Sūra XXXV. Fāṭir, or The Originator of Creation; or Malāïka, or The Angels

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

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Sūra XXXV.

Fāṭir, or The Originator of Creation; or Malāïka, or The Angels.

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

1. Praise be to God,
Who created (out of nothing)
The heavens and the earth,
Who made the angels
Messengers with wings,—
Two, or three, or four (Pairs):
He adds to Creation
As He pleases: for God
Has power over all things.

2. What God out of His Mercy
Doth bestow on mankind
There is none can withhold:
What He doth withhold,

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There is none can grant,
Apart from Him:
And He is the Exalted
In Power, Full of Wisdom.

3. O men! call to mind
The grace of God unto you!
Is there a Creator, other
Than God, to give you
Sustenance from heaven
Or earth? There is
No god but He: how
Then are ye deluded
Away from the Truth?

4. And if they reject thee,
So were apostles rejected
Before thee: to God
Go back for decision
All affairs.

5. O men! certainly
The promise of God
Is true. Let not then
This present life deceive you,

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Nor let the Chief Deceiver
Deceive you about God.

6. Verily Satan is an enemy
To you: so treat him
As an enemy. He only
Invites his adherents,
That they may become
Companions of the Blazing Fire.

7. For those who reject God,
Is a terrible Penalty: but
For those who believe
And work righteous deeds,
Is Forgiveness, and
A magnificent Reward.

SECTION 2.

8. Is he, then, to whom
The evil of his conduct
Is made alluring, so
That he looks upon it
As good, (equal to one
Who is rightly guided)?
For God leaves to stray
Whom He wills, and guides
Whom He wills. So
Let not thy soul go out
In (vainly) sighing after them:
For God knows well
All that they do!

9. It is God Who sends
Forth the Winds, so that

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They raise up the Clouds,
And We drive them
To a land that is dead,
And revive the earth therewith
After its death: even so
(Will be) the Resurrection!

10. If any do seek
For glory and power,—
To God belong
All glory and power.
To Him mount up
(All) Words of Purity:
It is He Who exalts
Each Deed of Righteousness.
Those that lay Plots
Of Evil,—for them
Is a Penalty terrible;
And the plotting of such
Will be void (of result).

11. And God did create
You from dust;
Then from a sperm-drop;
Then He made you
In pairs. And no female
Conceives, or lays down
(Her load), but with His
Knowledge. Nor is a man

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Long-lived granted length
Of days, nor is a part
Cut off from his life,
But is in a Decree
(Ordained). All this
Is easy to God.

12. Nor are the two bodies
Of flowing water alike,—
The one palatable, sweet,
And pleasant to drink,
And the other, salt
And bitter. Yet from each
(Kind of water) do ye
Eat flesh fresh and tender,
And ye extract ornaments
To wear; and thou seest
The ships therein that plough
The waves, that ye may
Seek (thus) of the Bounty
Of God that ye
May be grateful.

13. He merges Night into Day,
And He merges Day

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Into Night, and He has
Subjected the sun and
The moon (to His Law):
Each one runs its course
For a term appointed.
Such is God your Lord:
To Him belongs all Dominion.
And those whom ye invoke
Besides Him have not
The least power.

14. If ye invoke them,
They will not listen
To your call, and if
They were to listen,
They cannot answer
Your (prayer). On the Day
Of Judgment they will reject
Your "Partnership". And none,
(O man!) can tell thee
(The Truth) like the One
Who is acquainted with all things.

SECTION 3.

15. O ye men! It is
Ye that have need

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Of God: but God is
The One Free of all wants,
Worthy of all praise.

16. If He so pleased, He
Could blot you out
And bring in
A New Creation.

17. Nor is that (at all)
Difficult for God.

18. Nor can a bearer of burdens
Bear another's burden.
If one heavily laden should
Call another to (bear) his load,
Not the least portion of it
Can be carried (by the other),
Even though he be nearly
Related. Thou canst but
Admonish such as fear
Their Lord unseen
And establish regular Prayer.
And whoever purifies himself

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Does so for the benefit
Of his own soul; and
The destination (of all)
Is to God.

19. The blind and the seeing
Are not alike;

20. Nor are the depths
Of Darkness and the Light;

21. Nor are the (chilly) shade
And the (genial) heat of the sun:

22. Nor are alike those
That are living and those
That are dead. God can
Make any that He wills
To hear; but thou
Canst not make those
To hear who are
(Buried) in graves.

