32 Many messengers before you [Muhammad] were mocked, but I granted respite to the disbelievers: in the end, I took them to task– how terrible My punishment was! 33 Is He who stands over every soul marking its action [in need of any partner]? Yet they ascribe partners to God. Say, ‘Name them,’ or, ‘Can you tell Him about something on the earth He does not know to exist, or is this just a display of words?’ But the things they devise are made alluring to the disbelievers and they are barred from the [right] path: no one can guide those God leaves to stray. 34 There is a punishment for them in this world, but the punishment of the Hereafter will be harder– no one will defend them against God.
An Invitation
35 Here is a picture of the Garden that those mindful of God have been promised: flowing streams and perpetual food and shade. This is the reward that awaits those who are mindful of God; the disbelievers’ reward is the Fire. 36 Those to whom We sent the Scripture rejoice in what has been revealed to you [Prophet]; some factions deny parts of it. Say, ‘I am commanded to worship God, and not join anything with Him in worship: to Him I call [others] and to Him I shall return.’ 37 So We have sent down the Quran to give judgement in the Arabic language. If you were to follow their desires, after the knowledge that has come to you, you would have no one to guard you or protect you from God. 38 We sent messengers before you and gave them wives and offspring; no messenger was given the power to produce a miracle except with God’s permission. There was a Scripture for every age: [a] 39 God erases or confirms whatever He will, and the source of Scripture is with Him. 40 Whether We let you [Prophet] see part of what We threaten them with, or cause you to die [before that], your duty is only to deliver the message: the Reckoning is Ours. 41 Do they not see how We come to [their] land and shrink its borders? God decides– no one can reverse His decision– and He is swift in reckoning. 42 Those before them also schemed, but the overall scheme belongs to God: He knows what each soul does. In the end, the disbelievers will find out who will have the excellent home.
43 They say, ‘You have not been sent.’ Say, ‘God is sufficient witness between me and you: all knowledge of the Scripture comes from Him.’ [b]
Footnotes
a. Another interpretation is ‘there is a time decreed for everything’.
b. Alternatively, ‘God– and those who have [true] knowledge of the Scripture– are sufficient witness between us.’
The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)
The Qur'an / a new translation by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem, copyright © 2004 Oxford World's Classics (Oxford University Press). Used by permission. All rights reserved.