Al-Hijr

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Alif. Lam. Ra. THESE ARE MESSAGES of revelation -of a discourse clear in itself and clearly showing the truth.

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And it will come to pass that those who are [now] bent on denying this truth will wish that they had surrendered themselves to God [in their life time].

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Leave them alone; let them eat and enjoy themselves the while the hope [of vain delights] be guiles them: for in time they will come to know [the truth].

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And never have We destroyed any community [for its wrongdoing] unless a divine writ had (previously] been made known to it;

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[but remember that] no community can ever forestall [the end of] its term - and neither can they delay [it].

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And yet, they [who deny the truth] say: "O thou unto whom this reminder has [allegedly] been bestowed from on high: verily, thou art mad!

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Why dost thou not bring before us angels, if thou art a man of truth?

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[Yet] We never send down angels otherwise than in accordance with the [demands of] truth; and [were the angels to appear now,] lo! they [who reject this divine writ] would have no further respite!

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Behold, it is We Ourselves who have bestowed from on high, step by step, this reminder? and, behold, it is We who shall truly guard it [from all corruption].

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AND, INDEED, [O Prophet,] even before thy time did We send [Our apostles] unto communities of old -

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and never yet came an apostle to them without their deriding him.

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Even so do We [now] cause this [scorn of Our message] to pervade the hearts of those who are lost in sin,

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who do not believe in it, although the way which those [evildoers] of olden times had to go has long been within their ken.

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Yet even had We opened to them a gateway to heaven and they had ascended, on and on, up to it,

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they would surely have said, "It is only our eyes that are spellbound! Nay, we have been bewitched!,

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AND, INDEED, We have set up in the heavens great constellations, and endowed them with beauty for all to behold;

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and We have made them secure against every satanic force accursed -

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so that anyone who seeks to learn [the unknowable] by stealth is pursued by a flame clear to see.

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And the earth -We have spread it out wide, and placed on it mountains firm, and caused [life] of every kind to grow on it in a balanced manner,

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and provided thereon means of livelihood for you [O men] as well as for all [living beings] whose sustenance does not depend on you.

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For, no single thing exists that does not have its source with Us; and nought do We bestow from on high unless it be in accordance with a measure well-defined.

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And We let loose the winds to fertilize [plants] and We send down water from the skies and let you drink thereof: and it is not you who dispose of its source-

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for, behold, it is We-We alone -who grant life and deal death, and it is We alone who shall remain after all else will have passed away!

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And well do We know [the hearts and deeds of all human beings - both] those who lived before you and those who will come after you;

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and, behold, it is thy Sustainer who will gather them all together [on Judgment Day]: verily, He is wise, all-knowing!

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AND, INDEED, We have created man out of sounding clay, out of dark-slime transmuted

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whereas the invisible beings We had created, [long] before that, out of the fire of scorching winds.

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And lo! Thy Sustainer said unto the angels: "Behold, I am about to create mortal man out of sounding clay, out of dark slime transmuted;

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and when I have formed him fully and breathed into him of My spirit, fall down before him in prostration!

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Thereupon the angels prostrated themselves, all of them together,

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save Iblis: he refused to be among those who prostrated themselves.

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Said He: "O Iblis! What is thy reason for not being among those who have prostrated themselves?"

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[Iblis] replied: "It is not for me to prostrate myself before mortal man whom Thou hast created out of sounding clay, out of dark slime transmuted!"

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Said He: "Go forth, then, from this [angelic state]: for, behold, thou art [henceforth] accursed,

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and [My] rejection shall be thy due until the Day of Judgment!"

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Said [Iblis]: "Then, O my Sustainer, grant me a respite till the Day when all shall be raised from the dead!"

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Answered He: "Verily, so be it: thou shalt be among those who are granted respite

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till the Day the time whereof is known [to Me alone]."

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[Whereupon Iblis] said: "O my Sustainer! Since Thou hast thwarted me, I shall indeed make [all that is evil] on earth seem goodly to them, and shall most certainly beguile them-into grievous error -

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[all] save such of them as are truly Thy servants!"

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Said He: "This is, with Me. a straight way:

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verily, thou shalt have no power over My creatures- unless it be such as are [already] lost in grievous error and follow thee [of their own will]:

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and for all such, behold, hell is the promised goal.

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with seven gates leading into it, each gate receiving its allotted share of sinners. -

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VERILY, those who are conscious of God [shall find themselves in the hereafter] amidst gardens and springs,

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[having been received with the greeting,] "Enter here in peace, secure!"

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And [by then] We shall have removed whatever unworthy thoughts or feelings may have been [lingering] in their breasts, [and they shall rest] as brethren, facing one another [in love] upon thrones of happiness.

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No weariness shall ever touch them in this [state of bliss], and never shall they have to forgo it.

