20:1  TA. HA

20:2  Not to sadden thee have we sent down this Koran to thee

20:3  But as a warning for him who feareth

20:4  It is a missive from Him who hath made the earth and the lofty heavens

20:5  The God of Mercy sitteth on his throne

20:6  His, whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth, and whatsoever is between them both, and whatsoever is beneath the humid soil

20:7  Thou needest not raise thy voice: for He knoweth the secret whisper, and the yet more hidden

20:8  God! There is no God but He! Most excellent His titles

20:9  Hath the history of Moses reached thee

20:10  When he saw a fire, and said to his family, "Tarry ye here, for I perceive a fire: Haply I may bring you a brand from it, or find at the fire a guide."

20:11  And when he came to it, he was called to, "O Moses

20:12  Verily, I am thy Lord:. therefore pull off thy shoes: for thou art in the holy valley of Towa

20:13  And I have chosen thee: hearken then to what shall be revealed

20:14  Verily, I am God: there is no God but me: therefore worship me, and observe prayer for a remembrance of me

20:15  Verily the hour is coming: - I all but manifest it - That every soul may be recompensed for its labours

20:16  Nor let him who believeth not therein and followeth his lust, turn thee aside from this truth, and thou perish

20:17  Now, what is that in thy right hand, O Moses?"

20:18  Said he, "It is my staff on which I lean, and with which I beast down leaves for my sheep, and I have other uses for it."

20:19  He said, "Cast it down, O Moses!"

20:20  So he cast it down, and lo! it became a serpent that ran along

20:21  He said, "Lay hold on it, and fear not: to its former state will we restore it."

20:22  "Now place thy right hand to thy arm-pit: it shall come forth white, but unhurt: - another sign!

20:23  That We may shew thee the greatest of our signs

20:24  Go to Pharaoh, for he hath burst all bounds."

20:25  He said, "O my Lord! enlarge my breast for me

20:26  And make my work easy for me

20:27  And loose the knot of my tongue

20:28  That they may understand my speech

20:29  And give me a counsellor from among my family

20:30  Aaron my brother

20:31  By him gird up my loins

20:32  And make him a colleague in my work

20:33  That we may praise thee of

20:34  and oft remember thee

20:35  For thou regardest us."

20:36  He said, "O Moses, thou hast obtained thy suit

20:37  Already, at another time, have we showed thee favour

20:38  When we spake unto thy mother what was spoken

20:39  'Cast him into the ark: then cast him on the sea [the river], and the sea shall throw him on the shore: and an enemy to me and an enemy to him shall take him up.' And I myself have made thee an object of love, That thou mightest be reared in mine eye

20:40  When thy sister went and said, 'Shall I shew you one who will nurse him?' Then We returned thee to thy mother that her eye might be cheered, and that she might not grieve. And when thou slewest a person, We delivered thee from trouble, and We tried thee with other trial. For years didst thou stay among the people of Midian; then camest thou hither by my decree, O Moses

20:41  And I have chosen thee for Myself

20:42  Go thou and thy brother with my signs and be not slack to remember me

20:43  Go ye to Pharaoh, for he hath burst all bounds

20:44  But speak ye to him with gentle speech; haply he will reflect or fear."

20:45  They said, "O our Lord! truly we fear lest he break forth against us, or act with exceeding injustice."

20:46  He said, "Fear ye not, for I am with you both. I will hearken and I will behold

20:47  Go ye then to him and say, 'Verily we are Sent ones of thy Lord; send therefore the children of Israel with us and vex them not: now are we come to thee with signs from thy Lord, and, Peace shall be on him who followeth the right guidance

20:48  For now hath it been revealed to us, that chastisement shall be on him who chargeth with falsehood, and turneth him away."

20:49  And he said, "Who is your Lord, O Moses?"

20:50  He said, "Our Lord is He who hath given to everything its form and then guideth it aright."

20:51  "But what," said he, "was the state of generations past?"

20:52  He said, "The knowledge thereof is with my Lord in the Book of his decrees. My Lord erreth not, nor forgetteth

20:53  He hath spread the earth as a bed, and hath traced out paths for you therein, and hath sent down rain from Heaven, and by it we bring forth the kinds of various herbs

20:54  - 'Eat ye, and feed your cattle.' Of a truth in this are signs unto men endued with understanding

20:55  From it have we created you, and into it will we return you, and out of it will we bring you forth a second time."

20:56  And we shewed him all our signs: but he treated them as falsehoods, and refused to believe

20:57  He said, "Hast thou come, O Moses, to drive us from our land by thine enchantments

20:58  Therefore will we assuredly confront thee with like enchantments: so appoint a meeting between us and you - we will not fail it, we, and do not thou - in a place alike for both."

