Sūra XXIX. ‘Ankabūt, or the Spider

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

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Sūra XXIX.

‘Ankabūt, or the Spider

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

1. A. L. M.

2. Do men think that
They will he left alone
On saying, "We believe",
And that they will not
Be tested?

3. We did test those
Before them, and God will
Certainly know those who are
True from those who are false.

4. Do those who practise
Evil think that they
Will get the better of us?
Evil is their judgment!

5. For those whose hopes are
in the meeting with God
(In the Hereafter, let them strive);
For the Term (appointed)

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By God is surely coming:
And He hears and knows
(All things).

6. And if any strive (with might
And main), they do so
For their own souls:
For God is free of all
Needs from all creation.

7. Whose who believe and work
Righteous deeds,—from them
Shall We blot out all evil
(That may be) in them,
And We shall reward
Them according to
The best of their deeds.

8. We have enjoined on man
Kindness to parents: but if
They (either of them) strive
(To force) thee to join
With Me (in worship)
Anything of which thou hast
No knowledge, obey them not.
Ye have (all) to return
To Me, and I will
Tell you (the truth)
Of all that ye did.

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9. And those who believe
And work righteous deeds,—
Them shall We admit
To the company of the Righteous.

10. Then there are among men
Such as say, "We believe
In God"; but when they suffer
Affliction in (the cause of) God,
They treat men's oppression
As if it were the Wrath
Of God! And if help
Comes (to thee) from thy Lord,
They are sure to say,'
"We have (always) been
With you!" Does not God
Know best all that is
In the hearts of all Creation?

11. And God most certainly knows
Those who believe, and as certainly
Those who are Hypocrites.

12. And the Unbelievers say
To those who believe:
"Follow our path, and we
Will bear (the consequences)"
Of your faults." Never
In the least will they
Bear their faults: in fact
They are liars!

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13. They will bear their own
Burdens, and (other) burdens
Along with their own,
And on the Day of Judgment.
They will be called to account
For their falsehoods.

SECTION 2.

14. We (once) sent Noah
To his people, and he tarried
Among them a thousand years
Less fifty: but the Deluge
Overwhelmed them while they
(Persisted in) sin.

15. But We saved him
And the Companions
Of the Ark, and We made
The (Ark) a Sign
For all Peoples!

16. And (We also saved)
Abraham: behold, he said
To his people, "Serve God
And fear Him: that
Will be best for you
If ye understand!

17. "For ye do worship idols
Besides God, and ye invent
Falsehood. The things that ye
Worship besides God have
No power to give you sustenance:

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Then seek ye sustenance
From God, serve Him,
And be grateful to Him:
To Him will be your return.

18. "And if ye reject (the Message),
So did generations before you:
And the duty of the apostle
Is only to preach publicly
(And clearly)."

19. See they not how God
Originates creation, then
Repeats it: truly that
Is easy for God.

20. Say: "Travel through the earth
And see how God did
Originate creation; so will
God produce a later creation:
For God has power
Over all things.

21. "He punishes whom He pleases,
And He grants mercy to whom

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He pleases, and towards Him
Are ye turned.

22. "Not on earth nor in heaven
Will ye be able (fleeing)
To frustrate (His Plan),
Nor have ye, besides God,
Any protector or helper."

SECTION 3.

23. Those who reject the Signs
Of God and the Meeting
With Him (in the Hereafter),
It is they who shall despair
Of My mercy: it is they
Who will (suffer)
A most grievous Penalty.

24. So naught was the answer
Of (Abraham's) people except
That they said: "Slay him
Or burn him." But God
Did save him from the Fire
Verily in this are Signs
For people who believe.

25. And he said: "For you,
Ye have taken (for worship)
Idols besides God, out of
Mutual love and regard

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Between yourselves in this life;
But on the Day of Judgment
Ye shall disown each other
And curse each other:
And your abode will be
The Fire, and ye shall have
None to help."

26. But Lūṭ had faith in Him:
He said: "I will leave
Home for the sake of
My Lord: for He is
Exalted in Might, and Wise."

27. And We gave (Abraham)
Isaac and Jacob, and ordained
Among his progeny Prophethood
And Revelation, and We
Granted him his reward
In this life; and he was
In the Hereafter (of the company)
Of the Righteous.

28. And (remember) Lūṭ: behold,
He said to his people:

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"Ye do commit lewdness,
Such as no people in Creation
(Ever) committed before you.

29. "Do ye indeed approach men,
And cut off the highway?
And practise wickedness
(Even) in your councils?"
But his people gave no answer
But this: they said:
"Bring us the Wrath of God
If thou tellest the truth."

30. He said: "O my Lord!
Help Thou me against people
Who do mischief!"

SECTION 4.

31. When Our Messengers came
To Abraham with the good news,
They said: "We are indeed
Going to destroy the people
Of this township: for truly
They are (addicted to) crime."

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32. He said: "But there is
Lūṭ there." They said:
"Well do we know who
Is there: we will certainly
Save him and his following,—
Except his wife: she is
Of those who lag behind!"

33. And when Our Messengers
Came to Lūṭ, he was
Grieved on their account,
And felt himself powerless
(To protect) them: but they said:
"Fear thou not, nor grieve:
We are (here) to save thee
And thy following, except
Thy wife: she is
Of those who lag behind.

34. "For we are going to
Bring down on the people
Of this township a Punishment
From heaven, because they
Have been wickedly rebellious."

35. And We have left thereof
An evident Sign,
For any people who
(Care to) understand.

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36. To the Madyan (people)
(We sent) their brother Shu‘aib.
Then he said: "O my people!
Serve God, and fear the Last
Day: nor commit evil
On the earth, with intent
To do mischief."

