The Criterion

That We may quicken thereby a dead land, and We give drink thereof to that which We have created of cattle and human beings many.

Blest be He who hath revealed the Criterion unto His bondman thathe may be unto the worlds a warner.

He whose is the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and who hath not taken a son, and for whom there is not an associate in the dominion, and who hath created everything, and measured it according to a measurement.

And they have taken beside Him gods creating not aught and are themselves created, owning for themselves neither hurt nor benefit, and owning not death nor life nor resurrection.

And those who disbelieve, say. this is naught but a falsehood thathe hath fabricated and there have assisted him therein other people. so surelythey have aimed at a wrong and a fraud.

And they say: fables of the ancients which he hath had written down, so they are dictated unto him, morning and evening.

Say thou; He hath sent it down Who knoweth the secret of the heavens and the earth; verily He is ever Forgiving, Merciful.

And they say: what aileth this apostle: he eateth food and walketh about the market-places: wherefore is not an angel sent down unto him, so thathe may be along with him a warner '

Or, whereforeis not there cast down unto him a treasure or he has a garden whereof he may eat! And the wrong-doeray: ye follow only a man bewitched.

Behold how they propound similitudes for thee! so they have strayed and cannot find a way.

Blest is He Who, if He willed, shall appoint for them something better than that: gardens whereunder the rivers flow, and appoint for them palaces.

Aye! they belie the Hour; and We have gotten ready for him who belieth the Hour a Flame.

When it beholdeth them from afar, they shall hear it raging and roaring.

And when they are flung into a strait place thereof, bound Up, they shall call therein unto death.

Call not to-day for a single death but call for death manifold.

Say thou: in that better or Garden of Abidence that hath been promised to the God-fearing! It shall be theirs as a recompense and a retreat.

Theirs therein shall be all that they wish for, as abiders; a promise from thy Lord to be asked for.

And on the Dav whereon He will gather them and that v; hich they worship beside Allah and will say. are ye the ones who sent astray these My bondmen; or strayed they themselves from the way!

They will say; hallowed be Thou! it behoved us not that we should take beside Thee any patron, but Thou allovvedest them and their fathers enjoyment Until they forgat the admonition, and they were a people doomed.

So now they belie you in that which ye said; so ye are not able to obtain diversion nor help. And who soever of you doth wrong, him We shall make taste a great torment.

And We have not sent before thee ony of the sent ones but verily they ate food and walked about in the market places. And We have made some of you unto some others a temptation; will ye have patience! And thy Lord is ever a Beholder. pART XIX

And those who fear not the meeting with Usl say: wherefore are not angels sent down unto us or wherefore we see not our Lord! Assuredly they have proven stiff-necked in their souls and have exceeded the bounds with excess great.

The Day whereon they shall behold the angels on that day there will be nea joy for the culprits, and they will say: away! away!

And We shall set upon that which they worked, and shall make it as dust wind-scattered.

Fellows of the Garden shall be on that Day in a goodly abode and a gocdly re pose.

And on the Day whereon the heaven shall be rent asunderg from the q clouds and the angelhall be sent downll with a great descending.

The dominion on that Day rhall is; be the true dominion, of the Compassionate, l and it shall be anday upon the infidels hard.

On the Day when the wrong-doer shall gnaw his hands saying: would that had taken with the apostle a way!

Ah! woe unto me! wouldthat had never taken such a one for a friend!

Assuredly he misled me from the admonition after it had come unto ine. Verily the Satan is ever unto man a betrayer.

And the Apostle will say: my lord! verily my people too k this Qur'an as a thing to be shunned.

And even scals We appointed unto every prophet an enemy from among the culprits. And thine Lord sufficeth as GUide and Helper.

And those who disbelieve say: wherefore is the Qur'an not revealed unto him entire at once! Thus---We reveal- that We may establish thy heart there with; and We have repeated it with a repetition.

And they come not unto thee with a similitude but We bring thee the truth and an excellent interpretation.

They who shall be gathered prone on their faces unto Hell-- those shall be worst in respect of place and the most astray in respect of path.

And assuredly We vouchsafed unto Musa the Book and We placed with him his brother Harun as a minister.

