Sūra XV. Al-Hijr. or The Rocky Tract

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

p. 636

Sūra XV.

Al-Hijr, or The Rocky Tract.

In the name of God, Most Gracious;
Most Merciful

1. A. L. R. These are
The Āyats of Revelation,—
Of a Qur-ān
That makes things clear.

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2. Again and again will those
Who disbelieve, wish that they
Had bowed (to God's Will)
In Islam.

3. Leave them alone, to enjoy
(The good things of this life)
And to please themselves:
Let (false) Hope amuse them: soon
Will knowledge (undeceive them).

4. Never did We destroy
A population that had not
A term decreed and assigned
Beforehand.

5. Neither can a people anticipate
Its Term, nor delay it.

6. They say: "O thou to whom
The Message is being revealed!
Truly thou art mad (or possessed)!

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7. "Why bringest thou not
Angels to us if it be
That thou hast the Truth?"

8. We send not the angels
Down except for just cause:
If they came (to the ungodly),
Behold! no respite would they have!

9. We have, without doubt,
Sent down the Message;
And We will assuredly
Guard it (from corruption).

10. We did send apostles before thee
Amongst the religious sects
Of old:

11. But never came an apostle
To them but they mocked him.

12. Even so do we let it creep
Into the hearts of the sinners—

13. That they should not believe
In the (Message); but the ways

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Of the ancients have passed away.

14. Even if We opened out to them
A gate from heaven,
And they were to continue
(All day) ascending therein,

15. They would only say:
"Our eyes have been intoxicated:
Nay, we have been bewitched
By sorcery."

SECTION 2.

16. It is We Who have set out
The Zodiacal Signs in the heavens,
And made them fair-seeming
To (all) beholders;

17. And (moreover) We have guarded them

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From every evil spirit accursed:

18. But any that gains a hearing
By stealth, is pursued
By a flaming fire, bright (to see).

19. And the earth We have spread out
(Like a carpet); set thereon
Mountains firm and immovable;
And produced therein all kinds
Of things in due balance.

20. And We have provided therein
Means of subsistence,—for you
And for those for whose sustenance
Ye are not responsible.

21. And there is not a thing
But its (sources and) treasures

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(Inexhaustible) are with Us;
But We only send down
Thereof in due and ascertainable measures.

22. And We send the fecundating winds,
Then cause the rain to descend
From the sky, therewith providing
You with water (in abundance),
Though ye are not the guardians
Of its stores.

23. And verily, it is We
Who give life, and Who give
Death: it is We Who remain Inheritors
(After all else passes away).

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24. To Us are known those of you
Who hasten forward, and those
Who lag behind.

25. Assuredly it is thy Lord
Who will gather them together:
For He is Perfect in Wisdom
And Knowledge.

SECTION 3.

26. We created man from sounding clay,
From mud moulded into shape;

27. And the Jinn race, We had
Created before, from the fire
Of a scorching wind.

28. Behold! thy Lord said
To the angels: "I am about
To create man, from sounding clay
From mud moulded into shape;

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29. "When I have fashioned him
(In due proportion) and breathed
Into him of My spirit,
Fall ye down in obeisance
Unto him.

30. So the angels prostrated themselves,
All of them together:

31. Not so Iblīs: he refused to be
Among those who prostrated themselves.

32. (God) said: "O Iblīs!
What is your reason
For not being among those
Who prostrated themselves?"

33. (Iblīs) said: "I am not one
To prostrate myself to man,
Whom Thou didst create
From sounding clay, from mud
Moulded into shape."

34. (God) said: "Then get thee out
From here; for thou art
Rejected, accursed.

35. "And the Curse shall be
On thee till the Day of Judgment."

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36. (Iblīs) said: "O my Lord!
Give me then respite
Till the Day
The (dead) are raised."

37. (God) said: "Respite
Is granted thee—

38. "Till the Day
Of the Time Appointed."

39. (Iblīs) said: "O my Lord!
Because Thou hast put me
In the wrong, I will
Make (wrong) fair-seeming
To them on the earth,
And I will put them
All in the wrong,—

40. "Except Thy servants among them,
Sincere and purified
(By Thy grace)."

41. (God) said: "This (Way
Of My sincere servants) is
Indeed a Way that leads
Straight to Me.

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42. "For over My servants
No authority shalt thou
Have, except such as
Put themselves in the wrong
And follow thee."

43. And verily, Hell
Is the promised abode
For them all!

44. To it are seven Gates:
For each of those Gates
Is a (special) class
(Of sinners) assigned.

SECTION 4.

45. The righteous (will be)
Amid Gardens
And fountains
(Of clear-flowing water).

46. (Their greeting will be):
"Enter ye here
In Peace and Security."

