Al-Anbiya
We Answered Him
In the name of God, the All-Benevolent, the Benevolent. Mankind's reckoning has drawn near, while they are turned away in heedlessness.
بسم ٱلله ٱلرحمن ٱلرحيم ٱقترب للناس حسابهم وهم في غفلة معرضونNo new reminder comes to them from their Guardian without their listening to it while playing, their core distracted.
ما يأتيهم من ذكر من ربهم محدث إلا ٱستمعوه وهم يلعبون لاهية قلوبهمThose who did wrong kept their secret talk hidden: 'Is this anything but a human like yourselves?'
وأسروا ٱلنجوى ٱلذين ظلموا هل هذآ إلا بشر مثلكمWill you then go along with illusion, while you can see clearly?
أفتأتون ٱلسحر وأنتم تبصرونHe said: 'My Guardian knows what is said in the heaven and on the earth,
قال ربي يعلم ٱلقول في ٱلسمآء وٱلأرضand He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.'
وهو ٱلسميع ٱلعليمThey said instead: 'A jumble of confused dreams! He has rather invented it! He is rather a beguiling rhetorician!
بل قالوا أضغث أحلم بل ٱفترىه بل هو شاعرLet him then bring us a sign, just as the earlier ones were sent with.'
فليأتنا باية كمآ أرسل ٱلأولونNo city that We annihilated before them had believed —
مآ ءامنت قبلهم من قرية أهلكنهآwill they, then, believe?
أفهم يؤمنونAnd We sent, before you, none but men to whom We revealed: so ask the keepers of the Reminder, if you do not know.
ومآ أرسلنا قبلك إلا رجالا نوحي إليهم فسلوا أهل ٱلذكر إن كنتم لا تعلمونWe did not make them bodies that ate no food,
وما جعلنهم جسدا لا يأكلون ٱلطعامnor were they immortal.
وما كانوا خلدينThen We fulfilled the promise for them: We saved them and whoever We willed, and We annihilated the excessive.
ثم صدقنهم ٱلوعد فأنجينهم ومن نشآء وأهلكنا ٱلمسرفينWe have sent down to you a Writ in which is your remembrance —
لقد أنزلنآ إليكم كتبا فيه ذكركمwill you not, then, reason?
أفلا تعقلونHow many a city, doing wrong, have We shattered, bringing forth after it another people!
وكم قصمنا من قرية كانت ظالمة وأنشأنا بعدها قوما ءاخرينThen, when they sensed Our rigor, at once they were fleeing from it.
فلمآ أحسوا بأسنآ إذا هم منها يركضون'Do not flee — return to the affluence you were given and to your dwellings, so that you may be questioned.'
لا تركضوا وٱرجعوا إلى مآ أترفتم فيه ومسكنكم لعلكم تسلونThey said: 'Woe to us — we have indeed been wrongdoers!'
قالوا يويلنآ إنا كنا ظلمينThat cry did not cease until We made them a mown harvest, extinguished.
فما زالت تلك دعوىهم حتى جعلنهم حصيدا خمدينWe did not create the heaven and the earth, and what is between them, in play.
وما خلقنا ٱلسمآء وٱلأرض وما بينهما لعبينHad We wished to take on a distraction, We would have taken it from within Ourself,
لو أردنآ أن نتخذ لهوا لٱتخذنه من لدنآhad We been ones to do so.
إن كنا فعلينWe hurl truth against falsehood instead, so it crushes it, and at once it vanishes.
بل نقذف بٱلحق على ٱلبطل فيدمغه فإذا هو زاهقWoe to you for what you describe!
ولكم ٱلويل مما تصفونTo Him belongs whoever is in the heavens and the earth.
وله من في ٱلسموت وٱلأرضThose who are with Him do not swell with pride against obeying Him, nor do they grow weary;
ومن عنده لا يستكبرون عن عبادته ولا يستحسرونthey glorify Him night and day, never flagging.
يسبحون ٱليل وٱلنهار لا يفترونOr have they taken deities from the earth who deploy [the dead]?
أم ٱتخذوا ءالهة من ٱلأرض هم ينشرونHad there been in them [the heaven and earth] deities other than God, both would have become corrupt.
لو كان فيهمآ ءالهة إلا ٱلله لفسدتاGlory, then, to God, Guardian of the Edifice, above what they describe!
فسبحن ٱلله رب ٱلعرش عما يصفونHe is not questioned about what He does,
لا يسل عما يفعلwhile they will be questioned.
وهم يسلونOr have they taken deities besides Him?
أم ٱتخذوا من دونه ءالهةSay: 'Bring your demonstration.'
