The Night Journey

GLORY TO HIM who took His votary to a wide and open land from the Sacred Mosque (at Makkah) to the distant Mosque whose precincts We have blessed, that We may show him some of Our signs. Verily He is all-hearing and all-seeing.

We gave Moses the Book, and made it a guidance for the children of Israel that they should not take another protector apart from Me.

O you, the offspring of those We bore (in the ark) with Noah, he was indeed a grateful votary.

We announced to the children of Israel in the Book: "You will surely create disorder twice in the land, and become exceedingly arrogant."

So, when the time of the first prediction came, We sent against you Our creatures full of martial might, who ransacked your cities; and the prediction was fulfilled.

Then We gave you a chance against them, and strengthened you with wealth and children, and increased your numbers (and said):

"If you do good, you will do so for your own good; if you do ill, you will do it for your own loss." So, when the time of the second prediction comes, (We shall rouse another people) to shame you, and enter the Temple as they had done the first time, and to destroy what they conquered utterly.

Your Lord may haply be merciful to you. But if you repeat it, We shall do the same. We have constituted Hell as prison for unbelievers.

Verily this Qur'an directs you to the path that is straight, and gives happy tidings to those who believe and do the right: For them is a great reward.

As for those who do not believe in the Hereafter, We have prepared a painful punishment.

Man prays for evil as he prays for good, for man is hasty.

We have created night and day as two signs, then We efface the sign of the night, and make the sign of the day resplendent that you may seek the bounty of your Lord, and know the computation of years and numbers. We have expounded most distinctly everything.

Round each man's neck We have hung his ledger of deeds, and on the Day of Resurrection will present it as a book spread out (and say):

"Read your ledger; this day you are sufficient to take your own account.

"He who finds the right path does so for himself; and he who goes astray does so to his own loss; and no one who carries a burden bears another's load. We never punish till We have sent a messenger.

"And when We destroy a human habitation We send Our command to (warn) its people living a life of ease; and when they disobey, the sentence against them is justified, and We destroy them utterly.

"How many generations have We laid low after Noah, for your Lord knows and notices well enough the sins of His creatures.

"Whosoever desires what hastes away, We hasten to give him (in this life) as much as We please to whosoever We will; but afterwards there is Hell for him in which he will burn, disgraced and ostracised.

"But he who desires the Hereafter, and strives for it with a will, and is a believer, will be favoured for his endeavour.

"We bestow from the gifts of your Lord on these and on those, for the gifts of your Lord are not restricted.

"See, how We favour one over the other; and in life to come are higher ranks and favours greater still.

"Do not set up another god with God, or you will remain disgraced and destitute.

"So your Lord has decreed: Do not worship anyone but Him, and be good to your parents. If one or both of them grow old in your presence, do not say fie to them, nor reprove them, but say gentle words to them

"And look after them with kindness and love, and say: "O Lord, have mercy on them as they nourished me when I was small."

Your Lord knows what is in your heart. If you are righteous, then He is indeed forgiving to those who turn (to Him) in repentance.

So give to your relatives what is their due, and to those who are needy, and the wayfarers; and do not dissipate (your wealth) extravagantly.

Those who dissipate (their wealth) are the brethren of the devils, and the Devil was ungrateful to his Lord.

If you neglect (your parents) while seeking the bounty of your Lord, of which you are hopeful, speak to them softly.

Do not be niggardly, nor extravagant that you may later feel reprehensive and constrained.

Certainly your Lord provides with open hands whosoever He will, but according to capacity, for He knows and watches His creatures.

Do not abandon your children out of fear of poverty. We will provide for them and for you. Killing them is certainly a great wrong.

And do not go near fornication, as it is immoral and an evil way.

And do not take a life, which God has forbidden, except in a just cause. We have given the right (of redress) to the heir of the person who is killed, but he should not exceed the limits (of justice) by slaying (the killer), for he will be judged (by the same law).

And do not touch the property of the orphans except for bettering it, until they come of age; and fulfil the promise made: You will surely be questioned about the promise.

Give full measure when you are measuring, and weigh on a balanced scale. This is better, and excellent its consequence.

Do not follow that of which you have no knowledge. Verily the ear, the eye, the heart, each will be questioned.

And do not strut about the land with insolence: Surely you cannot cleave the earth, nor attain the height of mountains in stature.

