| | Aisha Bewley rendition of Surah The Prophets(al-Anbiya`)
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| 21:1 | | Mankind´s Reckoning has drawn very close to them, yet they heedlessly turn away. |
| 21:2 | | No fresh reminder comes to them from their Lord without their listening to it as if it was a game. |
| 21:3 | | Their hearts are distracted. Those who do wrong confer together secretly, saying, ´Is this man anything but a human being like yourselves? Do you succumb to magic with your eyes wide open?´ |
| 21:4 | | Say: ´My Lord knows what is said in heaven and earth. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.´ |
| 21:5 | | Furthermore they say, ´A muddled jumble of dreams!´ and, ´He has invented it!´ and, ´He is a poet!´ and, ´Let him bring us a Sign like those sent to previous peoples.´ |
| 21:6 | | None of the cities which We destroyed before them had iman. So will they? |
| 21:7 | | We have only ever sent before you men who were given Revelation. Ask the People of the Reminder if you do not know. |
| 21:8 | | We did not give them bodies which did not eat food, nor were they immortal. |
| 21:9 | | But We kept Our promise to them and rescued them and those We willed, and destroyed the profligate. |
| 21:10 | | We have sent down to you a Book containing your Reminder. So will you not use your intellect? |
| 21:11 | | How many cities which did wrong have We utterly destroyed, raising up other people after them! |
| 21:12 | | When they perceived Our violent force they ran away from it. |
| 21:13 | | ´Do not run away! Return to the life of luxury you enjoyed and to the places where you lived, so that you can be interrogated!´ |
| 21:14 | | They said, ´Alas for us! We were indeed wrongdoers!´ |
| 21:15 | | That cry of theirs went on until We made them stubble, silent, stamped out. |
| 21:16 | | We did not create heaven and earth and everything in between them as a game. |
| 21:17 | | If We had desired to have some amusement, We would have derived it from Our Presence, but We did not do that. |
| 21:18 | | Rather We hurl the truth against falsehood and it cuts right through it and it vanishes clean away! Woe without end for you for what you portray! |
| 21:19 | | Everyone in the heavens and the earth belongs to Him. Those in His presence do not consider themselves too great to worship Him and do not grow tired of it. |
| 21:20 | | They glorify Him by night and day, without ever flagging. |
| 21:21 | | Or have they taken gods out of the earth who can bring the dead to life? |
| 21:22 | | If there had been any gods besides Allah in heaven or earth, they would both be ruined. Glory be to Allah, Lord of the Throne, beyond what they describe! |
| 21:23 | | He will not be questioned about what He does, but they will be questioned. |
| 21:24 | | Or have they taken other gods besides Him? Say: ´Produce your proof! This is the message of those with me and the message of those before me.´ But most of them do not know the truth, so they turn away. |
| 21:25 | | We sent no Messenger before you without revealing to him: ´There is no god but Me, so worship Me.´ |
| 21:26 | | They say, ´The All-Merciful has a son.´ Glory be to Him! No, they are honoured slaves! |
| 21:27 | | They do not precede Him in speech and they act on His command. |
| 21:28 | | He knows what is in front of them and what is behind them. They only intercede on behalf of those with whom He is pleased, and even they are apprehensive out of fear of Him. |
| 21:29 | | Were any of them to say, ´I am a god apart from Him,´ We would repay him with Hell. That is how We repay wrongdoers. |
| 21:30 | | Do those who are kafir not see that the heavens and the earth were sewn together and then We unstitched them and that We made from water every living thing? So will they not have iman? |
| 21:31 | | We placed firmly embedded mountains on the earth, so it would not move under them, and We put broad valleys as roadways in it, so that perhaps they might be guided. |
| 21:32 | | We made the sky a preserved and protected roof yet still they turn away from Our Signs. |
| 21:33 | | It is He who created night and day and the sun and moon, each one swimming in a sphere. |
| 21:34 | | We did not give any human being before you immortality. And if you die, will they then be immortal? |
| 21:35 | | Every self will taste death. We test you with both good and evil as a trial. And you will be returned to Us. |
| 21:36 | | When those who are kafir see you, they only make a mockery out of you: ´Is this the one who makes mention of your gods?´ Yet they are kuffar about the mention of the All-Merciful. |
