26:1  T. (Tuh), S. (Seen), M. (Meem) the Surah opens with these introductory letters from the Arabic Alphabet to draw attention to the miracle of the Quran which though written in the people's tongue, Cannot be emulated

26:2  These are divine verses flowing with the precision and grace symbolic of the Book -the Quran- which is the spirit of truth that guides into all truth

26:3  Seemingly, O Muhammad you are betaking yourself in pursuit of their -the infidels- train of thought with distress, constant regret and discontent and torturing yourself lest they should refuse credit to this divine message

26:4  If We will, We could easily send down to them from heaven a physical sign revealing to them Our Omnipotence and Authority, a sign to which they will have to bend their necks in subjugation and submission

26:5  The truth is that no new divine discourse comes to them from their Creator, AL-Rahman but they habitually oppose it, turn away from it in mind and feeling and become actuated by repugnance for it

26:6  They labelled the truth -the Quran- as falsehood and counseled deaf to it. But soon shall they realize the truth of all that has been discoursed in this Book which they hold- up to ridicule

26:7  Do they not see how We made the earth a source of vegetation and made vegetal growth of like things emerge from it in varying colours with good qualities and of great advantages

26:8  This is indeed emblematic of Allah's Omnipotence and Authority, but most of them -the infidels- counsel deaf to Allah's message and close their minds' eyes to all that appeals to the intellect and engages the intelligence

26:9  Allah, your Creator, is indeed AL-Aziz (the Almighty) and AL-Rahim, (the Merciful) Who sends spectacles and warnings and puts punishment in respite

26:10  Allah called to Mussa and commanded him Thus: "Go to the people, of Pharaoh" He said, "who are wrongful of actions"

26:11  "Who seem to be unwilling to deviate into sense and for their own sake fear Allah and stop persecuting the Children of Israel"

26:12  "O Allah, my Creator," Mussa said, "I have an easy sense of the probability of being treated as someone who passes himself off as someone other than he is"

26:13  "And my chest becomes drawn tight and my mind and my feeling become strained and my tongue becomes restrained from free expression, therefore I pray and beseech You O Allah, my Creator, to send -The Angel Gabriel- to my brother Harun"

26:14  "And the guilt of blood is at my door and I have ground for alarm for they might kill me"

26:15  "Not at all", Allah said, "Both of you just go with Our signs evincing both Omnipotence and Authority. We will be there with you listening"

26:16  "And so, both of you go to Pharaoh and say to him:" "We are bearers of the divine message sent by Allah, Creator of the worlds, the visible and the invisible, past, present and those to come"

26:17  Who commands you to release the children of Israel from bondage and to let them go with us"

26:18  " Did we not nurture you O Mussa, "said Pharaoh, from infancy as one of us and set you on your feet and you spent of your life among us a good number of years!"

26:19  And you did what you did, -the terrible crime you committed-, and you have impelled yourself to ingratitude and ungratefulness to our grace which abounds in you

26:20  "I did what I did then", Mussa said, when my action was not circumspect because of the web of circumstances you shaped after your own manner

26:21  In consequence I withdrew hastily and took flight when I feared you might avenge your right. But Allah, my Creator, -knowing that the guilt did not reside in my intention- vested me with the capacity of judging rightly in matters relating to life and conduct and with the soundness of judgement in the choice of means and ends, and conferred on me the prerogative of being one of the Messengers

26:22  "And do you Pharaoh", Mussa added, "oblige me and make me feel indebted to you for reducing the children of Israel to slavery and subjecting them to bondage"

26:23  Pharaoh asked: "and who is Allah, the Creator of the world"

26:24  "The Ilah and Creator of the heavens and the earth" Mussa said, "and of all that is in between if you and your people care to know the truth"

26:25  "Do you hear that!" pharaoh said to those around him

26:26  "He is Allah", said Mussa, "your Creator and the Creator of your ancestry and of all those included in your genealogical tree"

26:27  "Your Messenger", Pharaoh said to his people, "who has been sent to you is indeed out of his mind and he is carried away by enthusiasm or desire"

26:28  "Not only that" Mussa Added, "but He is Allah, the Creator of the East and the West and of all that lies between them if you really care to deviate into sense."

