Hizb 48

And O my people, how is it that I invite you to salvation while you invite me to the Fire?

You invite me to disbelieve in Allāh and associate with Him that of which I have no knowledge, and I invite you to the Exalted in Might, the Perpetual Forgiver.

Assuredly, that to which you invite me has no [response to a] supplication in this world or in the Hereafter; and indeed, our return is to Allāh, and indeed, the transgressors will be companions of the Fire.

And you will remember what I [now] say to you, and I entrust my affair to Allāh. Indeed, Allāh is Seeing of [His] servants."

So Allāh protected him from the evils they plotted, and the people of Pharaoh were enveloped by the worst of punishment -

The Fire; they are exposed to it morning and evening. And the Day the Hour appears [it will be said], "Make the people of Pharaoh enter the severest punishment."

And [mention] when they will argue within the Fire, and the weak will say to those who had been arrogant, "Indeed, we were [only] your followers, so will you relieve us of a share of the Fire?"

Those who had been arrogant will say, "Indeed, all [of us] are in it. Indeed, Allāh has judged between the servants."

And those in the Fire will say to the keepers of Hell, "Supplicate your Lord to lighten for us a day from the punishment."

They will say, "Did there not come to you your messengers with clear proofs?" They will say, "Yes." They will reply, "Then supplicate [yourselves], but the supplication of the disbelievers is not except in error [i.e., futility]."

Indeed, We will support Our messengers and those who believe during the life of this world and on the Day when the witnesses will stand -

The Day their excuse will not benefit the wrongdoers, and they will have the curse, and they will have the worst home [i.e., Hell].

And We had certainly given Moses guidance, and We caused the Children of Israel to inherit the Scripture

As guidance and a reminder for those of understanding.

So be patient, [O Muḥammad]. Indeed, the promise of Allāh is truth. And ask forgiveness for your sin and exalt [Allāh] with praise of your Lord in the evening and the morning.

Indeed, those who dispute concerning the signs of Allāh without [any] evidence having come to them - there is not within their breasts except pride, [the extent of] which they cannot reach. So seek refuge in Allāh. Indeed, it is He who is the Hearing, the Seeing.

The creation of the heavens and earth is greater than the creation of mankind, but most of the people do not know.

And not equal are the blind and the seeing, nor are those who believe and do righteous deeds and the evildoer. Little do you remember.

Indeed, the Hour is coming - no doubt about it - but most of the people do not believe.

And your Lord says, "Call upon Me; I will respond to you." Indeed, those who disdain My worship will enter Hell [rendered] contemptible.

It is Allāh who made for you the night that you may rest therein and the day giving sight. Indeed, Allāh is the possessor of bounty for the people, but most of them are not grateful.

That is Allāh, your Lord, Creator of all things; there is no deity except Him, so how are you deluded?

Thus were those [before you] deluded who were rejecting the signs of Allāh.

It is Allāh who made for you the earth a place of settlement and the sky a structure [i.e., ceiling] and formed you and perfected your forms and provided you with good things. That is Allāh, your Lord; then blessed is Allāh, Lord of the worlds.

He is the Ever-Living; there is no deity except Him, so call upon Him, [being] sincere to Him in religion. [All] praise is [due] to Allāh, Lord of the worlds.

Say, [O Muḥammad], "Indeed, I have been forbidden to worship those you call upon besides Allāh once the clear proofs have come to me from my Lord, and I have been commanded to submit to the Lord of the worlds."

It is He who created you from dust, then from a sperm-drop, then from a clinging clot; then He brings you out as a child; then [He develops you] that you reach your [time of] maturity, then [further] that you become elders. And among you is he who is taken in death before [that], so that you reach a specified term; and perhaps you will use reason.

He it is who gives life and causes death; and when He decrees a matter, He but says to it, "Be," and it is.

Do you not consider those who dispute concerning the signs of Allāh - how are they averted?

Those who deny the Book [i.e., the Qur’ān] and that with which We sent Our messengers - they are going to know,

When the shackles are around their necks and the chains; they will be dragged

In boiling water; then in the Fire they will be filled [with flame].

