Sura XXI (21)
The Prophets
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In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
This
people's reckoning hath drawn nigh, yet, sunk in carelessness, they turn aside.
Every
fresh warning that cometh to them from their Lord they only hear to mock it, --
Their
hearts set on lusts: and they who have done
this wrong say in secret discourse, "Is He more than a man like
yourselves? What! will you, with your eyes open, accede to sorcery?"
Say: "My Lord knoweth what is spoken in the heaven
and on the earth: He is the Hearer, the
Knower."
"Nay,"
say they, "it is the medley of dreams:
nay, he hath forged it: nay, he is a poet: let him come to us with a sign as the prophets of
old were sent."
Before
their time, none of the cities which we have destroyed, believed: will these men, then, believe?
And we
sent none, previous to thee, but men to whom we had revealed ourselves. Ask you
the people who are warned by Scriptures, if you know it not.
We
have them n ot bodies which could dispense with food:
and they were not to live for ever.
Then
made we good our promise to them; and we delivered them and whom we pleased,
and we destroyed the transgressors.
21:10 And now have we sent down to you
"the book," in which is your warning:
What, will you not then understand?
And
how many a guilty city have we broken down, and raised up after it other
peoples:
And
when they felt our vengeance, lo! they fled from it.
"Flee
not," said the angels in mockery, "but come back to that wherein you
revelled, and to your abodes! Questions will haply be put to you."
They
said, "Oh, woe to us! Verily we have been evil doers."
And
this ceased not to be their cry, until we made them like reaped corn, extinct.
We
created not the heaven and the earth, and what is between them, for sport:
Had it
been our wish to find a pastime, we had surely found it in ourselves; -- if to
do so had been our will.
Nay,
we will hurl the truth at falsehood, and it shall smite it, and lo! it shall
vanish. But woe be to you for what you utter of God!
All
beings in the heaven and on the earth are His:
and they who are in his presence disdain not his service, neither are they
wearied:
21:20 They praise Him night and day: they rest not.
Have
they taken gods from the earth who can quicken the dead?
Had
there been in either heaven or earth gods besides God, both surely had gone to
ruin. But glory be to God, the Lord of the throne, beyond what they utter!
He
shall not be asked of his doings, but they shall be asked.
Have
they taken other gods beside Him? Say; Bring forth your proofs that they are
gods. This is the warning of those who are with me, and the warning of those
who were before me: but most of them know not
the truth, and turn aside.
No
apostle have we sent before thee to whom we did not reveal that "Verily
there is no God beside me: therefore worship
me."
Yet
they say, "The God of Mercy hath begotten issue from the angels."
Glory be to Him! Nay, they are but His honoured servants:
They
speak not till He hath spoken; and they do His bidding.
He
knoweth what is before them and what is behind them; and no plea shall they
offer.
Save
for whom He pleaseth; and they tremble for fear of Him.
21:30 And that angel among them who saith
"I am a god beside Him," will we recompense with hell: in such sort will we recompense the offenders.
Do not
the infidels see that the heavens and the earth were both a solid mass, and
that we clave them asunder, and that by means of water we give life to
everything? Will they not then believe?
And we
set mountains on the earth lest it should move with them, and we made on it
broad passages between them as routes for their guidance;
And we
made the heaven a roof strongly upholden; yet turn they away from its signs.
And He
it is who hath created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon, each
moving swiftly in its sphere.
At no
time have we granted to man a life that shall last for ever: if thou then die, shall they live for ever?
Every
soul shall taste of death: and for trial will
we prove you with evil and with good; and unto Us shall you be brought back.
And
when the infidels see thee they receive thee only with scoffs: -- "What! is this he who maketh such mention
of your gods?" Yet when mention is made to them of the God of Mercy, they
believe not.
"Man,"
say they, "is made up of haste." But I will shew you my signs: desire them not then to be hastened.
They
say, "When will this threat be made good? Tell us, if you be men of
truth?"
21:40 Did the infidels but know the time
when they shall not be able to keep the fire of hell from their faces or from
their backs, neither shall they be helped!
But it
shall come on them suddenly and shall confound them; and they shall not be able
to put it back, neither shall they be respited.
Other
apostles have been scoffed at before thee: but
that doom at which they mocked encompassed the scoffers.
Say: Who shall protect you by night and by day from the
God of Mercy? Yet turn they away from the warning of their Lord.
Have
they gods beside Us who can defend them? For their own succour have they no
power; neither shall the gods they join with God screen them from Us.
Yes!
we have given these men and their fathers enjoyments so long as their life
lasted. What! see they not that we come to a land and straiten its borders? Is
it they who are the conquerors?
Say: I only warn you of what hath been revealed to me: but the deaf will not hear the call, whenever they
are warned;
Yet if
a breath of thy Lord's chastisement touch them, they will assuredly say,
"Oh! woe to us! we have indeed been offenders."
Just
balances will we set up for the day of the resurrection, neither shall any soul
be wronged in aught; though, were a work but the weight of a grain of mustard
seed, we would bring it forth to be weighed:
and our reckoning will suffice.
We
gave of old to Moses and Aaron the illumination, and a light and a warning for
the God-fearing,
21:50 Who dread their Lord in secret, and
who tremble for "the Hour."
And
this Koran which we have sent down is a blessed warning:
will you then disown it?
Of old
we gave unto Abraham his direction, for we knew him worthy.
When
he said to his Father and to his people, "What are these images to which
you are devoted?"
They
said, "We found our fathers worshipping them."
He
said, "Truly you and your fathers have been in a plain mistake."
They
said, "Hast thou come unto us in earnest? or art thou of those who
jest?"
