Sūra XXX. Rūm, or The Roman Empire.

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

p. 1049

p. 1050

p. 1051

Sūra XXX.

Rūm, or The Roman Empire.

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

1. A. L. M.

2. The Roman Empire
Has been defeated—

3. In a land close by;
But they, (even) after
(This) defeat of theirs,
Will soon be victorious—

4. Within a few years.
With God is the Decision,
In the Past
And in the Future:
On that Day shall
The Believers rejoice—

p. 1052

5. With the help of God.
He helps whom He will,
And He is Exalted in Might,
Most Merciful.

6. (It is) the promise of God.
Never does God depart
From His promise:
But most men understand not.

7. They know but the outer
(Things) in the life
Of this world: but
Of the End of things
They are heedless.

8. Do they not reflect
In their own minds?
Not but for just ends
And for a term appointed,
Did God create the heavens
And the earth, and all
Between them: yet are there
Truly many among men
Who deny the meeting
With their Lord
(At the Resurrection)!

p. 1053

9. Do they not travel
Through the earth, and see
What was the End
Of those before them?
They were superior to them
In strength: they tilled
The soil and populated it
In greater numbers than these
Have done: there came to them
Their apostles with Clear (Signs),
(Which they rejected, to their
Own destruction): it was not
God who wronged them, but
They wronged their own souls.

10. In the long run
Evil in the extreme
Will be the End of those
Who do evil; for that
They rejected the Signs
Of God, and held them up
To ridicule.

SECTION 2.

11. It is God Who begins
(The process of) creation;
Then repeats it; then
Shall ye be brought back
To Him.

p. 1054

12. On the Day that
The Hour will be established,
The guilty will be
Struck dumb with despair.

13. No intercessor will they have
Among their "Partners",
And they will (themselves)
Reject their "Partners".

14. On the Day that
The Hour will he established,—
That Day shall (all men)
Be sorted out.

15. Then those who have believed
And worked righteous deeds,
Shall be made happy
In a Mead of Delight.

16. And those who have rejected
Faith and falsely denied
Our Signs and the meeting
Of the Hereafter,—such
Shall be brought forth to
Punishment.

17. So (give) glory to God,
When ye reach eventide

p. 1055

And when ye rise
In the morning;

18. Yea, To Him be praise,
In the heavens and on earth;
And in the late afternoon
And when the day
Begins to decline.

19. It is He Who brings out
The living from the dead,
And brings out the dead
From the living, and Who
Gives life to the earth
After it is dead:
And thus shall ye be
Brought out (from the dead).

SECTION 3.

20. Among His Signs is this,
That He created you

p. 1056

From dust; and then,—
Behold, ye are men
Scattered (far and wide)!

21. And among His Signs
Is this, that He created
For you mates from among
Yourselves, that ye may
Dwell in tranquillity with them,
And He has put love
And mercy between your (hearts):
Verily in that are Signs
For those who reflect.

22. And among His Signs
Is the creation of the heavens
And the earth, and the variations
In your languages
And your colours: verily
In that are Signs
For those who know.

23. And among His Signs
Is the sleep that ye take
By night and by day,
And the quest that ye

p. 1057

(Make for livelihood)
Out of His Bounty: verily
In that are Signs
For those who hearken.

24. And among His Signs,
He shows you the lightning,
By way both of fear
And of hope, and He sends
Down rain from the sky
And with it gives life to
The earth after it is dead:
Verily in that are Signs
For those who are wise.

25. And among His Signs is this,
That heaven and earth
Stand by His Command:
Then when He calls you,
By a single call, from the earth,
Behold, ye (straightway) come forth.

p. 1058

26. To Him belongs every being
That is in the heavens
And on earth: all are
Devoutly obedient to Him.

27. It is He Who begins
(The process of) creation;
Then repeats it; and
For Him it is most easy.
To Him belongs the loftiest
Similitude (we can think of)
In the heavens and the earth:
For He is Exalted in Might,
Full of wisdom.

SECTION 4.

28. He does propound
To you a similitude
From your own (experience):
Do ye have partners
Among those whom your right hands
Possess, to share as equals
In the wealth We have

p. 1059

Bestowed on you? Do ye
Fear them as ye fear
Each other? Thus do We
Explain the Signs in detail
To a people that understand.

29. Nay, the wrong-doers (merely)
Follow their own lusts,
Being devoid of knowledge.
But who will guide those
Whom God leaves astray?
To them there will be
No helpers.

30. So set thou thy face
Steadily and truly to the Faith:
(Establish) God's handiwork according
To the pattern on which
He has made mankind:
No change (let there be)
In the work (wrought)

p. 1060

By God: that is
The standard Religion
But most among mankind
Understand not.