26:29  "Let me warn you", Pharaoh said to Mussa, "should you take an Ilah besides me, I will shut you up with those shut up in the grim confines of the dungeon"

26:30  "Even if I present you", Mussa said, "with a divine sign convincing the mind and manifests forth the truth"

26:31  "Then exhibit it to view", Pharaoh said, "if indeed you are telling the truth"

26:32  And there did Mussa cast his staff on the ground and instantaneously it was transformed into a serpent personified

26:33  And he drew his hand from the folds of his garment and there it was instantaneously transfigured in a radiance of white divine light

26:34  There and then Pharaoh said to the nobility around him: "Indeed, this man is a necromancer skilled in magic, and the works of the devil are clearly manifest in him"

26:35  "He means", Pharaoh added, "To oust you people of your land and drive you away". "Therefore, what course of action do you suggest we should take in the face of this problem!"

26:36  They -the people- suggested to Pharaoh that they should adapt themselves and conform to the time and circumstances and avoid dispute so as to gain time, and they said: "the time to degrade and defeat him has not come yet. Meanwhile, send O Pharaoh some of your recruits to the cities to gather to themselves the multitude of men who practice magic"

26:37  And ask them to bring back those who are skilled in the art of necromancy

26:38  And the magicians were assembled on their known Festive Day

26:39  And the people were urged by one another to attend the event so that all of them would come into conformity with the wish that all be present. Expressing their thoughts in words, they added

26:40  "We accept the authority of the magicians should they win and espouse their opinions and their cause."

26:41  And when the sorcerers congregated to action they said to Pharaoh: "Assuredly, we will be rewarded should we be the winners"

26:42  "Yes indeed," Pharaoh said, "and you shall be in a position that entitles you to be among my retinue"

26:43  Mussa said to the magicians, "Cast upon the ground all that you wish to cast"

26:44  And as they were casting their ropes and rods, they invoked -their god- Pharaoh in supplication for aid and success. They prayed: By Pharaoh's might we will be the winners

26:45  And when Mussa cast his staff, it counter-worked their ingenious expedience and swallowed all that they cast upon the ground of fraudulent devices of a mean and deceptive kind

26:46  Overwhelmed with wonder, the sorcerers bowed to the ground in comely order, praise and admiration

26:47  And they declared submission: "We conform our will", they said, " to Allah's will and we surrender ourselves to Him, the Creator of the worlds,"

26:48  "The Ilah of Mussa and Harun"

26:49  And here said Pharaoh to them: "Have you yielded to his claims and surrendered yourselves to his Ilah without my permission!" "This is indeed," he added, a deceitful plan designed by your master who taught you magic and you shall bear the consequences and soon come to know how heavily you shall pay for this!" "I will amputate your hands and your feet on opposite sides and I will have you all crucified."

26:50  "We are not afraid of this," they said, "We have enough sense to know what we are doing, we welcome your decision which shall haste us unto Allah Who might confer on us the glorious privilege of martyrdom

26:51  "In fact", they added, "our only hope is that Allah, our Creator extends His mercy to us and forgives us our sins and our sinful acts of fraudulent magic for being foremost in deviating into sense and acknowledging His supreme Sovereignty, Omnipotence and Authority."

26:52  Meanwhile We inspired Mussa to conduct My servants -the Israelites- by night to the sea and We said to him: "Be sure you shall be followed."

26:53  Pharaoh sent Messengers to all his cities to call up the people to organize themselves for the hindrance and the defeat of Mussa and his people by contrary measures"

26:54  He said to them: "Mussa and his people -the Israelites- are only some few contemptible body"

26:55  "And they provoked Our anger and came within the measure of Our wrath which is conducive to annihilation"

26:56  "And We are all cautious and on our guard"

26:57  Wherefore We compelled them to the natural result of tyranny, disobedience and transgression. We expelled them from the earthly paradise they once possessed and from the land of orchards and springs

26:58  the land of treasures and homes and accommodations so splendid

26:59  And so it was, and We made the land inheritable by the Children of Israel to whom We conveyed the right of the property after We drowned Pharaoh and his people

26:60  They followed Mussa and his people at sunrise

26:61  And when the two bodies of men came within each other's range of sight, the compatriots of Mussa exclaimed: " We are evidently overtaken"

26:62  "Not at all", Mussa said, "Allah, my Creator overshadows me with His gracious wing; He is by my side to guide me as He will."