He
said, "Nay, your Lord is the Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth, who
hath created them both; and to this am I one of those who witness:
- And,
by God, I will certainly lay a plot against your idols, after you shall have
retired and turned your backs."
So, he
broke them all in pieces, except the chief of them, that to it they might
return, inquiring.
21:60 They said, "Who hath done this to
our gods? Verily he is one of the unjust."
They
said, "We heard a youth make mention of them:
they call him Abraham."
They
said, "Then bring him before the people's eyes, that they may witness
against him."
They
said, "Hast thou done this to our gods, O Abraham?"
He
said, "Nay, that their chief hath done it:
but ask y them, if they can speak."
So
they turned their thoughts upon themselves, and said, "You truly are the
impious persons:"
Then
became headstrong in their former error and exclaimed, "Thou knowest that
these speak not."
He
said, "What! do you then worship, instead of God, that which doth not
profit you at all, nor injure you? Fie on you and on that you worship instead
of God! What! do you not then understand?"
They
said: "Burn him, and come to the succour
of your gods: if you will do anything at
all."
We
said, "O fire! be thou cold, and to Abraham a safety!"
21:70 And they sought to lay a plot against
him, but we made them the sufferers.
And we
brought him and Lot in safety to the land which we have blessed for all human
beings:
And we
gave him Isaac and Jacob as a farther gift, and we made all of them righteous:
We
also made them models who should guide others by our command, and we inspired
them with good deeds and constancy in prayer and almsgiving, and they
worshipped
ud.
And
unto Lot we gave wisdom, and knowledge; and we rescued him from the city which
wrought filthiness; for they were a people, evil, perverse:
And we
caused him to enter into our mercy, for he was of the righteous.
And
remember Noah when aforetime he cried to us and we heard him, and delivered him
and his family from the great calamity;
And we
helped him against the people who treated our signs as impostures. An evil
people verily were they, and we drowned them all.
And
David and Solomon; when they gave judgment concerning a field when some
people's sheep had caused a waste therein; and we were witnesses of their
judgment.
And we
gave Solomon insight into the affair; and on both of them we bestowed wisdom
and knowledge. And we constrained the mountains and the birds to join with
David in our praise: Our doing was it!
21:80 And we taught David the art of making
mail for you, to defend you from each other's violence:
will you therefore be thankful?
And to
Solomon we subjected the strongly blowing wind:
it sped at his bidding to the land we had blessed; for we know all things:
And
sundry Satans who should dive for him and perform other work beside: and we kept watch over them.
And
remember Job: When he cried to his Lord,
"Truly evil hath touched me: but thou art
the most merciful of those who shew mercy."
So we
heard him, and lightened the burden of his woe; and we gave him back his
family, and as many more with them, -- a mercy from us, and a memorial for
those who serve us:
And
Ismael, and Edris and Dhoulkefl -- all steadfast in patience.
And we
caused them to enter into our mercy; for they were of the righteous:
And
Dhoulnoun; when he went on his way in anger, and thought that we had no power
over him. But in the darkness he cried "There is no God but thou: Glory be unto Thee! Verily, I have been one of the
evil doers:"
So we
heard him and rescued him from misery: for
thus recuse we the faithful:
And
Zacharias; when he called upon his Lord saying, "O my Lord, leave not not
childless: but there is no better heir than
Thyself."
21:90 So we heard him, and gave him John,
and we made his wife fit for child- bearing. Verily, these vied in goodness,
and called upon us with love and fear, and humbled themselves before us:
And
her who kept her maidenhood, and into whom we breathed of our spirit, and made
her and her son a sign to all creatures.
Of a
truth, this, your religion, is the one Religion, and I your Lord; therefore
serve me."
But
they have rent asunder this their great concern among themselves into sects.
All of them shall return to us.
And
whoso shall do the things that are right, and be a believer, his efforts shall
not be disowned: and surely will we write them
down for him.
There
is a ban on every city which we shall have destroyed, that they shall not rise
again,
Until
a way is opened for God and Magog, and they shall hasten from every high land,
And
this sure promise shall draw on. And lo! the eyes of the infidels shall stare
amazedly; and they shall say, "Oh, our misery! of this were we careless!
yea, we were impious persons."
Verily,
you, and what you worship beside God, shall be fuel for hell: you shall go down into it.
Were
these gods, they would not go down into it; but they shall all abide in it for
ever.
21:100 Therein shall they groan; but nought
therein shall they hear to comfort them.
But
they for whom we have before ordained good things, shall be far away from it:
Its
slightest sound they shall not hear: in what
their souls longed for, they shall abide for ever:
The
great terror shall not trouble them; and the angel shall meet them with,
"This is your day which you were promised."
On
that day we will roll up the heaven as one rolleth up written scrolls. As we
made the first creation, so will we bring it forth again. This promise bindeth
us; verily, we will perform it.
And
now, since the Law was given, have we written in the Psalms that "my
servants, the righteous, shall inherit the earth."
Verily,
in this Koran is teaching for those who serve God.
We
have not sent thee otherwise than as mercy unto all creatures.
Say: Verily it hath been revealed to me that your God
is one God; are you then resigned to Him? (Muslims.)
But if
they turn their backs, then say: I have warned
you all alike; but I know not whether that with which you are threatened be
nigh or distant.
21:110 God truly knoweth what is spoken
aloud, and He also knoweth that which you hide.
And I
know whether haply this delay be not for your trial, and that you may enjoy
yourselves for a time.
My
Lord saith: Judge you with truth; for our Lord
is the God of Mercy -- whose help is to be sought against what you utter.