| | Musharraf Hussain rendition of Surah Children of Israel, The Israelites(al-Isra`)
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| 17:1 | | Glory to Him Who took His noble servant on a night journey from the Sacred Mosque to the farthest Mosque – whose surroundings we made holy – to show him Our signs. He is the Hearer, the Seeing. |
| 17:2 | | We gave Musa the Book of guidance for the Israelites saying: “Don’t take a Guardian besides Me.” |
| 17:3 | | You are the descendants of the people We carried in Nuh’s ship; he was a thankful servant |
| 17:4 | | We stated in the Scripture: twice you would create mischief on the land and become arrogant. |
| 17:5 | | So We sent against them Our servants who were severely brutal, they demolished their homes; hence the first prediction was fulfilled. |
| 17:6 | | Later on We gave you victory over them and helped you with wealth and children and increased your numbers – |
| 17:7 | | if you do good it will be for your good, and if you do evil it’s against yourselves – when the second promise came, you were again disgraced; they entered the temple in Jerusalem as they entered the first time and destroyed what they could get hold of. |
| 17:8 | | It is still possible that your Lord may be kind to you. However, if you turn back to evil We will again punish you; We made Hell a prison for the disbelievers |
| 17:9 | | This Majestic Quran guides to the straightest path it brings good news for the believers who perform excellent deeds; they’ll have a great reward. |
| 17:10 | | Those who don’t believe in the Hereafter, for them We’ve prepared a painful punishment. |
| 17:11 | | Sometimes people pray for evil as keenly as they pray for good; people are hasty |
| 17:12 | | We made the night and the day two signs; We darkened the night and made the day bright, so you can seek sustenance from your Lord and for calculating the number of years. We have explained all things. |
| 17:13 | | We tied the destiny of every person around their neck; on Judgement Day, We shall bring out the document and spread it wide open before them; |
| 17:14 | | read your own document! You should be able to calculate your own account today. |
| 17:15 | | Whoever accepts the guidance does for his own good, and whoever strays is in loss; no one will bear the burden of another person. We don’t punish people until We have sent a messenger |
| 17:16 | | When We plan to destroy a town, first We teach its well-off people to change, if they continue to disobey, the judgement comes to pass and We destroy them. |
| 17:17 | | How many generations did we destroy after Nuh? Your Lord is sufficiently aware and sees the sins of His servants. |
| 17:18 | | Whoever wants the fleeting world, We readily give whatever We will to whom We please. We have made Hell for him that will burn him, he will be disgraced and rejected. |
| 17:19 | | Whoever wants the Hereafter and works hard for it as a true believer; their works will be fully appreciated. |
| 17:20 | | On all – these and those – We give the gifts of Your Lord. Your Lord’s gifts are not restricted to one group alone. |
| 17:21 | | Notice how We give more to some than others; the Hereafter has far greater status in rank and excellence than worldly life. |
| 17:22 | | Don’t take any other god besides Allah, as you will end up condemned and rejected |
| 17:23 | | Your Lord has commanded that you shouldn’t worship anyone except Him, and you must care for parents; if one or both of them become old do not say “Uff to them, nor snap at them; instead, speak to them with respect |
| 17:24 | | and be kind; lower your wings with humility for them and pray: “My Lord, be kind to them, as they cared for me in childhood.” |
| 17:25 | | Your Lord knows well what is in your minds; if you are righteous, He forgives those who repent |
| 17:26 | | Give a relative his due, the poor and the traveller – don’t spend your wealth wastefully. |
| 17:27 | | Those who waste are the brothers of Satan, and Satan is most unthankful to His Lord. |
| 17:28 | | If you must turn them away empty-handed, due to your poverty, speak gently with them, since you are full of expectation of kindness from your Lord. |
| 17:29 | | Neither be tight-fisted nor wasteful, as you will be blamed and regretful. |
| 17:30 | | Your Lord gives plentiful sustenance or limited amounts to whom he pleases. He sees and is fully aware of his servants’ needs |
| 17:31 | | You shall not kill your children out of fear of poverty. We shall feed them and you; to kill them is a major sin and a crime. |
| 17:32 | | You must not go near adultery; it is indecency and an evil way of life. |
| 17:33 | | You shall not kill anyone since Allah has made life sacred, except for a just cause. However, if someone is wrongly killed, then We give his heirs authority to take revenge, but shouldn’t exceed in taking life. He shall be supported by the authorities |
| 17:34 | | You shall not go near the wealth of the orphans, except with good intentions, until they are mature. And fulfil pledges; you will be questioned about pledges. |
| 17:35 | | When measuring, give in full measure, and weigh with correctly calibrated scales; that is fair, and will produce good outcomes |
| 17:36 | | Do not follow blindly without knowledge, use your senses: hearing, seeing and thinking, you will be questioned about them. |
| 17:37 | | You shouldn’t walk about on Earth arrogantly, since you cannot tear it up nor can you reach mountains in tallness. |