37. But they rejected him:
Then the mighty Blast
Seized them, and they lay
Prostrate in their homes
By the morning.

38. (Remember also) the ’Ad
And the Thamūd (people):
Clearly will appear to you
From (the traces) of their buildings
(Their fate): the Evil One
Made their deeds alluring
To them, and kept them hack
From the Path, though they
Were gifted with Intelligence
And Skill.

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39. (Remember also) Qārūn,
Pharaoh, and Haman: there came
To them Moses with Clear Signs,
But they behaved with insolence
On the earth; yet they
Could not overreach (Us).

40. Each one of them We seized
For his crime: of them,
Against some We sent
A violent tornado (with showers
Of stones); some were caught
By a (mighty) Blast; some
We caused the earth
To swallow up; and some
We drowned (in the waters):
It was net God Who
Injured (or oppressed) them:
They injured (and oppressed)
Their own souls.

41. The parable of those who
Take protectors other than God
Is that of the Spider,
Who builds (to itself)

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A house; but truly
The flimsiest of houses
Is the Spider's house;—
If they but knew.

42. Verily God doth know
Of (every thing) whatever
That they call upon
Besides Him: and He is
Exalted (in power), Wise.

43. And such are the Parables
We set forth for mankind,
But only those understand them
Who have Knowledge.

44. God created the heavens
And the earth in true (proportions):
Verily in that is a Sign
For those who believe.

p. 1041

SECTION 5.

45. Recite what is sent
Of the Book by inspiration
To thee, and establish
Regular Prayer: for Prayer
Restrains from shameful
And unjust deeds;
And remembrance of God
Is the greatest (thing in life)
Without doubt. And God knows
The (deeds) that ye do.

46. And dispute ye not
With the People of the Book,
Except with means better
(Than mere disputation), unless
It be with those of them
Who inflict wrong (and injury):
But say, "We believe
In the Revelation which has
Come down to us and in that
Which came down to you;

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Our God and your God
Is One; and it is to Him
We bow (in Islam)."

47. And thus (it is) that We
Have sent down the Book
To thee. So the People
Of the Book believe therein,
As also do some of these
(Pagan Arabs): and none
But Unbelievers reject Our Signs.

48. And thou vast not (able)
To recite a Book before
This (Book came), nor art thou
(Able) to transcribe it
With thy right hand:
In that case, indeed, would

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The talkers of vanities
Have doubted.

49. Nay, here are Signs
Self-evident in the hearts
Of those endowed with
knowledge:
And none but the unjust
Reject Our Signs.

50. Yet they say: "Why
Are not Signs sent down
To him from his Lord?"
Say: "The Signs are indeed
With God: and I am
Indeed a clear Warner.

51. And is it not enough
For them that We have
Sent down to thee
The Book which is rehearsed
To them? Verily, in it
Is Mercy and a Reminder
To those who believe.

SECTION 6.

52. Say: "Enough is God
For a Witness between me

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And you: He knows
What is in the heavens
And on earth. And it is
Those who believe in vanities
And reject God, that
Will perish (in the end).

53. They ask thee
To hasten on the Punishment
(For them): had it not been
For a term (of respite)
Appointed, the Punishment
Would certainly have come
To them: and it will
Certainly reach them,—
Of a sudden, while they
Perceive not!

54. They ask thee
To hasten on the Punishment:
But, of a surety,
Hell will encompass
The rejecters of Faith!—

55. On the Day that
The Punishment shall cover them
From above them and
From below them,
And (a Voice) shall say:
"Taste ye (the fruits)
Of your deeds!

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56. O My servants who believe!
Truly, spacious is My Earth:
Therefore serve ye Me—
(And Me alone)!

57. Every soul shall have
A taste of death:
In the end to Us
Shall ye be brought back.

58. But those who believe
And work deeds of righteousness—
To them shall We give
A Home in Heaven,—
Lofty mansions beneath which
Flow rivers,—to dwell therein
For aye;—an excellent reward
For those who do (good)!—

59. Those who persevere in patience,
And put their trust
In their Lord and Cherisher.

60. How many are the creatures
That carry not their own

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Sustenance? It is God
Who feeds (both) them and you:
For He hears and knows
(All things).

61. If indeed thou ask them
Who has created the heavens
And the earth and subjected
The sun and the moon
(To His Law), they will
Certainly reply, "God".
How are they then deluded
Away (from the truth)?

62. God enlarges the sustenance
(Which He gives) to whichever
Of His servants He pleases;
And He (similarly) grants
By (strict) measure, (as He pleases):
For God has full knowledge
Of all things.

63. And if indeed thou ask them
Who it is that sends down
Rain from the sky,
And gives life therewith
To the earth after its death,
They will certainly reply,
"God!" Say, "Praise be
To God!" But most
Of them understand not.

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SECTION 7.

64. What is the life of this world
But amusement and play?
But verily the Home
In the Hereafter,—that is
Life indeed, if they but knew.

65. Now, if they embark
On a boat, they call
On God, making their devotion
Sincerely (and exclusively) to Him;
But when He has delivered
Them safely to (dry) land,
Behold, they give a share
(Of their worship to others)!—

66. Disdaining ungratefully Our gifts,
And giving themselves up
To (worldly) enjoyment! But soon
Will they know.

67. Do they not then see
That We have made
A Sanctuary secure, and that
Men are being snatched away
From all around them?
Then, do they believe in that

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Which is vain, and reject
The Grace of God?

68. And who does more wrong
Than he who invents
A lie against God
Or rejects the Truth
When it reaches him?
Is there not a home
In Hell for those who
Reject Faith?

69. And those who strive
In Our (Cause),—We will
Certainly guide them
To Our Paths:
For verily God
Is with those
Who do right.