Aḥqāf, or Winding Sand-tracts.

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

p. 1366

Sūra XLVI.

Aḥqāf, or Winding Sand-tracts.

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

1. Hā-Mīm.

2. The revelation
Of the Book
Is from God
The Exalted in Power,
Full of Wisdom.

3. We created not
The heavens and the earth
And all between them
But for just ends, and
For a term appointed:
But those who reject Faith
Turn away from that
Whereof they are warned.

4. Say: "Do ye see
What it is ye invoke
Besides God? Show me
What it is they
Have created on earth,
Or have they a share
In the heavens?
Bring me a Book

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(Revealed) before this,
Or any remnant of knowledge
(Ye may have), if ye
Are telling the truth!

5. And who is more astray
Than one who invokes,
Besides God, such as will
Not answer him to the Day
Of Judgment, and who
(In fact) are unconscious
Of their call (to them)?

6. And when mankind
Are gathered together
(At the Resurrection),
They will be hostile
To them and reject
Their worship (altogether)!

7. When Our Clear Signs
Are rehearsed to them,
The Unbelievers say,
Of the Truth
When it comes to them:
"This is evident sorcery!"

8. Or do they say,
"He has forged it"?
Say: "Had I forged it,
Then can ye obtain
No single (blessing) for me
From God. He knows best
Of that whereof ye talk
(So glibly)! Enough is He

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For a witness between me
And you! And He is
Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

9. Say: "I am no bringer
Of new-fangled doctrine
Among the apostles, nor
Do I know what will
Be done with me or
With you. I follow
But that which is revealed
To me by inspiration;
I am but a Warner
Open and clear."

10. Say: "See ye?
If (this teaching) be
From God, and ye reject it,
And a witness from among
The Children of Israel testifies
To its similarity
(With earlier scripture),
And has believed
While ye are arrogant,
(How unjust ye are!)
Truly, God guides not
A people unjust."

SECTION 2.

11. The Unbelievers say
Of those who believe:

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"If (this Message) were
A good thing, (such men)
Would not have gone
To it first, before us!"
And seeing that they
Guide not themselves thereby,
They will say, "This is
An (old,) old falsehood!"

12. And before this, was
The Book of Moses
As a guide and a mercy:
And this Book confirms (it)
In the Arabic tongue;
To admonish the unjust,
And as Glad Tidings.
To those who do right.

13. Verily those who say,
"Our Lord is God,"
And remain firm
(On that Path),
On them shall be no fear,
Nor shall they grieve.

14. Such shall be Companions
Of the Garden, dwelling
Therein (for aye): a recompense
For their (good) deeds.

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15. We have enjoined on man
Kindness to his parents:
In pain did his mother
Bear him, and in pain
Did she give him birth.
The carrying of the (child)
To his weaning is
(A period of) thirty months.
At length, when he reaches
The age of full strength
And attains forty years,
He says, "O my Lord!
Grant me that I may be
Grateful for Thy favour
Which Thou hast bestowed
Upon me, and upon both
My parents, and that I
May work righteousness
Such as Thou mayest approve;
And be gracious to me
In my issue. Truly
Have I turned to Thee
And truly do I bow
(To Thee) in Islām."

16. Such are they from whom
We shall accept the best
Of their deeds and pass by
Their ill deeds: (they shall

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Be) among the Companions
Of the Garden: a promise!
Of truth, which was
Made to them
(In this life).

17. But (there is one)
Who says to his parents,
"Fie on you! Do ye
Hold out the promise
To me that I
Shall be raised up,
Even though generations
Have passed before me
(Without rising again)?"
And they two seek
God's aid, (and rebuke
The son): "Woe to thee!
Have Faith! For the promise
Of God is true."
But he says, "This is
Nothing but tales
Of the ancients!"

18. Such are they against whom
Is proved the Sentence
Among the previous generations
Of Jinns and men, that have
Passed away; for they will
Be (utterly) lost.