26:63  We inspired Mussa to strike the sea with his staff and there did the sea split into two enormous divisions, each partition as immense as a huge mountain

26:64  And We induced the others -Pharaoh and his people- to tail Mussa and his people who were then in the footpath

26:65  And We delivered Mussa and all those with him

26:66  And We drowned all the others -Pharaoh and all those with him

26:67  This is indeed emblematic of Allah's Omnipotence and Authority but most of them denied Allah, the Creator.(to Pharaoh' people Allah was the Pharaoh himself)

26:68  And Allah, your creator, is AL-Aziz and AL-Rahim, indee

26:69  And relate to the people O Muhammad the narrative of Ibrahim with his father

26:70  He asked his father and his people: "What do you people worship?"

26:71  "We worship idols" they said, and adore them with appropriate acts and rites and we are attached to them and unmoved in mind

26:72  "Do they hear you", Ibrahim asked, "when you praise them or supplicate!"

26:73  "Or do they profit you or hurt!"

26:74  "But", they said, "this is exactly the system of faith and worship our fathers adopted."

26:75  "Do you see", Ibrahim said, "all those you adored and revered as objects of worship!"

26:76  "And you and your fathers and your ancestors treated with respect and devotion!"

26:77  They are adversaries who might obtain their end and therefore enemies to me but not Allah, the Creator of the worlds, the visible and the invisible, past, present and those to come."

26:78  "-The Creator- Who brought me into existence and it is He Who guides me to the truth and to the path of righteousness."

26:79  It is He Who provides me with victuals to eat and drinkables (to drink)

26:80  "And when I fall sick, it is He Who restores me to health"

26:81  "And it is He Who determines the moment and the cause of my death and occasions my resurrection and restoration to life"

26:82  -The Creator- Whom I hope will relent and quit me all His debt and will forgive me my wrongful actions when I have audience of Him in Day of Judgement"

26:83  And to Him I express my thoughts in my invocatory prayer, thus: "Confer on me O Allah, my Creator, wisdom to help me judge rightly in matters relating to physical and spiritual life and to impart to me soundness of judgement in the choice of means and ends, and unite me, O Allah, with the society of those in whose hearts reigns piety"

26:84  "And furnish me O Allah, my Creator, with a civil tongue uttering the truth that guides into all truth and is believed among posterity"

26:85  "And if you destine me I will be one of those inheriting the Garden of the supreme bliss and blessedness"

26:86  "And extend O Allah my Creator, Your mercy and forgiveness lo my father who was lost in the maze of error". (A prayer invoked by Ibrahim before he realized that his father was an enemy to Allah)

26:87  "And do not confound me nor occasion me to fall from grace in Day of Judgement,"

26:88  "The Day when neither wealth nor progeny shall be of advantage."

26:89  "Except him who comes to the audience of Allah with his heart in its right place, heartened or filled with devotion"

26:90  This is the Day when Paradise shall be brought quite near to these in whose hearts reigned piety

26:91  And Hell is projected for those who were led by the nose to the maze of error and spent their days in vanity

26:92  They shall be asked: "Where now are those you revered and adored with appropriate acts and rites"

26:93  " The gods you revered and venerated besides Allah!" Do they afford you help or can they even help themselves!"

26:94  There and then shall they -the infidels- be cast in Hell headlong one batch after another along with those who wasted their days in vanity

26:95  And added to them shall be those who served Iblis AL-Shaytan (Satan) all into one gathering and in one place

26:96  And when all have been thronged -in Hell- and have exchanged angry altercation, they -the infidels- shall express their thoughts in words

26:97  "By Allah", they say, "we wandered indeed from the path of rectitude and were lost in the maze of error"

26:98  "We have equalized you -false gods- with Allah, Creator of the worlds"

26:99  "And they add:" no one led us by the nose to the maze of error but the wicked who were given to sin and steeped in crime"

