40:1  ῌā‘ mīm

40:2  The revelation of the Book is from God, the Mighty One, the All-knowing

40:3  who forgives sins and accepts repentance; whose punishment is stern, and bounty infinite. There is no god but Him. All shall return to Him

40:4  None but the unbelievers dispute God‘s revelations. Do not be deceived by their prosperous dealings in the land

40:5  Before them Noah‘s people also disbelieved, and so did the factions after them. Each community strove to lay hands on their apostle, seeking with false arguments to refute the Truth; but I smote them, and how stern was My retribution

40:6  Thus shall your Lord‘s judgement be passed on the unbelievers: they are assuredly the inmates of the Fire

40:7  Those who bear the Throne and those who stand around it give glory to their Lord and believe in Him. They implore forgiveness for the faithful, saying: ‘Lord, You embrace all things with Your mercy and Your knowledge. Forgive those that have repented and followed Your path. Shield them from the scourge of Hell

40:8  Admit them, Lord, to the Gardens of Eden which You have promised them, together with all the righteous among their forefathers, their spouses, and their descendants. You are the Mighty One, the Wise One

40:9  Shield them from all evil. He whom You will shield from evil on that day will surely earn Your mercy. That is the supreme triumph.‘

40:10  To the unbelievers a voice will call: ‘God‘s abhorrence of you is greater than your abhorrence of yourselves. You were called to the Faith, but you denied it.‘

40:11  They shall say: ‘Lord, twice You made us die, and twice You gave us life. We now confess our sins. Is there no way out?‘

40:12  This is because when God was invoked alone, you disbelieved; but when bidden to serve other gods besides Him you did believe. Today judgement rests with God, the Most High, the Supreme One.‘

40:13  It is He who reveals His signs to you, and sends down sustenance from the sky for you. Yet none takes thought except the repentant

40:14  Pray, then, to God and consecrate your religion to Him, however much the unbelievers may dislike it

40:15  Exalted and throned on high, He lets the Spirit descend at His behest on those of His servants whom He chooses, that He may warn them of the day when they shall meet Him

40:16  the day when they shall rise up from their graves with nothing hidden from God. And who shall reign supreme on that day? God, the One, who vanquishes all

40:17  On that day every soul shall be recompensed according to what it did; on that day none shall be wronged. Swift is God‘s reckoning

40:18  Forewarn them of the approaching day, when men‘s hearts will leap up to their throats and choke them; when the wrongdoers will have neither friend nor intercessor to be listened to

40:19  He knows the furtive look and the hidden thought

40:20  God will judge with fairness, but the idols to which they pray besides Him can judge nothing. Surely God alone hears all and observes all

40:21  Have they never journeyed through the land and seen what was the fate of those who have gone before them, far greater in prowess? God smote them for their sins, and from God they had no protector

40:22  That was because their apostles had come to them with veritable signs and they disbelieved. So God smote them. Mighty is God, and stern His retribution

40:23  We sent forth Moses with Our signs and with veritable authorit

40:24  to Pharaoh, Haman, and Korah. But they said: ‘A sorcerer, a teller of lies.‘

40:25  And when he brought them the Truth from Ourself, they said: ‘Put to death the sons of those who share his faith, and spare only their daughters.‘ Futile were the schemes of the unbelievers

40:26  And Pharaoh said: ‘Let me kill Moses, and then let him invoke his god! I fear that he will change your religion and spread disorder in the land.‘

40:27  Moses said: ‘I take refuge in my Lord and in your Lord from every tyrant who denies the Day of Reckoning.‘

40:28  And one of Pharaoh‘s kin, who in secret was a true believer, said: ‘Would you kill a man merely because he says: "My Lord is God"? He has brought you veritable signs from your Lord. If he is lying, may his lie be on his head; but if he is speaking the truth, some of what he threatens you with will smite you. God does not guide a lying transgressor

40:29  Today you are the masters, my people, illustrious throughout the land. But who will save us from the might of God when it bears down upon us?‘ Pharaoh said: ‘I have told you what I think. I will surely guide you to the right path.‘

40:30  And he who was a true believer said: ‘I warn you, my people, against the fate which overtook the factions

40:31  the people of Noah, ‘Ad, and Thamūd, and those that came after them. God does not seek to wrong His servants

40:32  I warn you, my people, against the day when you will cry out to one another

40:33  the day when you will turn and flee, with none to defend you against God. And he whom God confounds will have none to guide him

40:34  Before this, Joseph came to you with veritable signs, but you never ceased to doubt them; and when he died you said: "After him God will never send another apostle." Thus God confounds the doubting transgressor

40:35  Those who dispute God‘s revelations, with no authority vouchsafed to them, are held in deep abhorrence by God and by the faithful. Thus God seals up the heart of every scornful tyrant.‘

40:36  And Pharaoh said: ‘Haman build me a tower that I may reach the highways ―

40:37  the very highways ― of the heavens, and look upon the god of Moses. I am convinced that he is lying.‘ Thus was Pharaoh seduced by his foul deeds and was turned away from the right path; Pharaoh‘s cunning led only to perdition

40:38  And he who was a true believer said: ‘Follow me, my people, and I shall guide you to the right path

40:39  My people, the life of this world is but a fleeting pleasure; the life to come is the everlasting mansion

40:40  Those that do evil shall be rewarded with like evil; but those that have faith and do good works, be they men or women, shall enter Paradise and therein receive blessings without number