19. And to all
Are (assigned) degrees

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According to the deeds
Which they (have done),
And in order that (God)
May recompense their deeds,
And no injustice be done
To them.

20. And on the Day that
The Unbelievers will be
Placed before the Fire,
(It will be said to them):
"Ye received your good things
In the life of the world,
And ye took your pleasure
Out of them: but to-day
Shall ye be recompensed
With a Penalty of humiliation:
For that ye were arrogant
On earth without just cause,
And that ye (ever) transgressed."

SECTION 3.

21. Mention (Hūd)
One of ‘Ād's (own) brethren:
Behold, he warned his people
About the winding Sand-tracts:
But there have been Warners
Before him and after him:
"Worship ye none other
Than God: truly I fear
For you the Penalty
Of a Mighty Day."

22. They said: "Hast thou come
In order to turn us aside

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From our gods? Then bring
Upon us the (calamity)
With which thou dost
Threaten us, if thou
Art telling the truth!"

23. He said: "The Knowledge
(Of when it will come)
Is only with God: I
Proclaim to you the mission
On which I have been sent:
But I see that ye
Are a people in ignorance!"…

24. Then, when they saw
The (Penalty in the shape of)
A cloud traversing the sky,
Corning to meet their valleys,
They said, "This cloud
Will give us rain!"
"Nay, it is the (calamity)
Ye were asking to be
Hastened!—a wind
Wherein is a Grievous Penalty!

25. "Everything will it destroy
By the command of its Lord!"
Then by the morning they—
Nothing was to be seen
But (the ruins of) their houses!
Thus do We recompense
Those given to sin!

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26. And We had firmly established
Them in a (prosperity and) power
Which We have not given
To you (ye Quraish!)
And We had endowed them
With (faculties of)
Hearing, seeing, heart and intellect
But of no profit to them
Were their (faculties of)
Hearing, sight, and heart
And intellect, when they
Went on rejecting the Signs
Of God; and they were
(Completely) encircled
By that which they
Used to mock at!

SECTION 4.

27. We destroyed aforetime
Populations round about you;
And We have shown
The Signs in various ways,
That they may turn (to Us).

28. Why then was no help
Forthcoming to them from those
Whom they worshipped as gods,
Besides God, as a means
Of access (to God)? Nay,
They left them in the lurch:
But that was their
Falsehood and their invention.

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29, Behold, We turned
Towards thee a company
Of Jinns (quietly) listening
To the Qur-ān: when they
Stood in the presence
Thereof, they said, "Listen
In silence!" When the (reading)
Was finished, they returned
To their people, to warn
(Them of their sins).

30. They said, "O our people!
We have heard a Book
Revealed after Moses,
Confirming what came
Before it: it guides (men)
To the Truth and
To a Straight Path.

31. "O our people, hearken
To the one who invites
(You) to God, and believe
In him: He will forgive
You your faults,
And deliver you from
A Penalty Grievous.

32. "If any does not hearken
To the one who invites
(Us) to God, he cannot
Frustrate (God's Plan) on earth,
And no protectors can he have
Besides God: such men
(Wander) in manifest error."

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33. See they not that
God, Who created the heavens
And the earth, and never
Wearied with their creation,
Is able to give life
To the dead? Yea, verily
He has power over all things.

34. And on the Day that
The Unbelievers will be
Placed before the Fire,
(They will be asked,)
Is this not the Truth?"
They will say, "Yea,
By our Lord!"
(One will say:)
"Then taste ye
The Penalty, for that ye
Were wont to deny (Truth)!"

35. Therefore patiently persevere,
As did (all) apostles
Of inflexible purpose;
And be in no haste
About the (Unbelievers). On the Day
That they see the (Punishment)
Promised them, (it will be)
As if they had not
Tarried more than an hour
In a single day. (Thine
But) to proclaim the Message:
But shall any be destroyed
Except those who transgress?

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