And the uttermost part of that impious people was cut off. All praise be to G.o.d, the Lord of the Worlds!
SAY: What think ye? If G.o.d should take away your hearing and your sight and set a seal upon your hearts, what G.o.d beside G.o.d would restore them to you?
See! how we vary our wondrous verses (signs)! yet they turn away from them!
SAY: What think ye? If the punishment of G.o.d come on you suddenly or foreseen,12 shall any perish except the impious?
We send not our Sent Ones but as heralds of good news and warners; and whoso shall believe and amend, on them shall come no fear, neither shall they be sorrowful:
But whoso shall charge our signs with falsehood, on them shall fall a punishment for their wicked doings.
SAY: I say not to you, "In my possession are the treasures of G.o.d;" neither say I, "I know things secret;" neither do I say to you, "Verily, I am an angel:" Only what is revealed to me do I follow. SAY: Shall the blind and the seeing be esteemed alike? Will ye not then reflect?
And warn those who dread their being gathered to their Lord, that patron or intercessor they shall have none but Him,-to the intent that they may fear Him!
And thrust not thou away those who cry to their Lord at morn and even, craving to behold his face. It is not for thee in anything to judge of their motives, nor for them in anything to judge of thee. If thou thrust them away thou wilt be of the doers of wrong.
Thus have we made proof of some of them by others, that they may say, "Are these they among us to whom G.o.d hath been gracious?" Doth not G.o.d best know the thankful?
And when they who believe in our signs come to thee, SAY: Peace be upon you!
Your Lord hath laid down for himself a law of mercy; so that if any one of you commit a fault through ignorance, and afterwards turn and amend, He surely will be Gracious, Merciful.
Thus have we distinctly set forth our signs, that the way of the wicked might be made known.
SAY: Forbidden am I to worship those whom ye call on beside G.o.d. SAY: I will not follow your wishes; for then should I have gone astray, and should not be of the guided.
SAY: I act upon proofs from my Lord, but ye treat them as falsehoods. That punishment which ye desire to be hastened is not in my power; judgment is with G.o.d only: He will declare the truth; and He is the best settler of disputes.
SAY: If what ye would hasten on, were in my power, the matter between me and you had been decided: but G.o.d best knoweth the impious.
And with Him are the keys13 of the secret things; none knoweth them but He: He knoweth whatever is on the land and in the sea; and no leaf falleth but He knoweth it; neither is there a grain in the darknesses of the earth, nor a thing green or sere, but it is noted in a distinct writing.14
It is He who taketh your souls at night,15 and knoweth what ye have merited in the day: then he awaketh you therein, that the set life-term may be fulfilled: then unto Him shall ye return; and then shall be declare to you that which ye have wrought.
Supreme over his servants, He sendeth forth guardians who watch over you, until, when death overtaketh any one of you, our messengers take his soul, and fail not:
Then are they returned to G.o.d their Lord, the True. Is not judgment His?
Swiftest He, of those who take account!
SAY: Who rescueth you from the darkness of the land and of the sea, when humbly and secretly ye cry to Him-"If thou rescue us from this, we will surely be of the thankful?"
SAY: G.o.d rescueth you from them, and from every strait: yet afterwards ye give Him companions!
SAY: It is He who hath power to send on you a punishment from above you, or from beneath your feet, or to clothe you with discord,16 and to make some of you to taste the violence of others. See how variously we handle the wondrous verses, that haply they may become wise!
But thy people hath accused the Koran of falsehood, though it be the truth: SAY: I am not in charge of you: To every prophecy is its set time, and bye- and-bye ye shall know it!
And when thou seest those who busy themselves with cavilling at our signs, withdraw from them till they busy themselves in some other subject: and if Satan cause thee to forget this, sit not, after recollection, with the unG.o.dly people:17
Not that they who fear G.o.d are to pa.s.s any judgment upon them, but the object of recollection is that they may continue to fear Him.
