The Unsurpassable Victory [37:40-61]
Except for God's sincere
servants; for them awaits a known provision, fruits -- and they high-honored in
the Gardens of Bliss upon couches, set face to face, a cup from a spring being
passed round to them, white, a delight to the drinkers, wherein no sickness is,
neither intoxication; and with them wide-eyed maidens restraining their glances
as if they were hidden pearls. They advance one upon another, asking each other
questions. One of them says, 'I had a comrade who would say, "Are you a
confirmer? What, when we are dead and become dust and bones, shall we indeed be
requited?" ' He says, 'Are you looking down?' The he looks, and sees him in
the midst of Hell. He says, 'By God, well nigh thou didst destroy me; but for my
Lord's blessing, I were one of the arraigned. What, do we then not die except
for our first death, and are we not chastised? This is indeed the mighty
triumph, and for the like of this let the workers work.'
Primal Arrogance [38:71-85]
When thy Lord said to the angels, 'See, I
am creating a mortal of a clay. When I have shaped him, and breathed My spirit
in him, fall you down, bowing before him!' Then the angles bowed themselves all
together, save Iblis; he waxed proud, and was one of the unbelievers. Said He, 'Iblis,
what prevented thee to bow thyself before that I created with My own hands? Has
thou waxed proud, or art thou of the lofty ones?' Said he, 'I am better than he;
Thou createdst me of fire, and him Thou createdst of clay.' Said He, 'Then go
thou forth hence; thou art accursed. Upon thee shall rest my curse, till the Day
of Doom.' Said he, 'My Lord, respite me till the day they shall be raised.' Said
He, 'Thou art among the ones that are respited until the day of the known time.'
Said he, 'Now, by Thy glory, I shall pervert them all together, excepting those
Thy servants among them that are sincere.' Said He, 'This is the truth, and the
truth I say; I shall assuredly fill Gehenna with thee, and with whosoever of
them follows thee, all together.'
The Constant Touch [39:22-23]
Is he whose breast God has expanded unto
Islam, so he walks in a light from his Lord...? But woe to those whose hearts
are hardened against the remembrance of God! Those are in manifest error. God
has sent down the fairest discourse as a Book, consimilar in its oft-repeated,
whereat shiver the skins of those who fear their Lord; then their skins and
their hearts soften to the remembrance of God. That is God's guidance, whereby
He guides whomsoever He will; and whomsoever God leads astray, no guide has he.
The Day of Truth [39:67-70]
They measure not God with His true
measure. The earth altogether shall be His handful on the Day of Resurrection,
and the heavens shall be rolled up in His right hand. Glory be to Him! High be
He exalted above that they associate! For the Trumpet shall be blown, and
whosoever is in the heavens and whosoever is in the earth shall swoon, save whom
God wills. Then it shall be blown again, and lo, they shall stand, beholding.
And the earth shall shine with the light of its Lord, and the Book shall be set
in place, and the Prophets and witnesses shall be brought, and justly the issue
be decided between them, and they not wronged. Every soul shall be paid in full
for what it has wrought; and He knows very well what they do.
The Prayer of Love [40:7-9]
Those who bear the Throne, and those round
about it proclaim the praise of their Lord, and believe in Him, and they ask
forgiveness for those who believe: 'Our Lord, Thou embracest every thing in
mercy and knowledge; therefore forgive those who have repented, and follow Thy
way, and guard them against the chastisement of Hell. Our Lord, and admit them
to the Gardens of Eden that Thou hast promised them and those who were righteous
of their fathers, and their wives, and their seed; surely Thou art the
All-mighty, the All-wise. And guard them against evil deeds; whomsoever Thou
guardest against evil deeds on that day, on him Thou hast had mercy; and that is
indeed the mighty triumph.
Alienated Ones [41:2-8]
A sending down from the Merciful, the
Compassionate. A Book whose signs have been distinguished as an Arabic Koran for
a people having knowledge, good tidings to bear, and warning, but most of them
have turned away, and do not give ear. They say, 'Our hearts are veiled from
what thou callest us to, and in our ears is a heaviness, and between us and thee
there is a veil; so act; we are acting!' Say: 'I am only a mortal, like you are.
To me it has been revealed that your God is One God; so go straight with Him,
and ask for His forgiveness; and woe to the idolaters who pay not the alms, and
disbelieve in the world to come. Surely those who believe, and do righteous
deeds shall have a wage unfailing.'
Six Mysterious Days of Power [41:9-12]
Say: 'What, do you disbelieve
in Him who created the earth in two days, and do you set up compeers to Him?
That is the Lord of all Being. And He set therein firm mountains over it, and He
blessed it, and He ordained therein its diverse sustenance in four days, equal
to those who ask. Then He lifted Himself to heaven when it was smoke, and said
to it and to the earth, "Come willingly, or unwillingly!" They said,
"We come willingly." So He determined them as seven heavens in two
days, and revealed its commandment in every heaven.' And We adorned the lower
heaven with lamps, and to preserve; that is the ordaining of the All-mighty, the
All-knowing.
The Single, Direct, and Universal Path [42:13-18]
He has laid down for
you as religion that He charged Noah with, and that We have revealed to thee,
and that We charged Abraham with, Moses and Jesus; 'Perform the religion, and
scatter not regarding it.' Very hateful is that for the idolaters, that thou
callest them to. God chooses unto Himself whomsoever He will, and He guides to
Himself whosoever turns, penitent. They scattered not, save after knowledge had
come to them, being insolent one to another,; and but for a Word that preceded
from thy Lord until a stated term, it had been decided between them. But those
to whom the Book has been given as an inheritance after them, behold, they are
in doubt of it disquieting. Therefore call thou, and go straight as thou hast
been commanded; do not follow their caprices. And say: 'I believe in whatever
Book God has sent down; I have been commanded to be just between you. God is our
Lord and your Lord. We have our deeds, and you have your deeds; there is no
argument between us and you; God shall bring us together, and unto Him is the
homecoming.' And those who argue concerning God after that answer has been made
to Him, their argument is null and void in the sight of their Lord; anger shall
rest upon them, and there awaits them a terrible chastisement. God it is who has
sent down the Book with the truth, and also the Balance. And what shall make
thee know? Haply the Hour is nigh. Those that believe not therein seek to hasten
it; but those who believe in it go in fear of it, knowing that it is the truth.
Why, surely those who are in doubt concerning the Hour are indeed in far error.
Coming Home [42:51-53]
It belongs not to any mortal that God should
speak to him, except by revelation, or from behind a veil, or that he should
send a messenger and he reveal whatsoever He will, by His leave; surely He is
All-high, All-wise. Even so We have revealed to thee a Spirit of Our bidding.
Thou knewest not what the Book was, nor belief; but We made it a light, whereby
We guide whom We will of Our servants. And thou, surely thou shalt guide them
unto a straight path -- the path of God, to whom belongs whatsoever is in the
earth. Surely unto God all things come home.