Sūra XIII. Ra’d or Thunder

The Holy Quran, tr. by Yusuf Ali, [1934], at sacred-texts.com

p. 602

Sūra XIII.

Ra’d, or Thunder.

In the name of God, Most Gracious,
Most Merciful.

1. A. L. M. R. These are
The Signs (or Verses)
Of the Book: that which
Hath been revealed unto thee
From thy Lord is the Truth;
But most men believe not.

2. God is He Who raised
The heavens without any pillars
That ye can see; is firmly
Established on the Throne (of Authority);
He has subjected the sun
And the moon (to his Law)!
Each one runs (its course)
For a term appointed.
He doth regulate all affairs,
Explaining the Signs in detail,

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That ye may believe with certainty
In the meeting with your Lord.

3. And it is He Who spread out
The earth, and set thereon
Mountains standing firm,
And (flowing) rivers: and fruit
Of every kind He made
In pairs, two and two:
He draweth the Night as a veil
O'er the Day. Behold, verily
In these things there are Signs
For those who consider!

4. And in the earth are tracts
(Diverse though) neighbouring,
And gardens of vines
And fields sown with corn,
And palm trees—growing
Out of single roots or otherwise:
Watered with the same water,
Yet some of them We make
More excellent than others to eat.
Behold, verily in these things

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There are Signs for those
Who understand!

5. If thou dost marvel
(At their want of faith),
Strange is their saying:
"When we are (actually) dust,
Shall we indeed then be
In a creation renewed?" They are
Those who deny their Lord! They
Are those round whose necks
Will be yokes (of servitude):
They will be Companions
Of the Fire, to dwell therein
(For aye)!

6. They ask thee to hasten on
The evil in preference to the good:
Yet have come to pass,
Before them, (many) exemplary
Punishments! But verily
Thy Lord is full of forgiveness
For mankind for their wrong-doing,
And verily thy Lord
Is (also) strict in punishment.

7. And the Unbelievers say:
"Why is not a Sign sent down
To him from his Lord?
But thou art truly

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A warner, and to every people
A guide.

SECTION 2.

8. God doth know what
Every female (womb) doth bear,
By how much the wombs
Fall short (of their time
Or number) or do exceed.
Every single thing is before
His sight, in (due) proportion.

9. He knoweth the Unseen
And that which is open:
He is the Great,
The most High.

10. It is the same (to Him)
Whether any of you
Conceal his speech or
Declare it openly;
Whether he lie hid by night
Or walk forth freely by day.

11. For each (such person)
There are (angels) in succession,
Before and behind him:
They guard him by command

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Of God. Verily never
Will God change the condition
Of a people until they
Change it themselves
(With their own souls).
But when (once) God willeth
A people's punishment,
There can be no
Turning it back, nor
Will they find, besides Him,
Any to protect

12. It is He Who doth show you
The lightning, by way
Both of fear and of hope:
It is He Who doth raise up
The clouds, heavy
With (fertilising) rain!

13. Nay, thunder repeateth His praises,
And so do the angels, with awe:
He flingeth the loud-voiced
Thunder-bolts, and therewith
He striketh whomsoever He will…
Yet these (are the men)
Who (dare to) dispute
About God, with the strength
Of His power (supreme)!

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14. For Him (alone) is prayer
In Truth: any others that they
Call upon besides Him hear them
No more than if they were
To stretch forth their hands
For water to reach their mouths
But it reaches them not:
For the prayer of those
Without Faith is nothing
But (futile) wandering (in the mind).

15. Whatever beings there are
In the heavens and the earth
Do prostrate themselves to God
(Acknowledging subjection),—with good-will
Or in spite of themselves:
So do their shadows
In the mornings and evenings.

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16. Say: "Who is the Lord and Sustainer
Of the heavens and the earth?"
Say: "(It is) God."
Say: "Do ye then take
(For worship) protectors other
Than Him, such as have
No power either for good
Or for harm to themselves?"
Say: "Are the blind equal
With those who see?
Or the depths of darkness
Equal with Light?"
Or do they assign to God
Partners who have created
(Anything) as He has created,
So that the creation seemed
To them similar?
Say: "God is the Creator
Of all things: He is
The One, the Supreme and
Irresistible."

17. He sends down water
From the sides, and the channels
Flow, each according to its measure:
But the torrent bears away
The foam that mounts up
To the surface. Even so,

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Form that (ore) which they heat
In the fire, to make ornaments
Or utensils therewith,
There is a scum likewise.
Thus doth God (by parables)
Show forth Truth and Vanity.
For the scum disappears
Like froth cast out;
While that which is for the good
Of mankind remains
On the earth. Thus doth God
Set forth parables.

18. For those who respond
To their Lord, are (all)
Good things. But those
Who respond not to Him,
Even if they had all
That is in the heavens
And on earth, and as much more,
(In vain) would they offer it
For ransom. For them
Will the reckoning be terrible:
Their abode will be Hell,——
What a bed of misery!

SECTION 3.

