The Criterion

That We may give life thereby to a dead land, and We give to drink thereof many of the cattle and men that We had created.

Blessed be He Who sent down the criterion (of right and wrong, i.e. this Quran) to His slave (Muhammad SAW) that he may be a warner to the 'Alamin (mankind and jinns).

He to Whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and Who has begotten no son (children or offspring) and for Whom there is no partner in the dominion. He has created everything, and has measured it exactly according to its due measurements.

Yet they have taken besides Him other aliha (gods) that created nothing but are themselves created, and possess neither hurt nor benefit for themselves, and possess no power (of causing) death, nor (of giving) life, nor of raising the dead.

Those who disbelieve say: "This (the Quran) is nothing but a lie that he (Muhammad SAW) has invented, and others have helped him at it, so that they have produced an unjust wrong (thing) and a lie."

And they say: "Tales of the ancients, which he has written down, and they are dictated to him morning and afternoon."

Say: "It (this Quran) has been sent down by Him (Allah) (the Real Lord of the heavens and earth) Who knows the secret of the heavens and the earth. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

And they say: "Why does this Messenger (Muhammad SAW) eat food, and walk about in the markets (like ourselves). Why is not an angel sent down to him to be a warner with him?

"Or (why) has not a treasure been granted to him, or why has he not a garden whereof he may eat?" And the Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers, etc.) say: "You follow none but a man bewitched."

See how they coin similitudes for you, so they have gone astray, and they cannot find a (Right) Path.

Blessed be He Who, if He will, will assign you better than (all) that, - Gardens under which rivers flow (Paradise) and will assign you palaces (i.e. in Paradise).

Nay, they deny the Hour (the Day of Resurrection), and for those who deny the Hour, We have prepared a flaming Fire (i.e. Hell).

When it (Hell) sees them from a far place, they will hear its raging and its roaring.

And when they shall be thrown into a narrow place thereof, chained together, they will exclaim therein for destruction.

Exclaim not today for one destruction, but exclaim for many destructions.

Say: (O Muhammad SAW) "Is that (torment) better or the Paradise of Eternity promised to the Muttaqun (pious and righteous persons - see V. 2:2)?" It will be theirs as a reward and as a final destination.

For them there will be therein all that they desire, and they will abide (there forever). It is a promise binding upon your Lord that must be fulfilled.

And on the Day when He will gather them together and that which they worship besides Allah [idols, angels, pious men, saints, 'Iesa (Jesus) - son of Maryam (Mary), etc.]. He will say: "Was it you who misled these My slaves or did they (themselves) stray from the (Right) Path?"

They will say: "Glorified be You! It was not for us to take any Auliya' (Protectors, Helpers, etc.) besides You, but You gave them and their fathers comfort till they forgot the warning, and became a lost people (doomed to total loss).

Thus they (false gods all deities other than Allah) will give you (polytheists) the lie regarding what you say (that they are gods besides Allah), then you can neither avert (the punishment), nor get help. And whoever among you does wrong (i.e. sets up rivals to Allah), We shall make him taste a great torment.

And We never sent before you (O Muhammad SAW) any of the Messengers but verily, they ate food and walked in the markets. And We have made some of you as a trial for others: will you have patience? And your Lord is Ever All-Seer (of everything).

And those who expect not for a Meeting with Us (i.e. those who deny the Day of Resurrection and the life of the Hereafter), say: "Why are not the angels sent down to us, or why do we not see our Lord?" Indeed they think too highly of themselves, and are scornful with great pride.

On the Day they will see the angels, no glad tidings will there be for the Mujrimun (criminals, disbelievers, polytheists, sinners, etc.) that day. And they (angels) will say: "All kinds of glad tidings are forbidden for you," [None will be allowed to enter Paradise except the one who said: La ilaha ill-Allah, "(none has the right to be worshipped but Allah) and acted practically on its legal orders and obligations].

And We shall turn to whatever deeds they (disbelievers, polytheists, sinners, etc.) did, and We shall make such deeds as scattered floating particles of dust.

The dwellers of Paradise (i.e. those who deserved it through their Faith and righteousness) will, on that Day, have the best abode, and have the fairest of places for repose.

And (remember) the Day when the heaven shall be rent asunder with clouds, and the angels will be sent down, with a grand descending.

The sovereignty on that Day will be the true (sovereignty), belonging to the Most Beneficent (Allah), and it will be a hard Day for the disbelievers (those who disbelieve in the Oneness of Allah Islamic Monotheism).

And (remember) the Day when the Zalim (wrong-doer, oppressor, polytheist, etc.) will bite at his hands, he will say: "Oh! Would that I had taken a path with the Messenger (Muhammad SAW).

"Ah! Woe to me! Would that I had never taken so-and-so as a friend!

"He indeed led me astray from the Reminder (this Quran) after it had come to me. And Shaitan (Satan) is ever a deserter to man in the hour of need."

And the Messenger (Muhammad SAW) will say: "O my Lord! Verily, my people deserted this Quran (neither listened to it, nor acted on its laws and orders).

Thus have We made for every Prophet an enemy among the Mujrimun (disbelievers, polytheists, criminals, etc.). But Sufficient is your Lord as a Guide and Helper.

And those who disbelieve say: "Why is not the Quran revealed to him all at once?" Thus (it is sent down in parts), that We may strengthen your heart thereby. And We have revealed it to you gradually, in stages. (It was revealed to the Prophet SAW in 23 years.).

And no example or similitude do they bring (to oppose or to find fault in you or in this Quran), but We reveal to you the truth (against that similitude or example), and the better explanation thereof.

Those who will be gathered to Hell (prone) on their faces, such will be in an evil state, and most astray from the (Straight) Path.