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Tell My servants that I - I alone - am truly forgiving, a true dispenser of grace;

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and [also,] that the suffering which I shall impose [on sinners] will indeed be a suffering most grievous.

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AND TELL THEM [once again] about Abraham's guests -

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[how,] when they presented themselves before him and bade him peace, he answered: "Behold, we are afraid of you!"

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Said they: "Fear not! Behold, we bring thee the glad tiding of [the birth of] a son who will be endowed with deep knowledge."

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Said he: "Do you give me this glad tiding despite the fact that old age has overtaken me? Of what [strange thing], then, are you giving me a tiding!"

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They answered: "We have given thee the glad tiding of something that is bound to come true. - so be not of those who abandon hope!"

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[Abraham] exclaimed: "And who-other than those who have utterly lost their way-could ever abandon the hope of his Sustainer's grace?"

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He added: "And what [else] may you have in view, O you [heavenly] messengers?"

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They answered: "We are sent to people lost in sin [who are to be destroyed],

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barring Lot's household, all of whom, behold, we shall save -

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excepting only his wife, [of whom God says,] `We have ordained [that], behold, she should be among those who stay behind!'

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AND WHEN the messengers [of God] came to the house of Lot,

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he said: "Behold, you are people unknown [here]!"

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They answered: "Nay, but we have come unto thee with [the announcement of] something that they [who are given to evil] have always been wont to call in question,

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and we are bringing thee the certainty [of its fulfilment]: for, behold, we are speaking the truth indeed.

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Go, then., with thy household while it is yet night, with thyself following them in the rear; and let none of you look back, but proceed whither you are bidden."

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And [through Our messengers] We revealed unto him this decree: "The last remnant of those [sinners] shall be wiped out" in the morn."

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And the people of the city came [unto Lot], rejoicing at the glad tiding.

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Exclaimed [Lot]: "Behold, these are my guests: so put me not to shame,

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but be conscious of God and disgrace me not!"

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They answered: "Have we not forbidden thee [to offer protection] to any kind of people?"

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[Lot] said: "[Take instead] these daughters of mine, if you must do [whatever you intend to do]!"

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[But the angels spoke thus:] "As thou livest, [O Lot, they will not listen to thee:] behold, in their delirium [of lust] they are but blindly stumbling to and fro!"

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And thereupon the blast [of Our punishment] overtook them at the time of sunrise,

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and We turned those [sinful towns} upside down, and rained down upon them stone-hard blows of chastisement pre-ordained.

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Verily, in all this there are messages indeed for those who can read the signs:

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for, behold, those [towns] stood by a road that still exists.

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Verily, herein lies a message indeed for all who believe [in God].

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AND THE DWELLERS of the wooded dales [of Madyan, too,] were inveterate evildoers,

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and so We inflicted Our retribution on them. And, behold, both these [sinful communities] lived by a highway, [to this day] plain to see

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AND, [likewise,] indeed, the people of Al-Hijr gave the lie to [Our] message-bearers:

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for We did vouchsafe them Our messages, but they obstinately turned their backs upon them-

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notwithstanding that they had been wont [to enjoy Our blessings and] to hew out dwellings from the mountains, [wherein they could live] in security

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and so the blast [of Our punishment] overtook them at early morn,

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and of no avail to them was all [the power] that they had acquired.

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AND [remember:] We have not created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them without [an inner] truth; but, behold, the Hour [when this will become clear to all] is indeed yet to come. Hence, forgive [men's failings] with fair forbearance:

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verily, thy Sustainer is the all-knowing Creator of all things!

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AND, INDEED, We have bestowed upon thee seven of the oft repeated [verses], and [have, thus, laid open before thee] this sublime Qur'an:

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[so] turn, not thine eyes [longingly] towards the worldly benefits which We have granted unto some of those [that deny the truth]. And neither grieve over those [who refuse to heed thee], but spread the wings of thy tenderness over the believers,

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and say: "Behold, I am indeed the plain warner [promised by God]!

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[For, thou art the bearer of a divine writ] such as We have bestowed from on high upon those who [afterwards] broke it up into parts,

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[and] who [now] declare this Qur'an to be [a tissue of] falsehoods!

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But, by thy Sustainer! [On the Day of Judgment] We shall indeed call them to account, one and all,

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for whatever they have done!

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Hence, proclaim openly all that thou hast been bidden [to say], and leave alone all those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God:

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verily, We shall suffice thee against all who [now] deride [this message - all]

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who assert that there are, side by side with God, other divine powers as well: for in time they will come to know [the truth].

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And well do We know that thy bosom is constricted by the [blasphemous] things that they say:

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but extol thou thy Sustainer's limitless glory and praise Him, and be of those who prostrate themselves [before Him] in adoration,

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and worship thy Sustainer till death comes to thee.