Then it will be said to them, "Where is that which you used to associate [with Him in worship]

Other than Allāh?" They will say, "They have departed from us; rather, we did not used to invoke previously anything." Thus does Allāh put astray the disbelievers.

[The angels will say], "That was because you used to exult upon the earth without right and you used to behave insolently.

Enter the gates of Hell to abide eternally therein, and wretched is the residence of the arrogant."

So be patient, [O Muḥammad]; indeed, the promise of Allāh is truth. And whether We show you some of what We have promised them or We take you in death, it is to Us they will be returned.

And We have already sent messengers before you. Among them are those [whose stories] We have related to you, and among them are those [whose stories] We have not related to you. And it was not for any messenger to bring a sign [or verse] except by permission of Allāh. So when the command of Allāh comes, it will be concluded [i.e., judged] in truth, and the falsifiers will thereupon lose [all].

It is Allāh who made for you the grazing animals upon which you ride, and some of them you eat.

And for you therein are [other] benefits and that you may realize upon them a need which is in your breasts; and upon them and upon ships you are carried.

And He shows you His signs. So which of the signs of Allāh do you deny?

Have they not traveled through the land and observed how was the end of those before them? They were more numerous than themselves and greater in strength and in impression on the land, but they were not availed by what they used to earn.

And when their messengers came to them with clear proofs, they [merely] rejoiced in what they had of knowledge, but they were enveloped by what they used to ridicule.

And when they saw Our punishment, they said, "We believe in Allāh alone and disbelieve in that which we used to associate with Him."

But never did their faith benefit them once they saw Our punishment. [It is] the established way of Allāh which has preceded among His servants. And the disbelievers thereupon lost [all].

Ḥā, Meem.

[This is] a revelation from the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful -

A Book whose verses have been detailed, an Arabic Qur’ān for a people who know,

As a giver of good tidings and a warner; but most of them turn away, so they do not hear.

And they say, "Our hearts are within coverings [i.e., screened] from that to which you invite us, and in our ears is deafness, and between us and you is a partition, so work; indeed, we are working."

Say, [O Muḥammad], "I am only a man like you to whom it has been revealed that your god is but one God; so take a straight course to Him and seek His forgiveness." And woe to those who associate others with Allāh

Those who do not give zakāh, and in the Hereafter they are disbelievers.

Indeed, those who believe and do righteous deeds - for them is a reward uninterrupted.

Say, "Do you indeed disbelieve in He who created the earth in two days and attribute to Him equals? That is the Lord of the worlds."

And He placed on it [i.e., the earth] firmly set mountains over its surface, and He blessed it and determined therein its [creatures'] sustenance in four days without distinction - for [the information of] those who ask.

Then He directed Himself to the heaven while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth, "Come [into being], willingly or by compulsion." They said, "We have come willingly."

And He completed them as seven heavens within two days and inspired [i.e., made known] in each heaven its command. And We adorned the nearest heaven with lamps [i.e., stars, for beauty] and as protection. That is the determination of the Exalted in Might, the Knowing.

But if they turn away, then say, "I have warned you of a thunderbolt like the thunderbolt [that struck] ʿAad and Thamūd.

[That occurred] when the messengers had come to them before them and after them, [saying], "Worship not except Allāh." They said, "If our Lord had willed, He would have sent down the angels, so indeed we, in that with which you have been sent, are disbelievers."

As for ʿAad, they were arrogant upon the earth without right and said, "Who is greater than us in strength?" Did they not consider that Allāh who created them was greater than them in strength? But they were rejecting Our signs.

So We sent upon them a screaming wind during days of misfortune to make them taste the punishment of disgrace in the worldly life; but the punishment of the Hereafter is more disgracing, and they will not be helped.

And as for Thamūd, We guided them, but they preferred blindness over guidance, so the thunderbolt of humiliating punishment seized them for what they used to earn.

And We saved those who believed and used to fear Allāh.

