Sūra XLI. Hā-mīm (Abbreviated Letters), or Ḥā-Mīm Sajda, or Fuṣṣilat

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

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Sūra XLI.

Ḥā-mīm (Abbreviated Letters), or Ḥā-Mīm Sajda, or Fuṣṣilat

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

1. Ḥā-Mīm:

2. A revelation from (God).
Most Gracious, Most Merciful—

3. A Book, whereof the verses
Are explained in detail;—
A Qur-ān in Arabic,
For people who understand;—

4. Giving Good News
And Admonition: yet most
Of them turn away
And so they hear not.

5. They say: "Our hearts are
Under veils, (concealed)
From that to which thou
Dost invite us, and
In our ears is a deafness,
And between us and thee
Is a screen: so do
Thou (what thou wilt);

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For us, we shall do
(What we will!)"

6. Say thou: "I am
But a man like you:
It is revealed to me
By inspiration, that your God
Is One God: so stand
True to Him, and ask
For His forgiveness."
And woe to those who
Join gods with God,—

7. Those who practise not
Regular Charity, and who
Even deny the Hereafter.

8. For those who believe
And work deeds of righteousness
Is a reward that will
Never fail.

SECTION 2.

9. Say: Is it that ye
Deny Him Who created
The earth in two Days?
And do ye join equals
With Him? He is
The Lord of (all)
The Worlds.

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10. He set on the (earth),
Mountains standing firm,
High above it,
And bestowed blessings on
The earth, and measured therein
All things to give them
Nourishment in due proportion,
In four Days, in accordance
With (the needs of)
Those who seek (sustenance).

11. Moreover He comprehended
In His design the sky,
And it had been (as) smoke:
He said to it
And to the earth:
"Come ye together,
Willingly or unwillingly."
They said: "We do come
(Together), in willing obedience."

12. So he completed them
As seven firmaments

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In two Days, and He
Assigned to each heaven
Its duty and command.
And We adorned
The lower heaven
With lights, and (provided it)
With guard. Such
Is the Decree of (Him)
The Exalted in Might,
Full of knowledge.

13. But if they turn away,
Say thou: "I have warned
You of a stunning Punishment
(As of thunder and lightning)
Like that which (overtook)
The ‘Ād and the Thamūd!"

14. Behold, the apostles came
To them, from before them
And behind them, (preaching):
"Serve none but God."
They said, "If our Lord
Had so pleased, He would

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Certainly have sent down angels
(To preach): now we reject
Your mission (altogether)."

15. Now the ‘Ād behaved
Arrogantly through the land,
Against (all) truth and reason,
And said: "Who is superior
To us in strength?" What!
Did they not see that
God, Who created them,
Was superior to them
In strength? But they
Continued to reject Our Signs!

16. So We sent against them
A furious Wind through days
Of disaster, that We might
Give them a taste
Of a Penalty of humiliation
In this Life; but the Penalty
Of a Hereafter will be
More humiliating still:
And they will find
No help.

17. As to the Thamūd,
We gave them guidance,
But they preferred blindness
(Of heart) to Guidance:
So the stunning Punishment
Of humiliation seized them,
Because of what they had earned.

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18. But We delivered those
Who believed and practised righteousness.

SECTION 3.

19. On the Day that
The enemies of God
Will be gathered together
To the Fire, they will
Be marched in ranks.

20. At length, when they reach
The (Fire), their hearing,
Their sight, and their skins
Will bear witness against them,
As to (all) their deeds.

21. They will say to their skins:
"Why bear ye witness
Against us?" They will say:
"God hath given us speech,—
(He) Who giveth speech
To everything: He created
You for the first time,
And unto Him were ye
To return.

22. "Ye did not seek
To hide yourselves, lest

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Your hearing, your sight,
And your skins should bear
Witness against you! But
Ye did think that God
Knew not many of the things
That ye used to do!

23. "But this thought of yours
Which ye did entertain
Concerning your Lord, hath
Brought you to destruction,
And (now) have ye become
Of those utterly lost!"

24. If, then, they have patience,
The Fire will be
A Home for them!
And if they beg
To be received into favour,
Into favour will they not
(Then) be received.

25. And We have destined
For them intimate companions
(Of like nature), who made
Alluring to them what was
Before them and behind them;
And the sentence among
The previous generations of Jinns
And men; who have passed away,

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Is proved against them;
For they are utterly lost.

SECTION 4.

26. The Unbelievers say
"Listen not to this Qur-ān,
But talk at random
In the midst
Of its (reading), that ye
May gain the upper hand!"

27. But We will certainly
Give the Unbelievers a taste
Of a severe Penalty,
And We will requite them
For the worst of their deeds.

28. Such is the requital
Of the enemies of God,—
The Fire: therein will be
For them the Eternal Home:
A (fit) requital, for
That they were wont
To reject Our Signs.

29. And the Unbelievers will say:
"Our Lord! Show us those,
Among Jinns and men,
Who misled us: we shall
Crush them beneath our feet,
So that they become
The vilest (before all)."