26:100  "And now", they will exclaim, "no one can defend us nor shall we find intercessors who would interpose on our behalf"

26:101  "Nor do we find one who is joined to us in mutual benevolence and intimacy"

26:102  "If only", they say, "we could be given another chance of life below we would be among those who exercise low submissive obeisance to Allah and entertain the profound reverence dutiful to Him"

26:103  This is indeed emblematic of Allah's Omnipotence and Authority but most of them deny Allah Who brought them into existence

26:104  Allah, your Creator, is indeed AL-Aziz and AL-Rahim

26:105  Just as averse were the people of Nuh, they declined to accept Allah's message basically the same message conveyed by all the Messengers of Allah before and after Nuh, therefore he who rejects Nuh's message has in fact rejected all Allah's messengers and they suspected the Messengers of falsehood

26:106  Their brother Nuh said to them: "Will you not keep in awe of Allah, your Creator, and entertain the profound reverence dutiful to Him

26:107  "I come to you", he added, "with a message Allah has entrusted to me and here do I relate it to you in honour and sincerity"

26:108  "A message exacting your reverence for Allah and obedience to me"

26:109  "I do not", he said, charge you a price for imparting to you Allah's disclosures of divine knowledge, wisdom and practical divinity. My reward rests in the hands of Allah, the Creator of the worlds, the visible and the invisible, past, present and those to come"

26:110  "And so revere Him and entertain the profound reverence dutiful to Him and obey me"

26:111  They said to Nuh: "Shall we submit to you or believe in you and conform to your desire when it is only the contemptible who espoused your cause"

26:112  "But how would I know", said Nuh, "what they were doing earlier or whether or not they had a purpose moving them and inviting their minds to the volition of conforming to Islam"

26:113  "Their case", he added, "shall only be judged by Allah, my Creator, in Whose hands rests the authoritative decision, if only you could apprehend matters with your senses"

26:114  "Nor would I dismiss those who conformed their will to Allah's will"

26:115  "I am only", he added, "a spectacle and a warning"

26:116  They said; "We warn you Nuh", "unless you stop your course of action you shall be stoned to death"

26:117  And there Nuh prayed: "My people, O Allah, my Creator, disbelieved me and refused credence to Your message"

26:118  "Judge O Allah", he prayed, "and defend my cause which is the heart of your purpose and decide between me and them in Your way, (for You take the matters of fact as they come and circumstance them after Your own manner) and save me and those with me who conformed to Islam"

26:119  And there, We saved him along with all those in his society on board the loaded Ark

26:120  And We drowned all the others who remained behind

26:121  This is indeed emblematic of Allah's Omnipotence and Authority, but most of them denied Allah Who brought them into existence

26:122  And Allah, your Creator, is indeed the AL-Aziz and AL-Rahim

26:123  Just as averse were the people of 'Aad -the 'Aadites- who declined to accept Allah's message and those who conveyed the message

26:124  Their brother Hud urged them to what is good and laudable. He said to them: "Will you not keep in awe of Allah, your Creator, and entertain the profound reverence dutiful to Him!"

26:125  "I am," he added, "A Messenger entrusted with a divine message and here do I relate it to you in honour and sincerity"

26:126  "A message exacting your reverence for Allah and obedience to me"

26:127  "I do not charge you a price", he said, "for imparting to you Allah's disclosures of divine knowledge, wisdom and practical divinity. My reward rests at the hands of Allah, The Creator of the worlds"

26:128  "Do you erect buildings", he added, "on the top of every mount and every height, mansions and stately buildings standing in the landscape, conspicuous to view as though they are landmarks (yet not as a guide nor a mark of an event) serving no useful purpose and of no avail!"

