| | Linda “iLHam” Barto rendition of Surah The Criterion, The Standard(al-Furqan)
--- |
|---|
| 25:1 | | Blessed is He who sent down the discernment to His servant. [He sent it] so that he [the servant] may be a warner for all the worlds. |
| 25:2 | | [The One who sent it is] He to whom belongs the dominion of the skies and Earth. He has begotten no son. He has no partner in His dominion. He created everything and ordered it precisely. |
| 25:3 | | Yet, they have taken, besides Him, gods that can create nothing. They are created themselves. They have no control over harm or goodness to themselves. They cannot control death or life or resurrection. |
| 25:4 | | The unbelievers say, “This is nothing but a lie that he has concocted. Others have helped him with it.” Truthfully, it is they who have produced a sin and a lie. |
| 25:5 | | They say, “He has caused tales of the ancients to be written! They are dictated to him morning and evening.” |
| 25:6 | | Say, “It was sent down by the One who knows the mystery of the skies and Earth. Truly, He is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.” |
| 25:7 | | They say, “What sort of messenger is this? He eats food and walks among the markets. Why has an angel not been sent down to him to help him give warning? |
| 25:8 | | Or, why has a treasure not been bestowed upon him. Or, why does he not have a garden from which to eat?” The wicked say, “You follow only a man who is bewitched.” |
| 25:9 | | See what comparisons they make for you. They have gone astray. They will never be able to find a way. |
| 25:10 | | Blessed is He who, if it is His will, can give you better than that. [He can give you] gardens beneath which rivers flow. He can give you palaces. |
| 25:11 | | (The unbelievers) refute the hour, but We have prepared a blazing fire for those who deny the hour. |
| 25:12 | | When it sees them from a distant place, they will hear its fury and its raging squall. |
| 25:13 | | When they are cast, bound together, into a constricted place therein, they will plead for ultimate destruction. |
| 25:14 | | On this day, do not plead for a single destruction; plead for a continuous destruction. |
| 25:15 | | Say, “Does that sound better or the eternal garden promised to the righteous? For them are a reward and a goal. |
| 25:16 | | “For them will be all they ever wanted. They will live forever. That is a promise for which should be petitioned from your Lord.” |
| 25:17 | | One day He will assemble them and those they worship besides Allah. He will ask [the false gods], “Did you lead My servants astray or did they go astray on their own?” |
| 25:18 | | They will say, “Glory to You! It was not for us to take protectors besides You. You did bestow on them and their parents good things until they forgot the message. They became a lost people.” |
| 25:19 | | [Allah will say,] “Now (the false gods) have proven that you are liars in what you say, so you cannot escape or get help.” As for whoever among you sins, We will cause him/her to taste a terrible punishment. |
| 25:20 | | The messengers that We sent before you were people who certainly ate food and walked among the markets. We have made some of you a trial for others. Will you have patience? Your Lord is the All-seeing. |
| 25:21 | | Those who do not expect the meeting with Us say, “Why do angels not descend to us?” or, “Why can’t we see our Lord?” They certainly are obnoxious! What audacity! |
| 25:22 | | The day they do see angels will not be a day of joy for sinners. (The angels) will say, “A barrier blocks your way [to Heaven].” |
| 25:23 | | We will review their past deeds and make their deeds as [worthless as] scattered dust. |
| 25:24 | | The Companions of Paradise will be well that day, in their homes, with the nicest places for midday relaxation. |
| 25:25 | | The day the sky is rent asunder, with clouds, and angels descending,… |
| 25:26 | | …is the day that the dominion of truth is held by the Most Merciful. It will be a day of dire straits for the disbelievers. |
| 25:27 | | That day, the sinner will gnaw at his/her fists and will say, “Oh, how I wish I had taken the path along with the messenger! |
| 25:28 | | “How miserable I am! I wish I had never made friends with old so-and-so. |
| 25:29 | | “He led me away from the message after I heard it! Satan is nothing but a traitor to humanity!” |
| 25:30 | | Then the messenger will say, “O my Lord, truly, my people took this Qur’an to be something to abandon.” |
| 25:31 | | We have made for every prophet an enemy among the sinners, but your Lord is sufficient to guide and to help. |
| 25:32 | | Those who reject faith say, “Why is the Qur’an not revealed to him all at once?” It is given this way so that We may strengthen your heart with it. We have recited it in precision. |
| 25:33 | | They bring no question to you that We don’t reveal to you the truth and the best explanation. |
| 25:34 | | Those who will be assembled to Hell, on their faces, will be in the worst position. Their path is the most astray. |
| 25:35 | | Truly, We sent Moses the Book [of the Torah]. We appointed his brother Aaron with him as an assistant. |
| 25:36 | | We commanded, “Both of you, go to the people who have rejected Our signs.” We destroyed (those people) with utter destruction. |
| 25:37 | | When the people of Noah rejected the messengers, We drowned them. We made them a sign for humanity. We have prepared a terrible punishment for sinners. |
