37:1  CONSIDER these [messages] ranged in serried ranks

37:2  and restraining [from evil] by a call to restraint

37:3  and conveying [to all the world] a reminder

37:4  Verily, most surely, your God is One –

37:5  the Sustainer of the heavens and the earth and of all that is between them, and the Sustainer of all the points of sunrise

37:6  Behold, We have adorned the skies nearest to the earth with the beauty of stars

37:7  and have made them secure against every rebellious, satanic force

37:8  [so that] they [who seek to learn the unknowable] should not be able to overhear the host on high, but shall be repelled from all sides

37:9  cast out [from all grace], with lasting suffering in store for them [in the life to come]

37:10  but if anyone does succeed in snatching a glimpse [of such knowledge], he is [henceforth] pursued by a piercing flame

37:11  AND NOW ask those [who deny the truth] to enlighten thee: Were they more difficult to create than all those [untold marvels] that We have created? - for, behold, them have We created out of [mere] clay commingled with water

37:12  Nay, but whereas thou dost marvel, they [only] scoff

37:13  and when they are reminded [of the truth], they refuse to take it to heart

37:14  and when they become aware of a [divine] message, they turn it to ridicule

37:15  and say: “This is clearly nothing but [a mortal’s] spellbinding eloquence

37:16  Why - after we have died and become mere dust and bones, shall we, forsooth, be raised from the dead? –

37:17  and perhaps also our forebears of old?”

37:18  Say: “Yea, indeed - and most abject will you then be!” –

37:19  for that [resurrection which they deride] will be [upon them of a sudden, as if it were] but a single accusing cry - and then, lo! they will begin to see [the truth]

37:20  and will say: “Oh, woe unto us! This is the Day of Judgment!”

37:21  [And they will be told:] “This is the Day of Distinction [between the true and the false - the Day] which you were wont to call a lie!”

37:22  [And God will thus command:] “Assemble all those who were bent on evildoing, together with others of their ilk and [with] all that they were wont to worship

37:23  instead of God, and lead them all onto the way to the blazing fire

37:24  and halt them [there]!” [And then,] behold, they shall be asked

37:25  “How is it that [now] you cannot succour one another?”

37:26  Nay, but on that Day they would willingly surrender [to God]

37:27  but [since it will be too late,] they will turn upon one another, demanding of each other [to relieve them of the burden of their past sins]

37:28  Some [of them] will say: “Behold, you were wont to approach us [deceptively] from the right!”

37:29  [To which] the others will reply: “Nay, you yourselves were bereft of all faith

37:30  Moreover, we had no power at all over you: nay, you were people filled with overweening arrogance

37:31  But now our Sustainer’s word has come true against us [as well]: verily, we are bound to taste [the fruit of our sins]

37:32  So then, [if it be true that] we have caused you to err grievously - behold, we ourselves had been lost in grievous error!”

37:33  And, verily, on that Day they all will share in their common suffering

37:34  Verily, thus shall We deal with all who were lost in sin

37:35  for, behold, whenever they were told, “There is no deity save God,” they would glory in their arrogance

37:36  and would say, “Shall we, then, give up our deities at the bidding of a mad poet?”

37:37  Nay, but he [whom you call a mad poet] has brought the truth; and he confirms the truth of [what the earlier of God’s] message-bearers [have taught]

37:38  Behold, you will indeed taste grievous suffering [in the life to come]

37:39  although you shall not be requited for aught but what you were wont to do

37:40  Not so, however, God’s true servants

37:41  [in the hereafter,] theirs shall be a sustenance which they will recognize

37:42  as the fruits [of their life on earth]; and honoured shall they be

37:43  in gardens of bliss

37:44  facing one another [in love] upon thrones of happiness

37:45  A cup will be passed round among them [with a drink] from unsullied springs

37:46  clear, delightful to those who drink it

37:47  no headiness will be in it, and they will not get drunk thereon

37:48  And with them will be mates of modest gaze, most beautiful of eye

37:49  [as free of faults] as if they were hidden [ostrich] eggs

37:50  And they will all turn to one another, asking each other [about their past lives]

37:51  One of them speaks thus: “Behold, I had [on earth] a close companion

37:52  who was wont to ask [me], ‘Why - art thou really one of those who believe it to be true

37:53  [that] after we have died and become mere dust and bones we shall, forsooth, be brought to judgment?”’

37:54  [And] he adds: “Would you like to look [and see him]?” –

37:55  and then he looks and sees that [companion of his] in the midst of the blazing fire

37:56  and says: “By God! Verily, thou hast almost destroyed me [too, O my erstwhile companion]

37:57  for had it not been for my Sustainer’s favour, I would surely be [now] among those who are given over [to suffering]

37:58  But then, [O my friends in paradise,] is it [really] so that we are not to die

37:59  [again,] beyond our previous death, and that we shall never [again] be made to suffer

37:60  Verily, this - this indeed - is the triumph supreme!”

