17:1  Limitless in His glory is He who transported His servant by night from the Sacred Mosque [in Makkah] to the Aqşā Mosque [in Jerusalem] — the environs of which We have blessed — so that We might show him some of Our signs. Indeed He alone is the One who hears all and sees all.

17:2  We gave Moses the book and made it a [source of] guidance for the Children of Israel, saying: 'Do not take anyone for a guardian other than Me.

17:3  You are the descendants of those whom We carried [in the ark] with Noah. He was a truly grateful servant of Ours.'

17:4  We made it clear to the Children of Israel in the book: 'Twice will you spread corruption on earth and will indeed become grossly overbearing.'

17:5  When the prediction of the first of these came true, We sent against you some of Our servants of great might who wrought havoc throughout the land. Thus [Our] warning came to be fulfilled.

17:6  Then We let you prevail against them once more, and We gave you wealth and offspring, and made you more numerous [than ever.

17:7  And We said:] 'If you do good, you will be but doing good to yourselves; and if you do evil, it will be also against yourselves.' And when the second prediction came true, [We allowed your enemies] to disgrace you utterly, and to enter the Mosque just like [their predecessors] had entered it the first time, and to visit with destruction all that fell into their power.

17:8  It may be that your Lord will have mercy on you; but if you revert [to your old ways], We shall revert [to punishing you]. Indeed We have made hell a place of confinement for the unbelievers.

17:9  Surely this Qur'ān shows the way to that which is most upright. It gives the believers who do good deeds the happy news that theirs will be a rich reward;

17:10  and [declares] that We have prepared a grievous suffering for those who do not believe in the life to come.

17:11  Yet man prays for evil as eagerly as he prays for good. Truly man is ever hasty.

17:12  We have made the night and the day as two [of Our] signs. Then We have effaced the sign of the night while the sign of the day We have left enlightened, so that you may seek bounty from your Lord, and you may learn to compute the years and be able to reckon. Most clearly have We spelled out everything.

17:13  Every human being's action have We tied around his own neck. On the Day of Resurrection We shall produce for him a record which he will find wide open.

17:14  [And We will say:] 'Read this your record! Sufficient it is for you today that your own soul should make out your account.'

17:15  Whoever chooses to follow guidance does so for his own good, and whoever goes astray does so to his own loss. No soul shall be made to bear the burden of another. We would never inflict punishment [on anyone] until We have sent a Messenger [to give warning].

17:16  When it is Our will to destroy a community, We convey Our command to those of its people who live a life of affluence. If they persist in sin, judgement is irrevocably passed, and We utterly destroy them.

17:17  Many generations have We destroyed since Noah's time. Suffice it that your Lord is well aware of His servants' sins, and observes them all.

17:18  As for those who care only for [the pleasures of] this fleeting life, We readily grant of it whatever We may please to whomever We will. In the end We consign any such person to hell, where he will burn disgraced and rejected.

17:19  But those who care only for the life to come, strive for it as it should be striven for, and are true believers, are indeed the ones who will have their endeavours well rewarded.

17:20  On all — these as well as those — do We bestow the bounty of your Lord. Indeed your Lord's bounty is not denied [to anyone].

17:21  See how We have bestowed more bounty on some than on others. But the life to come will be higher in rank and greater in merit.

17:22  Do not set up any deity side by side with God, lest you find yourself disgraced, forsaken.

17:23  Your Lord has ordained that you shall worship none but Him, and that you must be kind to your parents. Should one of them, or both, attain to old age in your care, never say 'Ugh' to them or chide them, but always speak gently and kindly to them,

17:24  and spread over them humbly the wings of your tenderness, and say, 'My Lord, bestow on them Your grace, even as they reared and nurtured me when I was a child.'

17:25  Your Lord knows best what is in your hearts. If you are righteous, He is certainly most forgiving to those who turn repeatedly to Him [seeking His mercy].

17:26  Give to the near of kin their due, and also to the needy and the traveller in need. Do not squander your substance wastefully,

17:27  for the wasteful squanderers are Satan's brothers, and Satan has always been ungrateful to his Lord.

