Sura XXVII (27)
The Ant
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In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Ta.
Sad. These are the signs (verses) of the Koran and of the lucid Book;
Guidance
and glad tidings to the believers who observe prayer and pay the stated alms,
and believe firmly -- do they -- in the life to come.
As to
those who believe not in the life to come, we have made their own doings fair
seeming to them, and they are bewildered therein.
These
are they whom the woe of chastisement awaiteth; and in the next life they shall
suffer -- yes shall they -- greatest loss;
But
thou hast certainly received the Koran from the Wise, the Knowing.
Bear
in mind when Moses said to his family, "I have perceived a fire;
I will
bring you tidings from it, or will bring you a blazing brand, that you may warm
you."
And
when he came to it, he was called to, "Blessed, He who is in the fire, and
He who is about it; and glory be to God, the Lord of the worlds!
O
Moses! verily, I am God, the Mighty, the Wise!
27:10 Throw down now thy staff." And
when he saw that it moved itself as though it were a serpent, he retreated
backward and returned not. "O Moses, fear not; for the Sent Ones fear not
in my presence,
Save
he who having done amiss shall afterwards exchange the evil for good; for I am
Forgiving, Merciful.
Put
now thy hand into thy bosom: it shall come
forth white, yet free from hurt: one of the
nine signs to Pharaoh and his people; for a perverse people are they."
And
when our signs were wrought in their very sight, they said, "This is plain
magic."
And
though in their souls they knew them to be true, yet in their wickedness and
pride they denied them. But see what was the end of the corrupt doers!
And of
old we gave knowledge to David and Solomon:
and they said, "Praise be to God, who hath made us to excel many of his
believing servants!"
And in
knowledge Solomon was David's heir. And he said, "O men, we have been
taught the speech of birds, and are endued with everything. This is indeed a
clear boon from God."
And to
Solomon were gathered his hosts of Djinn and men and birds, and they were
marched on in bands,
Till
they reached the Valley of Ants. Said an ant, "O you ants, enter your
dwellings, lest Solomon and his army crush you and know it not."
Then
smiled Solomon, laughing at her words, and he said, "Stir me up, O Lord,
to be thankful for thy favour which thou hast shewed upon me and upon my
parents, and to do righteousness that shall be well pleasing to thee, and bring
me in, by thy mercy, among thy servants the righteous."
27:20 And he reviewed the birds, and said,
"How is it that I see not the lapwing? Is it one of the absent?
Surely,
with a severe chastisement will I chastise it, or I will certainly slaughter
it, unless it bring me a clear excuse."
Nor
tarried it long ere it came and said, "I have gained the knowledge that
thou knowest not, and with sure tidings have I come to thee from Saba:
I
found a woman reigning over them, gifted with everything, and she hath a
splendid throne;
And I
found her and her people worshipping the sun instead of God; and Satan hath
made their works fair seeming to them, so that he hath turned them from the Way: wherefore they are not guided,
To the
worship of God, who bringeth to light the secret things of heaven and earth,
and knoweth what men conceal and what they manifest:
God!
there is no god but He! the lord of the glorious throne!"
He
said, "We shall see whether thou hast spoken truth, or whether thou art of
them that lie.
Go
with this my letter and throw it down to them:
then turn away from them and await their answer."
She
said, "O my nobles! an honourable letter hath been thrown down to me:
27:30 It is from Solomon; and it is this: 'In the name of God, the Compassionate, the
Merciful!
Set
not up yourselves against me, but come to me submitting (Muslims).'"
She
said, "O my nobles, advise me in mine affair:
I decide it not without your concurrence."
They
said, "We are endued with strength and are endued with mighty valour. --
But to command is thine: See therefore what
thou wilt command us."
She
said, "Kings when they enter a city spoil it, and abase the mightiest of
its people: and in like manner will these also
do.
But I
will send to them with a gift, and await what my envoys bring back."
And
when the messenger came to Solomon, he said, "Aid you me with riches? But
what God hath given to me is better than what he hath given you: yet you glory in your gifts:
Return
to them: for we will surely come to them with
forces which they cannot withstand, and we will drive them from their land
humbled and contemptible."
Said
he, "O nobles, which of you will bring me her throne before they come to
me, submitting?: (Muslims)."
And
Efreet of the Djinn said: "I will bring
it thee ere thou risest from thy place: I have
power for this and am trust."
27:40 And one who had the knowledge of
Scripture said, "I will bring it to thee in the twinkling of an eye."
And when he saw it set before him, he said, 'This is of the favour of my Lord,
to try me whether I will be thankful or unthankful. And he who is thankful is
thankful to his own behoof; and as for him who is unthankful -- truly my Lord
is self-sufficient, bounteous!"
Said
he, "Make her throne so that she know it not:
we shall see whether she hath or hath not guidance."
And
when she came he said, "is thy throne like this?" She said, "As
though it were the same." "And we," said he, "have had
knowledge given us before her, and have been Muslims."
But
the gods she had worshipped instead of God had led her astray: for she was of a people who believe not.
It was
said to her, "Enter the Palace:" and
when she saw it, she thought it a lake of water, and bared her legs. He said,
"It is a palace paved with glass."
She
said, "O my Lord! I have sinner against my own soul, and I resign myself,
with Solomon, to God the Lord of the Worlds."
And of
old we sent to Themoud their brother Saleh, with "Serve you God:" but lo! they became two sets of disputants
wrangling with each other.