قل هاتوا برهنكمThis is the remembrance of those with me, and the remembrance of those before me.
هذا ذكر من معي وذكر من قبليBut most of them do not know the truth, so they turn away.
بل أكثرهم لا يعلمون ٱلحق فهم معرضونWe did not send any messenger before you without revealing to him that there is no deity but Me — so obey Me.
ومآ أرسلنا من قبلك من رسول إلا نوحي إليه أنه لآ إله إلآ أنا فٱعبدونAnd they said: 'The All-Benevolent has taken a child.'
وقالوا ٱتخذ ٱلرحمن ولداGlory be to Him!
سبحنهThey are rather honoured obedient ones,
بل عباد مكرمونwho do not precede Him in saying, and who act by His command.
لا يسبقونه بٱلقول وهم بأمره يعملونHe knows what is before them and what is behind them,
يعلم ما بين أيديهم وما خلفهمand they intercede only for whom He approves, while they, dreading Him, are apprehensive.
ولا يشفعون إلا لمن ٱرتضى وهم من خشيته مشفقونWhoever among them were to say, 'I am a deity besides Him' — that one We would recompense with Jahannam:
ومن يقل منهم إني إله من دونه فذلك نجزيه جهنمthus do We recompense the wrongdoers.
كذلك نجزي ٱلظلمينHave those who disowned not seen that the heavens and the earth were a joined mass, and We split them apart?
أولم ير ٱلذين كفروا أن ٱلسموت وٱلأرض كانتا رتقا ففتقنهماAnd We made every living thing from water —
وجعلنا من ٱلمآء كل شىء حىwill they not, then, believe?
أفلا يؤمنونAnd We placed firm anchors on the earth, lest it sway with them,
وجعلنا في ٱلأرض روسي أن تميد بهمand We made in it passes and ways, so that they might be guided.
وجعلنا فيها فجاجا سبلا لعلهم يهتدونAnd We made the heaven a preserved ceiling,
وجعلنا ٱلسمآء سقفا محفوظاwhile they turn away from its signs.
وهم عن ءايتها معرضونIt is He who created the night and the day, the sun and the moon —
وهو ٱلذي خلق ٱليل وٱلنهار وٱلشمس وٱلقمرeach sailing in an orbit.
كل في فلك يسبحونWe did not grant immortality to any human before you —
وما جعلنا لبشر من قبلك ٱلخلدso if you were to die, would they be immortal?
أفإين مت فهم ٱلخلدونEvery Self will taste death,
كل نفس ذآئقة ٱلموتand We test you with bad and with good, as a trial;
ونبلوكم بٱلشر وٱلخير فتنةand to Us you will be returned.
وإلينا ترجعونWhen those who disowned see you, they take you as nothing but an object of mockery:
وإذا رءاك ٱلذين كفروا إن يتخذونك إلا هزوا'Is this the one who mentions your deities?' — while they themselves disown the remembrance of the All-Benevolent.
أهذا ٱلذي يذكر ءالهتكم وهم بذكر ٱلرحمن هم كفرونThe human being was created out of haste.
خلق ٱلإنسن من عجلI will show you My signs, so do not ask Me to hasten.
سأوريكم ءايتي فلا تستعجلونAnd they say: 'When will this promise be, if you are truthful?'
ويقولون متى هذا ٱلوعد إن كنتم صدقينIf only those who disowned knew — the moment when they will not be able to keep the Fire off their faces or their backs, and will not be helped...
لو يعلم ٱلذين كفروا حين لا يكفون عن وجوههم ٱلنار ولا عن ظهورهم ولا هم ينصرونIt [the Hour] will come to them instead, suddenly, and stun them, so that they will not be able to repel it, nor will they be granted any respite.
بل تأتيهم بغتة فتبهتهم فلا يستطيعون ردها ولا هم ينظرونMessengers before you were indeed mocked, and what they used to mock enveloped those who mocked them.
ولقد ٱستهزئ برسل من قبلك فحاق بٱلذين سخروا منهم ما كانوا به يستهزءونSay: 'Who guards you, by night and by day, from the All-Benevolent?'
قل من يكلؤكم بٱليل وٱلنهار من ٱلرحمنYet they turn away from the remembrance of their Guardian.
بل هم عن ذكر ربهم معرضونOr do they have deities that protect them against Us?
أم لهم ءالهة تمنعهم من دونناThey cannot help themselves, nor are they granted any aid against Us.
لا يستطيعون نصر أنفسهم ولا هم منا يصحبونWe rather gave enjoyment to these and to their fathers, until life grew long for them.