17:28  But if you must turn aside from them in pursuit of an act of kindness you hope to receive from your Lord, then at least speak to them kindly.

17:29  Do not be miserly, allowing your hand to remain shackled to your neck, nor stretch it out fully to the utmost limit, lest you find yourself being blamed or reduced to destitution.

17:30  Your Lord gives in abundance, or in scant measure, to whom He wills. He is indeed fully aware of all His servants, and sees them all.

17:31  Do not kill your children for fear of want. It is We who shall provide for them and for you. To kill them is indeed a great sin.

17:32  Do not come near adultery. It is indeed an abomination and an evil way.

17:33  Do not kill anyone, for God has forbidden killing, except in [the pursuit of] justice. If anyone is slain wrongfully, We have given his heir authority [to seek just retribution]. He [i.e. the heir] must not exceed the bounds of equity in [retributive] killing. He is given help.

17:34  Do not come near the property of an orphan before he comes of age, except with the best of intentions. Be true to all your promises, for you will be called to account for all that you promise.

17:35  And give full measure whenever you measure, and weigh with accurate scales. That is fair, and best in the end.

17:36  Do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge. Man's ears, eyes and heart shall all he called to account.

17:37  Do not walk on earth with an air of self-conceit; for you cannot rend the earth asunder, nor can you rival the mountains in height.

17:38  All this is evil; odious in your Lord's sight.

17:39  These [injunctions] are but a part of the wisdom with which your Lord has inspired you. Do not set up any deity alongside God, lest you should be cast into hell, blamed and rejected.

17:40  Has your Lord distinguished you by [giving you] sons and taken for Himself daughters from among the angels? That which you utter is indeed an enormity.

17:41  We have certainly explained things in various ways in this Qur'ān, so that they may take it to heart, but it only increases their aversion.

17:42  Say: 'If there were other deities alongside Him, as some people assert, they would have to seek a way to the Lord of the Throne.'

17:43  Limitless is He in His glory and sublimely exalted is He above everything they may say [about Him].

17:44  The seven heavens extol His limitless glory, as does the earth, and all who dwell in them. Indeed every single thing extols His glory and praise, but you cannot understand their praises. He is indeed Forbearing, Much Forgiving.

17:45  When you read the Qur'ān, We place an invisible barrier between you and those who do not believe in the life to come.

17:46  We cast a veil over their hearts which makes them unable to grasp its meaning, and their ears We make deaf. And so, when you mention your Lord in the Qur'ān as the One and only God, they turn their backs in aversion.

17:47  We are fully aware of what they are listening for when they listen to you, and what they say when they speak to each other in private. The wrongdoers say: The man you follow is certainly bewitched.'

17:48  See to what they liken you. They have certainly gone astray and are unable to find a way back [to the truth].

17:49  They say: 'When we are bones and dust, shall we be raised to life again as a new creation?'

17:50  Say: 'Be you stones or iron,

17:51  or some other form of creation which, to your minds, appears even harder [to bring to life].' They will say: 'Who is it that will bring us back [to life]?' Say: 'He who created you the first time.' Thereupon they shake their heads [in disbelief] and ask: 'When will this be?' Say: 'It may very well be near at hand.

17:52  On that day He will call you, and you will answer by praising Him, thinking that you stayed on earth but a very short while.'

17:53  Tell My servants that they should always say that which is best. Satan tries to sow discord between them. Satan is indeed man's open foe.

17:54  Your Lord is fully aware of what you are. If He so wills, He will bestow His grace on you; and if He so wills, He will inflict punishment on you. We have not sent you, Prophet, to be their guardian.

17:55  Your Lord is fully aware of all beings that are in the heavens and earth. Indeed We have exalted some of the Prophets above others, just as We gave the Psalms to David.

17:56  Say: 'Call on those whom you claim [to be gods] besides Him, but they have no power to remove any affliction from you, nor can they shift it.'