| 21:37 | | Man was created hasty. I will show you My Signs so do not try to hasten Me. |
| 21:38 | | They say, ´When will this promise come about if you are telling the truth?´ |
| 21:39 | | If those who are kafir only knew of the time when they will not be able to keep the Fire away from their faces or their backs! And they will receive no help! |
| 21:40 | | No, it will come upon them suddenly, confounding them, taking them completely by surprise, and they will not be able to ward it off. They will be granted no reprieve. |
| 21:41 | | Messengers before you were also mocked, but those who jeered were engulfed by what they mocked. |
| 21:42 | | Say: ´Who will protect you night and day from the All-Merciful?´ Yet they turn away from the remembrance of their Lord. |
| 21:43 | | Or do they have gods besides Us who will protect them? They cannot even help themselves! They will not be safe from Us. |
| 21:44 | | No indeed! We have given these people enjoyment, as We did their fathers, until life seemed long and good to them. Do they not see how We come to the land eroding it from its extremities? Or are they the victors? |
| 21:45 | | Say: ´I can only warn you through the Revelation.´ But the deaf cannot hear the call when they are warned. |
| 21:46 | | If even a single waft of the punishment were to touch them, they would say, ´Alas for us! We were indeed wrongdoers.´ |
| 21:47 | | We will set up the Just Balance on the Day of Rising and no self will be wronged in any way. Even if it is no more than the weight of a grain of mustard-seed, We will produce it. We are sufficient as a Reckoner. |
| 21:48 | | We gave to Musa and Harun the Discrimination and a Shining Light and a Reminder for those with taqwa: |
| 21:49 | | those who fear their Lord in the Unseen and are apprehensive about the Hour. |
| 21:50 | | This is a blessed Reminder which We have sent down. So are you going to ignore it? |
| 21:51 | | We gave Ibrahim his right guidance early on, and We had complete knowledge of him. |
| 21:52 | | When he said to his father and his people, ´What are these statues you are clinging to?´ |
| 21:53 | | they said, ´We found our fathers worshipping them.´ |
| 21:54 | | He said, ´You and your fathers are clearly misguided.´ |
| 21:55 | | They said, ´Have you brought us the truth or are you playing games?´ |
| 21:56 | | He said, ´Far from it! Your Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, He who brought them into being. I am one of those who bear witness to that. |
| 21:57 | | By Allah, I will devise some scheme against your idols when your backs are turned.´ |
| 21:58 | | He broke them in pieces, except for the biggest one, so that they would have it to consult! |
| 21:59 | | They said, ´Who has done this to our gods? He is definitely one of the wrongdoers!´ |
| 21:60 | | They said, ´We heard a young man mentioning them. They call him Ibrahim.´ |
| 21:61 | | They said, ´Bring him before the people´s eyes so they can be witnesses.´ |
| 21:62 | | They said, ´Did you do this to our gods, Ibrahim?´ |
| 21:63 | | He said, ´No, this one, the biggest of them, did it. Ask them if they are able to speak!´ |
| 21:64 | | They consulted among themselves and said, ´It is you yourselves who are wrongdoers.´ |
| 21:65 | | But then they relapsed back into their kufr: ´You know full well these idols cannot talk.´ |
| 21:66 | | He said, ´Do you then worship, instead of Allah, what cannot help or harm you in any way? |
| 21:67 | | Shame on you and what you worship besides Allah! Will you not use your intellect?´ |
| 21:68 | | They said, ´Burn him and support your gods if you are resolved to do something.´ |
| 21:69 | | We said, ´Fire, be coolness and peace for Ibrahim!´ |
| 21:70 | | They desired to trap him but We made them the losers. |
| 21:71 | | We delivered both him and Lut to the land which We had blessed for all beings. |
| 21:72 | | And in addition to that We gave him Ishaq and Ya´qub and made both of them salihun. |
| 21:73 | | We made them leaders, guiding by Our command, and revealed to them how to do good actions and establish salat and pay zakat, and they worshipped Us. |
| 21:74 | | We gave right judgement and knowledge to Lut and rescued him from the city which committed disgusting acts. They were evil people who were deviators. |
| 21:75 | | We admitted him into Our mercy. He was one of the righteoys. |
| 21:76 | | And Nuh, when he called out before and We responded to him and rescued him and his family from the terrible plight. |
