Sura XXXVII (37)
The Ranks
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In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
37:1 By the angels ranged in order for
Songs of Praise,
And by
those who repel demons,
And by
those who recite the Koran for warning,
Truly
your God is but one,
Lord
of the Heavens and of the Earth, and of all that is between them, and Lord of
the East.
We have
adorned the lower heaven with the adornment of the stars.
They
serve also as a guard against every rebellious Satan,
That
they overhear not what passeth in the assembly on high, for they are darted at
from every side,
Driven
off and consigned to a lasting torment;
37:10 While, if one steal a word by stealth,
a glistening flame pursueth him.
Ask
the Meccans then, Are they, or the angels whom we have made, the stronger
creation? Aye, of coarse clay have we created them.
But
while thou marvellest they mock;
When
they are warned, no warning do they take;
And
when they see a sign, they fall to mocking,
And
say, "This is no other than clear sorcery:
What!
when dead, and turned to dust and bones, shall we indeed be raised?
Our
sires also of olden times?"
Say,
Yes; and you shall be covered with disgrace.
For,
one blast only, and lo! they shall gaze around them,
37:20 And shall say, "Oh! woe to us!
this is the day of reckoning;
This
is the day of decision which you gainsaid as an untruth."
Gather
together those who have acted unjustly, and their consorts, and the gods whom
they adored
Beside
God; and guide them to the road for Hell.
Set
them forth: they shall be questioned.
"How
now, that you help not one another?"
But on
this day they shall submit themselves to God,
And
shall address one another with mutual reproaches.
They
shall say, "In sooth, you came to us in well-omened sort:"
But
they will answer, "Nay, it was you who would not believe; and we had no
power whatever over you. Nay, you were people given to transgress;
37:30 Just, therefore, is the doom which are
Lord hath passed upon us. We shall surely taste it:
We
made you err, for we had erred ourselves."
Partners
therefore shall be in punishment on that day.
Truly,
thus will we deal with the wicked,
Because
when it was said to them, There is no God but God, they swelled with pride,
And
said, "Shall we then abandon our gods for a crazed poet?"
Nay,
he cometh with truth and confirmeth the Sent Ones of old.
You
shall surely taste the painful punishment,
And
you shall not be rewarded but as you have wrought,
Save
the sincere servants of God!
37:40 A stated banquet shall they have
Of
fruits; and honoured shall they be
In the
gardens of delight,
Upon
couches face to face.
A cup
shall be borne round among them from a fountain,
Limpid,
delicious to those who drink;
It
shall not oppress the sense, nor shall they therewith be drunken.
And
with them are the large-eyed ones with modest refraining glances, fair like the
sheltered egg.
And
they shall address one another with mutual questions.
Saith
one of them, "I truly had a bosom friend,
37:50 Who said, 'Art thou of those who
credit it?
What!
when we shall have died, and become dust and bones, shall we indeed be
judged?'"
He
shall say to those around him, "Will you look?"
And he
shall look and see him in the midst of Hell.
And he
shall say to him, "By God, thou hadst almost caused me to perish;
And,
but for the favour of my Lord, I had surely been of those who have been brought
with thee into torment."
"But
do we not die," say the blessed,
"Any
other than our first death? and have we escaped the torment?"
This
truly is the great felicity!
For
the like of this should the travailers travail!
37:60 Is this the better repast or the tree
Ez-zakkoum?
Verily,
we have made it for a subject of discord to the wicked.
It is
a tree which cometh up from the bottom of hell;
Its
fruits is as it were the heads of Satans;
And,
lo! the damned shall surely eat of it and fill their bellies with it:
Then
shall they have, thereon, a mixture of boiling water:
Then
shall they return to hell.
They
found their fathers erring,
And
they hastened on in their footsteps.
Also
before them the greater number of the ancients had erred,
37:70 Though we had sent warners among them.
But
see what was the end of these warned one,
Except
of God's true servants.
Noah
call on us of old, and right prompt were we to hear him,
And we
saved him and his family out of the great distress,
And we
made his offspring the survivors;
And we
left for him with posterity,
"Peace
be on Noah throughout the worlds!"
Thus
do we reward the well-doers,
For he
was one of our believing servants; --
37:80 And the rest we drowned.
And
truly, of his faith, was Abraham,
When
he brought to his Lord a perfect heart,
When
he said to his father and to his people, "What is this you worship?
Prefer
you with falsehood gods to God?
And
what deem you of the Lord of the worlds?"
So
gazing he gazed towards the starts,
And
said, "In sooth I am ill:
And
they turned their back on him and departed.