All these are evil and odious to your Lord.

This is some of the wisdom your Lord has revealed to you. So do not take another god apart from God, or you will be cast into Hell, reproved, ostracised.

Has God chosen to give you sons, and taken for Himself daughters from among the angels? You utter grievous things indeed!

We have explained (the truth) in various ways in this Qur'an, that they may be warned; but it only increased their refractoriness.

Say: "Had there been other gods with Him, as they assert, they would surely have sought a way (of opposition) against the Lord of the Throne."

Too glorious and high is He, too exalted for what they say!

The seven skies, the earth, and all that lies within them, sing hallelujas to Him. There is nothing that does not chant His praises, but you do not understand their hymns of praise. He is verily clement and forgiving.

When you recite the Qur'an, We place a hidden veil between you and those who do not believe in the Hereafter;

And We put covers over their hearts and deafness in their ears that they should not understand it. So when you invoke your Lord alone in the Qur'an they turn their backs and walk away.

We know well with what (intent) they hear you, for when they confer privately the wicked say: "You follow but a man deluded."

See, what comparisons they coin for you, and go astray, and thus cannot find the way.

Yet they say: "When we are turned to bones and bits, shall we be raised as a new creation?"

Tell them: "(Even if) you turn to stones or steel,

Or some other created thing which may seem to you most difficult (to create)!" They will then say: "Who will revert us back?" Say: "He who originated you in the first place." They will shake their heads at you and say: "When will that be?" Say: "In the near future, perhaps,

"On the day when He will call you, and you will answer with His praises and imagine you did not tarry but a while."

Tell My creatures only to speak words that are good. Verily Satan sows dissensions: Satan is indeed the acknowledged enemy of mankind.

Your Lord knows you better: He may have mercy on you if He please, or punish you if He will. Yet We have not sent you as warden over them.

Your Lord knows whoever is in the heavens and the earth. We exalted some of the prophets over the others; and to David We gave the Book of Psalms.

Say: "Call those whom you imagine to be gods besides Him; yet they have no power to relieve you of any distress or to avert it."

Those they invoke themselves seek the way to their Lord, (striving) which one of them shall be nearest (to Him); and hope for His grace, and dread His punishment. Indeed, the punishment of your Lord is to be feared!

There is not a habitation We shall not destroy before the Day of Resurrection, or not inflict severe punishment upon it. This is in accordance with the law (of God).

Nothing could stop Us from sending signs except that the earlier people had rejected them as lies. We sent to Thamud the she-camel as a token to make it clear to them, but they treated her cruelly; and We send signs only to deter.

When We said to you: "Verily your Lord circumscribes mankind," and showed you the vision and the accursed tree of the Qur'an, it was as a bone of contention for men. Thus do We (instil) fear in them; but they only transgress the more.

When We asked the angels to bow before Adam, they all bowed but Iblis, who said: "Can I bow before him whom You created from clay?"

(And) said: "Look! This is what you have honoured above me! If You defer (my term) till the Day of Resurrection, I will bring his progeny into complete subjugation, barring a few."

(And God) said: "Away! Whosoever of them follows you will surely have Hell with you as requital -- an ample recompense.

Mislead any of them you may with your voice, attack them with your cavalry and soldiers on foot, share their wealth and children with them, and make promises to them." -- But the promises of Satan are nothing but deceit.

"You will surely have no power over My devotees: Your Lord is sufficient as their protector."

It is your Lord who drives your ships across the seas that you may seek of His bounty. He is verily kind to you.

When a calamity befalls you on the sea, all those you invoke fail you except Him. But when He brings you safely to the shore, you turn away, for man is most ungrateful.

Have you then become so sure that He will not cleave the earth and sink you in it by the shore, or send a gale against you, when you will not find any protector.

Or you feel so secure that He will not send you back (to sea) again or send a gravel-hurtling storm against you, and drown you for your ingratitude? Then you will not find any avenger against Us.

Indeed We have honoured the children of Adam, and carried them over land and sea, provided them with good things for their sustenance, and exalted them over many of Our creatures.

The day We shall summon all men with their leaders, whosoever is given his record in his right hand will be able to read his account, and none will be wronged the breadth of a thread.

But whoso has been blind in this world shall be blind in the world to come, even farther astray from the path.

They had almost led you away from what has been revealed to you, that you may invent things about Us besides those revealed, when they would have taken you as friend.

