AL SHU’ARA’ (The Poets)
In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful
1 Ta Sin Mim.
2 These are verses of Al-Kitab that makes clear.
3 It may be you fret your soul with grief, that they do not become believers.
4 If such were our will, we could send down to them from the sky a sign, to which they would bend their necks in humility.
5 But there comes not to them a newly-revealed message from the most gracious, but they turn away from it.
6 They have indeed rejected the message: so they will know soon the truth of what they mocked at!
7 Do they not look at the earth, at how many noble things of all kinds we have produced in it?
8 Truly, in this is a sign: but most of them do not believe.
9 And truly, your Lord is he, the exalted in might, most merciful.
10 Behold your Lord called Musa: “Go to the people of iniquity,
11 “The people of Firaun: will they not fear Allah?”
12 He said: “O my Lord! I do fear that they will charge me with falsehood:
13 “My breast will be straitened. And my speech may not go smoothly: so send to Harun.
14 And they have a charge of crime against me; and I fear they may slay me.”
15 Allah said: “By no means! Proceed then, both of you, with our signs. We are with you, and will listen.
16 “So go forth, both of you, to Firaun, and say: ‘We have been sent by your Lord of the universe;
17 ” ‘Send with us Bani-Israel.’ ”
18 Firaun said: “Did we not cherish you as a child among us, and did you not stay in our midst many years of your life?
19 “And you did a deed of yours which you did, and you are ungrateful!”
20 Musa said: “I did it then, when I was in error.
21 “So I fled from you when I feared you; but my Lord has invested me with judgment and appointed me as one of the messengers.
22 “And this is the favour with which you reproach me — that you have enslaved Bani-Israel!”
23 Firaun said: “And what is the ‘Lord of the universe?’ ”
24 Musa said: “The Lord of the heavens and the earth, and all between — if you want to be quite sure.”
25 Firaun said to those around: “Do you not listen?”
26 Musa said: “Your Lord and the Lord of your fathers from the beginning!”
27 Firaun said: “Truly your messenger who has been sent to you is a veritable madman!”
28 Musa said: “Lord of the east and the west, and all between! If you only had sense!”
29 Firaun said: “If you put forward any god other than me, I will certainly put you in prison!”
30 Musa said: “Even if I showed you something clear and convincing?”
31 Firaun said: “Show it then, if you tell the truth!”
32 So Musa threw his rod, and behold, it was a serpent, plain for all to see!
33 And he drew out his hand, and behold, it was white to all beholders!
34 Firaun said to the chiefs around him: “This is indeed a sorcerer well-versed:
35 “His plan is to get you out of your land by his sorcery; then what is it you counsel?”
36 They said: “Keep him and his brother in suspense, and dispatch to the cities heralds to collect
37 And bring up all the skilled sorcerers.”
38 So the sorcerers were got together for the appointment of a day well-known,
39 And the people were told: “Are you assembled
40 That we may follow the sorcerers if they win?”
41 So when the sorcerers arrived, they said to Firaun: “Of course. Shall we have a reward if we win?”
42 He said: “Yes, for you shall in that case be raised to high positions.”
43 Musa said to them: “Throw what you are about to throw!”
44 So they threw their ropes and their rods, and said: “By the might of Firaun, it is we who will certainly win!”
45 Then Musa threw his rod, when, behold, it straightway swallows up all the falsehoods which they fake!
46 Then did the sorcerers fall down, prostrate in adoration,
47 Saying: “We believe in the Lord of the universe,
48 “The Lord of Musa and Harun.”
49 Firaun said: “Are you believing in him before I give you permission? Surely he is your leader, who has taught you sorcery! But soon shall you know! “Be sureI will cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, and I will cause you all to die on the cross!”
50 They said: “No matter! For us, we shall but return to our Lord!
51 “Only, our desire is that our Lord will forgive us our sins, that we may become foremost among the believers!”
52 By inspiration we told Musa: “Travel by night with my servants; for surely you shall be pursued.”
53 Then Firaun sent heralds to all the cities,
54 Saying: “These Israelites are but a small band,
55 “And they are raging furiously against us;
56 “But we are a multitude amply forewarned.”
57 So we expelled them from gardens, springs,
58 Treasures, and every kind of honourable position;
59 Thus it was, but we made Bani-Israel inheritors of such things.
60 So they pursued them at sunrise.
61 And when the two bodies saw each other, the people of Musa said: “We are sure to be overtaken.”
62 Musa said: “By no means! My Lord is with me! Soon will he guide me!”
63 Then we told Musa by inspiration: “Strike the sea with your rod.” So it divided, and each separate part became like the huge, firm mass of a mountain.