| 21:77 | | We helped him against the people who rejected Our Signs. They were an evil people and We drowned them, every one. |
| 21:78 | | And Dawud and Sulayman when they gave judgement about the field, when the people´s sheep strayed into it at night. We were Witness to their judgement. |
| 21:79 | | We gave Sulayman understanding of it. We gave each of them judgement and knowledge. We subjected the mountains to Dawud, glorifying, and the birds as well. This is something We are well able to do. |
| 21:80 | | We taught him the art of making garments for you to protect you against each others´ violence, But do you show any thanks? |
| 21:81 | | And to Sulayman We gave the fiercely blowing wind, speeding at his command towards the land which We had blessed. And We had full knowledge of everything. |
| 21:82 | | And some of the shaytans dived for him and did other things apart from that. And We were watching over them. |
| 21:83 | | And Ayyub when he called out to his Lord, ´Great harm has afflicted me and You are the Most Merciful of the merciful,´ |
| 21:84 | | We responded to him and removed from him the harm which was afflicting him and restored his family to him, and the same again with them, as a mercy direct from Us and a Reminder to all worshippers. |
| 21:85 | | And Isma´il and Idris and Dhu´l-Kifl — each one was among the steadfast. |
| 21:86 | | We admitted them into Our mercy. They were among the righteous. |
| 21:87 | | And Dhu´n-Nun when he left in anger and thought We would not punish him. He called out in the pitch darkness: ´There is no god but You! Glory be to You! Truly I have been one of the wrongdoers.´ |
| 21:88 | | We responded to him and rescued him from his grief. That is how We rescue the muminun. |
| 21:89 | | And Zakariyya when he called out to his Lord, ´My Lord, do not leave me on my own, though You are the Best of Inheritors.´ |
| 21:90 | | We responded to him and gave him Yahya, restoring for him his wife´s fertility. They outdid one another in good actions, calling out to Us in yearning and in awe, and humbling themselves to Us. |
| 21:91 | | And she who protected her private parts. We breathed into her some of Our Ruh and made her and her son a Sign for all the worlds. |
| 21:92 | | This nation of yours is one nation and I am your Lord, so worship Me. |
| 21:93 | | But they disagreed and split into different sects. Each one will return to Us. |
| 21:94 | | As for anyone who does right actions and is a mumin, his striving certainly does not go unthanked. We are writing it down on his behalf. |
| 21:95 | | There is a ban on any city We have destroyed; they will not return. |
| 21:96 | | When Yajuj and Majuj are let loose and rush down from every slope, |
| 21:97 | | and the True Promise is very close, the eyes of those who were kafir will be transfixed: ´Alas for us! We were unmindful of this! No, rather we were definitely wrongdoers.´ |
| 21:98 | | You and what you worship besides Allah are fuel for Hell. You will go down into it. |
| 21:99 | | If those had really been gods, they would not have gone down into it. Each one will be in it timelessly, for ever. |
| 21:100 | | There will be sighing for them in it and they will not be able to hear. |
| 21:101 | | Those for whom the Best from Us was pre-ordained, will be far away from it. |
| 21:102 | | They will not hear the slightest hint of it and they will remain there timelessly, for ever, among everything their selves desire. |
| 21:103 | | The greatest terror will not upset them and the angels will welcome them: ´This is your Day, the one that you were promised.´ |
| 21:104 | | That Day We will fold up heaven like folding up the pages of a book. As We originated the first creation so We will regenerate it. It is a promise binding on Us. That is what We will do. |
| 21:105 | | We wrote down in the Zabur, after the Reminder came: ´It is My slaves who are salihun who will inherit the righteous.´ |
| 21:106 | | Certainly there is a transmission in this for people who worship. |
| 21:107 | | We have only sent you as a mercy to all the worlds. |
| 21:108 | | Say: ´It is revealed to me that your god is One God. So are you Muslims?´ |
| 21:109 | | If they turn their backs, then say: ´I have informed all of you equally and I do not know if what you have been promised is near or far. |
| 21:110 | | He knows what is said openly and He knows what you hide. |
| 21:111 | | For all I know it might be a trial for you and you will have enjoyment for a time.´ |
| 21:112 | | Say: ´Lord, judge with truth! Our Lord is the All-Merciful, the One whose help is sought in the face of what you describe.´ |