Then We said: go ye twain unto a people who have belied Our signs. Then We annihilated them an utter annihilation.

And the people of Nuh! When they belied the apostles We drowned them, and made them a sign unto mankind. And We have gotten ready unto the wrong-doers a torment afflictive,

And the 'Aad and the Thamud and the dwellers of the pass and generations in-between many.

And unto each! We propounded similitude thereunto; and each We ruined an utter ruin.

And assuredly they have gone by the township whereon was rained the evil rain. Are they not wont to see it? Aye! they expect not Resurrection.

And when they behold thee, they hold thee up for mockery: is this the one whom Allah hath sent as an apostle

Well nigh he had led us astray from our gods if we had not persevered towards them. Presently they shall know, When they behold the torment, who, more astray in respect of path.

Hast thou observed him who hath taken as his god his own desire! wilt thou be over him a trustee?

Or deemest thou that most of them hear or understand? They are but like unto the cattle; nay, they are even farther astray from the path.

Hast thou not observed thine lord-how He hath stretched out the shadow? And if He had willed He would have made it still. Then We have made the sun for it an indication.

Then We draw it toward Us with an easy drawing.

And it is He who hath made for you the night a covering, and the sleep; repose, and hath made the day a resurrection.

And it is He who sendeth fort the winds as a herald before His mercy and We send down from the heaven water pure.

And We set it forth among them, that they may be admonished, but most men begrudge aught save infidelity.

And if We had willed, We would have raised up in each town a warner.

Se obey not thou the infidels, but strive against them therewith with a great striving.

And it is He who hath mixed the two seas: this, sweet ond thirst quenching; that, saltish ond bitter; and hath placed between the twain a barrier and a great partition complete.

And it is He who hath created man from water, and then made for him kinship by blood and marriage. And thy Lord is ever potent.

And yet they worship, besides Allah, that which can neither benefit them nor hurt them; and the infidel is ever an aider of the devil against his Lord.

And We sent thee but as a bearer of glad tidings and warner.

Say thou. ask of you no hire for this, save that whosoever will may take unto his Lord a way.

And trust thou in the Living One who dieth not, and hallow His praise; it sufficeth that he of the sins of His bondmen is Aware.

Who created the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is in- between them in six days, then He established Himself on the Throne -the Compassionate! so, concernin Him, ask any one informed.

And when it is said unto them: prostrate yourselves unto the Compassionate, they say: and what is the Compassionate? Shall we prostrate ourselves unto that which thou commandest us? And it increaseth in them aversion.

Blest be He Who hath placed big stars in the heaven, and hath placed therein a lamp and a moon enlightening.

And it is He Who hath appointed the night and the day a succession, for him who desireth to consider or desireth to be grateful.

And the bondmen of the Compassionate are those Who Walk upon the earth meekly and when the ignorant address them, they say peace

And these who pass the night before their Lord, prostrate and standing up.

And these who say: our Lord! avert from us the torment of Hell verily the torment thereof is perishment.

Verily ill it is as an abode and as a station.

And those who when they expend, are neither extravagant nor sparing, and it is a medium in-between.

And those who call not unto anot her god along with Allah and slay not any soul which Allah hath forbidden, save in justification, and commit not fornication. And Whosoever shall do this, Shall incur the meed.

Multiplied for him shall be the torment on the Day of Resurrection, and he shall therein abide disgraced.

Save him who repenteth and believeth and worketh righteous work. Then these! for them Allah shall change their vices into virtues. Verily Allah is ever Forgiving, Merciful.

And whosoever repenteth and worketh righteously, then verily he repenteth toward Allah with a true repentance.

And those who witness not falsehood, and when they pass by some vanity pass by with dignity.

And those who, when they are admonished by the commands of Allah, fall not down thereat, deaf and blind.

And those who say: our Lord bestow on us coolness of eyes from our wives and our offspring, and make us unto the God-fearing a pattern.

Those shall be rewarded with the highest apartment, because they persevered. and therein they shall be met with a greeting and salutation-

Abiders therein: excellent it is as an abode and as a station.

Say thou: my Lord careth not for you were it not for your prayer. whereas ye have even belied, so presently this denial shall come as the cleaving punishment.