37:61  For the like of this, then, let them labour, those who labour [in God’s way]

37:62  Is such [a paradise] the better welcome - or the [hellish] tree of deadly fruit

37:63  Verily, We have caused it to be a trial for evildoers

37:64  for, behold, it is a tree that grows in the very heart of the blazing fire [of hell]

37:65  its fruit [as repulsive] as satans’ heads

37:66  and they [who are lost in evil] are indeed bound to eat thereof, and to fill their bellies therewith

37:67  And, behold, above all this they will be confounded with burning despair

37:68  And once again: Verily, the blazing fire is their ultimate goal –

37:69  for, behold, they found their forebears on a wrong way

37:70  and [now] they make haste to follow in their footsteps

37:71  Thus, indeed, most of the people of old went astray before them

37:72  although, verily, We had sent warners unto them

37:73  and behold what happened in the end to those that had been warned [to no avail]

37:74  EXCEPT for God’s true servants, [most people are apt to go astray.]

37:75  And, indeed, [it was for this reason that] Noah cried unto Us - and how excellent was Our response

37:76  for We saved him and his household from that awesome calamity

37:77  and caused his offspring to endure [on earth]

37:78  and We left him thus to be remembered among later generations

37:79  “Peace be upon Noah throughout all the worlds!”

37:80  Verily, thus do We reward the doers of good –

37:81  for he was truly one of our believing servants

37:82  [and so We saved him and those who followed him] and then We caused the others to drown

37:83  AND, BEHOLD, of his persuasion was Abraham, too

37:84  when he turned to his Sustainer with a heart free of evil

37:85  and [thus] spoke to his father and his people: “What is it that you worship

37:86  Do you want [to bow down before] a lie - [before] deities other than God

37:87  What, then, do you think of the Sustainer of all the worlds?”

37:88  Then he cast a glance at the stars

37:89  and said, “Verily, I am sick [at heart]!&rdquo

37:90  and at that they turned their backs on him and went away

37:91  Thereupon he approached their gods stealthily and said, “What! You do not eat [of the offerings placed before you]

37:92  What is amiss with you that you do not speak?”

37:93  And then he fell upon them, smiting them with his right hand

37:94  [But] then the others came towards him hurriedly [and accused him of his deed]

37:95  He answered: “Do you worship something that you [yourselves] have carved

37:96  the while it is God who has created you and all your handiwork?”

37:97  They exclaimed: “Build a pyre for him, and cast him into the blazing fire!”

37:98  But whereas they sought to do evil unto him, We [frustrated their designs, and thus] brought them low

37:99  And [Abraham] said: “Verily, I shall [leave this land and] go wherever my Sustainer will guide me!”

37:100  [And he prayed:] “O my Sustainer! Bestow upon me the gift of [a son who shall be] one of the righteous!” –

37:101  whereupon We gave him the glad tiding of a boy-child gentle [like himself]

37:102  And [one day,] when [the child] had become old enough to share in his [father’s] endeavours, the latter said: “O my dear son! I have seen in a dream that I should sacrifice thee: consider, then, what would be thy view!” [Ishmael] answered: “O my father! Do as thou art bidden: thou wilt find me, if God so wills, among those who are patient in adversity!”

37:103  But as soon as the two had surrendered themselves to [what they thought to be] the will of God, and [Abraham] had laid him down on his face

37:104  We called out to him: “O Abraham

37:105  thou hast already fulfilled [the purpose of] that dream- vision!” Thus, verily, do We reward the doers of good

37:106  for, behold, all this was indeed a trial, clear in itself

37:107  And We ransomed him with a tremendous sacrifice

37:108  and left him thus to be remembered among later generations

37:109  “Peace be upon Abraham!”

37:110  Thus do We reward the doers of good –

37:111  for he was truly one of our believing servants

37:112  And [in time] We gave him the glad tiding of Isaac, [who, too, would be] a prophet, one of the righteous

37:113  and We blessed him and Isaac: but among the offspring of these two there were [destined] to be both doers of good and such as would glaringly sin against themselves

37:114  THUS, INDEED, did We bestow Our favour upon Moses and Aaron

37:115  and We saved them and their people from the awesome calamity [of bondage]

37:116  and succoured them, so that [in the end] it was they who achieved victory

37:117  And We gave them the divine writ that made [right and wrong] distinct

37:118  and guided them the straight way

37:119  and left them thus to be remembered among later generations

37:120  “Peace be upon Moses and Aaron!”

