

And they say, 'What is within the bellies of these cattle is reserved for our males and forbidden to our spouses; but if it be dead, then they all shall be partners in it.' He will assuredly recompense them for their describing; surely He is All-wise, All-knowing.

Losers are they who slay their children in folly, without knowledge, and have forbidden what God has provided them, forging against God; they have gone astray, and are not right-guided.

It is He who produces gardens trellised, and untrellised, palm-trees, and crops diverse in produce, olives, pomegranates, like each to each, and each unlike to each. Eat of their fruits when they fructify, and pay the due thereof on the day of its harvest; and be not prodigal; God loves not the prodigal.

And of the cattle, for burthen and for slaughter, eat of what God has provided you; and follow not the steps of Satan; he is a manifest foe to you.

Eight couples: two of sheep, of goats two. Say: 'Is it the two males He has forbidden or the two females? Or what the wombs of the two females contain? Tell me with knowledge, if you speak truly.'

Of camels two, of oxen two. Say: 'Is it the two males He has forbidden or the two females? Or what the wombs of the two females contain? Or were you witnesses when God charged you with this? Then who does greater evil than he who forges against God a lie, in order that he may lead mankind astray without any knowledge? Surely God guides not the people of the evildoers.'

Say: 'I do not find, in what is revealed to me, aught forbidden to him who eats thereof except it be carrion, or blood outpoured, or the flesh of swine -- that is an abomination -- or an ungodly thing that has been hallowed to other than God; yet whoso is constrained, not desiring nor transgressing, surely thy Lord is All-forgiving, All-compassionate.'

And to those of Jewry We have forbidden every beast with claws; and of oxen and sheep We have forbidden them the fat of them, save what their backs carry, or their entrails, or what is mingled with bone; that We recompensed them for their insolence; surely We speak truly.

So, if they cry thee lies, say: 'Your Lord is of mercy all-embracing, and His might will never be turned back from the people of the sinners.'

The idolaters will say, 'Had God willed, we would not have been idolaters, neither our fathers, nor would we have forbidden aught.' Even so the people before them cried lies until they tasted Our might. Say: 'Have you any knowledge, for you to bring forth for us? You follow only surmise, merely conjecturing.'

Say: 'To God belongs the argument conclusive; for had He willed, He would have guided you all.'

Say: 'Produce your witnesses, those who testify God has forbidden this.' Then if they testify, bear not witness with them; and do not thou follow the caprices of those who cried lies to Our signs, and who believe not in the world to come, and ascribe equals to their Lord.

Say: 'Come, I will recite what your Lord has forbidden you: that you associate not anything with Him, and to be good to your parents, and not to slay your children because of poverty; We will provide you and them and that you approach not any indecency outward or inward, and that you slay not the soul God has forbidden, except by right. That then He has charged you with; haply you will understand.

And that you approach not the property of the orphan, save in the fairer manner, until he is of age. And fill up the measure and the balance with justice. We charge not any soul save to its capacity. And when you speak, be just, even if it should be to a near kinsman. And fulfil God's covenant. That then He has charged you with; haply you will remember.

And that this is My path, straight; so do you follow it, and follow not divers paths lest they scatter you from His path. That then He has charged you with; haply you will be godfearing.'

Then We gave Moses the Book, complete for him who does good, and distinguishing every thing, and as a guidance and a mercy; haply they would believe in the encounter with their Lord.

This is a Book We have sent down, blessed; so follow it, and be godfearing; haply so you will find mercy;

lest you should say, 'The Book was sent down only upon two parties before us, and we have indeed been heedless of their study';

or lest you say, 'If the Book had been sent down upon us, we had surely been more rightly guided than they.' Yet indeed a clear sign has come to you from your Lord, and a guidance and a mercy; and who does greater evil than he who cries lies to God's signs, and turns away from them? We shall surely recompense those who turn away from Our signs with an evil chastisement for their turning away.

What, do they look for the angels to come to them, nothing less, or that thy Lord should come, or that one of thy Lord's signs should come? On the day that one of thy Lord's signs comes it shall not profit a soul to believe that never believed before, or earned some good in his belief. Say: 'Watch and wait; We too are waiting.'

Those who have made divisions in their religion and become sects, thou art not of them in anything; their affair is unto God, then He will tell them what they have been doing.

Whoso brings a good deed shall have ten the like of it; and whoso brings an evil deed shall only be recompensed the like of it; they shall not be wronged.

Say: 'As for me, my Lord has guided me to a straight path, a right religion, the creed of Abraham, a man of pure faith; he was no idolater.'

Say: 'My prayer, my ritual sacrifice, my living, my dying -- all belongs to God, the Lord of all Being.

No associate has He. Even so I have been commanded, and I am the first of those that surrender.'

Say: 'Shall I seek after a Lord other than God, who is the Lord of all things?' Every soul earns only to its own account, no soul laden bears the load of another. Then to your Lord shall you return, and He will tell you of that whereon you were at variance.

It is He who has appointed you viceroys in the earth, and has raised some of you in rank above others, that He may try you in what He has given you. Surely thy Lord is swift in retribution; and surely He is All-forgiving, All-compassionate.