The Meccan sura takes its title from the bowing down of true believers in worship (verse 15). The truth of the Quran is emphasized at the beginning of the sura, and the Prophet is urged at the end of the sura to pay no attention to the disbelievers who cannot see the significance of God’s signs.
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy
Creation of Adam and Humankind
1 Alif Lam Mim
2 This scripture, free from all doubt, has been sent down from the Lord of the Worlds. 3 Yet they say, ‘Muhammad has made it up.’ No indeed! It is the Truth from your Lord for you [Prophet], to warn a people who have had no one to warn them before, so that they may be guided. 4 It is God who created the heavens and the earth and everything between them in six Days. Then He established Himself on the Throne. You [people] have no one but Him to protect you and no one to intercede for you, so why do you not take heed? 5 He runs everything, from the heavens to the earth, and everything will ascend to Him in the end, on a Day that will measure a thousand years in your reckoning. 6 Such is He who knows all that is unseen as well as what is seen, the Almighty, the Merciful, 7 who gave everything its perfect form. He first created man from clay, 8 then made his descendants from an extract of underrated fluid. [a] 9 Then He molded him; He breathed from His Spirit into him; He gave you hearing, sight, and minds. How seldom you are grateful! 10 They say, ‘What? When we have disappeared into the earth, shall we really be created anew?’ In fact, they deny the meeting with their Lord. 11 Say, ‘The Angel of Death put in charge of you will reclaim you, and then you will be brought back to your Lord.’
On the Day of Judgment
12 [Prophet], if only you could see the wrongdoers hang their heads before their Lord: ‘Our Lord, now that we have seen and heard, send us back and we shall do good. [Now] we are convinced.’ 13 ‘If it had been Our will, We could certainly have given every soul its true guidance, but My words have come true. “I shall be sure to fill Hell with jinn and men together.” 14 So since you ignored the meeting on this Day of yours, now We shall ignore you: taste the lasting suffering for all you have done.’
15 The only people who truly believe in Our messages are those who, when they are reminded of them, bow down in worship, celebrate their Lord’s praises, and do not think themselves above this. 16 Their sides shun their beds in order to pray to their Lord in fear and hope; they give to others some of what We have given them. 17 No soul knows what joy is kept hidden in store for them as a reward for what they have done. 18 So, is someone who believes equal to someone who defies God? No, they are not equal. 19 Those who believe and do good deeds will have Gardens awaiting them as their home and as a reward for what they have done. 20 As for those who defy God, their home will be the Fire. Whenever they try to escape it, they will be driven back into it, and they will be told, ‘Taste the torment of the Fire, which you persistently denied.’ 21 We shall certainly make them taste a nearer torment [in this life] prior to the greater torment, so that perhaps they may return [to the right path]. 22 Who does more wrong than someone who, when messages from his Lord are recited to him, turns away from them? We shall inflict retribution on the guilty
Similarities between Revelations
23 We gave Moses the Scripture– so [Muhammad] do not doubt that you are receiving it– and We made it a guide for the Children of Israel. 24 When they became steadfast and believed firmly in Our messages, We raised leaders among them, guiding them according to Our command. 25 [Prophet], it is your Lord who will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning their differences.
26 Is it not a lesson for them [to see] how many generations We destroyed before them, in whose homes they now walk? There truly are signs in this– do they not hear? 27 Do they not consider how We drive rain to the barren land, and with it produce vegetation from which their cattle and they themselves eat? Do they not see? 28 And they say, ‘When will this Decision be, if you are telling the truth?’ 29 Say, ‘On the Day of Decision it will be no use for the disbelievers to believe; they will be granted no respite.’ 30 So [Prophet], turn away from them and wait: they too are waiting.
Footnotes
a. Semen.
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.