64 And we made the other party approach there.
65 We delivered Musa and all who were with him;
66 But we drowned the others.
67 Truly in this is a sign: but most of them do not believe.
68 And truly your Lord is he, the exalted in might, most merciful.
69 And rehearse to them Ibrahim’s story.
70 Behold, he said to his father and his people, “What do you worship?”
71 They said: We worship idols, and we remain constantly in attendance on them.
72 He said: “Do they listen to you when you call
73 Or do you good or harm?”
74 They said: No, but we found our fathers acting in this way.
75 He said: Do you then see whom you have been worshipping,
76 You and your fathers before you?
77 For they are enemies to me; not so the Lord of the universe;
78 Who created me, and it is he who guides me;
79 Who gives me food and drink,
80 And when I am ill, it is he who cures me;
81 Who will cause me to die, and then to live again;
82 And who, I hope, will forgive me my sins on the day of judgment.
83 O my Lord! Bestow wisdom on me, and join me with the righteous;
84 Grant me honourable mention on the tongue of truth among the later generations;
85 Make me one of the inheritors of the garden of bliss;
86 Forgive my father, for that he is among those astray;
87 And let me not be in disgrace on the day when men will be raised up;
88 The day on which neither wealth nor sons will avail,
89 But only he who brings to Allah a sound heart;
90 To the righteous, the garden will be brought near,
91 And to those straying in evil, the fire will be placed in full view;
92 And it shall be said to them: Where are the gods you worshipped
93 Besides Allah? Can they help you or help themselves?
94 Then they will be thrown headlong into the fire, they and those straying in evil,
95 And the whole hosts of Iblis together.
96 They will say there in their mutual bickering:
97 By Allah, we were truly in clear error,
98 When we held you as equals with the Lord of the universe;
99 And our seducers were only those who were steeped in guilt.
100 Now, then, we have none to intercede for us,
101 Nor a single friend to feel for us.
102 Now if we only had a chance of return, we shall truly be of those who believe!
103 Truly in this is a sign but most of them do not believe.
104 And truly your Lord is he, the exalted in might, most merciful.
105 The people of Nuh rejected the messengers.
106 Behold, their brother Nuh said to them: “Will you not fear Allah?”
107 “I am to you a messenger worthy of all trust;
108 “So fear Allah, and obey me.
109 No reward do I ask of you for it: my reward is only from the Lord of the universe:
110 So fear Allah, and obey me.
111 They said: Shall we believe in you when it is the meanest that follow you?
112 He said: And what do I know as to what they do?
113 Their account is only with my Lord, if you could but understand.
114 I am not one to drive away those who believe.
115 I am sent only to warn plainly in public.
116 They said: If you desist not, O Nuh! You shall be stoned to death.
117 He said: O my Lord! Truly my people have rejected me.
118 Judge then, between me and them openly, and deliver me and those of the believers who are with me.
119 So we delivered him and those with him, in the Ark filled with all creatures.
120 Thereafter we drowned those who remained behind.
121 Truly in this is a sign: but most of them do not believe.
122 And truly your Lord is he, the exalted in might, most merciful.
123 The people of Aad rejected the messengers.
124 Behold, their brother Hud said to them: Will you not fear Allah?
125 “I am to you a messenger worthy of all trust:
126 So fear Allah and obey me.
127 No reward do I ask of you for it: my reward is only from the Lord of the universe.
128 Do you build a landmark on every high place to amuse yourselves?
129 And do you get for yourselves fine buildings in the hope of living in them forever?
130 And when you exert your strong hand, do you do it like men of absolute power?
131 Now fear Allah, and obey me.
132 Yes, fear him who has bestowed on you freely all that you know.
133 Freely has he bestowed on you cattle and sons,
134 And gardens and springs.
135 Truly I fear for you the penalty of a great day.
136 They said: It is the same to us whether you admonish us or be not among our admonishers!
137 This is no other than a customary device of the ancients,
138 And we are not the ones to receive pains and penalties!
139 So they rejected him, and we destroyed them. Truly in this is a sign: but most of them do not believe.
140 And truly your Lord is he, the exalted in might, most merciful.
141 The people of Thamud rejected the messengers.
142 Behold, their brother Salih said to them: Will you not fear Allah?
143 “I am to you a messenger worthy of all trust.
144 “So fear Allah, and obey me.