26:129  "And you take for yourselves palatial structures as though they will protect you and exempt you from paying nature's debt and help you live forever"

26:130  "And when you strike, justly or unjustly, you strike at the root"

26:131  "And so fear Allah Whose divine nature exacts your reverence and obey me"

26:132  "And entertain the profound reverence dutiful to Him Who made all His grace, as you very well know, abound in you"

26:133  "He graced you with cattle and progeny"

26:134  "And with orchards and flowing springs"

26:135  "In fact", he said, "I fear for you an immense punishment on a momentous Day"

26:136  But they insolently and defiantly said to him: "Whether you exhort Us O Hud or you do not, it is to us one and the same"

26:137  "This is nothing", they said, "other than the customary manner of thinking of those of old used often enough that it bred the same habit in you"

26:138  "Nor, as you think, shall We be subjected to a retributive punishment"

26:139  And they disbelieved him and refused credence to Our message wherefore We reduced them to a useless form. This is indeed emblematic of Allah's Omnipotence and Authority, but most of them denied Allah Who brought them into existence

26:140  And Allah, your Creator, is indeed AL-Aziz and AL-Rahim

26:141  And just as averse were the people of Thamud (the Thamudites) who refused to accept Allah's message and Messengers

26:142  Their brother Saleh said to them: "Will you not listen to exhortation and keep in awe of Allah, your Creator, and entertain the profound reverence dutiful to Him"

26:143  "I am", he added, a Messenger entrusted with a divine message and here do I relate it to you in honour and sincerity"

26:144  "A message exacting your reverence for Allah and obedience to me"

26:145  "I do not charge you a price for imparting to you Allah's disclosures of divine knowledge, wisdom and practical divinity. My reward rests in His hands, Creator of the worlds"

26:146  "Do you think", he said, "you will be left to form imaginary visions of unrealities expecting to enjoy the grace of Allah which abounds in you without being tried"

26:147  "You live in splendour, you hold in possession orchards and flowing springs"

26:148  "And vegetal growth and-date palms whose enclosed spadix carries tender delicious and easily digestible fruits"

26:149  "And you skillfully carve the mountains into homes wherein you make abode"

26:150  "A divine grace which exacting your reverence for Allah and obedience to me"

26:151  "And I advise you not to comply with the command of those who are extravagant in their accounts of themselves nor yield to their irreverent principles and authority"

26:152  They create discord on earth and mischief is natural to them and never do they attempt reform or change for the better

26:153  Yet the response of his people was pitifully unfavourable. They said to him: "You are one of those influenced by witchcraft and therefore bewitched"

26:154  "You are only a mortal like us," they said, "wherefore you could not be singled out for the prerogative of prophethood, and if you are indeed declaring the truth then present us with a divine sign convincing our minds and proving the conclusion"

26:155  "This", he said, "is a she-camel which is entitled to a share of the drinking water just as you are entitled to a share. She is to have her share on a certain day and you have yours on an alternate day"

26:156  "And", he added, "you are warned not to harm her lest you suffer the torment laid upon the damned on a momentous Day"

26:157  Nevertheless they defiantly disabled her by cutting her hamstring muscles. (Their outrage on consecrated objects invited their ruin) which led to pining regrets and vain repentances

26:158  They were overtaken by Allah's wrath which spoke thunder. This is indeed emblematic of His Omnipotence and Authority but most of them denied Him Who brought them into existence

26:159  Allah, your Creator, is indeed AL-Aziz and AL-Rahim

26:160  Just as averse were the people of Lut. They declined to accept Allah's message and those who conveyed the message

26:161  Their brother Lut tried hard to induce them to open their hearts' ears and their minds' eyes and listen to exhortation. Entertaining expectation of something desired, he -Lut- said to them: "Will you not keep in awe of Allah and entertain the profound reverence dutiful to Him!"

26:162  "I am", he added, "a Messenger entrusted with a divine message and here do I relate it to you in honour and sincerity"

26:163  "A message which exacts your reverence for Allah and obedience to me"

26:164  "I" he said, "do not charge you a price for imparting to you Allah's disclosures of divine knowledge, wisdom and practical divinity, my reward rests at His hands Creator of the worlds"

26:165  "Do you realize what you are doing"! he added "of all intellectual created beings, you gratify your sexual appetite by copulating the males"

26:166  "And you forsake your natural mates who are created by Him , for the purpose based upon the innate moral feeling of mankind". In fact you are a people who have defiantly transgressed the divine as well as the moral laws"

26:167  "We warn you Lut", they said, "unless you change your way of thinking and stop -this course of action- you shall be among those ousted from this town and ejected from our society"

26:168  "I am one of those", he said, "who simply detest and abhor your behaviour and your doings which make me shrink with horror"

