21:1  THIS people's reckoning hath drawn nigh, yet, sunk in carelessness, they turn aside

21:2  Every fresh warning that cometh to them from their Lord they only hear to mock it,

21:3  Their hearts set on lusts: and they who have done this wrong say in secret discourse, "Is He more than a man like yourselves? What! will ye, with your eyes open, accede to sorcery?"

21:4  SAY: "My Lord knoweth what is spoken in the heaven and on the earth: He is the Hearer, the Knower."

21:5  "Nay," say they, "it is the medley of dreams: nay, he hath forged it: nay, he is a poet: let him come to us with a sign as the prophets of old were sent."

21:6  Before their time, none of the cities which we have destroyed, believed: will these men, then, believe

21:7  And we sent none, previous to thee, but men to whom we had revealed ourselves. Ask ye the people who are warned by Scriptures, if ye know it not

21:8  We gave them not bodies which could dispense with food: and they were not to live for ever

21:9  Then made we good our promise to them; and we delivered them and whom we pleased, and we destroyed the transgressors

21:10  And now have we sent down to you "the book," in which is your warning: What, will ye not then understand

21:11  And how many a guilty city have we broken down, and raised up after it other peoples

21:12  And when they felt our vengeance, lo! they fled from it

21:13  "Flee not," said the angels in mockery, "but come back to that wherein ye revelled, and to your abodes! Questions will haply be put to you."

21:14  They said, "Oh, woe to us! Verily we have been evil doers."

21:15  And this ceased not to be their cry, until we made them like reaped corn, extinct

21:16  We created not the heaven and the earth, and what is between them, for sport

21:17  Had it been our wish to find a pastime, we had surely found it in ourselves; - if to do so had been our will

21:18  Nay, we will hurl the truth at falsehood, and it shall smite it, and lo! it shall vanish. But woe be to you for what ye utter of God

21:19  All beings in the heaven and on the earth are His: and they who are in his presence disdain not his service, neither are they wearied

21:20  They praise Him night and day: they rest not

21:21  Have they taken gods from the earth who can quicken the dead

21:22  Had there been in either heaven or earth gods besides God, both surely had gone to ruin. But glory be to God, the Lord of the throne, beyond what they utter

21:23  He shall not be asked of his doings, but they shall be asked

21:24  Have they taken other gods beside Him? SAY; Bring forth your proofs that they are gods. This is the warning of those who are with me, and the warning of those who were before me: but most of them know not the truth, and turn aside

21:25  No apostle have we sent before thee to whom we did not reveal that "Verily there is no God beside me: therefore worship me."

21:26  Yet they say, "The God of Mercy hath begotten issue from the angels." Glory be to Him! Nay, they are but His honoured servants

21:27  They speak not till He hath spoken; and they do His bidding

21:28  He knoweth what is before them and what is behind them; and no plea shall they offer Save for whom He pleaseth; and they tremble for fear of Him

21:29  And that angel among them who saith "I am a god beside Him," will we recompense with hell: in such sort will we recompense the offenders

21:30  Do not the infidels see that the heavens and the earth were both a solid mass, and that we clave them asunder, and that by means of water we give life to everything? Will they not then believe

21:31  And we set mountains on the earth lest it should move with them, and we made on it broad passages between them as routes for their guidance

21:32  And we made the heaven a roof strongly upholden; yet turn they away from its signs

21:33  And He it is who hath created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon, each moving swiftly in its sphere

21:34  At no time have we granted to man a life that shall last for ever: if thou then die, shall they live for ever

21:35  Every soul shall taste of death: and for trial will we prove you with evil and with good; and unto Us shall ye be brought back

21:36  And when the infidels see thee they receive thee only with scoffs: - "What! is this he who maketh such mention of your gods?" Yet when mention is made to them of the God of Mercy, they believe not

21:37  "Man," say they, "is made up of haste." But I will shew you my signs: desire them not then to be hastened

21:38  They say, "When will this threat be made good? Tell us, if ye be men of truth?"

21:39  Did the infidels but know the time when they shall not be able to keep the fire of hell from their faces or from their backs, neither shall they be helped

21:40  But it shall come on them suddenly and shall confound them; and they shall not be able to put it back, neither shall they be respited

21:41  Other apostles have been scoffed at before thee: but that doom at which they mocked encompassed the scoffers

21:42  SAY: Who shall protect you by night and by day from the God of Mercy? Yet turn they away from the warning of their Lord

21:43  Have they gods beside Us who can defend them? For their own succour have they no power; neither shall the gods they join with God screen them from Us

21:44  Yes! we have given these men and their fathers enjoyments so long as their life lasted. What! see they not that we come to a land and straiten its borders Is it they who are the conquerors

21:45  SAY: I only warn you of what hath been revealed to me: but the deaf will not hear the call, whenever they are warned

21:46  Yet if a breath of thy Lord's chastisement touch them, they will assuredly say, "Oh! woe to us! we have indeed been offenders."

21:47  Just balances will we set up for the day of the resurrection, neither shall any soul be wronged in aught; though, were a work but the weight of a grain of mustard seed, we would bring it forth to be weighed: and our reckoning will suffice

21:48  We gave of old to Moses and Aaron the illumination, and a light and a warning for the God-fearing

21:49  Who dread their Lord in secret, and who tremble for "the Hour."

21:50  And this Koran which we have sent down is a blessed warning: will ye then disown it

21:51  Of old we gave unto Abraham his direction, for we knew him worthy

21:52  When he said to his Father and to his people, "What are these images to which ye are devoted?"

21:53  They said, "We found our fathers worshipping them."

21:54  He said, "Truly ye and your fathers have been in a plain mistake."

21:55  They said, "Hast thou come unto us in earnest? or art thou of those who jest?"