40:41  My people, how is it that I call you to salvation, and you call me to the Fire

40:42  You bid me deny God and serve other gods I know nothing of; and I call you to the Mighty One, the Forgiving One

40:43  Indeed, the gods to whom you call me can be invoked neither in this world nor in the world to come. Our return shall be to God. The transgressors shall be the inmates of the Fire

40:44  ‘Bear in mind what I have told you. To God I commend myself. God is cognizant of all His servants.‘

40:45  God delivered him from the evils which they plotted, and a grievous scourge encompassed Pharaoh‘s people

40:46  To the Fire they shall be exposed morning and evening, and on the day the Hour strikes, a voice will cry: ‘Admit Pharaoh‘s people to the most grievous torment!‘

40:47  And when they argue in the Fire, the humble will say to those who deemed themselves mighty: ‘We have been your followers: will you now ward off from us some of the flames?‘

40:48  But those who deemed themselves mighty will say: ‘We are all in it now; God has judged His servants.‘

40:49  And those in the Fire will say to the keepers of Hell: ‘Implore your Lord to relieve our torment for a single day!‘

40:50  They will say: ‘But did your apostles not come to you with veritable signs?‘ ‘Yes.‘ they will say. Their keepers will say: ‘Then offer your prayers.‘ But vain shall be the prayers of the unbelievers

40:51  We will surely help Our apostles and the true believers both in this world and on the day when the witnesses rise to testify

40:52  the day when no excuse avails the wrongdoers. The Curse shall be their lot, and theirs the evil abode

40:53  We gave Moses Our guidance and the Israelites the Book to inherit

40:54  a guide and an Admonition to those that are of good sense possessed

40:55  Therefore have patience; God‘s promise is surely true. Implore forgiveness for your sins, and celebrate the praise of your Lord evening and morning

40:56  As for those who dispute God‘s revelations, with no authority vouchsafed to them, they nurture in their hearts ambitions they shall never attain. Therefore seek refuge in God; He it is who hears all and observes all

40:57  Surely, the creation of the heavens and the earth is greater than the creation of man; yet most men have no knowledge

40:58  The blind and the seeing are not equal, nor are the wicked the equals of those that have faith and do good works. Yet do you seldom take thought

40:59  The Hour is sure to come: of this there is no doubt; yet most do not believe

40:60  And your Lord has said: ‘Call on me and I will answer you. Those that disdain My worship shall enter Hell with abject humility.‘

40:61  It was God who made for you the night to rest in and the day to give you light. God is bountiful to people, yet the larger part of the people do not give thanks

40:62  Such is God, your Lord, the Creator of all things. There is no god but Him. How then are you led astray

40:63  Yet, even thus, those who deny God‘s revelations are led astray

40:64  God it is who has made the earth a dwelling-place for you, and the sky a ceiling. He has moulded your bodies into comely shapes and provided you with wholesome things. Such is God, your Lord. Blessed be God, Lord of the Universe

40:65  He is the Living One; there is no god but Him. Pray to Him, then, consecrating your religion to Him. Praise be to God, Lord of the Universe

40:66  Say: ‘I am forbidden to serve your idols, now that veritable proofs have come to me from my Lord. I am commanded to submit to the Lord of the Universe.‘

40:67  He it is who created you from dust, then from a little germ, and then from a clot of blood.¹ He brings you out as infants into the world; you reach manhood, then decline into old age though some of you die young, that you may serve your appointed term and perchance grow in understanding

40:68  He it is who ordains life and death; if He decrees a thing, He need only say: ‘Be,‘ and it is

40:69  Do you not see how those who dispute the revelations of God are turned away from the right path

40:70  Those who have denied the Book and the message We sent through Our apostles will learn hereafter

40:71  when, with shackles and chains round their necks, they shall be dragge

40:72  through scalding water and then burnt in the Fire

40:73  Then they will be told: ‘Where are the gods whom you have served besides God?‘

40:74  They have forsaken us,‘ they will say. ‘Indeed, they were nothing, those gods to whom we prayed.‘ Thus God confounds the unbelievers

40:75  And they will be told: ‘That is because on earth you took delight in falsehoods, and led a wanton life

40:76  Enter the gates of Hell and stay therein for ever. Evil is the home of the arrogant

40:77  Therefore have patience: God‘s promise is surely true. Whether We let you¹ glimpse in some measure the scourge We promise them, or claim you back before We smite them, to Us shall they be recalled

40:78  We sent forth apostles before you; of some We have already told you, of others We have not yet told you. None of those apostles could bring a sign except by God‘s leave. And when God‘s will was done, justice prevailed and there and then the deniers lost

40:79  It is God who has provided you with beasts, that you may ride on some and eat the flesh of others

40:80  You put them to many uses; they take you where you wish to go, carrying you by land as ships carry you by sea

40:81  And He reveals to you His signs. Which of God‘s signs do you deny

40:82  Have they never journeyed through the land and seen what was the fate of those who have gone before them? They were more numerous than them, and far greater in prowess and in splendour in the land; yet all their gains proved of no avail to them

40:83  When their apostles brought them veritable signs they proudly boasted of their own knowledge; but soon the scourge they mocked encompassed them

40:84  And when they beheld Our might they said: ‘We now believe in God alone. We deny the idols which We served besides Him.‘

40:85  But their new faith was of no avail to them, when they beheld Our might: such being the way of God with His creatures; and there and then the unbelievers lost