A Meccan sura which takes its title from the reference to the people of al-Hijr (verses 80–4). These are an example of the many who disbelieved and rejected their prophets. Each has its own time for punishment so the Prophet should bear patiently, not grieve over what the disbelievers say, and continue with his worship. The sura uses the example of nature and Iblis’s insistence on corrupting people to show, in turn, God’s grace and the danger Satan personifies.
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy
Lessons From Earlier Nations
1 Alif Lam Ra
These are the verses of the Scripture, a Qur'an that makes things clear. 2 The disbelievers may well come to wish they had submitted to God, 3 so [Prophet] leave them to eat and enjoy themselves. Let [false] hopes distract them: they will come to know. 4 Never have We destroyed a community that did not have a set time; 5 no community can bring its time forward, nor delay it. 6 They say, ‘Receiver of this Quran! You are definitely mad. 7 Why do you not bring us the angels, if you are telling the truth?’ 8 But We send down the angels only to bring justice and then these people will not be reprieved. 9 We have sent down the Quran Ourself, and We Ourself will guard it. Even before you [Prophet], 10 We sent messengers among the various communities of old, 11 but they mocked every single messenger that came to them: 12 in this way We make the message slip through the hearts of evildoers. 13 They will not believe in it. That was what happened with the peoples of long ago, 14 and even if We opened a gateway into Heaven for them and they rose through it, higher and higher, 15 they would still say, ‘Our eyes are hallucinating. We are bewitched.’
The Sustainer
16 We have set constellations up in the sky and made it beautiful for all to see, 17 and guarded it from every stoned satan: [a] 18 any eavesdropper will be pursued by a clearly visible flame. 19 As for the earth, We have spread it out, set firm mountains on it, and made everything grow there in due balance. 20 We have provided sustenance in it for you and for all those creatures for whom you do not provide. 21 There is not a thing whose storehouses are not with Us. We send it down only according to a well-defined measure: 22 We send the winds to fertilize, and We bring down water from the sky for you to drink– you do not control its sources. 23 It is We who give life and death; it is We who inherit [everything]. 24 We know exactly those of you who come first and those who come later. 25 [Prophet], it is your Lord who will gather them all together: He is all wise, all knowing.
Who is Satan?
26 We created man out of dried clay formed from dark mud– 27 the jinn We created before, from the fire of scorching wind. 28 Your Lord said to the angels, ‘I will create a mortal out of dried clay, formed from dark mud. 29 When I have fashioned him and breathed My spirit into him, bow down before him,’ 30 and the angels all did so. 31 But not Iblis: he refused to bow down like the others. 32 God said, ‘Iblis, why did you not bow down like the others?’ 33 and he answered, ‘I will not bow to a mortal You created from dried clay, formed from dark mud.’ 34 ‘Get out of here!’ said God. ‘You are an outcast, 35 rejected until the Day of Judgement.’ 36 Iblis said, ‘My Lord, give me respite until the Day when they are raised from the dead.’ 37 ‘You have respite,’ said God, 38 ‘until the Day of the Appointed Time.’ 39 Iblis then said to God, ‘Because You have put me in the wrong, I will lure mankind on earth and put them in the wrong, 40 all except Your devoted servants.’ 41 God said, ‘[Devotion] is a straight path to Me: 42 you will have no power over My servants, only over the ones who go astray and follow you. 43 Hell is the promised place for all these, 44with seven gates, each gate having its allotted share of them.
Gardens for the Righteous
45 But the righteous will be in Gardens with springs– 46 “Enter them in peace and safety!”–– 47 and We shall remove any bitterness from their hearts: [they will be like] brothers, sitting on couches, face to face. 48 No weariness will ever touch them there, nor will they ever be expelled.’ 49 [Prophet], tell My servants that I am the Forgiving, the Merciful, 50 but My torment is the truly painful one.
Footnotes
a. See 72: 8–9.
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.
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