| 17:38 | | These are evil activities, most disliked by your Lord. |
| 17:39 | | These are some of the pearls of wisdom revealed by your Lord; do not take gods besides Allah. Be fearful, you may end up in Hell, condemned and rejected. |
| 17:40 | | How come Your Lord preferred sons for you, and angelic daughters for Himself? You’ve said a terrible thing |
| 17:41 | | We have variously explained proofs of Allah in this Quran for their reminder, but it has only added to their bitterness. |
| 17:42 | | Say: “If there were other gods beside Allah as they say, then these gods would have found a way to defeat the owner of the Mighty Throne.” |
| 17:43 | | Glory to Him, He is far above what they say, Exalted and Great. |
| 17:44 | | The Seven Heavens and the Earth and what is in them all glorify Him; there isn’t a single thing that doesn’t glorify and praise Him, but you don’t understand their way of celebrating His glory. He is the Gentle and the Forgiving |
| 17:45 | | Messenger, when you recite the Quran We place an invisible screen between you and the disbelievers of the Hereafter. |
| 17:46 | | We placed coverings over their minds so they can’t understand, and made them hard of hearing. Whenever you mention Your Lord’s Oneness in the Quran, they turn their backs hatefully. |
| 17:47 | | We know well what they wish to hear when they listen to you and when they meet secretly; these wrongdoers say, “The man you follow is bewitched.” |
| 17:48 | | Notice how they portray you; they are mistaken and will not be able to find a way |
| 17:49 | | They say, “When we have become white washed bones and dust, will we be raised up again, a brand-new creation?” |
| 17:50 | | Say yes: “Even if you turned into stones or iron |
| 17:51 | | or any substance you may think unlikely to be given life.” They ask, “Who will bring us back?” Say: “The One who created you the first time.” They will shake their heads saying, “When will that be?” Say: “It’s perhaps near.” |
| 17:52 | | The day Allah will call you, and all will answer by praising Him, then you’ll realise you only stayed a short while in the world . |
| 17:53 | | Tell My servants: “Always be courteous when speaking”, or else Satan will stir disagreement among you; surely Satan is the sworn enemy of humanity. |
| 17:54 | | Your Lord knows you best; He will be kind to you or punish you if He wants. Anyway, We haven’t sent you as a guardian over them. |
| 17:55 | | Your Lord knows who is in the Heavens and the Earth. We favoured some prophets over others, and We gave blessed Dawud the book of Psalms |
| 17:56 | | Say: “Call those you think are your gods besides Him; they cannot remove harm from you or turn it away.” |
| 17:57 | | Those who they call are themselves looking for the means to be nearer to Him; they long for His kindness and dread His punishment. Your Lord’s punishment is dreadful. |
| 17:58 | | Any town We destroy before Judgement Day or punish sternly is recorded in the eternal document. |
| 17:59 | | What stopped Us from sending miracles is people’s denial in the past, for example, We gave Thamud the miracle of the she-camel; it was self-evident but they hamstrung her. So, We now send miracles only as a warning. |
| 17:60 | | And remember when We said to you, “Your Lord knows all about the people. The dream We showed you and the cursed tree mentioned in the Quran were for testing people. We warned them, but that made them bolder in their disobedience |
| 17:61 | | Remember, We told the angels, “Prostrate before Adam!” They all prostrated, except Satan. He said, “Why should I prostrate to one You created from clay?” |
| 17:62 | | He continued, “Do you see this human being who You have honoured over me, if You give me time till Judgement Day then I will have all his children under my control, except a few. |
| 17:63 | | Allah said, “Go away! Anyone who follows you will be punished in Hell, a fitting reward.” |
| 17:64 | | Persuade them with your enchanting voice; try winning them over with all the might you can muster; be a shareholder in their wealth and children and make promises to them; Satan’s promises are mere deceptions. |
| 17:65 | | But you will have no power and influence over My servants; Your Lord is their Guardian |
| 17:66 | | Your Lord makes the ships sail across the sea for you to seek His bounty; He is most Kind to you. |
| 17:67 | | When you are distressed at sea, those you worship besides Allah desert you, but He brings you safely to the land yet you turn away. Man, is unthankful. |
| 17:68 | | Are you sure that He won’t sink you in the ground or send a sandstorm? You won’t find any protector. |
| 17:69 | | Are you sure when you return to the sea He will not send a violent storm to drown you for your unthankfulness? You will not find any helper in opposition to Us |
| 17:70 | | We honoured the children of Adam and enabled them to travel across land and sea, to seek healthy sustenance and favoured them above all Our creation. |
| 17:71 | | The Day We call the communities along with their leaders, some will be given their book in the right hand, and will happily read it; they will not be treated unjustly in the least. |
| 17:72 | | The blind in this world will also be blind in the Hereafter, and far away from the path |
| 17:73 | | Messenger , they tempt you away from Our revelation so you might produce something different, then they would befriend you. |
