Sheba

All praise is to Allah – to Him only belongs all whatever is in the heavens and all whatever is in the earth – and His is the praise in the Hereafter; and He is the Wise, the All Aware.

He knows all that goes into the earth and all that comes out of it, and all that descends from the skies and all that ascends into it; and only He is the Most Merciful, the Oft Forgiving.

And the disbelievers said, “The Last Day will never come upon us”; proclaim, “Surely yes, why not? By oath of my Lord, it will surely come upon you – the All Knowing of the hidden; nothing is hidden from Him – equal to an atom or less than it or greater – in the heavens or in the earth, but it is in a clear Book.”

So that He may reward those who believed and did good deeds; it is these for whom is forgiveness, and an honourable sustenance.

And those who strove in Our signs in order to defeat – for them is a punishment from the severe painful punishments.

And those who received the knowledge know that what is sent down upon you from your Lord is the truth, and it shows the path of the Most Honourable, the Most Praiseworthy.

And the disbelievers said, “Shall we show you a man who will tell you that ‘When you have disintegrated into the smallest pieces, you are to be created again’?”

“Has he fabricated a lie against Allah, or is he insane?” Rather those who disbelieve in the Hereafter are in the punishment and extreme error.

So did they not see what is before them and what is behind them in the sky and the earth? If We will, We can bury them into the earth or cause a part of the sky to fall on them; indeed in this is a sign for every repentant bondman.

And indeed We gave Dawud the utmost excellence from Us; “O the hills and birds, repent towards Allah along with him”; and We made iron soft for him.

“Make large coats of armour and keep proper measure while making; and all of you perform good deeds; I am indeed seeing your deeds.”

And We gave the wind in Sulaiman’s control – its morning journey equal to a month’s course and the evening journey equal to a month’s course; and We sprung a stream of molten copper for him; and from the jinns, who worked before him by the command of his Lord; and those among them who turned away from Our command – We shall make them taste the punishment of the blazing fire.

They made for him whatever he wished – synagogues and statues, basins like ponds, and large pots built into the ground; “Be thankful, O the people of Dawud!” And few among My bondmen are grateful.

So when We sent the command of death towards him, no one revealed his death to the jinns except the termite of the earth which ate his staff; and when he came to the ground, the truth about the jinns was exposed – if they had known the hidden, they would not have remained in the disgraceful toil.

Indeed for (the tribe of) Saba was a sign in their dwelling-place – two gardens on the right and the left; “Eat the sustenance provided by your Lord and be grateful to Him”; a pure land and an Oft Forgiving Lord!

In response they turned away – We therefore sent upon them a tremendous flood, and in exchange of their two gardens gave them two gardens bearing bitter fruit, and tamarisk, and some berries.

We gave them this reward – the recompense of their ingratitude; and whom do We punish, except the ungrateful?

And We had made several towns upon the road between them and the towns which We had blessed – and kept them according to the length of the journey; “Travel safely in them, by night and by day.”

So they said, “Our Lord! Make the stage between our journeys longer” and they wronged themselves – We therefore turned them into fables and scattered them completely with adversity; indeed in this are signs for every greatly enduring, most grateful person.

And indeed Iblis made his assumptions regarding them seem true, so they all followed him except the group of Muslims.

And Satan had no control over them at all, except that We willed to reveal as to who believes in the Hereafter and who is in doubt of it; and your Lord is a Guardian over all things.

Proclaim, “Call those whom you assume (as Gods) besides Allah”; they do not own anything equal even to an atom either in the heavens or in the earth, nor do they have any share in them, nor is any one among them an aide to Allah.

And intercession does not benefit before Him, except for one whom He permits; to the extent that when the fear is removed from their hearts by giving permission, they say to each other, “How splendidly has your Lord spoken!” They say, “All that He has proclaimed is the Truth; and He is the Supreme, the Great.”

Proclaim, “Who provides you sustenance from the sky and the earth?” Proclaim, “Allah – and indeed either we or you are upon guidance, or in open error.”