19. Is then one who doth know
That that which hath been

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Revealed unto thee
From thy Lord is the Truth,
Like one who is blind?
It is those who are
Endued with understanding
That receive admonition;—

20. Those who fulfil the Covenant
Of God and fail not
In their plighted word;

21. Those who join together
Those things which God
Hath commanded to be joined,
Hold their Lord in awe,
And fear the terrible reckoning;

22. Those who patiently persevere,
Seeking the countenance of their Lord;
Establish regular prayers; spend,
Out of (the gifts) We have bestowed
For their sustenance, secretly
And openly; and turn off Evil
With good: for such there is
The final attainment
Of the (Eternal) Home,—

23. Gardens of perpetual bliss:
They shall enter there,
As well as the righteous
Among their fathers, their spouses,

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And their offspring:
And angels shall enter unto them
From every gate (with the salutation):

24. "Peace unto you for that ye
Persevered in patience! Now
How excellent is the final Home!"

25. But those who break
The Covenant of God, after
Having plighted their word thereto,
And cut asunder those things
Which God has commanded
To be joined, and work mischief
In the land;—on them
Is the Curse; for them
Is the terrible Home!

26. God doth enlarge, or grant
By (strict) measure, the Sustenance
(Which He giveth) to whomso
He pleaseth. (The worldly) rejoice
In the life of this world:
But the life of this world
Is but little comfort
In the Hereafter.

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SECTION 4.

27. The Unbelievers say: "Why
Is not a Sign sent down
To him from his Lord?"
Say: "Truly God leaveth,
To stray, whom He will;
But He guideth to Himself
Those who turn to Him
In penitence,—

28. "Those who believe, and whose hearts
Find satisfaction in the remembrance
Of God: for without doubt
In the remembrance of God
Do hearts find satisfaction.

29. "For those who believe
And work righteousness,
Is (every) blessedness,
And a beautiful place
Of (final) return."

30. Thus have We sent thee
Amongst a People before whom
(Long since) have (other) Peoples
(Gone and) passed away;
In order that thou mightest
Rehearse unto them what We
Send down unto thee by inspiration;

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Yet do they reject (Him),
The Most Gracious!
Say: "He is my Lord!
There is no god but He!
On Him is my trust,
And to Him do I turn!"

31. If there were a Qur-ān
With which mountains were moved,
Or the earth were cloven asunder,
Or the dead were made to speak,
(This would be the one!)
But, truly, the Command is
With God in all things!'
Do not the Believers know,
That, had God (so) willed,
He could have guided
All mankind (to the Right)?

But the Unbelievers,—never
Will disaster cease to seize
Them for their (ill) deeds,
Or to settle close to their homes,
Until the promise of God
Come to pass, for, verily,
God will not fail
In His promise.

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SECTION 5.

32. Mocked were (many) apostles
Before thee: but I granted
Respite to the Unbelievers,
And finally I punished them:
Then how (terrible) was My requital!

33. Is then He Who standeth
Over every soul (and knoweth)
All that it doth,
(Like any others)? And yet
They ascribe partners to God.
Say: "But name them!
Is it that ye will
Inform Him of something
He knoweth not on earth,
Or is it (just) a show
Of words?" Nay! to those
Who believe not, their pretence
seems pleasing, but they are
Kept back (thereby) from the Path.
And those whom God leaves
To stray, no one can guide.

34. For them is a Penalty
In the life of this world,
But harder, truly, is the Penalty
Of the Hereafter: and defender
Have they none against God.

35. The parable of the Garden
Which the righteous are promised!—

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Beneath it flow rivers:
Perpetual is the enjoyment thereof
And the shade therein:
Such is the End
Of the Righteous; and the End
Of Unbelievers is the Fire.

36. Those to whom We have
Given the Book rejoice
At what hath been revealed
Unto thee: but there are
Among the clans those who reject
A part thereof. Say:
"I am commanded to worship
God, and not to join partners
With Him. Unto him
Do I call, and
Unto Him is my return."

37. Thus have We revealed it
To be a judgment of authority

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In Arabic. Wert thou to follow
Their (vain) desires after the knowledge
Which hath reached thee,
Then wouldst thou find
Neither protector nor defender
Against God.

SECTION 6.

38. We did send apostles
Before thee, and appointed
For them wives and children:
And it was never the part
Of an apostle to bring a Sign
Except as God permitted
(Or commanded). For each period
Is a Book (revealed).

39. God doth blot out
Or confirm what He pleaseth:
With Him is
The Mother of the Book.

40. Whether We shall show thee
(Within thy life-time)
Part of what We promised them
Or take to ourselves thy soul

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(Before it is all accomplished),—
Thy duty is to make
(The Message) reach them:
It is Our part
To call them to account.

41. See they not that We
Gradually reduce the land
(In their control) from its
Outlying borders ? (Where) God
Commands, there is none
To put back His command:
And He is Swift
In calling to account.

42. Those before them did (also)
Devise plots; but in all things
The master-planning is God's.
He knoweth the doings
Of every soul: and soon
Will the Unbelievers know
Who gets home in the End.

43. The Unbelievers say: "No apostle
Art thou." Say: "Enough
For a witness between me
And you is God, and such
As have knowledge of the Book."

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