| 17:74 | | Had We not made you steadfast then you might have inclined a little bit towards them. |
| 17:75 | | In that case We would have made you taste double punishment in this life and after death; moreover, you will not find a helper against Us. |
| 17:76 | | They tried hard to scare you, so you would leave the city, they too wouldn’t have stayed there for long either. |
| 17:77 | | Such was our practice with messengers We sent before you. You will find no change in our practice |
| 17:78 | | Pray regularly from midday until the darkness of the night, and the Morning Prayer, since the recitation of the Quran in the Morning Prayer is witnessed by the Angels. |
| 17:79 | | At night, wake up to offer a voluntary prayer that is compulsory only for you. Soon your Lord will raise you to a glorious station of praise. |
| 17:80 | | Say: “My Lord, wherever you take me, let me enter truthfully and let me leave truthfully, and give me power and authority from Yourself. |
| 17:81 | | Say: “The truth has come and falsehood vanished; falsehood is bound to vanish.” |
| 17:82 | | We revealed the Quran it is a healing and benefits the believers, but for the disbelievers it adds to their loss. |
| 17:83 | | Often, when We give gifts to people, they turn away unthankfully, remain indifferent, and despair in hard times. |
| 17:84 | | Say: “Everyone behaves according to their character,” Your Lord knows best who follows the best-guided path |
| 17:85 | | They ask you about the soul; say: “The soul is my Lord’s command, and you have been given little knowledge about it.” |
| 17:86 | | If We wanted, We could have withdrawn what We have revealed to you. Then you would not find an advocate against us, |
| 17:87 | | except for your Lord’s kindness; He has indeed been very gracious to you. |
| 17:88 | | Say: “If all humanity and jinn got together to bring a book like this Quran, they wouldn’t be able to bring it, no matter how much they helped each other.” |
| 17:89 | | In this Quran We explained every kind of example for people’s benefit, but most refuse to acknowledge the truth |
| 17:90 | | They said, “We won’t believe you until you bring for us a gushing spring from the Earth. |
| 17:91 | | Or until you have a garden of date trees and grapes with a river flowing through it, |
| 17:92 | | or you cause a piece of the sky to fall on us as you claim, or bring Allah and the angels before us, |
| 17:93 | | or have a house decorated with gold, or bring a ladder that goes up to the sky. No, we will not believe your miracle of Ascension; we will believe if you can bring a book we can read” Say: “Glory to My Lord, I am only a human being, a messenger. |
| 17:94 | | An argument that stops some people from accepting the guidance is, “How could Allah have sent a messenger who is a mortal?” |
| 17:95 | | Say: “If angels walked and lived on Earth then naturally We would have sent from the Heavens a messenger who was an angel.” |
| 17:96 | | Say: “Allah is sufficient witness for me and you.” He is aware and sees His servants. |
| 17:97 | | The one who Allah guides is guided, and the one who He lets go astray, you won’t find a protector for him beside Allah. We will gather them on Judgement Day with their faces down, blind, dumb and deaf. Hell, will be their dwelling; when the flames die down We will intensify the blazing flames once again. |
| 17:98 | | That will be their reward, they rejected Our signs and said, “When we become bones and dust will we be resurrected as a brand-new creation? |
| 17:99 | | Do they not realise Allah created the Heavens and the Earth, can’t he produce the likes of them again? He has fixed their lifespan. The wrongdoers refuse everything except disbelief. |
| 17:100 | | Say: “If you controlled the treasures of My Lord’s kindness, you would hold them tightly for fear of spending them. People are tight-fisted, miserly. |
| 17:101 | | We gave Musa nine miracles; ask the Israelites, when he came to them, the Pharaoh said, “Musa, I believe you’re under a spell.” |
| 17:102 | | Musa said, “You know, no one except the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth could have sent these clear signs. Pharaoh! I believe you’re doomed.” |
| 17:103 | | The Pharaoh wanted to wipe them off from the land of Egypt, so We drowned him and those with him. |
| 17:104 | | Afterwards, We told the Israelites: “Live in the land, and when the promise of the Hereafter comes to pass, We will bring you all together as a mixed crowd. |
| 17:105 | | We revealed the Quran with truth, so it came down with truth. We sent you to proclaim good news and to warn. |
| 17:106 | | This is a reading, revealed in separate sections so that you may slowly read it to the people; We revealed it gradually over a period. |
| 17:107 | | Say: “It is up to you to believe it or not. Those who were given knowledge before this certainly acknowledge it when it is read to them; they fall on their faces in prostration.” |
| 17:108 | | Say: “Glory to Our Lord; Our Lord’s promise is fulfilled.” |
| 17:109 | | They fall on their faces in prostration, weeping as their humility grows |
| 17:110 | | Say: “Call Allah or Rahman by whichever names you call, He has most beautiful names.” So, when you pray don’t call Him too loudly or too quietly; instead seek a middle way. |
| 17:111 | | Say: “All Praises are for Allah. He has no son and no partner in His Kingdom; He needs no such petty protectors – to proclaim His absolute greatness. |