145 No reward do I ask of you for it: my reward is only from the Lord of the universe.
146 Will you be left secure, in all that you have here?
147 Gardens and springs,
148 And corn fields and date palms near breaking with the weight of fruit?
149 And you carve houses out of mountains with great skill.
150 But fear Allah and obey me;
151 And follow not the bidding of those who are extravagant,
152 Who make mischief in the land, and mend not their ways.
153 They said: you are only one of those bewitched!
154 you are no more than a mortal like us: then bring us a sign, if you tell the truth!
155 He said: Here is a she-camel: she has a right of watering, and you have a right of watering, each on an appointed day.
156 Touch her not with harm, lest the penalty of a great day seize you.
157 But they ham strung her: then did they become full of regrets.
158 But the penalty seized them. Truly in this is a sign: but most of them do not believe.
159 And truly your Lord is he, the exalted in might, most merciful.
160 The people of Lut rejected the messengers.
161 Behold, their brother Lut said to them: Will you not fear Allah?
162 “I am to you a messenger worthy of all trust.
163 So fear Allah and obey me.
164 No reward do I ask of you for it: my reward is only from the Lord of the universe.
165 Of all the creatures in the world, will you approach males,
166 And leave those whom Allah has created for you to be your mates? No, you are a people transgressing all limits!
167 They said: If you desist not, O Lut! You will assuredly be cast out!
168 He said: I do detest your doings.
169 O my Lord! Deliver me and my family from such things as they do!
170 So we delivered him and all his family.
171 Except an old woman who lingered behind.
172 But the rest we destroyed utterly.
173 We rained down on them a shower of brimstone: and evil was the shower on those who were admonished!
174 Truly in this is a sign: but most of them do not believe.
175 And truly your Lord is he, the exalted in might, most merciful.
176 The companions of the wood rejected the messengers.
177 Behold, Shuaib said to them: Will you not fear Allah?
178 I am to you a messenger worthy of all trust.
179 So fear Allah and obey me.
180 No reward do I ask of you for it: my reward is only from the Lord of the universe.
181 Give just measure, and cause no loss to others by fraud.
182 And weigh with scales true and upright.
183 And withhold not things justly due to men, nor do evil in the land, working mischief.
184 And fear him who created you and the generations before you.
185 They said: you are only one of those bewitched!
186 you are no more than a mortal like us, and indeed we think you are a liar!
187 Now cause a piece of the sky to fall on us, if you are truthful!
188 He said: My Lord knows best what you do.
189 But they rejected him. Then the punishment of a day of overshadowing gloom seized them, and that was the penalty of a great day.
190 Truly in that is a sign: but most of them do not believe.
191 And truly your Lord is he, the exalted in might, most merciful.
192 Truly this is a revelation from the Lord of the universe:
193 With it came down the spirit of faith and truth,
194 To your heart and mind, that you may admonish,
195 In the perspicuous Arabic tongue.
196 Without doubt it is in the mystic books of former peoples.
197 Is it not a sign to them that the learned of Bani-Israel knew it?
198 Had we revealed it to any of the non-Arabs,
199 And had he recited it to them, they would not have believed in it.
200 Thus have we caused it to enter the hearts of the sinners.
201 They will not believe in it until they see the grievous penalty;
202 But the penalty will come to them of a sudden, while they perceive it not;
203 Then they will say: Shall we find relief?
204 Do they then ask for our penalty to be hastened on?
205 Do you see? If we let them enjoy this life for a few years,
206 Yet there comes to them at length the punishment which they were promised!
207 It will profit them not that they enjoyed this life!
208 Never did we destroy a population, but had its warners.
209 By way of reminder; and we never are unjust.
210 No demons have brought this down:
211 It would neither suit them nor would they be able to produce it.
212 Indeed they have been removed far from even hearing it.
213 So call not on any other god with Allah, or you will be among those under the penalty.
214 And admonish your nearest kinsmen,
215 And lower your wing to the believers who follow you.
216 Then if they disobey you, say, I am free of responsibility for what you do!
217 And put your trust on the exalted in might, the merciful,
218 Who sees you standing forth in prayer,
219 And your movements among those who prostrate themselves.
220 For it is he who hears and knows all things.
221 Shall I tell you on whom it is that the demons descend?
222 They descend on every lying, wicked person,
223 They pour hearsay vanities, and most of them are liars.
224 And the poets, it is those straying in evil, who follow them:
225 Do you not see that they wander distracted in every valley?
226 And that they say what they practise not?
227 Except those who believe, work righteousness, engage much in the remembrance of Allah, and defend themselves only after they are unjustly attacked. And soon will the unjust assailants know what vicissitudes their affairs will take!