بل متعنا هؤلآء وءابآءهم حتى طال عليهم ٱلعمرDo they not see that We come to the earth, reducing it from its edges?
أفلا يرون أنا نأتي ٱلأرض ننقصها من أطرافهآAre they, then, the victors?
أفهم ٱلغلبونSay: 'I only warn you by the revelation' —
قل إنمآ أنذركم بٱلوحيbut the deaf do not hear the call when they are warned.
ولا يسمع ٱلصم ٱلدعآء إذا ما ينذرونAnd if a breath of your Guardian's punishment were to touch them, they would surely say: 'Woe to us — we have indeed been wrongdoers!'
ولئن مستهم نفحة من عذاب ربك ليقولن يويلنآ إنا كنا ظلمينAnd We shall set up the balances of equity for the Day of Appearance, so that no Self will be wronged in the least;
ونضع ٱلموزين ٱلقسط ليوم ٱلقيمة فلا تظلم نفس شياand even if it be the weight of a mustard seed, We shall bring it forth — and We suffice as reckoners.
وإن كان مثقال حبة من خردل أتينا بها وكفى بنا حسبينWe certainly gave Moussa and Harun the Criterion, a brightness, and a remembrance for those who guard themselves, who dread their Guardian without seeing Him, and are apprehensive of the Hour.
ولقد ءاتينا موسى وهرون ٱلفرقان وضيآء وذكرا للمتقين ٱلذين يخشون ربهم بٱلغيب وهم من ٱلساعة مشفقونAnd this is a blessed remembrance that We have sent down —
وهذا ذكر مبارك أنزلنهwill you, then, disavow it?
أفأنتم له منكرونWe certainly gave Ibrahim his rectitude before, and We knew him well.
ولقد ءاتينآ إبرهيم رشده من قبل وكنا به علمينWhen he said to his father and his people: "What are these statues before which you remain posted?"
إذ قال لأبيه وقومه ما هذه ٱلتماثيل ٱلتي أنتم لها عكفونThey said: 'We found our fathers obeying them.'
قالوا وجدنآ ءابآءنا لها عبدينHe said: 'You and your fathers were indeed in manifest error.'
قال لقد كنتم أنتم وءابآؤكم في ضلل مبينThey said: 'Have you come to us with the truth, or are you one of those who play?'
قالوا أجئتنا بٱلحق أم أنت من ٱللعبينHe said: 'Your Guardian is rather the Guardian of the heavens and the earth, who originated them,
قال بل ربكم رب ٱلسموت وٱلأرض ٱلذي فطرهنand I am, among you, one of those who bear witness to that.'
وأنا على ذلكم من ٱلشهدينAnd by God, I will surely devise something against your idols after you have turned your backs and gone.
وتٱلله لأكيدن أصنمكم بعد أن تولوا مدبرينSo he broke them into pieces, except a great one of theirs, so that they might return to it.
فجعلهم جذذا إلا كبيرا لهم لعلهم إليه يرجعونThey said: 'Who has done this to our deities? He is surely one of the wrongdoers!'
قالوا من فعل هذا بالهتنآ إنه لمن ٱلظلمينThey said: 'We heard a young man mention them; he is called Ibrahim.'
قالوا سمعنا فتى يذكرهم يقال له إبرهيمThey said: 'Bring him, then, before the eyes of the people, so that they may witness.'
قالوا فأتوا به على أعين ٱلناس لعلهم يشهدونThey said: 'Is it you who did this to our deities, Ibrahim?'
قالوا ءأنت فعلت هذا بالهتنا يإبرهيمHe said: 'It was rather this, their great one, who did it — ask them, if they can utter anything.'
قال بل فعله كبيرهم هذا فسلوهم إن كانوا ينطقونSo they turned back to themselves and said: 'It is you, indeed, who are the wrongdoers.'
فرجعوا إلى أنفسهم فقالوا إنكم أنتم ٱلظلمونThen they were turned back upon their heads [in confusion]:
ثم نكسوا على رءوسهم'You know well that these utter nothing!'
لقد علمت ما هؤلآء ينطقونHe said: 'Do you, then, obey besides God what neither benefits nor harms you in anything?
قال أفتعبدون من دون ٱلله ما لا ينفعكم شيا ولا يضركمFie upon you, and upon what you obey besides God!
أف لكم ولما تعبدون من دون ٱللهWill you not, then, reason?'
أفلا تعقلونThey said: 'Burn him, and help your deities, if you are going to act!'
قالوا حرقوه وٱنصروا ءالهتكم إن كنتم فعلينWe said: 'O fire, be coolness and peace upon Ibrahim.'