And [mention, O Muḥammad], the Day when the enemies of Allāh will be gathered to the Fire while they are [driven], assembled in rows,

Until, when they reach it, their hearing and their eyes and their skins will testify against them of what they used to do.

And they will say to their skins, "Why have you testified against us?" They will say, "We were made to speak by Allāh, who has made everything speak; and He created you the first time, and to Him you are returned.

And you were not covering [i.e., protecting] yourselves, lest your hearing testify against you or your sight or your skins, but you assumed that Allāh does not know much of what you do.

And that was your assumption which you assumed about your Lord. It has brought you to ruin, and you have become among the losers."

So [even] if they are patient, the Fire is a residence for them; and if they ask to appease [Allāh], they will not be of those who are allowed to appease.

And We appointed for them companions who made attractive to them what was before them and what was behind them [of sin], and the word [i.e., decree] has come into effect upon them among nations which had passed on before them of jinn and men. Indeed, they [all] were losers.

And those who disbelieve say, "Do not listen to this Qur’ān and speak noisily during [the recitation of] it that perhaps you will overcome."

But We will surely cause those who disbelieve to taste a severe punishment, and We will surely recompense them for the worst of what they had been doing.

That is the recompense of the enemies of Allāh - the Fire. For them therein is the home of eternity as recompense for what they, of Our verses, were rejecting.

And those who disbelieved will [then] say, "Our Lord, show us those who misled us of the jinn and men [so] we may put them under our feet that they will be among the lowest."

Indeed, those who have said, "Our Lord is Allāh" and then remained on a right course - the angels will descend upon them, [saying], "Do not fear and do not grieve but receive good tidings of Paradise, which you were promised.

We [angels] were your allies in worldly life and [are so] in the Hereafter. And you will have therein whatever your souls desire, and you will have therein whatever you request [or wish]

As accommodation from a [Lord who is] Forgiving and Merciful."

And who is better in speech than one who invites to Allāh and does righteousness and says, "Indeed, I am of the Muslims."

And not equal are the good deed and the bad. Repel [evil] by that [deed] which is better; and thereupon, the one whom between you and him is enmity [will become] as though he was a devoted friend.

But none is granted it except those who are patient, and none is granted it except one having a great portion [of good].

And if there comes to you from Satan an evil suggestion, then seek refuge in Allāh. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Knowing.

And of His signs are the night and day and the sun and moon. Do not prostrate to the sun or to the moon, but prostrate to Allāh, who created them, if it should be Him that you worship.

But if they are arrogant - then those who are near your Lord [i.e., the angels] exalt Him by night and by day, and they do not become weary.

And of His signs is that you see the earth stilled, but when We send down upon it rain, it quivers and grows. Indeed, He who has given it life is the Giver of Life to the dead. Indeed, He is over all things competent.

Indeed, those who inject deviation into Our verses are not concealed from Us. So, is he who is cast into the Fire better or he who comes secure on the Day of Resurrection? Do whatever you will; indeed, He is Seeing of what you do.

Indeed, those who disbelieve in the message [i.e., the Qur’ān] after it has come to them... And indeed, it is a mighty Book.

Falsehood cannot approach it from before it or from behind it; [it is] a revelation from a [Lord who is] Wise and Praiseworthy.

Nothing is said to you, [O Muḥammad], except what was already said to the messengers before you. Indeed, your Lord is a possessor of forgiveness and a possessor of painful penalty.

And if We had made it a foreign [i.e., non-Arabic] Qur’ān, they would have said, "Why are its verses not explained in detail [in our language]? Is it a foreign [recitation] and an Arab [messenger]?" Say, "It is, for those who believe, a guidance and cure." And those who do not believe - in their ears is deafness, and it is upon them blindness. Those are being called from a distant place.

And We had already given Moses the Scripture, but it came under disagreement. And if not for a word [i.e., decree] that preceded from your Lord, it would have been concluded between them. And indeed they are, concerning it [i.e., the Qur’ān], in disquieting doubt.

Whoever does righteousness - it is for his [own] soul; and whoever does evil [does so] against it. And your Lord is not ever unjust to [His] servants.