26:169  And he prayed "I pray and beseech You O Allah, my Creator, to rescue me and my family from these people who have no horror of immorality, and save us from their social evil"

26:170  We delivered him along with his family from the people who were wrongful of actions

26:171  except a woman who had been carried through the stealing steps of age to advanced life, who remained with those behind. (Lut.'s wife who approved this evil practice)

26:172  And We reduced the rest to a useless form

26:173  We poured down upon them a direful rain (of fire and brimstone) and how evil and devastating was the rain on the heads of those who defiantly ignored Allah's warning

26:174  This is indeed emblematic of Allah's Omnipotence and Authority but most of them denied Allah Who brought them into existenc

26:175  Allah, your Creator, is indeed AL-Aziz and AL-Rahim

26:176  Just as averse were the woodlanders -Madyanites- who declined to accept Allah's message and those who conveyed the message

26:177  Their brother Shu'aib tried hard to induce them to open their hearts' ears and their minds' eyes and listen to his exhortation. Entertaining expectation of something desired, he- Shu'aib - said to them: "Will you not keep in awe of Allah and entertain the profound reverence dutiful to Him"

26:178  "I am", he added, a Messenger entrusted with a divine message and here do I relate it to you in honour and sincerity

26:179  "A message which exacts your reverence for Allah and obedience to me"

26:180  "I do not charge you a price," he said, "for imparting to you Allah's disclosures of divine knowledge, wisdom and practical divinity. My reward rests in the hands of Allah, Creator of the worlds"

26:181  "Dispense to the full", he said, "the quantity ascertained by measuring if you happen to give or sell by a standard measure and be not of those who serve their purpose and accomplish it by means of fraud, dishonesty and deception"

26:182  "And if you are using the method of weighing then you are enjoined to use an accurate and precise balance conforming to a standard and an exemplar of truth and equity"

26:183  "And crown yourselves with equity", he said, "and do not scant peoples' goods and chattels, chattels personal and chattels real an

26:184  "And keep in awe of Allah and entertain the profound reverence dutiful to Him Who brought you and brought all those who came to this world into existence before you"

26:185  But their response was pitifully unfavourable. They said to him: " You are one of those influenced by witchcraft and therefore bewitched"

26:186  They added: "you are only a mortal like us wherefore you could not be singled out for Prophethood. In fact we do think you are a pathological liar"

26:187  "And if you are not, and you are indeed declaring the truth, then let us see if you can cause a piece of heaven to fall upon us in the form of discs of cumuli"

26:188  "Allah, my Creator", Shu'aib said "is Omnipresent and He is fully cognizant of all that you do"

26:189  They disbelieved him and refused credence to Our message wherefore were they seized with a wave of suffocating heat followed by a cumulus which overshadowed them and gave them a rainbow of hope of relief. But it was a joy in which they could not rejoice. It spoke thunder and reduced them to a useless form. It was indeed a torment that befell them on a momentous day

26:190  This is indeed emblematic of Allah's Omnipotence and Authority but most of them denied Him Who brought them into existence

26:191  Allah, your Creator, is indeed AL-Aziz and AL-Rahim

26:192  And this Quran is indeed a disclosure of divine knowledge, wisdom and practical divinity sent down to man from Allah, the Creator of the worlds, the visible and the invisible, past, present and those to come

26:193  It is brought down by Allah's errand, the faithful and honourable Holy Spirit Jibril (Gabriel

26:194  Who imparted it O Muhammad to your innermost thoughts and to the repository of your consciousness so that you serve as a spectacle and a warning

26:195  It -the Quran- is revealed in plain Arabic literary form

26:196  And it was indeed referred to and proclaimed in the Scriptures of earlier generations

26:197  Is it not an attestation to its credit and a ground for belief that the learned among the Children of Israel do know it is the truth

26:198  Had We revealed it to a people -characterized with dullness of comprehension or a people slow of perception or foreign to the Arabic tongue

26:199  And had the prophet read it to them, they would not have understood it nor welcomed it or given credence to it

26:200  Thus do We picture it in the minds and hearts of the sinful who grow daily more and more wicked