23. Thou art no other
Than a warner.

24. Verily We have sent thee
In truth, as a bearer
Of glad tidings,
And as a warner:

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And there never was
A people, without a warner
Having lived among them
(In the past).

25. And if they reject thee,
So did their predecessors,
To whom came their apostles
With Clear Signs, Books
Of dark prophecies,
And the Book
Of Enlightenment.

26. In the end did I
Punish those who rejected
Faith: and how (terrible)
Was My rejection (of them)!

SECTION 4.

27. Seest thou not that
God sends down rain
From the sky? With it
We then bring out produce
Of various colours
And in the mountains

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Are tracts white and red,
Of various shades of colour,
And black intense in hue.

28. And so amongst men
And crawling creatures and cattle,
Are they of various colours.
Those truly fear God,
Among His Servants,
Who have knowledge:
For God is Exalted in Might,
Oft-Forgiving.

29. Those who rehearse the Book
Of God, establish regular Prayer,
And spend (in Charity)
Out of what We have provided
For them, secretly and openly,
Hope for a Commerce
That will never fail:

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30. For He will pay them
Their meed, nay, He will
Give them (even) more
Out of His Bounty:
For He is Oft-Forgiving,
Most Ready to appreciate (service).

31. That which We have revealed
To thee of the Book
Is the Truth,—confirming
What was (revealed) before it:
For God is assuredly—
With respect to His servants—
Well acquainted and
Fully Observant.

32. Then We have given
The Book for inheritance
To such of Our servants
As We have chosen:
But there are among them
Some who wrong their own

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Souls; some who follow
A middle course; and some
Who are, by God's leave,
Foremost in good deeds;
That is the highest Grace.

33. Gardens of Eternity will they
Enter: therein will they
Be adorned with bracelets
Of gold and pearls;
And their garments there
Will be of silk.

34. And they will say:
"Praise be to God,
Who has removed from us
(All) sorrow: for our Lord
Is indeed Oft-Forgiving
Ready to appreciate (service):

35. "Who has, out of His Bounty,
Settled us in a Home
That will last: no toil
Nor sense of weariness
Shall touch us therein."

36. But those who reject (God)—
For them will be
The Fire of Hell:
No term shall be determined

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For them, so they should die,
Nor shall its Penalty
Be lightened for them.
Thus do We reward
Every ungrateful one!

37. Therein will they cry
Aloud (for assistance):
"Our Lord! Bring us out:
We shall work righteousness,
Not the (deeds) we used
To do"—"Did We not
Give you long enough life
So that he that would
Should receive admonition?
And (moreover) the warner
Came to you. So taste ye
(The fruits of your deeds):
For the Wrong-doers
There is no helper."

SECTION 5.

38. Verily God knows
(All) the hidden things
Of the heavens and the earth:
Verily He has full knowledge
Of all that is
In (men's) hearts.

39. He it is that has made
You inheritors in the earth:

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If, then, any do reject
(God), their rejection (works)
Against themselves: their rejection
But adds to the odium
For the Unbelievers
In the sight of their Lord:
Their rejection but adds
To (their own) undoing.

40. Say: "Have ye seen
(These) "Partners" of yours
Whom ye call upon
Besides God? Show me
What it is they have created
In the (wide) earth.
Or have they a share
In the heavens? Or
Have We given them a Book
From which they (can derive)
Clear (evidence)?—Nay,
The wrong-doers promise
Each other nothing but delusions.

41. It is God Who sustains
The heavens and the earth,
Lest they cease (to function):
And if they should fail,
There is none—not one—
Can sustain them thereafter:

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Verily He is Most Forbearing,
Oft-Forgiving.

42. They swore their strongest oaths
By God that if a warner
Came to them, they would
Follow his guidance better
Than any (other) of the Peoples:
But when a warner came
To them, it has only
Increased their flight
(From righteousness),—

43. On account of their arrogance
In the land and their
Plotting of Evil.
But the plotting of Evil
Will hem in only
The authors thereof. Now
Are they but looking for
The way the ancients
Were dealt with? But
No change wilt thou find
In God's way (of dealing):
No turning off wilt thou
Find in God's way (of dealing).

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44. Do they not travel
Through the earth, and see.
What was the End
Of those before them,
Though they were superior
To them in strength?
Nor is God to be frustrated
By anything whatever
In the heavens
Or on earth: for He
Is All-Knowing, All-Powerful.

45. If God were to punish
Men according to what
They deserve, He would not
Leave on the back
Of the (earth) a single
Living creature: but He
Gives them respite
For a stated Term:
When their Term expires,
Verily God has in His sight
All His servants.

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