If We had not kept you constant you had almost leaned towards them.

In that case We would have made you taste a double anguish of life and a double anguish of death, and then you would not have been able to find a helper against Us for yourself.

They had nearly expelled you from the land and driven you away from it. But then, they too would have stayed but a little after you.

This has been Our way with the apostles whom We sent before you. You will not find any variation in Our line of action.

Observe the service of prayer from the sun's declining from the meridian to the darkening of the night, and the recitation at dawn. Indeed the Recitation at dawn is palpably evident.

Say a supererogatory prayer at the hour of the first watch: Your Lord may raise you to a most exalted station.

And pray: "O my Lord, let my entry be with honour, and let my exit be with honour, and grant me power from You which would help (sustain) me."

And say: "Truth has come and falsehood nullified." Verily falsehood is perishable.

What We have sent down of the Qur'an is a healing and a grace for the faithful, and adds only loss for the sinners.

When We are gracious to man he turns away and moves aside; yet when evil befalls him he begins to despair.

Say: "Each one acts according to his disposition, but your Lord knows well who follow the right path."

They ask you about revelation. Say, revelation is by the command of your Lord, and that you have been given but little knowledge.

If We pleased We could take away what We have revealed to you. Then you will not find any one to plead for it with Us,

Unless your Lord have mercy. His blessings on you are great indeed.

Say: "Surely if men and jinns get together to produce the like of this (Qur'an), they will not be able to produce the like of it, however they might assist one another.

We have given examples of every kind to men in this Qur'an in various ways, and even then most men disdain everything but unbelief,

And say: "We will not believe you until you make a spring of water gush forth from the earth for us;

Or, until you acquire an orchard of date-palm trees and grapes, and produce rivers flowing through it;

Or, let chunks of sky fall over us, as you assert (you will); or, bring God and the angels as a surety;

Or, you come to possess a house of gold; or ascend to the skies, though we shall not believe in your having ascended till you bring down a book for us which we could read." Say: "Glory to my Lord. I am only man and a messenger."

Nothing prevented men from believing when guidance came to them, other than (what) they said: "Has God sent (only) a man as messenger?"

Say: "If angels had peopled the earth and walked about in peace and quiet, We would surely have sent to them an angel as messenger.

Tell them: "God is sufficient witness between me and you, for He knows His creatures well, and is well-informed."

He is guided whom God guides. As for him He allows to go astray, you will not find a protector other than Him. We shall raise them on the Day of Resurrection in their own image, blind and dumb and deaf: Their habitation will be Hell. Every time (its fire) subsides We will intensify its flame.

This will be their retribution for having denied Our signs and said: "Once we are turned to bones and bits, can we be raised as a new creation?"

Do they not perceive that God, who created the heavens and the earth, has the power to create the like of them? There is no doubt that. He has fixed a term for them. Even then the wicked disdain everything but unbelief.

Say: "Even if you owned the stores of the mercy of my Lord, you would have held them back for fear of spending them, for man is niggardly."

We gave Moses nine clear signs; so ask the children of Israel. When (Moses) came to them the Pharaoh said: "I think, O Moses, you have been deluded."

He replied: "You know that none but the Lord of the heavens and the earth has sent these (signs) as cogent proof. I truly think, O Pharaoh, your days are done."

Then he sought to turn them out of the land, but We drowned him and all his followers.

After this We told the children of Israel: "Dwell in the land. When the promise of reckoning comes, We shall bring you together from a motley crowd.

We have sent it down with truth, and with truth has (the Qur'an) come down. And We have sent you only to give good news and to warn.

We have divided the Qur'an into parts that you may recite it to men slowly, with deliberation. That is why We sent it down by degrees.

Say: "Believe in it or do not believe: Those who were given knowledge before it bow in adoration when it is read out to them,

And say: "Glory be to our Lord. The promise of our Lord has indeed been fulfilled."

And weeping they kneel down, and this increases their humility.

Say: "Call Him Allah or call Him Ar-Rahman; whatever the name you call Him by, all His names are beautiful." Do not say your prayers too loudly or in too low a voice, but follow a middle coarse.

And say: "All praise be to God who has neither begotten a son nor has a partner in His kingdom; nor has He need of any one to protect Him from ignominy. So extol Him by extolling His majesty."