| 25:38 | | [That goes for] Ad and Thamud and the companions of the well and many generations among them. |
| 25:39 | | To each one, We gave parables. We brought each one to utter destruction. |
| 25:40 | | Surely (the unbelievers) have passed by the town on which was rained a shower of destruction. Did they not see it? But they do not fear the resurrection. |
| 25:41 | | When they see you, they treat you no way except in mockery. [They say,] “Is this the one whom Allah has sent as a messenger? |
| 25:42 | | He would certainly have misled us from our gods if we had not been devoted to them.” Soon they will know, when they see the punishment, who it is that is most astray from the path. |
| 25:43 | | Do you see someone that takes his own passion as a god? Could you be responsible for him? |
| 25:44 | | Do you think that most of them listen or understand? No, they are like cattle, except worse as they stray from the path. |
| 25:45 | | Do you not see how your Lord extends the shadow? If He wanted, He could make it stand still. We made the sun its guide. |
| 25:46 | | We then draw it towards Us in gradual stages. |
| 25:47 | | He makes the night as a robe for you. [He makes] sleep for rest. [He makes] the day a resurrection. |
| 25:48 | | It is He who sends the winds as heralds of glad tidings preceding His mercy. We send down pure water from the sky. |
| 25:49 | | With it, We give life to a dead land. [We] quench the thirst of the things We have created [including] the many cattle and people. |
| 25:50 | | Truly, We have distributed (the water) among them so that they may remember. Most people, however, show only ingratitude. |
| 25:51 | | If it had been Our will, We could have sent a warner to the center of every population. |
| 25:52 | | Do not listen to the unbelievers, but, with great determination, strive against them with (guidance from the Qur’an). |
| 25:53 | | It is He who has let free the two bodies of flowing water –one drinkable and sweet, the other salty and bitter. He has made a barrier between them –a forbidden partition. |
| 25:54 | | It is He who has created humanity from water, and then He made relationships of family and marriage. Your Lord is Most Capable. |
| 25:55 | | Yet, they worship, besides Allah, things that can neither profit them nor harm them. The unbeliever is a helper against his/her own Lord. |
| 25:56 | | But We sent you only to give glad tidings and to warn. |
| 25:57 | | Say, “I ask no reward from you for (this message) except for this: that whoever will would take a path to his/her Lord.” |
| 25:58 | | Put your trust in the Eternal One who never dies. Celebrate His praise. He is Fully Aware of the sins of His servants. |
| 25:59 | | He created the skies and Earth and all among them in six days. He established Himself on the throne. The Most Gracious! Ask the informed about Him. |
| 25:60 | | When it is said to them, “Prostrate to the Most Gracious,” they say, “What is the Most Gracious? Shall we prostrate before that which you command us?” It increases their aversion. |
| 25:61 | | Blessed is He who made constellations in the skies and placed therein a lamp [the sun] and a moon reflecting light. |
| 25:62 | | He is the One who made the night and the day to follow each other, for the sake of whoever desires to remember [Him] and be grateful. |
| 25:63 | | The servants of the Most Gracious are those who walk upon the earth in humility, and who, when the ignorant address them, say, “Peace!” |
| 25:64 | | [They are] those who spend the night in adoration of their Lord as they prostrate and stand. |
| 25:65 | | [They are] those who say, “Our Lord, avert from us the wrath of Hell, for its wrath is indeed inescapable. |
| 25:66 | | It is indeed a wretched residence and place for retirement.” |
| 25:67 | | [They are] those who, in spending, are neither extravagant nor miserly, but maintain moderation. |
| 25:68 | | [They are] those who do not invoke, along with Allah, another god. They do not end life, which Allah has made sacred, except in matters of justice. They do not commit acts of sexual immorality. Anyone guilty [of any of these crimes] reaps punishment. |
| 25:69 | | The penalty on the Day of Resurrection will be doubled, and he/she will exist with shame continuously. |
| 25:70 | | [That is] unless he/she repents, believes, and lives righteously. Allah will exchange the evil of such a person for goodness. Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful. |
| 25:71 | | Whoever repents and lives righteously has truly turned to Allah with true conversion. |
| 25:72 | | [The servants of the Most Gracious are] those who do not witness falsely, and who, when encountering futility, pass it with dignity. |
| 25:73 | | [They are] those who, when they are admonished with the signs of their Lord, do not ignore them as if they couldn’t hear or see. |
| 25:74 | | [They are] those who pray, “Our Lord, grant us spouses and children who will bring pleasure to our eyes and allow us to be examples for the believers.” |
| 25:75 | | They are the ones who will be rewarded with the highest place [in Heaven] because of their patient perseverance. Therein, they will be met with greetings and peace. |
| 25:76 | | They will dwell therein forever. How beautiful an abode and place of retirement! |
| 25:77 | | Say [to the scoffers], “My Lord will not bother with you if you do not pray. You have certainly scoffed! Soon the inevitable will come!” |