قلنا ينار كوني بردا وسلما على إبرهيمThey intended a scheme against him, but We made them the greatest losers.
وأرادوا به كيدا فجعلنهم ٱلأخسرينAnd We saved him, and Lut, to the land that We blessed for all beings.
ونجينه ولوطا إلى ٱلأرض ٱلتي بركنا فيها للعلمينAnd We granted him Ishaq,
ووهبنا له إسحقand Yaacoub, as a further gift.
ويعقوب نافلةAnd each of them We made righteous.
وكلا جعلنا صلحينAnd We made them leaders who guide by Our command,
وجعلنهم أئمة يهدون بأمرناand We revealed to them the doing of good deeds, the maintaining of the Contact, and the giving of the purifying alms;
وأوحينآ إليهم فعل ٱلخيرت وإقام ٱلصلوة وإيتآء ٱلزكوةand they were obedient ones of Us.
وكانوا لنا عبدينAnd to Lut We gave judgment and knowledge,
ولوطا ءاتينه حكما وعلماand We saved him from the city that used to commit vile practices —
ونجينه من ٱلقرية ٱلتي كانت تعمل ٱلخبئثthey were indeed an evil people, oversteppers.
إنهم كانوا قوم سوء فسقينAnd We admitted him into Our benevolence,
وأدخلنه في رحمتنآfor he was indeed among the righteous.
إنه من ٱلصلحينAnd Nuh, when he called out earlier: We answered him, and saved him and his family from the immense distress.
ونوحا إذ نادى من قبل فٱستجبنا له فنجينه وأهله من ٱلكرب ٱلعظيمAnd We helped him against the people who denied Our signs;
ونصرنه من ٱلقوم ٱلذين كذبوا بايتنآthey were indeed an evil people, so We drowned them all together.
إنهم كانوا قوم سوء فأغرقنهم أجمعينAnd Dawud and Sulayman, when they judged concerning the tilth into which the people's sheep had strayed by night,
وداود وسليمن إذ يحكمان في ٱلحرث إذ نفشت فيه غنم ٱلقومand We were witnesses to their judgment.
وكنا لحكمهم شهدينWe granted Sulayman the understanding of it,
ففهمنها سليمنand to each of them We gave judgment and knowledge.
وكلا ءاتينا حكما وعلماAnd We subjected the mountains to glorify with Dawud, and the birds as well;
وسخرنا مع داود ٱلجبال يسبحن وٱلطيرand it was We who did it.
وكنا فعلينAnd We taught him the making of coats of mail for you, so that it might protect you from your own violence —
وعلمنه صنعة لبوس لكم لتحصنكم من بأسكمwill you, then, be grateful?
فهل أنتم شكرونAnd to Sulayman, the raging wind, running by his command to the land that We blessed,
ولسليمن ٱلريح عاصفة تجري بأمره إلى ٱلأرض ٱلتي بركنا فيهاand We had knowledge of all things.
وكنا بكل شىء علمينAnd among the Diverters were some who dived for him and performed other tasks besides that;
ومن ٱلشيطين من يغوصون له ويعملون عملا دون ذلكand We were their preserver.
وكنا لهم حفظينAnd Ayyub, when he called out to his Guardian: 'Harm has touched me, and You are the most benevolent of the benevolent!'
وأيوب إذ نادى ربه أني مسني ٱلضر وأنت أرحم ٱلرحمينSo We answered him and lifted the harm that was upon him,
فٱستجبنا له فكشفنا ما به من ضرand We restored his family to him, and as many again with them, as a benevolence from Us, and a remembrance for the obedient ones.
وءاتينه أهله ومثلهم معهم رحمة من عندنا وذكرى للعبدينAnd Ismail, and Idris, and Dhul-Kifl:
وإسمعيل وإدريس وذا ٱلكفلeach was among the patient.
كل من ٱلصبرينAnd We admitted them into Our benevolence,
وأدخلنهم في رحمتنآfor they were indeed among the righteous.
إنهم من ٱلصلحينAnd Dhu'n-Nun, when he went off in anger and thought that We would have no power over him: he called out in the darknesses: 'There is no deity but You! Glory be to You! I have indeed been among the wrongdoers!'
وذا ٱلنون إذ ذهب مغضبا فظن أن لن نقدر عليه فنادى في ٱلظلمت أن لآ إله إلآ أنت سبحنك إني كنت من ٱلظلمينSo We answered him and saved him from anguish;
فٱستجبنا له ونجينه من ٱلغمand thus do We save the believers.
وكذلك نجي ٱلمؤمنينAnd Zakariya, when he called out to his Guardian: 'My Guardian, do not leave me alone, though You are the best of inheritors!'
