al-Hijr (The Rock, Stoneland, Rock City) at IslamAwakened.com

15:1 Alif L'am Ra. These are the verses of the Divine Book, the Glorious Qur’an which makes the things clear

15:2 The Day will come when the unbelievers will wish that they were Muslims

15:3 Leave them alone to eat and enjoy themselves and be deluded by false hopes, for soon they will find out the Truth

15:4 Never did We destroy a town whose term of life was not ordained beforehand

15:5 No people can forestall their doom, nor can they postpone it

15:6 They say: "O you to whom the reminder (The Qur'an) is being revealed! You are surely insane

15:7 Why don’t you bring us the angels, if you are of the truthful ones?"

15:8 O Muhammad, tell them: "We do not send down the angels except for just cause (to execute Our scourge), and when they come, people are not given respite

15:9 Surely We have revealed this reminder (The Qur'an); and We will surely preserve it Ourself

15:10 Certainly We sent Messengers before you among the early nations

15:11 but whenever a Messenger came to them, they mocked him

15:12 Thus do We let doubt creep into the hearts of the criminals

15:13 that they do not believe in it (The Qur'an), despite the examples of the people who passed before them

15:14 Even if we had opened a gate in Heaven and they ascend through it and keep on ascending

15:15 still they would have said, 'Our eyes have been dazzled; rather we have been bewitched.'"

15:16 It is We who have decked the heavens with constellations and made them fair- seeming for the beholders

15:17 and We have guarded them from every accursed Satan

15:18 Any Satan that steals a hearing, there follows him a fiery comet

15:19 We have spread out the earth and set mountains upon it; and caused to grow every suitable thing therein

15:20 and We provided therein means of sustenance for you and many other creatures to whom you do not provide

15:21 There is nothing which is not in Our inexhaustible treasure and sent down in appropriate measure

15:22 We send the fertilizing winds and send down water from the sky for you to drink; it is not you who hold the storage of this wealth

15:23 Certainly it is We who give life and cause to die, and We are the inheritors of all

15:24 Certainly We have full knowledge of those who have gone before you and certainly We know those who will come later

15:25 Surely your Lord will gather them together; surely He is Wise, Knowledgeable

15:26 We created man from sounding clay, black mud moulded into shape

15:27 while before him We had created Jinn from smokeless fire

15:28 Remember when your Lord said to the angels: "I am about to create a man from sounding clay, black mud moulded into shape

15:29 when I complete his moulding and breath into him of My spirit, kneel down and prostrate before him."

15:30 Accordingly the angels prostrated altogether

15:31 except Iblees (The Satan); he refused to join those who prostrated

15:32 Allah asked: "O Iblees! What is the matter with you that you did not join those who prostrated?"

15:33 He replied: "It does not behoove me to prostrate myself to this man whom You have created from sounding clay, black mud moulded into shape."

15:34 Allah said: "Get out of here, you are accursed

15:35 The curse will remain on you till the Day of Judgement."

15:36 At this Iblees requested: "Lord! Give me respite till the Day of Resurrection."

15:37 Allah said: "All right! You are given the respit

15:38 till the Day of appointed time."

15:39 Iblees said: "Lord! Since You let me go astray, I will make evil fair-seeming to them on earth and I will seduce them al

15:40 except those of them who are Your sincere devotees."

15:41 Allah said: "This course of action is all right with M

15:42 - you will not have any authority over My devotees except those misguided ones who follow you

15:43 They will be all destined for Hell

15:44 which has seven gates, each gate will be assigned to a separate group from among them."

15:45 The righteous will be in the midst of the gardens and fountains of paradis

15:46 and it will be said to them: "Enter into these in peace and security."

15:47 We shall remove all hatred from their hearts -they will become like brothers and sit on couches face to face

15:48 No fatigue will touch them in there, nor will they ever be asked to leave

15:49 O Prophet! Tell My devotees that I am indeed the Forgiving, the Merciful

15:50 but at the same time My punishment is also the most painful punishment

15:51 Tell them about the guests of Abraham

15:52 They entered upon them and said: "Peace be upon you!" But he replied: "Surely we are afraid of you."

15:53 They answered: "Do not be afraid of us! We have come to you with good news of a son endowed with knowledge."

15:54 He said: "Are you giving me the good news of a son when I have become old? What kind of good news you are giving?"

15:55 They replied: "We are giving you true good news; you should not be of those who despair."

15:56 He said: "Who would despair of the mercy of his Lord except one who goes astray?"

15:57 Then he asked: "On what expedition you have been sent, O emissaries of Allah?"

15:58 They replied: "We have been sent to punish a criminal nation

15:59 with the exception of Lot’s (Lot's) family; we will certainly rescue them al

15:60 except his wife, who, Allah says, has been destined to remain with those who will stay behind."

15:61 So when the emissaries came to the family of Lot

15:62 he said: " You appear to be strangers."

15:63 They said: "We have come to you with that concerning which these people had doubts

15:64 We have come to you with the Truth of Allah’s decree and we are telling you the truth

15:65 You should, therefore, depart with your family during the last hours of the night and you yourself should follow them at their rear; let no one of you look back, keep on going where you are commanded to go."

15:66 We informed him about this decree of Ours that the roots of the sinners of his city would be cut off by the morning

15:67 The people of the town came rejoicing to the house of Lot when they heard the news of those two young male visitors

15:68 Lot said: "They are my guests, so do not disgrace me

15:69 Have fear of Allah and do not put me to shame."

15:70 They said: "Have we not forbidden you to plead for the rest of the world?"

15:71 He said: "Here are my daughters, if you must act."

15:72 By your life, O Prophet Muhammad, they were madly blundering in their intoxication of lust

15:73 So the mighty blast overtook them at sunrise

15:74 Thus We turned the town upside down and rained down on them brimstones of baked clay

15:75 Surely there are major lessons in this for those who investigate

15:76 and this smitten town still lies right on the permanent highway on which the unbelievers travel during their business trips

15:77 Indeed there is a sign in this for the true believers

15:78 The people of Al- Aikah (the nation of Prophet Shu’aib) were also wrongdoers

15:79 So We inflicted retribution on them. The ruined towns of these two nations are lying on an open road

15:80 The people of Hijr also denied their Messenger

15:81 We gave them Our signs, but they ignored them

15:82 They hewed their homes in the mountains for safety

15:83 But the mighty blast seized them one morning, and all their labor of building their homes through carving the rocks did not avail them

15:84 We have not created the Heavens and the Earth, and all that lies between them but to manifest the Truth

15:85 The Hour of Doom is sure to come, so overlook their misbehavior in a gracious manner

15:86 Surely your Lord is the All-Knowing Creator

15:87 We have given you the Seven Verses that are worthy of recitation over and over again (Surah Al-Fatiha) and the Glorious Qur'an

15:88 Do not look at the worldly wealth which We have given to different people among them, nor grieve at their condition. Leave them alone, attend to the believers in kindness

15:89 and tell the unbelievers: "Surely I am only a plain Warner."

15:90 This warning is like the warning which We sent down to the schismatics

15:91 the one who divided their Qur’an into separate parts, believing in some and denying others

15:92 So by your Lord! We will question them al

15:93 about their doings

15:94 Therefore, proclaim publicly what you are commanded and turn away from the pagans

15:95 Surely We Ourself will suffice you against the scoffers

15:96 those who place other deities alongside Allah, will soon come to know their folly

15:97 We know that your heart is distressed by what they say against you

15:98 The cure of your heart’s distress is that you should celebrate the praises of your Lord and be of those who prostrate themselves before Him

15:99 and worship your Lord until there comes to you which is certain (death)