He
said, "O my people, why, if you ask not pardon of God that you may find
mercy, hasten you on evil rather than good?"
They
said, "We augur ill concerning thee and those who are with thee." He
said, "The ills of which you augur depend on God. But you a a people on
your trial."
And
there were in the city nine persons who committed excesses in the land and did
not that which is right.
27:50 They said, "Swear you to one
another by God that we will surely fall on him and on his family by night: then will we say to the avenger of blood, we
witnessed not the destruction of his family:
and verily we speak the truth."
And
they devised a device, and we devised a device, and they were not aware of it
--
And
see what the was the end of their device! We destroyed them and their whole
people:
And
for their sin these their houses are empty ruins:
Verily in this is a sign to those who understand;
And we
delivered those who believed and feared.
And
Lot, when he said to his people, "What! proceed you to such filthiness
with your eyes open?
What!
come you with lust unto men rather than to women? Surely you are an ignorant
people."
And
the answer of his people was but to say, "Cast out the family of Lot from
your city: they, forsooth, are men to
purity!"
So we
rescued him and his family: but as for his
wife, we decreed her to be of them that lingered:
And we
rained a rain upon them, and fatal was the rain to those who had had their
warning.
27:60 Say:
Praise be to God and peace by on His servants whom He hath chosen! Is God the
more worthy or the gods they join with Him?
Is not
He who hath made the Heavens and the Earth, and hath sent down rain to you from
Heaven, by which we cause the luxuriant groves to spring up? It is not in your
power to cause its trees to spring up! What! A god with God? Yet they find
equals for Him!
Is not
He, who hath set the earth so firm, and hath made rivers in its midst, and hath
placed mountains upon it, and put a barrier between the two seas? What! a god
with God? Yet the greater part of them have no knowledge!
Is not
He the more worthy who answereth the oppressed when they cry to
him,
and taketh off their ills, and maketh you to succeed your sires on the earth?
What! a god with God? How few bear these things in mind!
Is not
He, who guideth you in the darkness of the land and of the sea, and who sendeth
forth the winds as the forerunners of His mercy? What! a god with God? Far from
God be what you join with Him!
Is not
He, who created a Being, then reneweth it, and who supplieth you out of the
Heaven and the Earth? What! a god with God? Say:
Bring forth your proofs if you speak the truth.
Say: None either in the Heavens or in the Earth knoweth
the unseen but God. And they know not
When
they shall be raised.
- Yet
they have attained to a knowledge of the life to come:
-- yet are they in doubt about it: -- yet are
they blind about it!
And
the unbelievers say: "When we and our
fathers have been dead shall we be taken forth?
27:70 Of old have we been promised this, we
and our sires of old: it is but fables of the
ancients."
Say: Go you through the land, and see what hath been
the end of the wicked.
And
grieve not thou for them, nor be in distress at their devisings.
And
they say, "When will this promise be made good, if you speak true?"
Say: Haply a part of what you desire to be hastened may
be close behind you.
And
truly thy Lord is full of goodness towards men:
But most of them are not thankful.
And
thy Lord knoweth well what their breasts enshroud, and what they bring to
light,
And
there is no secret thing in the Heaven or on the Earth, but it is in the clear
Book.
Truly
this Koran declareth to the children of Israel most things wherein they
disagree:
And it
is certainly guidance and a mercy to the faithful.
27:80 Verily, by his wisdom will thy Lord
decide between them: for He is the Mighty, the
Knowing.
Put
thou then thy trust in God: for thou hast
clear truth on thy side.
Thou
shalt not make the dead to hear; neither shalt thou make the deaf to hear the
call, when they turn away backward;
Neither
art thou the guide of the blind out of their errors:
none truly shalt thou make to hear but those who believe our signs: and they are Muslims.
When
the doom shall be ready to light upon them, we will cause a monster to come
forth to them out of the earth, and cry to them, "Verily men have not
firmly believed our signs."
And on
that day shall be gathered out of eery nation a company of those who have
gainsaid our signs, in separate bands;
Till
they come before God, who will say, "Treated you my signs as impostures,
although you embraced them not in your knowledge? or what is it that you were
doing?
And
doom shall light upon them for their evil deeds, and nought shall they have to
plead.
See
they not that we have ordained the night that they may rest in it, and the day
with its gift of light? Of a truth herein are signs to people who believe.
On
that day there shall be a blast on the trumpet, and all that are in the
heavens, and all that are on the earth shall be terror-stricken, save him whom
God pleaseth to deliver; and all shall come to him in humble guise.
27:90 And thou shalt see the mountains,
which thou thinkest so firm, pass away with the passing of a cloud! 'Tis the
work of God, who ordereth all things! of all that you do is He well aware.
To him
who shall present himself with good works, shall be a reward beyond their
desert, and they shall be secure from the terror on that day;
And
they who shall present themselves with evil shall be flung downward on their
faces into the fire. Shall you be rewarded but as you have wrought?
Say: Specially ma I commanded to worship the Lord of
this land, which He hath sanctified. All things are His:
and I am commanded to be one of those who surrender them to God (a Muslim)
And to
recite the Koran: and whosoever is rightly
guided, assuredly will be rightly guided to his own behoof.
And as
to him who erreth, say, I truly am a warner only. And say, Praise be to God! He
will shew you His signs, and you shall acknowledge them:
and of what you do, thy Lord is not regardless.