19:1  K. H. Y.'H. Z

19:2  The mention of thy Lord's mercy to His servant Zachariah

19:3  when he called on his Lord with a secret calling

19:4  Said he, 'My Lord! verily, my bones are weak, and my head flares with hoariness; - and I never was unfortunate in my prayers to Thee, my Lord

19:5  But I fear my heirs after me, and my wife is barren; then grant me from Thee a successor

19:6  to be my heir and the heir of the family of Jacob, and make him, my Lord! acceptable.

19:7  'O Zachariah! verily, we, give thee glad tidings of a son, whose name shall be John. We never made a namesake of his before.

19:8  Said he, 'My Lord! how can I have a son, when my wife is barren, and I have reached through old age to decrepitude?

19:9  He said, 'Thus says thy Lord, It is easy for Me, for I created thee at first when yet thou wast nothing.

19:10  Said he, 'O my Lord! make for me a sign.' He said, 'Thy sign is that thou shalt not speak to men for three nights (though) sound.

19:11  Then he went forth unto his people from the chamber, and he made signs to them: 'Celebrate (God's) praises morning and evening!

19:12  'O John! take the Book with strength;' and we gave him judgment when a boy

19:13  and grace from us, and purity; and he was piou

19:14  and righteous to his parents, and was not a rebellious tyrant

19:15  So peace upon him the day he was born, and the day he died, and the day he shall be raised up alive

19:16  And mention, in the Book, Mary; when she retired from her family into an eastern place

19:17  and she took a veil (to screen herself) from them; and we sent unto her our spirit; and he took for her the semblance of a well-made man

19:18  Said she, 'Verily, I take refuge in the Merciful One from thee, if thou art pious.

19:19  Said he, 'I am only a messenger of thy Lord to bestow on thee a pure boy.

19:20  Said she, 'How can I have a boy when no man has touched me, and when I am no harlot?

19:21  He said, 'Thus says thy Lord, It is easy for Me! and we will make him a sign unto man, and a mercy from us; for it is a decided matter.

19:22  So she conceived him, and she retired with him into a remote place

19:23  And the labour pains came upon her at the trunk of a palm tree, and she said, 'O that I had died before this, and been forgotten out of mind!

19:24  and he called to her from beneath her, 'Grieve not, for thy Lord has placed a stream beneath thy feet

19:25  and shake towards thee the trunk of the palm tree, it will drop upon thee fresh dates fit to gather

19:26  so eat, and drink, and cheer thine eye; and if thou shouldst see any mortal say, "Verily, I have vowed to the Merciful One a fast, and I will not speak today with a human being."

19:27  Then she brought it to her people, carrying it; said they, 'O Mary! thou hast done an extraordinary thing

19:28  O sister of Aaron! thy father was not a bad man, nor was thy mother a harlot!

19:29  And she pointed to him, and they said, 'How are we to speak with one who is in the cradle a child?

19:30  He said, 'Verily, I am a servant of God; He has brought me the Book, and He has made me a prophet

19:31  and He has made me blessed wherever I be; and He has required of me prayer and almsgiving so long as I live

19:32  and piety towards my mother, and has not made me a miserable tyrant

19:33  and peace upon me the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I shall be raised up alive.

19:34  That is, Jesus the son of Mary, - by the word of truth whereon ye do dispute

19:35  God could not take to himself any son! celebrated be His praise! when He decrees a matter He only says to it, 'BE,' and it is

19:36  and, verily, God is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him; this is the right way

19:37  And the parties have disagreed amongst themselves, but woe to those who disbelieve, from the witnessing of the mighty day

19:38  they can hear and they can see, on the day when they shall come to us; but the evildoers are today in obvious error

19:39  And warn them of the day of sighing, when the matter is decreed while they are heedless, and while they do not believe

19:40  Verily, we will inherit the earth and all who are upon it, and unto us shall they return

19:41  And mention, in the Book, Abraham; verily, he was a confessors,- a prophet

19:42  When he said to his father, 'O my sire! why dost thou worship what can neither hear nor see nor avail thee aught

19:43  O my sire! verily, to me has come knowledge which has not come to thee; then follow me, and I will guide thee to a level way

19:44  'O my sire! serve not Satan; verily, Satan is ever a rebel against the Merciful

19:45  O my sire! verily,. I fear that there may touch thee torment from the Merciful, and that thou mayest be a client of Satan.

19:46  Said he, 'What! art thou averse from my gods, O Abraham? verily, if thou dost not desist I will certainly stone thee; but get thee gone from me for a time!