17:57  Those whom they invoke strive to obtain their Lord's favour, vying with each other to be near Him. They hope for His grace and dread His punishment. Indeed your Lord's punishment is something to beware of.

17:58  There is no community but We shall destroy or severely punish before the Day of Resurrection. That is laid down in Our decree.

17:59  Nothing hinders Us from sending miraculous signs except that the people of former times treated them as false. To the ThamÅ«d We gave the she- camel as a sign to open their eyes, but they did wrong in respect of her. We never send signs for any purpose other than to give warning.

17:60  We said to you that your Lord encompasses all mankind. We have made the vision which We have shown you, as also the tree cursed in this Qur'ān, only a trial for people. We seek to put fear in their hearts, but it only increases their gross transgression.

17:61  When We said to the angels, 'Prostrate yourselves before Adam,' they all prostrated themselves; but not so IblÄ«s. He said, 'Am I to bow down before one whom You have created out of clay?'

17:62  And he added: 'You see this being whom You have exalted above me! Indeed, if You will give me respite until the Day of Resurrection, I shall bring his descendants, all but a few, under my sway.'

17:63  [God] said: 'Begone! As for those of them who follow you, hell will be the recompense of you all, a most ample recompense.

17:64  Entice with your voice such of them as you can. Muster against them all your cavalry and your infantry, and share with them wealth and offspring, and promise them [what you will] — indeed, whatever Satan promises them is nothing but a means of deception.

17:65  But over My servants you shall have no power. Your Lord is sufficient as a Guardian.'

17:66  Your Lord is He who makes ships go smoothly through the sea, so that you may go about in quest of His bounty. He is indeed Most Merciful to you.

17:67  And when you are in distress at sea, all those you may call upon to help you will forsake you, except Him. Yet when He has brought you safe to dry land, you turn away. Indeed, bereft of all gratitude is man!

17:68  Can you feel so sure that He will not let a tract of the land cave in beneath you, or let loose against you a deadly stormwind? You will not find then anyone to protect you.

17:69  Or can you feel so sure that He will not let you go back to sea again, and then let loose against you a violent tempest to drown you for your ingratitude? You shall not find then anyone to help you against Us.

17:70  We have indeed honoured the children of Adam, and borne them over land and sea, and provided for them sustenance out of the good things of life, and favoured them far above many of Our creatures.

17:71  One day We shall summon every community by their leaders. Those who are given their records in their right hands will read their records. None shall be wronged by as much as a hair's breadth.

17:72  But whoever is blind in this world will be even more blind in the life to come, and still further astray from the path of truth.

17:73  They endeavour to tempt you away from that which We have revealed to you, hoping that you would invent something else in Our name, in which case they would have made you their trusted friend.

17:74  Indeed, had We not given you strength, you might have inclined to them a little.

17:75  And in that case We would have made you taste a double punishment in life and a double punishment after death, and you would have none to support you against Us.

17:76  And they endeavour to scare you off the land with a view to driving you away. But, then, after you have gone, they will not remain there except for a short while.

17:77  Such was the way with all Our messengers whom We sent before you. No change shall you find in Our ways.

17:78  Keep up prayer when the sun is on its decline, in the darkness of the night, and recite the Qur'ān at dawn, for the recitation of the Qur'ān at dawn is indeed witnessed.

17:79  At night, rise from your sleep to recite it in prayer, as an additional offering from you. Your Lord may thus raise you to an honourable station.

17:80  Say, 'My Lord, cause me to enter in a true and sincere manner and to leave in a true and sincere manner, and grant me, by Your grace, sustaining strength.'

17:81  And say, 'The truth has now come about while falsehood has withered away. For falsehood is always bound to wither away.'

17:82  We bestow of the Qur'ān from on high what serves as a healing and a blessing to true believers, while it only adds to the ruin of the evildoers.

17:83  Yet when We bestow Our blessings on man, he turns his back and draws arrogantly aside, and when he is afflicted by evil he gives himself up to despair.

