Sura LVII (57)
Iron
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In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
All
that is in the Heavens and in the Earth praiseth God, and He is the Mighty, the
Wise!
His
the Kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth; He maketh alive and killeth; and
He hath power over all things!
He is
the first and the last; the Seen and the Hidden; and He knoweth all things!
It is
He who in six days created the Heavens and the Earth, then ascended His throne.
He knoweth that which entereth the earth, and that which goeth forth from it,
and what cometh down from Heaven, and what mounteth up to it; and wherever you
are, He is with you; and God beholdeth all your actions!
His is
the kingdom of the Heavens and the Earth; and to God shall all things return!
He
causeth the night to pass into the day, and He causeth the day to pass into the
night: and He knoweth the very secrets of the
bosom!
Believe
in God and his apostle, and bestow in alms of that whereof God hath made you
heirs: for whoever among you believe and give
alms -- their's shall be a great recompense.
What
hath come to you that you believe not in God, although the apostle exhorteth
you to believe in your Lord, and He hath accepted your alliance -- if you are
true believers?
He it
is who hath sent down clear tokens upon His servant, that He may bring you out
of darkness into light; and truly, Kind, Merciful to you is God.
57:10 And what hath come to you that you
expend not for the cause of God? since the heritage of the Heavens and of the
Earth is God's only! Those among you who contributed before the victory, and
fought, shall be differently treated from certain others among you! Such shall
have a nobler grade than those who contributed and fought after it. But a
goodly recompense hath God promised to all; and God is fully informed of your
actions.
Who is
he that will lend a generous loan to God? So will He double it to him, and he
shall have a noble reward.
One
day thou shalt see the believers, men and women, with their light running
before them, and on their right hand. The angels shall say to them, "Good
tidings for you this day of gardens beneath whose shades the rivers flow, in
which you shall abide for ever!" This the great bliss!
On
that day the hypocrites, both men and women, shall say to those who believe,
"Tarry for us, that we may kindle our light at yours." It shall be
said, "Return you back, and seek light for yourselves." But between
them shall be set a wall with a gateway, within which shall be the Mercy, and
in front, without it, the Torment. They shall cry to them, "Were we not
with you?" They shall say, "Yes! but you led yourselves into
temptation, and you delayed, and you doubted, and the good things you craved
deceived you, till the doom of God arrived: --
and the deceiver deceived you in regard to God."
On
that day, therefore, no ransom shall be taken from you or from those who
believe not: -- your abode the fire! -- This
shall be your master! and wretched the journey thither!
Hath
not the time come, for those who believe, to humble their hearts at the warning
of God and at the truth which he hath sent down? and that they be not as those
to whom the Scriptures were given heretofore, whose lifetime was prolonged, but
whose hearts were hardened, and many of them were perverse?
Know
that God quickeneth the earth after its death! Now have we made these signs
clear to you, that you may understand.
Verily,
they who give alms, both men and women, and they who lend a generous loan to
God, -- doubled shall it be to them -- and they shall have a noble recompense.
And
they who believed in God and his apostle are the men of truth, and the
witnesses in the presence of their Lord. They shall have their recompense and
their light: But as for the infidels, and
those who give the lie to our signs, these shall be the inmates of Hell.
Know
you that this world's life is only a sport, and pastime, and show, and a cause
of vainglory among among you! And the multiplying of riches and children is
like the plants which spring up after rain -- Their growth rejoiceth the
husbandman; then they wither away, and thou seest them all yellow; then they
become stubble. And in the next life is a severe chastisement,
57:20 Or else pardon from God and His
satisfaction: and this world's life is but a
cheating fruition.
Vie in
hasting after pardon from your Lord, and Paradise -- whose outspread is as the
outspread of the Heaven and of the Earth:
Prepared is it for those who believe in God and His apostles: Such is the bounty of God:
to whom He will He giveth it: and of immense
bounty is God!
No
mischance chanceth either on earth or in your own persons, but ere we created
them, it was in the Book; -- for easy is this to God --
Lest
you distress yourselves if good things escape you, and be over joyous for what
falleth to your share. God loveth not the presumptuous, the boaster,
Who
are covetous themselves and incite others to covetousness. But whoso turneth
away from almsgiving -- Ah! God is the Rich, the Praiseworthy.
We
have sent our apostles with the clear tokens, and we have caused the Book and
the balance to descend with them, that men might observe fairness. And we have
sent down iron. Dire evil resideth in it, as well as advantage, to mankind! God
would know who will assist Him and his apostle in secret. Verily, God is
Powerful, Strong.
And of
old sent we Noah and Abraham, and on their seed conferred the gift of prophecy,
and the Book; and some of them we guided aright; but many were evil doers.
Then
we caused our apostles to follow in their footsteps; and we caused Jesus the
son of Mary to follow them; and we gave him the Evangel, and we put into the
hearts of those who followed him kindness and compassion: but as to the monastic life, they invented it themselves. The
desire only of pleasing God did we prescribe to them, and this they observed
not as it ought to have been observed: but to
such of them as believed gave we their reward, though many of them were
perverse.
O you
who believe! fear God and believe in his apostle:
two portions of his mercy will He give you. He will bestow on you light to walk
in, and He will forgive you: for God is
Forgiving, Merciful;
That
the people of the Book may know that they have no control over aught of the
favours of God, and that these gifts of grace are in the hands of God, and that
He vouchsafeth them to whom he will; for God is of immense bounty.