30. In the case of those
Who say, "Our Lord

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Is God", and, further,
Stand straight and steadfast,
The angels descend on them.
(From time to time):
"Fear ye not!" (they suggest),
"Nor grieve! But receive
The Glad Tidings
Of the Garden (of Bliss),
The which ye were promised!

31. "We are your protectors
In this life and
In the Hereafter:
Therein shall ye have
All that your souls
Shall desire; therein
Shall ye have all
That ye ask for!—

32. "A hospitable gift from One
Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful!"

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SECTION 5.

33. Who is better in speech
Than one who calls (men)
To God, works righteousness,
And says, "I am of those
Who bow in Islam"?

34. Nor can Goodness and Evil
Be equal. Repel (Evil)
With what is better:
Then will he between whom
And thee was hatred
Become as it were
Thy friend and intimate!

35. And no one will be
Granted such goodness
Except those who exercise
Patience and self-restraint,—
None but persons of
The greatest good fortune.

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36. And if (at any time)
An incitement to discord
Is made to thee
By the Evil One,
Seek refuge in God.
He is the One
Who hears and knows
All things.

37. Among His Signs are
The Night and the Day,
And the Sun and the Moon.
Adore not the sun
And the moon, but adore
God, Who created them,
If it is. Him ye wish
To serve.

38. But if the (Unbelievers)
Are arrogant, (no matter):
For in the presence
Of thy Lord are those
Who celebrate His praises
By night and by day.
And they never flag
(Nor feel themselves
Above it).

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39. And among His Signs
In this: thou seest
The earth barren and desolate;
But when We send down
Rain to it, it is stirred
To life and yields increase.
Truly, He Who gives life
To the (dead) earth
Can surely give life
To (men) who are dead.
For He has power
Over all things.

40. Those who pervert
The Truth in Our Signs
Are not hidden from Us.
Which is better?—he that
Is cast into the Fire,
Or he that comes safe through,
On the Day of Judgment?
Do what ye will:
Verily He seeth (clearly)
All that ye do.

41. Those who reject the Message
When it comes to them

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(Are not hidden from Us).
And indeed it is a Book
Of exalted power.

42. No falsehood can approach it
From before or behind it:
It is sent down
By One Full of Wisdom,
Worthy of all Praise.

43. Nothing is said to thee
That was not said
To the apostles before thee:
That thy Lord has
At His command (all) Forgiveness
As well as a most
Grievous Penalty.

44. Had We sent this as
A Qur-ān (in a language)
Other than Arabic, they would
Have said: "Why are not
Its verses explained in detail?
What! (a Book) not in Arabic
And (a Messenger) an Arab?"
Say: "It is a guide

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And a healing to those
Who believe; and for those
Who believe not, there is
A deafness in their ears,
And it is blindness in their (eyes):
They are (as it were)
Being called from a place
Far distant!"

SECTION 6.

45. We certainly gave Moses
The Book aforetime: but disputes
Arose therein. Had it not
Been for a Word
That went forth before
From thy Lord, (their differences)
Would have been settled
Between them: but they
Remained in suspicious
Disquieting doubt thereon.

46. Whoever works righteousness
Benefits his own soul;
Whoever works evil, it is
Against his own soul:
Nor is thy Lord ever
Unjust (in the least)
To His servants.

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47. To Him is referred
The Knowledge of the Hour
(Of Judgment: He knows all):
No date-fruit comes out
Of its sheath, nor does
A female conceive (within
Her womb) nor bring forth
(Young), but by His Knowledge.
The Day that (God) will propound
To them the (question),
"Where are the Partners
(Ye attributed) to Me?"
They will say, "We do
Assure Thee not one
Of us can bear witness!"

48. The (deities) they used to invoke
Aforetime will leave them
In the lurch, and they
Will perceive that they
Have no way of escape.

49. Man does not weary
Of asking for good (things),
But if ill touches him,
He gives up all hope
(And) is lost in despair.

50. When We give him a taste
Of some mercy from Ourselves.

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After some adversity has
Touched him, he is sure
To say, "This is due
To my (merit): I think not
That the Hour (of Judgment)
Will (ever) be established;
But if I am brought back
To my Lord, I have
(Much) good (stored) in His sight!"
But We will show
The Unbelievers the truth
Of all that they did,
And We shall give them
The taste of a severe
Penalty.

51. When We bestow favours
On man, he turns away,
And gets himself remote
On his side (instead of'
Coming to Us); and when
Evil seizes him, (he comes)
Full of prolonged prayer!

52. Say: "See ye if
The (Revelation) is (really)
From God, and yet do ye
Reject it? Who is more
Astray than one who
Is in a schism
Far (from any purpose)?"

53. Soon will We show them
Our Signs in the (furthest)

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Regions (of the earth), and
In their own souls, until
It becomes manifest to them
That this is the Truth.
Is it not enough that
Thy Lord doth witness
All things?

54. Ah indeed! are they
In doubt concerning
The Meeting with their Lord?
Ah indeed! it is He
That doth encompass
All things!

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