19:47  Said he, 'Peace be upon thee! I will ask forgiveness for thee from my Lord; verily, He is very gracious to me

19:48  but I will part from you and what ye call on beside God, and will pray my Lord that I be not unfortunate in my prayer to my Lord.

19:49  And when he had parted from them and what they served beside God, we granted him Isaac and Jacob, and each of them we made a prophet

19:50  and we granted them of our mercy, and we made the tongue of truth lofty for them

19:51  And mention, in the Book, Moses; verily, he was sincere, and was an apostle,- a prophet

19:52  We called him from the right side of the mountain; and we made him draw nigh unto us to commune with him

19:53  and we granted him, of our mercy, his brother Aaron as a prophet

19:54  And mention, in the Book, Ishmael; verily, he was true to his promise, and was an apostle,- a prophet

19:55  and he used to bid his people prayers and almsgiving, and was acceptable in the sight of his Lord

19:56  And mention, in the Book, Idris; verily, he was a confessors prophet,- a prophet

19:57  and we raised him to a lofty place

19:58  These are those to whom God has been gracious, of the prophets of the seed of Adam, and of those whom we bore with Noah, and of the seed of Abraham and Israel, and of those we guided and elected; when the signs of the Merciful are read to them, they fall down adoring and weeping

19:59  And successors succeeded them, who lost sight of prayer and followed lusts, but they shall at length find themselves going wrong

19:60  except such as repent and believe and act aright; for these shall enter Paradise, and shall not be wronged at all,

19:61  gardens of Eden, which the Merciful has promised to His servants in the unseen; verily, His promise ever comes to pass

19:62  They shall hear no empty talk therein, but only 'peace;' and they shall have their provision therein, morning and evening

19:63  that is Paradise which we will give for an inheritance to those of our servants who are pious

19:64  We do not descend save at the bidding of thy Lord; His is what is before us, and what is behind us, and what is between those; for thy Lord is never forgetful,

19:65  the Lord of the heavens and the earth, and of what is between the two; then serve Him and persevere in His service. Dost thou know a namesake of His

19:66  Man will say, 'What! when I have died shall I then come forth alive

19:67  Does not man then remember that we created him before when he was naught?

19:68  And by thy Lord! we will surely gather them together, and the devils too; then we will surely bring them forward around hell, on their knees

19:69  Then we will drag off from every sect whichever of them has been most bold against the Merciful

19:70  Then we know best which of them deserves most to be broiled therein

19:71  There is not one of you who will not go down to it,- that is settled and decided by thy Lord

19:72  Then we will save those who fear us; but we will leave the evildoers therein on their knees

19:73  And when our signs are recited to them manifest, those who misbelieve say to those who believe, 'Which of the two parties is best placed and in the best company?

19:74  And how many generations before them have we destroyed who were better off in property and appearance

19:75  Say, 'Whosoever is in error, let the Merciful extend to him length of days!- until they see what they are threatened with, whether it be the torment or whether it be the Hour, then they shall know who is worse placed and weakest in forces!

19:76  And those who are guided God will increase in guidance. And enduring good works are best with thy Lord for a reward, and best for restoration

19:77  Hast thou seen him who disbelieves in our signs, and says, 'I shall surely be given wealth and children?

19:78  Has he become acquainted with the unseen, or has he taken a compact with the Merciful

19:79  Not so! We will write down what he says, and we will extend to him a length of torment

19:80  and we will make him inherit what he says, and he shall come to us alone

19:81  They take other gods besides God to be their glory

19:82  Not so! They shall deny their worship and shall be opponents of theirs

19:83  Dost thou not see that we have sent the devils against the misbelievers, to drive them on to sin

19:84  but, be not thou hasty with them. Verily, we will number them a number (of days),

19:85  the day when we will gather the pious to the Merciful as ambassadors

19:86  and we will drive the sinners to hell like (herds) to water

19:87  They shall not possess intercession, save he who has taken a compact with the Merciful

19:88  They say, 'The Merciful has taken to Himself a son:'

19:89  ye have brought a monstrous thing

19:90  The heavens well-nigh burst asunder thereat, and the earth is riven, and the mountains fall down broken

19:91  that they attribute to the Merciful a son

19:92  but it, becomes not the Merciful to take to Himself a son

19:93  there is none in the heavens or the earth but comes to the Merciful as a servant

19:94  He counts them and numbers them by number

19:95  and they are all coming to Him on the resurrection day singly

19:96  Verily, those who believe and act aright, to them the Merciful will give love

19:97  We have only made it easy for thy tongue that thou mayest thereby give glad tidings to the pious, and warn thereby a contentious people

19:98  How many a Generation before them have we destroyed? Canst thou find any one of them, or hear a whisper of them