Proclaim, “You will not be questioned regarding the sins you assume we have committed, nor will we be questioned regarding your misdeeds.”

Say, “Our Lord will bring us all together, and then judge truthfully between us; and He is the Best Judge, the All Knowing.”

Say, “(Dare you) Show me those whom you have matched with Him – never! Rather only He is Allah, the Most Honourable, the Wise.”

And O dear Prophet, We have not sent you except with a Prophethood that covers the entire mankind, heralding glad tidings and warnings, but most people do not know. (Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him – is the Prophet towards all mankind.)

And they say, “When will this promise come, if you are truthful?

Proclaim “For you is the promise of a Day which you cannot postpone by one moment nor can you advance it.”

And the disbelievers said, “We shall never believe in this Qur’an nor in the Books that were before it”; and if only you see, when the unjust will be brought before their Lord; they will hurl allegations on one another; those who were subdued will say to those who were conceited, “If it were not for you, we would have certainly accepted faith.”

Those who were conceited will say to those who were subdued, “Did we stop you from the guidance after it came to you? In fact you yourselves were guilty!”

Those who were subdued will say to those who were conceited, “Rather it was your deceit during night and day, for you commanded us to deny Allah and to set up equals to Him”; and inwardly they began regretting when they saw the punishment; and We placed shackles around the necks of the disbelievers; what recompense will they get except what they used to do?

And whenever We sent a Herald of Warning to any town, its wealthy people said, “We disbelieve in what you have been sent with.”

And they said, “We are greater in wealth and children; we will not be punished!”

Proclaim “Indeed my Lord eases the sustenance for whomever He wills and restricts it for whomever He wills, but most people do not know.”

And your wealth and your children are not capable of bringing you near to Us, but one who believes and did good deeds (is brought close); for them is double the reward – the recompense of their deeds and they are in high positions, in peace.

And those who strive in Our signs in order to defeat, will be brought into the punishment.

Say, “Indeed my Lord eases the sustenance for whomever He wills among His bondmen, and restricts it for whomever He wills; and whatever you spend in Allah's cause, He will restore it; and He is the Best Sustainer.”

And on the day when He will raise them all, and then say to the angels, “Did they worship you?”

They will say, “Purity is to you – only you are our Supporter, not they; in fact they worshipped the jinns; most of them believed only in them.”

So this day you will not have the power to benefit or hurt one another; and We shall say to the unjust, “Taste the punishment of the fire which you used to deny!”

And if Our clear verses are recited to them, they say, “He is nothing but a man who wishes to turn you away from the deities of your forefathers!”; and they say, “This is nothing but a fabricated lie”; and said the disbelievers regarding the truth when it reached them, “This is nothing but obvious magic.”

And We did not give them any Books which they may read, nor did We send to them any Herald of Warning before you.

And those before them had denied – and these have not reached even a tenth of what We had given them – so they denied My Noble Messengers; so how did My rejection turn out?

Proclaim, “I advise you just one thing; that stand up for Allah's sake, in twos and ones, and then think”; there is not a trace of insanity in this companion of yours; he is not but a Herald of Warning for you, before the advent of a severe punishment!

Say, “Whatever fee I might have asked from you upon this, is yours; my reward is only upon Allah; and He is Witness over all things.”

Proclaim, “Indeed my Lord sends down the truth; the All Knowing of all the hidden.”

Proclaim, “The truth has come, and falsehood dare not commence nor return.”

Proclaim, “If I stray, I stray only for my own harm; and if I attain guidance, it is because of what my Lord has sent down to me; indeed He is All Hearing, Close.”

And if only you see, when they will be forced into a terror from which they will be unable to escape, and are seized from a place nearby. (Wherever they go, they are never far).

And they will say, “We accept faith in it”; and how can they attain it from so far away? (After they have crossed the limit of life allotted to them.)

For they had disbelieved in it before; and they hurl allegations without seeing, from far away.

And a barrier is set between them and what they desire*, as was done for their earlier groups; indeed they are in a doubt that deceives. (To accept faith or return to earth)