21:56  He said, "Nay, your Lord is Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth, who hath created them both; and to this am I one of those who witness

21:57  - And, by God, I will certainly lay a plot against your idols, after ye shall have retired and turned your backs."

21:58  So, he broke them all in pieces, except the chief of them, that to it they might return, inquiring

21:59  They said, "Who hath done this to our gods? Verily he is one of the unjust."

21:60  They said, "We heard a youth make mention of them: they call him Abraham."

21:61  They said, "Then bring him before the people's eyes, that they may witness against him."

21:62  They said, "Hast thou done this to our gods, O Abraham?"

21:63  He said, "Nay, that their chief hath done it: but ask ye them, if they can speak."

21:64  So they turned their thoughts upon themselves, and said, "Ye truly are the impious persons:"

21:65  Then became headstrong in their former error and exclaimed,"Thou knowest that these speak not."

21:66  He said, "What! do ye then worship, instead of God, that which doth not profit you at all, nor injure you

21:67  Fie on you and on that ye worship instead of God! What! do ye not then understand?"

21:68  They said: "Burn him, and come to the succour of your gods: if ye will do anything at all."

21:69  We said, "O fire! be thou cold, and to Abraham a safety!"

21:70  And they sought to lay a plot against him, but we made them the sufferers

21:71  And we brought him and Lot in safety to the land which we have blessed for all human beings

21:72  And we gave him Isaac and Jacob as a farther gift, and we made all of them righteous

21:73  We also made them models who should guide others by our command, and we inspired them with good deeds and constancy in prayer and almsgiving, and they worshipped us

21:74  And unto Lot we gave wisdom, and knowledge; and we rescued him from the city which wrought filthiness; for they were a people, evil, perverse

21:75  And we caused him to enter into our mercy, for he was of the righteous

21:76  And remember Noah when aforetime he cried to us and we heard him, and delivered him and his family from the great calamity

21:77  And we helped him against the people who treated our signs as impostures. An evil people verily were they, and we drowned them all

21:78  And David and Solomon; when they gave judgment concerning a field when some people's sheep had caused a waste therein; and we were witnesses of their judgment

21:79  And we gave Solomon insight into the affair; and on both of them we bestowed wisdom and knowledge. And we constrained the mountains and the birds to join with David in our praise: Our doing was it

21:80  And we taught David the art of making mail for you, to defend you from each other's violence: will ye therefore be thankful

21:81  And to Solomon we subjected we subjected the strongly blowing wind; it sped at his bidding to the land we had blessed; for we know all things

21:82  And sundry Satans who should dive for him and perform other work beside: and we kept watch over them

21:83  And remember Job: When he cried to his Lord, "Truly evil hath touched me: but thou art the most merciful of those who shew mercy."

21:84  So we heard him, and lightened the burden of his woe; and we gave him back his family, and as many more with them, - a mercy from us, and a memorial for those who serve us

21:85  And Ismael, and Edris and Dhoulkefl-all steadfast in patience

21:86  And we caused them to enter into our mercy; for they were of the righteous

21:87  And Dhoulnoun; when he went on his way in anger, and thought that we had no power over him. But in the darkness he cried "There is no God but thou: Glory be unto Thee! Verily, I have been one of the evil doers:"

21:88  So we heard him and rescued him from misery: for thus rescue we the faithful

21:89  And Zacharias; when he called upon his Lord saying, "O my Lord, leave me not childless: but there is no better heir than Thyself."

21:90  So we heard him, and gave him John, and we made his wife fit for child-bearing. Verily, these vied in goodness, and called upon us with love and fear, and humbled themselves before us

21:91  And her who kept her maidenhood, and into whom we breathed of our spirit, and made her and her son a sign to all creatures

21:92  Of a truth, this, your religion, is the one Religion, and I your Lord; therefore serve me

21:93  But they have rent asunder this their great concern among themselves into sects. All of them shall return to us

21:94  And whoso shall do the things that are right, and be a believer, his efforts shall not be disowned: and surely will we write them down for him

21:95  There is a ban on every city which we shall have destroyed, that they shall not rise again

21:96  Until a way is opened for Gog and Magog, and they shall hasten from every high land

21:97  And this sure promise shall draw on. And lo! the eyes of the infidels shall stare amazedly; and they shall say, "Oh, our misery! of this were we careless! yea, we were impious persons."

21:98  Verily, ye, and what ye worship beside God, shall be fuel for hell: ye shall go down into it

21:99  Were these gods, they would not go down into it; but they shall all abide in it for ever

21:100  Therein shall they groan; but nought therein shall they hear to comfort them

21:101  But they for whom we have before ordained good things, shall be far away from it

21:102  Its slightest sound they shall not hear: in what their souls longed for, they shall abide for ever

21:103  The great terror shall not trouble them; and the angel shall meet them with, "This is your day which ye were promised."

21:104  On that day we will roll up the heaven as one rolleth up written scrolls. As we made the first creation, so will we bring it forth again. This promise bindeth us; verily, we will perform it

21:105  And now, since the Law was given, have we written in the Psalms that "my servants, the righteous, shall inherit the earth."

21:106  Verily, in this Koran is teaching for those who serve God

21:107  We have not sent thee otherwise than as mercy unto all creatures

21:108  SAY: Verily it hath been revealed to me that your God is one God; are ye then resigned to Him? (Muslims.

21:109  But if they turn their backs, then SAY: I have warned you all alike; but I know not whether that with which ye are threatened be nigh or distant

21:110  God truly knoweth what is spoken aloud, and He also knoweth that which ye hide

21:111  And I know not whether haply this delay be not for your trial, and that ye may enjoy yourselves for a time

21:112  My Lord saith: Judge ye with truth; for our Lord is the God of Mercy - whose help is to be sought against what ye utter