THE MOST GRACIOUS

has imparted this Qur’an [unto man].

He has created man:

He has imparted unto him articulate thought and speech.

[At His behest] the sun and the moon run their appointed courses;

[before Him] prostrate them­selves the stars and the trees.

And the skies has He raised high, and has devised [for all things] a measure,

so that you [too, O men,] might never transgress the measure [of what is right]:

weigh, therefore, [your deeds] with equity, and cut not the measure short!

And the earth has He spread out for all living beings,

with fruit thereon, and palm trees with sheathed clusters [of dates],

and grain growing tall on its stalks, and sweet-smelling plants.

Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?

He has created man out of sounding clay, like pottery,

whereas the invisible beings He has created out of a confusing flame of fire.

Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?

[He is] the Sustainer of the two farthest points of sunrise, and the Sustainer of the two farthest points of sunset.

Which, then, of your Sustain­er’s powers can you disavow?

He has given freedom to the two great bodies of water, so that they might meet:

[yet] between them is a barrier which they may not transgress.

Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?

Out of these two [bodies of water] come forth pearls, both great and small.

Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?

And His are the lofty ships that sail like [floating] mountains through the seas.

Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?

All that lives on earth or in the heavens is bound to pass away:

but forever will abide thy Sustainer’s Self, full of majesty and glory.

Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?

On Him depends all creatures in the heavens and on earth; [and] every day He manifests Himself in yet another [wondrous] way.

Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?

[ONE DAY] We shall take you to task, O you sin-laden two!

Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?

O you who live in close communion with [evil] invisible beings and humans! If you [think that you] can pass beyond the regions of the heavens and the earth, pass beyond them! [But] you cannot pass beyond them, save by a sanction [from God]!

Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?

A flash of fire will be let loose upon you, and smoke, and you will be left without succour!

Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?

And when the sky is rent asunder and becomes red like [burning] oil

which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?

For on that Day neither man nor invisible being will be asked about his sins.

Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?

All who were lost in sin shall by their marks be known, and shall by their forelocks and their feet be seized!

Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?

This will be the hell which those who are lost in sin [now] call a lie:

between it and [their own] burning-hot despair will they wander to and fro!

Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?

BUT FOR THOSE who of their Sustainer’s Presence stand in fear, two gardens [of paradise are readied] -

which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow? –

[two gardens] of many wondrous hues.

Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?

In [each of] these two [gardens] two springs will flow.

Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?

In [each of] these two will two kinds of every fruit be [found].

Which, then, of your Sustainer s powers can you disavow?

[In such a paradise the blest will dwell,] reclin­ing upon carpets lined with rich brocade; and the fruit of both these gardens will be within easy reach.

Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?

In these [gardens] will be mates of modest gaze, whom neither man nor invisible being will have touched ere then.

Which, then, of your Sus­tainer’s powers can you disavow?

[When you are promised splendours] as though [of] rubies and [of] pearls –

which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?

Could the reward of good be aught but good?

Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?

And besides those two will be yet two [other] gardens -

which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow? –

two [gardens] of the deepest green.

Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?

In [each of] these two [gardens] will two springs gush forth.

Which, then, of your Sus­tainer’s powers can you disavow?

In both of them will be [all kinds of] fruit, and date-palms and pomegranates.

Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?

In these [gardens] will be [all] things most excellent and beautiful.

Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?

[There the blest will live with their] companions pure and modest, in pavilions [splendid] -

which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow? –

[companions] whom neither man nor invisible being will have touched ere then.

Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?

[In such a paradise will they dwell,] reclining upon meadows green and carpets rich in beauty.

Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?

HALLOWED be thy Sustainer’s name, full of majesty and glory!