And indeed We gave Musa (Moses) the Scripture [the Taurat (Torah)], and placed his brother Harun (Aaron) with him as a helper;

And We said: "Go you both to the people who have denied Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.)." Then We destroyed them with utter destruction.

And Nuh's (Noah) people, when they denied the Messengers We drowned them, and We made them as a sign for mankind. And We have prepared a painful torment for the Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers, etc).

And (also) 'Ad and Thamud, and the dwellers of Ar-Rass, and many generations in between.

And for each of them We put forward examples (as proofs and lessons, etc.), and each (of them) We brought to utter ruin (because of their disbelief and evil deeds).

And indeed they have passed by the town [of Prophet Lout (Lot)] on which was rained the evil rain. Did they (disbelievers) not then see it (with their own eyes)? Nay! But they used not to expect for any resurrection.

And when they see you (O Muhammad SAW), they treat you only as a mockery (saying):"Is this the one whom Allah has sent as a Messenger?

"He would have nearly misled us from our aliha (gods), had it not been that we were patient and constant in their worship!" And they will know when they see the torment, who it is that is most astray from the (Right) Path!

Have you (O Muhammad SAW) seen him who has taken as his ilah (god) his own desire? Would you then be a Wakil (a disposer of his affairs or a watcher) over him?

Or do you think that most of them hear or understand? They are only like cattle; nay, they are even farther astray from the Path. (i.e. even worst than cattle).

Have you not seen how your Lord spread the shadow. If He willed, He could have made it still then We have made the sun its guide [i.e. after the sunrise, it (the shadow) squeezes and vanishes at midnoon and then again appears in the afternoon with the decline of the sun, and had there been no sun light, there would have been no shadow].

Then We withdraw it to Us a gradual concealed withdrawal.

And it is He Who makes the night a covering for you, and the sleep (as) repose, and makes the day Nushur (i.e. getting up and going about here and there for daily work, etc. after one's sleep at night or like resurrection after one's death).

And it is He Who sends the winds as heralds of glad tidings, going before His Mercy (rain), and We send down pure water from the sky,

And indeed We have distributed it (rain or water) amongst them in order that they may remember the Grace of Allah, but most men refuse (or deny the Truth or Faith) and accept nothing but disbelief or ingratitude.

And had We willed, We would have raised a warner in every town.

So obey not the disbelievers, but strive against them (by preaching) with the utmost endeavour, with it (the Quran).

And it is He Who has let free the two seas (kinds of water), one palatable and sweet, and the other salt and bitter, and He has set a barrier and a complete partition between them.

And it is He Who has created man from water, and has appointed for him kindred by blood, and kindred by marriage. And your Lord is Ever All-Powerful to do what He will.

And they (disbelievers, polytheists, etc.) worship besides Allah, that which can neither profit them nor harm them, and the disbeliever is ever a helper (of the Satan) against his Lord.

And We have sent you (O Muhammad SAW) only as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner.

Say: "No reward do I ask of you for this (that which I have brought from my Lord and its preaching, etc.), save that whosoever wills, may take a Path to his Lord.

And put your trust (O Muhammad SAW) in the Ever Living One Who dies not, and glorify His Praises, and Sufficient is He as the All-Knower of the sins of His slaves;

Who created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in six Days. Then He Istawa (rose over) the Throne (in a manner that suits His Majesty). The Most Beneficent (Allah)! Ask Him (O Prophet Muhammad SAW), (concerning His Qualities, His rising over His Throne, His creations, etc.), as He is Al-Khabir (The All-Knower of everything i.e. Allah).

And when it is said to them: "Prostrate to the Most Beneficent (Allah)! They say: "And what is the Most Beneficent? Shall we fall down in prostration to that which you (O Muhammad SAW) command us?" And it increases in them only aversion.

Blessed be He Who has placed in the heaven big stars, and has placed therein a great lamp (sun), and a moon giving light.

And He it is Who has put the night and the day in succession, for such who desires to remember or desires to show his gratitude.

And the slaves of the Most Beneficent (Allah) are those who walk on the earth in humility and sedateness, and when the foolish address them (with bad words) they reply back with mild words of gentleness.

And those who spend the night before their Lord, prostrate and standing.

And those who say: "Our Lord! Avert from us the torment of Hell. Verily! Its torment is ever an inseparable, permanent punishment."

Evil indeed it (Hell) is as an abode and as a place to dwell.

And those, who, when they spend, are neither extravagant nor niggardly, but hold a medium (way) between those (extremes).

And those who invoke not any other ilah (god) along with Allah, nor kill such life as Allah has forbidden, except for just cause, nor commit illegal sexual intercourse and whoever does this shall receive the punishment.

The torment will be doubled to him on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide therein in disgrace;

Except those who repent and believe (in Islamic Monotheism), and do righteous deeds, for those, Allah will change their sins into good deeds, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

And whosoever repents and does righteous good deeds, then verily, he repents towards Allah with true repentance.

And those who do not witness falsehood, and if they pass by some evil play or evil talk, they pass by it with dignity.

And those who, when they are reminded of the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of their Lord, fall not deaf and blind thereat.

And those who say: "Our Lord! Bestow on us from our wives and our offspring who will be the comfort of our eyes, and make us leaders for the Muttaqun" (pious - see V. 2:2 and the footnote of V. 3:164)."

Those will be rewarded with the highest place (in Paradise) because of their patience. Therein they shall be met with greetings and the word of peace and respect.

Abiding therein; excellent it is as an abode, and as a place to dwell.

Say (O Muhammad SAW to the disbelievers): "My Lord pays attention to you only because of your invocation to Him. But now you have indeed denied (Him). So the torment will be yours for ever (inseparable permanent punishment)."