A Meccan sura showing the consequences of the paths people choose and emphasizing God’s guidance and warning.
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy
1 By the enshrouding night, 2 by the radiant day, 3 by His creation [a] of male and female! 4 The ways you take differ greatly. 5 There is the one who gives, who is mindful of God, 6 who testifies to goodness–– 7 We shall smooth his way towards ease. 8 There is the one who is miserly, who is self-satisfied, 9 who denies goodness–– 10 We shall smooth his way towards hardship 11 and his wealth will not help him as he falls. [b]
12 Our part is to provide guidance–– 13 this world and the next belong to Us–– 14 so I warn you about the raging Fire, 15 in which none but the most wicked one will burn, 16 who denied [the truth], and turned away. 17 The most pious one will be spared this–– 18 who gives his wealth away as self-purification, 19 not to return a favor to anyone 20 but for the sake of his Lord the Most High [c] –– 21 and he will be well pleased.
Footnotes
a. Or ‘by Him who created . . .’.
b. Or ‘what use will his wealth be to him when he falls?’.
c. Literally ‘for the sake of the Face of his Lord’.
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.