Sura LXXIII (73)
The Enfolded
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In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
O Thou
enfolded in thy mantle,
Stand
up all night, except a small port of it, for prayer:
Half
or curtail the half a little, --
Or add
to it: And with measured tone intone the
Koran,
For we
shall devolve on thee weighty words.
Verily,
at the oncoming of night are devout impressions strongest, and words are most
collected;
But in
the day time thou hast continual employ --
And
commemorate the name of thy Lord, and devote thyself to Him with entire
devotion.
Lord
of the East and of the West! No God is there but He! Take Him for thy
protector,
73:10 And endure what they say with
patience, and depart from them with a decorous departure.
And
let Me alone with the gainsayers, rich in the pleasures of this life; and bear
thou with them yet a little while:
For
with Us are strong fetters, and a flaming fire,
And
food that choketh, and a sore torment.
The
day cometh when the earth and the mountains shall be shaken; and the mountains
shall become a loose sand heap.
Verily,
we have sent you an Apostle to witness against you, even as we sent an Apostle
to Pharaoh:
But
Pharaoh rebelled against the Apostle, and we therefore laid hold on him with a
severe chastisement.
And
how, if you believe not, will you screen yourselves from the day that shall
turn children greyheaded?
The
very heaven shall be reft asunder by it: this
threat shall be carried into effect.
Lo!
this is a warning. Let him then who will, take the way to his Lord.
73:20 Of a truth, thy Lord knoweth that thou
prayest almost two-thirds, or half, or a third of the night, as do a part of
thy followers. But God measureth the night and the day:
-- He knoweth that you cannot count its hours aright, and therefore, turneth to
you mercifully. Recite then so much of the Koran as may be easy to you. He
knoweth that there will be some among you sick, while others travel through the
earth in quest of the bounties of God; and other do battle in his cause. Recite
therefore so much of it as may be easy. And observe the Prayers and pay the
legal Alms, and lend God a liberal loan: for
whatever good works you send on before for your own behoof, you shall find with
God. This will be best and richest in the recompense. And seek the forgiveness
of God: verily, God is forgiving, Merciful.