وزكريآ إذ نادى ربه رب لا تذرني فردا وأنت خير ٱلورثينSo We answered him, and granted him Yahya, and made his wife fit [to bear a child] for him;
فٱستجبنا له ووهبنا له يحيى وأصلحنا له زوجهthey used to hasten to good deeds, and call upon Us in longing and in reverence, and were humble before Us.
إنهم كانوا يسرعون في ٱلخيرت ويدعوننا رغبا ورهبا وكانوا لنا خشعينAnd Maryam, who protected her intimacy: We breathed into her of Our Influx, and made her and her son a sign for all beings.
وٱلتي أحصنت فرجها فنفخنا فيها من روحنا وجعلنها وٱبنهآ ءاية للعلمينThis community of yours is a single community, and I am your Guardian — obey Me, then.
إن هذه أمتكم أمة وحدة وأنا ربكم فٱعبدونBut they split their affair among themselves;
وتقطعوا أمرهم بينهمall will return to Us.
كل إلينا رجعونSo whoever does righteous deeds, being a believer, his effort will never be disowned —
فمن يعمل من ٱلصلحت وهو مؤمن فلا كفران لسعيهand We are indeed recording it for him.
وإنا له كتبونAnd it is forbidden, for a city that We have annihilated, that they should return —
وحرم على قرية أهلكنهآ أنهم لا يرجعونuntil Gog and Magog are opened, and they come streaming down from every height, and the true promise draws near — then at once the eyes of those who disowned stare fixedly: 'Woe to us! We were heedless of this — we have rather been wrongdoers!'
حتى إذا فتحت يأجوج ومأجوج وهم من كل حدب ينسلون وٱقترب ٱلوعد ٱلحق فإذا هي شخصة أبصر ٱلذين كفروا يويلنا قد كنا في غفلة من هذا بل كنا ظلمينYou, and what you obey besides God, are the fuel of Jahannam — you will come to it.
إنكم وما تعبدون من دون ٱلله حصب جهنم أنتم لها وردونHad these been deities, they would not have come to it;
لو كان هؤلآء ءالهة ما وردوهاand all will abide in it eternally.
وكل فيها خلدونIn it they will have groaning, and in it they will hear nothing.
لهم فيها زفير وهم فيها لا يسمعونAs for those to whom the best has already gone forth from Us, those will be kept far from it:
إن ٱلذين سبقت لهم منا ٱلحسنى أولئك عنها مبعدونthey will not hear its faintest sound, and they will abide eternally in what their Self desires.
لا يسمعون حسيسها وهم في ما ٱشتهت أنفسهم خلدونThe greatest fright will not grieve them,
لا يحزنهم ٱلفزع ٱلأكبرand the Agents will receive them: 'This is your day, the one you were promised.'
وتتلقىهم ٱلملئكة هذا يومكم ٱلذي كنتم توعدونThe day We fold up the heaven as a binder closes over the writings it holds,
يوم نطوي ٱلسمآء كطى ٱلسجل للكتبjust as We began the first creation, We shall repeat it —
كما بدأنآ أول خلق نعيدهa promise binding upon Us:
وعدا علينآWe shall indeed do it.
إنا كنا فعلينWe have certainly written in the Formulary, after the Remembrance, that the earth will be inherited by My righteous obedient ones.
ولقد كتبنا في ٱلزبور من بعد ٱلذكر أن ٱلأرض يرثها عبادي ٱلصلحونIn this there is surely a sufficient message for a people of obedient ones.
إن في هذا لبلغا لقوم عبدينAnd We did not send you except as a benevolence for all beings.
ومآ أرسلنك إلا رحمة للعلمينSay: 'It is only revealed to me that your deity is a single deity —
قل إنما يوحى إلى أنمآ إلهكم إله وحدwill you, then, be true to Him alone?'
فهل أنتم مسلمونIf they turn away, then say: 'I have informed you all equally,
فإن تولوا فقل ءاذنتكم على سوآءand I have no idea whether what you are promised is near or far.'
وإن أدري أقريب أم بعيد ما توعدونHe indeed knows what is said aloud, and He knows what you conceal.
إنه يعلم ٱلجهر من ٱلقول ويعلم ما تكتمونAnd I have no idea — perhaps it is a trial for you, and an enjoyment for a while.'
وإن أدري لعله فتنة لكم ومتع إلى حينHe said: 'My Guardian, judge with truth;
قل رب ٱحكم بٱلحقand our Guardian is the All-Benevolent, whose help is sought against what you describe.'
وربنا ٱلرحمن ٱلمستعان على ما تصفون