37:121  Thus do We reward the doers of good –

37:122  for those two were truly among Our believing servants

37:123  AND, BEHOLD, Elijah [too] was indeed one of Our message-bearer

37:124  when he spoke [thus] to his people: “Will you not remain conscious of God

37:125  Will you invoke Baal and forsake [God,] the best of artisans

37:126  God, your Sustainer and the Sustainer of your forebears of old?”

37:127  But they gave him the lie: and therefore they will most surely be arraigned [on Judgment Day]

37:128  excepting only [those who were] God’s true servants

37:129  and him We left thus to be remembered among later generations

37:130  “Peace be upon Elijah and his followers!”

37:131  Verily, thus do We reward the doers of good –

37:132  for he was truly one of Our believing servants

37:133  AND, BEHOLD, Lot was indeed one of Our message-bearers

37:134  [and so,] when [We decreed the doom of his sinful town,] We saved him and his household

37:135  except an old woman who was among those that stayed behind

37:136  and then We utterly destroyed the others

37:137  and, verily, [to this day] you pass by the remnants of their dwellings at morning-tim

37:138  and by night. Will you not, then, use your reason

37:139  AND, BEHOLD, Jonah was indeed one of Our message-bearer

37:140  when he fled like a runaway slave onto a laden ship

37:141  And then they cast lots, and he was the one who lost

37:142  [and they cast him into the sea,] whereupon the great fish swallowed him, for he had been blameworthy

37:143  And had he not been of those who [even in the deep darkness of their distress are able to] extol God’s limitless glory

37:144  he would indeed have remained in its belly till the Day when all shall be raised from the dead

37:145  but We caused him to be cast forth on a desert shore, sick [at heart] as he was

37:146  and caused a creeping plant to grow over him [out of the barren soil]

37:147  And [then] We sent him [once again] to [his people,] a hundred thousand [souls] or more

37:148  and [this time] they believed [in him] and so We allowed them to enjoy their life during the time allotted to them

37:149  AND NOW ask them to enlighten thee: Has thy Sustainer daughters, whereas they would have [only] sons

37:150  - or is it that We have created the angels female, and they [who believe them to be divine] have witnessed [that act of creation]

37:151  Oh, verily, it is out of their own [inclination to] falsehood that some people assert

37:152  “God has begotten [a son]”; and, verily, they are lying [too, when they say]

37:153  “He has chosen daughters in preference to sons”

37:154  What is amiss with you and your judgment

37:155  Will you not, then, bethink yourselves

37:156  Or have you, perchance, a clear evidence [for your assertions]

37:157  Produce, then, that divine writ of yours, if you are speaking the truth

37:158  And some people have invented a kinship between Him and all manner of invisible forces although [even] these invisible forces know well that, verily, they [who thus blaspheme against God] shall indeed be arraigned [before Him on Judgment Day: for]

37:159  limitless is God in His glory, above anything that men may devise by way of definition

37:160  Not thus, however, [behave] God’s true servants

37:161  for, verily, neither you [blasphemers] nor the objects of your worship

37:162  can cause anyone to fall prey to your temptation

37:163  unless it be such as rushes towards the blazing fire [of his own accord]

37:164  [All forces of nature praise God and say:] “Among us, too, there is none but has a place assigned to it [by Him]

37:165  and, verily, we too are ranged [before Him in worship]

37:166  and, verily, we too extol His limitless glory!”

37:167  AND, INDEED, they [who deny the truth] have always been wont to say

37:168  “If only we had a tradition [to this effect] from our forebears

37:169  we would certainly be true servants of God.”

37:170  And yet, [now that this divine writ has been placed before them,] they refuse to acknowledge it as true! In time, however, they will come to know [what it was that they had rejected]

37:171  for, long ago has Our word gone forth unto Our servants, the message- bearers

37:172  that, verily, they - they indeed - would be succoured

37:173  and that, verily, Our hosts - they indeed - would [in the end] be victorious

37:174  Hence, turn thou aside for a while from those [who deny the truth]

37:175  and see them [for what they are]; and in time they [too] will come to see [what they do not see now]

37:176  Do they, then, [really] wish that Our chastisement be hastened on

37:177  But then, once it alights upon them, hapless will be the awakening of those who were warned [to no avail]

37:178  Hence, turn thou aside for a while from them

37:179  and see [them for what they are]; and in time they [too] will come to see [what they do not see now]

37:180  LIMITLESS in His glory is thy Sustainer, the Lord of almightiness, [exalted] above anything that men may devise by way of definition

37:181  And peace be upon all His message-bearers

37:182  And all praise is due to God alone, the Sustainer of all the worlds