20:59  He said, "On the feast day be your meeting, and in broad daylight let the people be assembled."

20:60  And Pharaoh turned away, and collected his craftsmen and came

20:61  Said Moses to them, "Woe to you! devise not a lie against God: For then will he destroy you by a punishment. They who have lied have ever perished."

20:62  And the magicians discussed their plan, and spake apart in secret

20:63  They said, "These two are surely sorcerers: fain would they drive you from your land by their sorceries, and lead away in their paths your chiefest men

20:64  So muster your craft: then come in order: well this day shall it be for him, who shall gain the upper hand."

20:65  They said, "O Moses, wilt thou first cast down thy rod, or shall we be the first who cast?"

20:66  He said, "Yes, cast ye down first." And lo! by their enchantment their cords and rods seemed to him as if they ran

20:67  And Moses conceived a secret fear within him

20:68  We said, "Fear not, for thou shalt be the uppermost

20:69  Cast forth then what is in thy right hand: it shall swallow up what they have produced: they have only produced the deceit of an enchanter: and come where he may, ill shall an enchanter fare."

20:70  And the magicians fell down and worshipped. They said, "We believe in the Lord of Aaron and of Moses."

20:71  Said Pharaoh, "Believe ye on him ere I give you leave? He, in sooth, is your Master who hath taught you magic. I will therefore cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, and I will crucify you on trunks of the palm, and assuredly shall ye learn which of us is severest in punishing, and who is the more abiding."

20:72  They said, "We will not have more regard to thee than to the clear tokens which have come to us, or than to Him who hath made us: doom the doom thou wilt: Thou canst only doom as to this present life

20:73  of a truth we have believed on our Lord that he may pardon us our sins and the sorcery to which thou hast forced us, for God is better, and more abiding than thou

20:74  As for him who shall come before his Lord laden with crime - for him verily is Hell: he shall not die in it and he shall not live

20:75  But he who shall come before Him, a believer, with righteous works, - these! the loftiest grades await them

20:76  Gardens of Eden, beneath whose trees the rivers flow: therein shall they abide for ever. This, the reward of him who hath been pure."

20:77  Then revealed we to Moses, "Go forth by night with my servants and cleave for them a dry path in the sea; Fear not thou to be overtaken, neither be thou afraid."

20:78  And Pharaoh followed them with his hosts, and the whelming billows of the sea overwhelmed them

20:79  for Pharaoh misled his people, and did not guide them

20:80  O children of Israel! we rescued you from your foes; and We appointed a meeting with you on the right side of the mountain; and We caused the manna and the quail to descend upon you

20:81  "Eat," said We, "of the good things with which we have supplied you; but without excess, lest my wrath fall upon you; for on whom my wrath doth fall, he perisheth outright

20:82  Surely however will I forgive him who turneth to God and believeth, and worketh righteousness, and then yieldeth to guidance

20:83  But what hath hastened thee on apart from thy people, O Moses?"

20:84  He said, "They are hard on my footsteps: but to thee, O Lord, have I hastened, that thou mightest be well pleased with me."

20:85  He said, "Of a truth now have we proved thy people since thou didst leave them, and Samiri had led them astray."

20:86  And Moses returned to his people, angered, sorrowful. He said, "O my people! did not your Lord promise you a good promise? Was the time of my absence long to you? or desired ye that wrath from your Lord should light upon you, that ye failed in your promise to me?"

20:87  They said, "Not of our own accord have we failed in the promise to thee, but we were made to bring loads of the people's trinkets, and we threw them into the fire and Samiri likewise cast them in

20:88  and brought forth to them a corporeal lowing calf: and they said, "This is your God and the God of Moses, whom he hath forgotten."

20:89  What! saw they not that it returned them no answer, and could neither hurt nor help them

20:90  And Aaron had before said to them, "O my people! by this calf are ye only proved: surely your Lord is the God of Mercy: follow me therefore and obey my bidding."

20:91  They said, "We will not cease devotion to it, till Moses come back to us."

20:92  He said, "O Aaron! when thou sawest that they had gone astray, what hindered the

20:93  from following me? Hast thou then disobeyed my command?"

20:94  He said, "O Son of my mother! seize me not by my beard, nor by my head: indeed I feared lest thou shouldst say, Thou hast rent the children of Isreal asunder, and hast not observed my orders."

20:95  He said, "And what was thy motive, O Samiri?"

20:96  He said, "I saw what they saw not: so I took a handful of dust from the track of the messenger of God, and flung it into the calf, for so my soul prompted me."