17:84  Say, 'Everyone acts according to his own disposition. Your Lord is fully aware as to who has chosen the best path.'

17:85  They question you about the spirit. Say, 'The [knowledge of the nature of the] spirit belongs to my Lord alone. You, [mankind], have been granted but little knowledge.'

17:86  Had We so willed, We would have taken away that which We have revealed to you. In that case, you would not find anyone to plead with Us on your behalf,

17:87  except through the grace of your Lord. His favour towards you has been great indeed.

17:88  Say, 'If all mankind and the jinn were to gather together for the purpose of producing the like of this Qur'ān, they would not produce anything like it, even though they helped one another as best they could.'

17:89  Indeed We have explained to mankind, in this Qur'ān, every kind of lesson. Yet most people refuse to accept anything other than unbelief.

17:90  They say: 'We shall not believe in you till you cause a spring to gush forth for us from the earth,

17:91  or you have a garden of date- palms and vines, and you cause rivers to flow through it,

17:92  or you cause the sky to fall upon us in pieces, as you have threatened, or you bring God and the angels face to face before us,

17:93  or you have a house of gold, or you ascend to heaven. Indeed we shall not believe in your ascent to heaven until you bring us a book for us to read.' Say, 'Limitless in His glory is my Lord. Surely I am only a man and a Messenger.'

17:94  Nothing has ever prevented people from believing, whenever guidance came to them except that they would say: 'Can it be that God has sent a human being as His messenger?'

17:95  Say, 'Had there been angels walking about on earth as their natural abode, We would have sent them an angel messenger from heaven.'

17:96  Say, 'Sufficient is God for a witness between me and you. He is indeed fully aware of His ser- vants, and He sees all things.'

17:97  He whom God guides is indeed rightly guided; whereas for those whom He leaves to go astray you cannot find anyone to protect them from Him. On the Day of Resurrection We shall gather them together, prone upon their faces, blind, dumb and deaf. Hell shall be their abode. Every time it abates We will increase for them its blazing flame.

17:98  That is their reward for having disbelieved in Our revelations and said, 'When we are bones and dust, shall we be raised to life again as a new creation?'

17:99  Do they not see that God, who has created the heavens and the earth, has power to create their like? He has beyond any doubt set a term for their resurrection. But the evildoers refuse to accept anything other than disbelief.

17:100  Say, 'Had you possessed the treasures of my Lord's mercy, you would have been tight-fisted for fear of spending them. For man has always been niggardly.'

17:101  To Moses We gave nine clear signs. Ask the Children of Israel [about what happened]. When he came to them, Pharaoh said to him, 'Indeed, Moses, I think that you are bewitched.'

17:102  [Moses] said, 'You know full well that none other than the Lord of the heavens and the earth has revealed these eye- opening signs. Indeed, Pharaoh, I think that you are utterly lost.'

17:103  So he resolved to wipe them off the face of the earth, but We caused him and all those who were with him to drown.

17:104  Then We said to the Children of Israel, 'Dwell in the land. When the promise of the Last Day shall come to pass, We will bring you all together.'

17:105  We have bestowed [this Qur'ān] from on high in truth, and in truth has it come down. We have sent you only as a herald of good news and a warner.

17:106  We have divided the Qur'ān into parts so that you may recite it to people with deliberation. We have indeed bestowed it from on high step by step.

17:107  Say, 'You may believe in it or you may not.' Those who were given knowledge before it was revealed fall down on their faces in humble prostration when it is recited to them,

17:108  and say, 'Limitless in His glory is our Lord. Truly has the promise of our Lord been fulfilled.'

17:109  And upon their faces they fall down, weeping, and it increases their humility.

17:110  Say, 'Call upon God or call upon the Most Merciful. By whichever name you invoke Him, His are the most gracious names.' Do not raise your voice too loud in prayer, nor say it in too low a voice, but follow a middle course in between.

17:111  And say, 'All praise is due to God who has never begotten a son; who has no partner in His dominion; who needs none to support Him against any difficulty.' And extol His greatness.