A terrible punishment engulfed Pharaoh’s people; 46 they will be brought before the Fire morning and evening. [a] On the Day the Hour comes, it will be said, ‘Throw Pharaoh’s people into the worst torment.’ 47 In the Fire they will quarrel with one another: the weak will say to the haughty, ‘We were your followers, so can you now relieve us from some share of the Fire?’ 48 but they will say, ‘We are all in this together. God has judged between His creatures.’ 49 Those in the Fire will say to the keepers of Hell, ‘Ask your Lord to lessen our suffering for one day,’ 50 but they will say, ‘Did your messengers not come to you with clear evidence of the truth?’ They will say, ‘Yes they did,’ and the keeper will say, ‘You can plead, then, but the pleas of disbelievers will always be in vain.’
51 We support Our messengers and the believers, in the present life and on the Day when witnesses arise. 52 On the Day when excuses will not profit the evildoers, their fate will be rejection and they will have the worst of homes. 53 We gave Moses guidance and passed down the Scripture to the Children of Israel, 54 as a guide and a reminder to people of understanding. 55 So be patient, Prophet, for what God has promised is sure to come. Ask forgiveness for your sins; praise your Lord morning and evening. [b] 56 As for those who, with no authority to do so, dispute God’s messages, there is nothing in their hearts but a thirst for a greatness they will never attain. Seek refuge in God, for He is the All Hearing, the All Seeing.
57 The creation of the heavens and earth is greater by far than the creation of mankind, though most people do not know it. 58 The blind and the sighted are not equal, just as those who believe and do good works and those who do evil are not equal: how seldom you reflect! 59 The Final Hour is sure to come, without doubt, but most people do not believe. 60 Your Lord says, ‘Call on Me and I will answer you; those who are too proud to serve Me will enter Hell humiliated.’
God’s Creation
61 It is God who has given you the night in which to rest and the day in which to see. God is truly bountiful to people, but most people do not give thanks. 62 Such is God your Lord, the Creator of all things: there is no god but Him. How can you be so deluded? 63 This is how deluded those who deny God’s messages are. 64 It is God who has given you the earth for a dwelling place and the heavens for a canopy. He shaped you, formed you well, and provided you with good things. Such is God your Lord, so glory be to Him, the Lord of the Worlds. 65 He is the Living One and there is no god but Him, so call on Him, and dedicate your religion entirely to Him. Praise be to God, the Lord of the Worlds.
66 Say [Prophet], ‘Since clear evidence has come to me from my Lord I am forbidden to serve those you call upon besides God: I am commanded to submit to the Lord of the Worlds.’ 67 It is He who created you from dust, then from a drop of fluid, then from a tiny, clinging form, then He brought you forth as infants, then He allowed you to reach maturity, then He let you grow old– though some of you die sooner– and reach your appointed term so that you may reflect. 68 It is He who gives life and death, and when He ordains a thing, He says only ‘Be’ and it is.
69 [Prophet], do you see how deluded those who dispute God’s messages are– 70 those who reject the Scripture and the messages We have sent through Our messengers? They will find out 71 when, with iron collars and chains around their necks, they are dragged 72 into scalding water, and then burned in the Fire, 73 and asked, ‘Where now are those you called upon 74 besides God?’ They will say, ‘They have abandoned us: those we called upon before were really nothing at all.’ ‘This is how God lets disbelievers go astray, 75 all because on earth you reveled in untruth and ran wild. 76 Enter the gates of Hell, there to remain– an evil home for the arrogant.’
77 So be patient [Prophet], for God’s promise is sure: whether We show you part of what We have promised them [c] in this life or whether We take your soul back to Us first, it is to Us that they will be returned. 78 We have sent other messengers before you– some We have mentioned to you and some We have not– and no messenger could bring about a sign except with God’s permission. When [the Day] God ordained comes, just judgement will be passed between them: there and then, those who followed falsehood will be lost.
79 It is God who provides livestock for you, some for riding and some for your food; 80 you have other benefits in them too. You can reach any destination you wish on them: they carry you, as ships carry you [on the sea]. 81 He shows you His signs: which of God’s signs do you still ignore?
82 Have they not travelled through the land and seen how those who lived before them met their end? They were more numerous than them, stronger than them, and made a more impressive mark on the land, yet what they achieved was of no use to them at all. 83 When messengers came to them with clear signs, they reveled in the knowledge they had, and so they were engulfed by the very punishment they mocked: 84 when they saw Our punishment, they said, ‘We believe in God alone; we reject any partner we ascribed to Him,’ 85 but believing after seeing Our punishment did not benefit them at all– this has always been God’s way of dealing with His creatures– there and then the disbelievers were lost.
Footnotes
a. ‘Morning and evening’ can convey a sense of ‘all the time’.
b. See preceding note.
c. The disbelievers.
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.