47. And We shall remove
From their hearts any
Lurking sense of injury:
(They will be) brothers
(Joyfully) facing each other
On thrones (of dignity).

48. There no sense of fatigue
Shall touch them,
Nor shall they (ever)
Be asked to leave.

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49. Tell My servants
That I am indeed
The Oft-Forgiving,
Most Merciful;

50. And that My Penalty
Will be indeed
The most grievous Penalty.

51. Tell them about
The guests of Abraham.

52. When they entered his presence
And said, "Peace!"
He said, "We feel
Afraid of you!"

53. They said: "Fear not!
We give thee glad tidings

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Of a son endowed
With wisdom."

54. He said: "Do ye give me
Glad tidings that old age
Has seized me? Of what,
Then, is your good news?"

55. They said: "We give thee
Glad tidings in truth:
Be not then in despair!"

56. He said: "And who
Despairs of the mercy
Of his Lord, but such
As go astray?"

57. Abraham said: "What then
Is the business on which
Ye (have come), O ye
Messengers (of God)?"

58. They said: "We have been
Sent to a people
(Deep) in sin,

59. "Excepting the adherents
Of Lūt: them we are certainly

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(Charged) to save (from harm),—
All—

60. "Except his wife, who,
We have ascertained,
Will be among those
Who will lag behind."

SECTION 5.

61. At length when the messengers
Arrived among the adherents
Of Lūt,

62. He said: "Ye appear
To be uncommon folk."

63. They said: "Yea,
We have come to thee
To accomplish that
Of which they doubt.

64. "We have brought to thee
That which is inevitably
Due, and assuredly
We tell the truth.

65. "Then travel by night
With thy household,
When a portion of the night
(Yet remains), and do thou

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Bring up the rear:
Let no one amongst you
Look back, but pass on
Whither ye are ordered."

66. And We made known
This decree to him,
That the last remnants
Of those (sinners) should be
Cut off by the morning.

67. The inhabitants of the City
Came in (mad) joy
(At news of the young men).

68. Lūt said: "These are
My guests: disgrace me not:

69. "But fear God,
And shame me not."

70. They said: "Did we not
Forbid thee (to speak)
For all and sundry?"

71. He said: "There are
My daughters (to marry),
If ye must act (so)."

72. Verily, by thy life (O Prophet),
In their wild intoxication,

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They wander in distraction,
To and fro.

73. But the (mighty) Blast
Overtook them before morning;

74. And We turned (the Cities)
Upside down, and rained down
On them brimstones
Hard as baked clay.

75. Behold! in this are Signs
For those who by tokens
Do understand.

76. And the (Cities were)
Right on the high-road.

77. Behold! in this
Is a Sign
For those who believe!

78. And the Companions of the Wood
Were also wrong-doers;

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79. So We exacted retribution
From them. They were both
On an open highway,
Plain to see.

SECTION 6.

80. The Companions of the Rocky Tract
Also rejected the apostles:

81. We sent them Our Signs,
But they persisted
In turning away from them.

82. Out of the mountains
Did they hew (their) edifices,
(Feeling themselves) secure.

83. But the (mighty) Blast
Seized them of a morning,

84. And of no avail to them
Was all that they did
(With such art and care)!

85. We created not the heavens,
The earth, and all between them,

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But for just ends.
And the Hour is surely
Coming (when this will be manifest).
So overlook (any human faults)
With gracious forgiveness.

86. For verily it is thy Lord
Who is the Master-Creator,
Knowing all things.

87. And We have bestowed
Upon thee the Seven
Oft-repeated (Verses)
And the Grand Qur-ān.

88. Strain not thine eyes.
(Wistfully) at what We
Have bestowed on certain classes
Of them, nor grieve over them:

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But lower thy wing
(in gentleness)
To the Believers.

89. And say: "I am indeed he
That warneth openly
And without ambiguity,"—

90. (Of just such wrath)
As We sent down
On those who divided
(Scripture into arbitrary parts),—

91. (So also on such)
As have made Qur-ān
Into shreds (as they please).

92. Therefore, by the Lord,
We will, of a surety,
Call them to account,

93. For all their deeds.

94. Therefore expound openly
What thou art commanded,
And turn away from those
Who join false gods with God.

95. For sufficient are We
Unto thee against those

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Who scoff,—

96. Those who adopt, with God,
Another god: but soon
Will they come to know.

97. We do indeed know
How thy heart is distressed
At what they say.

98. But celebrate the praises
Of thy Lord, and be of those
Who prostrate themselves
In adoration.

99. And serve thy Lord
Until there come unto thee
The Hour that is Certain.

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