31. Turn ye back in repentance
To Him, and fear Him:
Establish regular prayers,
And be not ye among those
Who join gods with God,—

32. Those who split up
Their Religion, and become
(Mere) Sects,—each party
Rejoicing in that which
Is with itself!

33. When trouble touches men,
They cry to their Lord,
Turning back to Him
In repentance: but when
He gives them a taste
Of Mercy as from Himself,
Behold, some of them
Pay part-worship to
Other god's besides their Lord,—

34. (As if) to show their ingratitude
For the (favours) We have
Bestowed on them! Then enjoy
(Your brief day); but soon

p. 1061

Will ye know (your folly).

35. Or have We sent down
Authority to them, which
Points out to them
The things to which
They pay part-worship?

36. When We give men
A taste of Mercy,
They exult thereat:
And when-some evil
Afflicts them because of
What their (own) hands
Have sent forth, behold,
They are in despair!

37. See they not that God
Enlarges the provision and
Restricts it, to whomsoever
He pleases? Verily in that
Are Signs for those who believe.

38. So give what is due
To kindred, the needy,
And the wayfarer.
That is best for those

p. 1062

Who seek the Countenance,
Of God, and it is they
Who will prosper.

39. That which ye lay out
For increase through the property
Of (other) people, will have
No increase with God:
But that which ye lay out
For charity, seeking
The Countenance of God,
(Will increase): it is
These who twill get
A recompense multiplied.

40. It is God Who has
Created you: further, He has
Provided for your sustenance;
Then He will cause you
To die; and again He will
Give you life. Are there
Any of your (false) "Partners"
Who can do any single
One of these things?
Glory to Him! and High
Is He above the partners
They attribute (to Him)!

p. 1063

SECTION 5.

41. Mischief has appeared
On land and sea because
Of (the meed) that the hands
Of men have earned,
That (God) may give them
A taste of some of their
Deeds: in order that the
May turn back (from Evil).

42. Say: "Travel through the earth
And see what was the End
Of those before (you):
Most of them worshipped
Others besides God."

43. But set thou thy face
To the right Religion,
Before there come from God
The Day which there is

p. 1064

No chance of averting:
On that Day shall men
Be divided (in two).

44. Those who reject Faith
Will suffer from that rejection:
And those who work righteousness
Will spread their couch
(Of repose) for themselves
(In heaven):

45. That He may reward those
Who believe and work righteous
Deeds, out of His Bounty.
For He loves not those
Who reject Faith.

46. Among His Signs is this,
That He sends the Winds,
As heralds of Glad Tidings,
Giving you a taste
Of His (Grace and) Mercy,—
That the ships may sail
(Majestically) by His Command
And that ye may seek

p. 1065

Of His Bounty: in order
That ye may be grateful.

47. We did indeed send,
Before thee, apostles
To their (respective) peoples,
And they came to them
With Clear Signs: then,
To those who transgressed,
We meted out Retribution:
And it was due from us
To aid those who believed.

48. It is God Who sends
The Winds, and they raise
The Clouds: then does He
Spread them in the sky
As He wills, and break them
Into fragments, until thou seest
Rain-drops issue from the midst
Thereof: then when He has
Made them reach such
His servants as He wills,
Behold, they do rejoice!—

49. Even though, before they received
(The rain)—just before this—
They were dumb with despair!

50. Then contemplate (O man!)
The memorials of God's Mercy!—
How He gives life
To the earth after
Its death: verily the Same
Will give life to the men

p. 1066

Who are dead: for He
Has power over all things.

51. And if We (but) send
A Wind from which
They see (their tilth)
Turn yellow,—behold,
They become, thereafter,
Ungrateful (Unbelievers)!

52. So verily thou canst not
Make the dead to hear,
Nor canst thou make
The deaf to hear
The call, when they show
Their backs and turn away.

53. Nor canst thou lead back
The blind from their straying:
Only those wilt thou make
To hear, who believe
In Our Signs and submit
(Their wills in Islam).

SECTION 6.

54. It is God Who
Created you in a state
Of (helpless) weakness, then
Gave (you) strength after weakness,

p. 1067

Then, after strength, gave (you)
Weakness and a hoary head:
He creates as He wills,
And it is He Who has
All knowledge and power.

55. On the Day that
The Hour (of reckoning)
Will be established,
The transgressors will swear
That they tarried not
But an hour: thus were
They used to being deluded!

56. But those endued with knowledge
And faith will say:
"Indeed ye did tarry,
Within God's Decree,
To the Day of Resurrection,
And this is the Day
Of Resurrection: but ye—
Ye were not aware!"

57. So on that Day no excuse
Of theirs will
Avail the Transgressors,
Nor will they be invited (then)
To seek grace (by repentance).

p. 1068

58. Verily We have propounded
For men, in this Qur-ān.
Every kind of Parable:
But if thou bring to them
Any Sign, the Unbelievers
Are sure to say, "Ye
Do nothing but talk vanities."

59. Thus does God seal up
The hearts of those
Who understand not.

60. So patiently persevere: for
Verily the promise of God
Is true: nor let those
Shake thy firmness, who have
(Themselves) no certainty of faith.

p. 1069

p. 1070

p. 1071

p. 1072

p. 1073

p. 1074

p. 1075

p. 1076

p. 1077

p. 1078

p. 1079