And quit those who make their religion a sport and a pastime, and whom this present life hath deceived: warn them hereby that every soul will be consigned to doom for its own works: patron or intercessor, beside G.o.d, shall it have none: and could it compensate with fullest compensation, it would not be accepted from it. They who for their deeds shall be consigned to doom-for them are draughts of boiling water, and a grievous torment; for that they believed not!
SAY: Shall we, beside G.o.d, call upon those who can neither help nor hurt us?
Shall we turn upon our heel after that G.o.d hath guided us? Like some bewildered man whom the Satans have spell-bound in the desert, though his companions call him to the true guidance, with, "Come to us!" SAY: Verily, guidance from G.o.d, that is the true guidance; and we are commanded to surrender ourselves to the Lord of the Worlds.
And observe ye the times of prayer, and fear ye G.o.d: for it is He to whom ye shall be gathered.
And it is He who hath created the Heavens and the Earth, in truth, and when He saith to a thing, "Be," it is.
His word is the truth: and His the kingdom, on the day when there shall be a blast on the trumpet: He knoweth alike the unseen and the seen: and He is the Wise, the Cognisant.
And remember when Abraham said to his father Azar,18 Takest thou images as G.o.ds? Verily, I see that thou and thy people are in manifest error.
And thus did we shew Abraham the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth,19 that he might be stablished in knowledge.
And when the night overshadowed him, he beheld a star. "This," said he, "is my Lord:" but when it set, he said, "I love not G.o.ds which set."
And when he beheld the moon uprising, "This," said he, "is my Lord:" but when it set, he said, "Surely, if my Lord guide me not, I shall surely be of those who go astray."
And when he beheld the sun uprise, he said, "This is my Lord; this is greatest." But when it set, he said, "O my people! I share not with you the guilt of joining G.o.ds with G.o.d;
I turn my face to him who hath created the Heavens and the Earth, following the right religion:20 I am not one of those who add G.o.ds to G.o.d."
And his people disputed with him.-He said: "Dispute ye with me about G.o.d, when He hath guided me? And I fear not the deities whom ye join with Him, for only by the will of my Lord have they any power:21 My Lord embraceth all things in His knowledge. Will ye not then consider?
And how should I fear what ye have joined with G.o.d, since ye fear not for having joined with Him that for which He hath sent you down no warranty?
Which, therefore, of the two parties is more worthy of safety? Know ye that?
They who believe, and who clothe not their faith with error.22 theirs is safety, and they are guided aright."
This is our reasoning with which we furnished Abraham against his people: We uplift to grades of wisdom whom we will; Verily thy Lord is Wise, Knowing.
And we gave him Isaac and Jacob, and guided both aright; and we had before guided Noah; and among the descendants of Abraham, David and Solomon, and Job and Joseph, and Moses and Aaron: Thus do we recompense the righteous:
And Zachariah, John, Jesus, and Elias: all were just persons:
And Ismael and Elisha and Jonas and Lot: all these have we favoured above mankind:
And some of their fathers, and of their offspring, and of their brethren: and we chose them, and guided them into the straight way.
This is G.o.d"s guidance: He guideth by it such of his servants as he will: But if they join others G.o.d with Him, vain a.s.suredly shall be all their works.
These are they to whom we gave the Scripture and Wisdom and Prophecy: but if these their posterity believe not therein, we will entrust these gifts to a people who will not disbelieve therein.
These are they whom G.o.d hath guided: follow therefore their guidance. SAY: No pay do I ask of you for this:23 Verily it is no other than the teaching for all creatures.
No just estimate do they form of G.o.d when they say, "Nothing hath G.o.d sent down to man." SAY: Who sent down the Book which Moses brought, a light and guidance to man, which ye set down on paper, publishing part, but concealing most: though ye have now been taught that which neither ye nor your fathers knew? SAY: It is G.o.d: then leave them in their pastime of cavillings.24