20:97  He said, "Begone then: verily thy doom even in this life shall be to say, 'Touch me not.' And there is a threat against thee, which thou shalt not escape hereafter. Now look at thy god to which thou hast continued so devoted: we will surely burn it and reduce it to ashes, which we will cast into the sea

20:98  Your God is God, beside whom there is no God: In his knowledge he embraceth all things."

20:99  Thus do We recite to thee histories of what passed of old; and from ourself have we given thee admonition

20:100  Whoso shall turn aside from it shall verily carry a burden on the day of Resurrection

20:101  Under it shall they remain: and grievous, in the day of Resurrection, shall it be to them to bear

20:102  On that day there shall be a blast on the trumpet, and We will gather the wicked together on that day with leaden eyes

20:103  They shall say in a low voice, one to another, - "Ye tarried but ten days on earth."

20:104  We are most knowing with respect to that which they will say when the most veracious of them will say. "Ye have not tarried above a day."

20:105  And they will ask thee of the mountains: SAY: scattering my Lord will scatter them in dust

20:106  And he will leave them a level plain

20:107  thou shalt see in it no hollows or jutting hills

20:108  On that day shall men follow their summoner - he marcheth straight on: and low shall be their voices before the God of Mercy, nor shalt thou hear aught but the light footfall

20:109  No intercession shall avail on that day, save his whom the God of Mercy shall allow to intercede, and whose words he shall approve

20:110  He knoweth their future and their past; but in their own knowledge they comprehend it not:

20:111  And humble shall be their faces before Him that Liveth, the Self-subsisting: and undone he, who shall bear the burden of iniquity

20:112  But he who shall have done the things that are right and is a believer, shall fear neither wrong nor loss

20:113  Thus have We sent down to thee an Arabic Koran, and have set forth menaces therein diversely, that haply they may fear God, or that it may give birth to reflection in them

20:114  Exalted then be God, the King, the Truth! Be not hasty in its recital while the revelation of it to thee is incomplete. Say rather, "O my Lord, increase knowledge unto me."

20:115  And of old We made a covenant with Adam; but he forgat it; and we found no firmness of purpose in him

20:116  And when We said to the angels, "Fall down and worship Adam," they worshipped all, save Eblis, who refused

20:117  and We said, "O Adam! this truly is a foe to thee and to thy wife. Let him not therefore drive you out of the garden, and ye become wretched

20:118  For to thee is it granted that thou shalt not hunger therein, neither shalt thou be naked

20:119  [see v. 118]

20:120  But Satan whispered him: said he, "O Adam! shall I shew thee the tree of Eternity, and the Kingdom that faileth not?"

20:121  And they both ate thereof, and their nakedness appeared to them, and they began to sew of the leaves of the Garden to cover them, and Adam disobeyed his Lord and went astray

20:122  Afterwards his Lord chose him for himself, and was turned towards him, and guided him

20:123  And God said, "Get ye all down hence, the one of you a foe unto the other. Hereafter shall guidance come unto you from me; And whoso followeth my guidance shall not err, and shall not be wretched

20:124  But whoso turneth away from my monition, his truly shall be a life of misery: And We will assemble him with others on the day of Resurrection, blind."

20:125  He will say, "O my Lord! why hast thou assembled me with others, blind? whereas I was endowed with sight."

20:126  He will answer, "Thus is it, because our signs came unto thee and thou didst forget them, and thus shalt thou be forgotten this day."

20:127  Even thus will We recompense him who hath transgressed and hath not believed in the signs of his Lord; and assuredly the chastisement of the next world will be more severe and more lasting

20:128  Are not they, who walk the very places where they dwelt, aware how many generations we have destroyed before them? Verily in this are signs to men of insight

20:129  And had not a decree of respite from thy Lord first gone forth, their chastisement had at once ensued. Yet the time is fixed

20:130  Put up then with what they say; and celebrate the praise of thy Lord before the sunrise, and before its setting; and some time in the night do thou praise him, and in the extremes of the day, that thou haply mayest please Him

20:131  And strain not thine eye after what We have bestowed on divers of them - the braveries of this world - that we may thereby prove them. The portion which thy Lord will give, is better and more lasting

20:132  Enjoin prayer on thy family, and persevere therein. We ask not of thee to find thine own provision - we will provide for thee, and a happy issue shall there be to piety

20:133  But they say, "If he come not to us with a sign from his Lord . . .!" But have not clear proofs for the Koran come to them, in what is in the Books of old

20:134  And had We destroyed them by a chastisement before its time, they would surely have said, "O our Lord! How could we believe if thou didst not send unto us an Apostle that we might follow thy signs ere that we were humbled and disgraced."

20:135  SAY: Each one of us awaiteth the end. Wait ye then, and ye shall know which of us have been followers of the even way, and who hath been the rightly guided