He
went aside to their gods and said, "Do you not eat?
37:90 What aileth you that you do not
speak?"
He
broke out upon them, with the right hand striking:
When
his tribesmen came back to him with hasty steps --
He
said, "Worship you what you carve,
When
God hath created you, and that you make?"
They
said, "Build up a pyre for him and cast him into the glowing flame."
Fain
would they plot against him, but we brought them low.
And he
said, "Verily, I repair to my Lord who will guide me:
O Lord
give me a son, of the righteous."
We
announced to him a youth of meekness.
37:100 And when he became a full-grown youth,
His
father said to him, "My son, I have seen in a dream that I should sacrifice
thee; therefore, consider what thou seest right."
He
said, "My father, do what thou art bidden; of the patient, if God please,
shalt thou find me."
And
when they had surrendered them to the will of God, he laid him down upon his
forehead:
We cried
unto him, "O Abraham!
Now
hast thou satisfied the vision,." See how we recompense the righteous.
This
was indeed a decisive test.
And we
ransomed his son with a costly victim,
And we
left this for him among posterity,
"Peace
be on Abraham!"
37-110 Thus do we reward the
well-doers,
For he
was of our believing servants.
And we
announced Isaac to him -- a righteous Prophet --
And on
him and on Isaac we bestowed our blessing. And among their offspring were
well-doers, and others, to their own hurt undoubted sinners.
And of
old, to Moses and to Aaron shewed we favours:
And
both of them, and their people, we rescued from the great distress:
And we
succoured them, and they became the conquerors:
And we
gave them (Moses and Aaron) each the lucid book:
And we
guided them each into the right way:
And we
left this for each among posterity,
37:120 "Peace be on Moses and
Aaron."
Thus
do we reward the well-doers,
For
they were two of our believing servants.
And
Elias truly was of our Sent Ones,
When
he said to his people, "Fear you not God?
Invoke
you Baal and forsake you the most skilful Creator?
God is
your Lord, and the Lord of your sires of old?"
But
they treated him as a liar, and shall therefore be consigned to punishment,
Except
God's faithful servants.
And we
left this for him among posterity,
37:130 "Peace be on Eliasin!"
Thus
do we reward the well-doers.
For he
was one of our believing servants.
And
Lot truly was of our Sent Ones,
When
we rescued him and all his family,
Save
an aged woman among those who tarried.
Afterward
we destroyed the others.
And
you indeed pass by their ruined dwellings at morn
And
night: will you not then reflect?
Jonas,
too, was one of the Apostles,
37:140 When he fled into the laden ship,
And
lots were cast, and he was doomed,
And
the fish swallowed him, for he was blameworthy.
But
had he not been of those who praise Us,
In its
belly had he surely remained, till the day of resurrection.
And we
cast him on the bare shore -- and he was sick; --
And we
caused a gourd-plant to grow up over him,
And we
sent him to a hundred thousand persons, or even more,
And
because they believed, we continued their enjoyments for a season.
Inquire
then of the Meccans whether thy Lord hath daughters, and they, sons?
37:150 Have we created the angels females?
and did they witness it?
Is it
not a falsehood of their own devising, when they say,,
"God
hath begotten"? They are indeed liars.
Would
he have preferred daughters to sons?
What
reason have you for thus judging?
Will
you not then receive this warning?
Have
you a clear proof for them?
Produce
your Book if you speak truth.
And
they make him to be of kin with the Djinn: but
the Djinn have long known that these idolaters shall be brought up before God.
Far be
the glory of God from what they impute to him.
37:160 "His faithful servants do not
thus.
Moreover,
you and what you worship
Shall
not stir up any against God,
Save
him who shall burn in Hell.
And
verily each one of us hath his appointed place,
And we
range ourselves in order,
And we
celebrate His praises."
And if
those infidels say,
"Had
we a revelation transmitted to us from those of old,
We had
surely been God's faithful servants."
37:170 Yet they believe not the Koran. But
they shall know its truth at last.
Our
word came of old to our servants the apostles,
That
they should surely be the succoured,
And
that our armies should procure the victory for them.
Turn
aside therefore from them for a time,
And
behold them, for they too shall in the end behold their doom.
Would
they then hasten our vengeance?
But
when it shall come down into their courts, an evil morning shall it be to those
who have had their warning.
Turn
aside from them therefore for a time.
And
behold; for they too shall in the end behold their doom.
37:180 Far be the glory of thy Lord, the Lord
of all greatness, from what they impute to him,
And
peace be on his Apostles!
And
praise be to God the Lord of the worlds.