26:201  Who shall not acknowledge it as the truth personified until they have had the wind in their faces and they are face to face with the promised punishment here, at the hands of the Muslims or with the torment laid upon the damned Hereafter

26:202  A punishment that surprises them and catches them unawares and reduces them to ruin

26:203  There and then they shall change their minds with regard to past action and conduct and express their hope which springs eternal in their breasts and say: "can we be given respite so that we corrects all the wrongs"

26:204  Do they mockingly and defiantly wish to hasten Our retributive punishment

26:205  Do you see O Muhammad into what would happen if We make all grace abound in them and they enjoy it for years

26:206  Then they are suddenly seized with what they were promised of retributive punishment

26:207  There and then never shall their possessions and the use af all that afforded them pleasure and advantages avail them or defend them against Allah's decreed punishment

26:208  In fact We never reduced a town with its inhabitants to ruin before they have had their spectacles and warnings -and they did not listen-

26:209  We mercifully sent warnings to make them deviate into sense and wake up to the fact that there is Ilah, the Creator, of the worlds, Who exacts reverence and veneration and obedience from all created beings. And never did We fail lo observe the principles of justice and fair dealing

26:210  And such divine discourse as sacred as the Quran just cannot be the work of evil Spirits nor are they permitted to touch it, not to mention being responsible for bringing it down

26:211  Nor is it befitting that they be employed by Allah in conveying His sacred message nor can they apply themselves to this purpose

26:212  They are altogether excluded from audition. In fact it is quite beyond their limit of audition

26:213  Therefore, do not invoke another god besides Allah lest you should join those who shall suffer the torment to be laid upon the damned

26:214  And warn O Muhammad your next and near kin

26:215  And be well and kindly disposed to those whose hearts reflect the image of religious and spiritual virtues who fell into line with you and take them under your wing

26:216  But should they disobey you then they will have disobeyed Allah and disregarded His laws. Then say to them O Muhammad: "I am innocent of your ills and of all that you do"

26:217  And put your trust in the AL-Aziz and AL-Rahim

26:218  Who sees you when you stand alone in the act of praying

26:219  And sees your change of position and variation of posture among the assemblage as they prostrate their reason to divine revelation and bow to the ground in reverence, in worship and adoration

26:220  He is indeed AL-Sami' (with unlimited audition) and AL-'Ali

26:221  Shall I tell you whom do evil spirits pursue and on whom do devils descend

26:222  They descend -not on the prophets of Allah- but on every sinful liar who intentionally asserts what is false and relates it to Allah and clothes himself with the vesture of wickedness

26:223  who open their hearts' ears to misrepresentations and vanities and to what the Devils impart to them of falsities and most of them (those who relate and those who receive) are liars. The pagans labelled the Quran as poetry and the Prophet as a poet while the difference is obviously vast. A. The Quran invites to a straight course aiming at a specific Purpose and a useful end. The Prophet's words together with his deeds accord, he does not say something today and cancels it tomorrow nor does he yield to emotions and desires but insists on a divine course of action and does not change nor deviate. On the other hand poets are captives of their emotions, their imagination and of the changing atmospheres and temperaments. When pleased they say one thing and when displeased they say another thing, whereas the Quran adheres eternally to the same thing. B. Poets may be good poets (poets of literary merit), poetic antiquarian (poet with another quality), poeticule (insignificant ), poetaster (a writer of trashy verse) a rhymester. Some of them engage in feigning and devising fables and others aim to please. C. Therefore those whose ruling passion conquers reason who refer their way of life and course of action to the region of poetry or emotions are wasting their days in vanity

26:224  And the poets are followed as the exemplar or the model by those whose ruling passion conquers reason and they refer their course of action and way of life to the region of poetry or emotions and waste their days in vanity

26:225  Do you not see that they rove the trackless realms of every valley of emotion, imagination and discourse

26:226  And their words together with their deeds do not accord, they say what they do not do

26:227  Excepting those of them who acknowledge Allah with hearts impressed with the image of religious and spiritual virtues and with deeds of wisdom and piety. They often apply their remembrance to Allah and they are able to reclaim themselves and triumph over the enemies of Islam who have wronged them, and who shall come to know what kind of destiny awaits them