19:1  Kāf. Hā. Yā. `Ayn. Şād.

19:2  This is an account of the grace which your Lord bestowed on His servant Zachariah:

19:3  when he called out to his Lord in the secrecy of his heart,

19:4  he prayed: 'My Lord! Feeble have become my bones, and my head glistens with grey hair. But never, my Lord, has my prayer to You remained unanswered.

19:5  Now, I fear [what] my kinsmen [will do] after I am gone, for my wife is barren. Bestow, then, upon me, out of Your grace, a successor

19:6  who will be my heir as well as an heir of the House of Jacob; and make him, my Lord, one with whom You are pleased.'

19:7  'Zachariah! We bring you the happy news of [the birth of] a son whose name shall be John. Never have We given this name to anyone before him.'

19:8  [Zachariah] said: 'My Lord! How can I have a son when my wife is barren, and I am well advanced in years?'

19:9  He said: 'Thus it is. Your Lord says, “This is easy for Me; even as I had earlier created you when you were nothing.”'

19:10  [Zachariah] said: 'My Lord! Give me a sign.' He replied: 'Your sign will be that for full three nights [and days] you will not speak to people.'

19:11  He then came out to his people from the sanctuary and signified to them [by gesture] to extol God's limitless glory by day and by night.

19:12  [To his son We said]: 'John! Hold fast to the book with [all your] strength.' We granted him wisdom while he was still a youth,

19:13  as well as, by Our grace, compassion and purity; and he was [always] righteous,

19:14  and kind to his parents. Never was he haughty or rebellious.

19:15  So peace was upon him on the day he was born, and on the day of his death, and will be on the day when he shall be raised to life again.

19:16  Relate in the book [the story of] Mary and how she withdrew from her family to a place in the east,

19:17  where she kept herself in seclusion from them. We, then, sent to her Our angel, who appeared to her in the shape of a well-made human being.

19:18  She said: 'May the Most Merciful protect me from you. [Do not come near me] if you fear God.'

19:19  'I am but an emissary of your Lord,' he said, '[and have come] to give you a son endowed with purity.'

19:20  She said: 'How shall I have a child when no man has ever touched me and I have never been a loose woman?'

19:21  He answered: 'Thus did your Lord speak: This is easy for Me. We will make him a sign for mankind and an act of grace from Us. It is a matter [We have] decreed.'

19:22  So she conceived him, and retired to a far-off place.

19:23  And the throes of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm- tree. [In her anguish] she cried: 'Would that I had died before this and passed into complete oblivion!'

19:24  But [a voice] from below called out to her: 'Do not give in to grief. Your Lord has provided a brook running beneath you.

19:25  And if you shake the trunk of the palm tree towards you, it will drop you fresh ripe dates.

19:26  eat and drink and be happy. Should you see any human being, just convey this to him: “I have vowed a fast to the Most Merciful and will not speak today to any human being.”'

19:27  At length, she went to her people carrying the child. They said: 'Mary, you have indeed done an amazing thing!

19:28  Sister of Aaron, your father was not a wicked man, nor was your mother a loose woman!'

19:29  But she pointed to the child. They said: 'How can we talk to a babe in the cradle?'

19:30  Whereupon he said: 'I am a servant of God. He has vouchsafed to me revelations and made me a prophet,

19:31  and made me blessed wherever I may be. He has enjoined on me prayer and charity as long as I live.

19:32  He has made me kind to my mother, not haughty or bereft of grace.

19:33  Peace was on me on the day when I was born, and [will be on me] on the day of my death and on the day when I shall be raised to life again.'

19:34  Such was, in the words of truth, Jesus the son of Mary, about whose nature they still dispute.

19:35  It is not conceivable that God should beget a son. Limitless is He in His glory! When He wills a thing to be, He only says to it, 'Be,' and it is.

19:36  God is my Lord and your Lord; so worship Him alone. That is a straight path.

19:37  Yet are the sects at variance among themselves. Woe, then, to the unbelievers when a momentous day arrives.

19:38  How well they will hear and see on the day they will appear before Us. Truly the wrongdoers are today in evident error.

19:39  Hence, warn them of the Day of Distress, when everything will have been determined while they remain heedless, persisting in unbelief.

19:40  We alone shall remain after the earth and all who live on it have passed away. To Us they shall all return.

19:41  Mention in the Book Abraham. He certainly was a man of truth and a prophet.

19:42  He said to his father: 'My father! Why do you worship something that neither hears nor sees and can be of no avail whatever to you?

19:43  My father! There has come to me knowledge which you do not have. Follow me, and I shall guide you along a straight path.

19:44  My father! Do not worship Satan, for Satan has indeed rebelled against [God] the Most Merciful.

19:45  My father! I dread lest a scourge will fall upon you from the Most Merciful, and then you will become one of Satan's friends.'

19:46  He answered: 'Are you renouncing my gods, Abraham? If you do not desist, I shall most certainly have you stoned. Now begone from me for good!'

19:47  Abraham replied: 'Peace be on you. I shall pray to my Lord to forgive you; for He has always been very kind to me.

19:48  But I shall withdraw from you all and from whatever you invoke instead of God, and I shall pray to my Lord alone. Perhaps, by my prayer to my Lord I shall not be unblest.'

19:49  When he had withdrawn from them and from all that they were worshipping instead of God, We bestowed on him Isaac and Jacob, each of whom We made a prophet.

19:50  We bestowed on them of Our mercy and We granted them the high honour of [conveying] the truth.

19:51  And mention in the Book Moses, who was a chosen one, a messenger of God and a prophet.

19:52  We called out to him from the right side of Mount Sinai and drew him near [to Us] in mystic communion.

19:53  We gave him, out of Our grace, his brother Aaron, to be a prophet.

19:54  And mention in the Book Ishmael who was always true to his promise, and was a messenger of God, a prophet.

19:55  He used to enjoin on his people prayer and charity, and his Lord was well pleased with him.

19:56  And mention in the Book IdrÄ«s, who was a man of truth, a prophet.

19:57  We raised him to a lofty station.

19:58  These were some of the prophets upon whom God bestowed His blessings — of the seed of Adam, and of those whom We carried in the ark with Noah, and of the seed of Abraham and Israel, and of those whom We had guided and chosen. When the revelations of [God] the Most Merciful were recited to them they fell down prostrating themselves [before Him] and weeping.

19:59  They were succeeded by generations who neglected their prayers and followed only their lusts; and these will, in time, meet with utter disillusion.

19:60  Excepted, however, shall be those who repent, believe and do righteous deeds. These will enter the Garden and will not be wronged in any way:

19:61  the gardens of Eden which [God] the Most Merciful has promised to His servants, in the realm that lies beyond the reach of human perception. Indeed, His promise is certain of fulfilment.

19:62  There they will hear no idle talk, but only the voice of peace. And their sustenance shall be given them there morning and evening.

19:63  Such is the paradise which We shall give the righteous among Our servants to inherit.

19:64  We descend only by the command of your Lord. To Him belongs all that is before us and all that is hidden from us and all that is in between. Never does your Lord forget anything.

19:65  He is the Lord of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them. Worship Him alone, then, and remain steadfast in His worship. Do you know any whose name is worthy to be mentioned side by side with His?

19:66  'What!' says man, 'When I am once dead, shall I be raised up alive?'

19:67  Does not man remember that We earlier created him, when he was nothing?

19:68  By your Lord, We shall most certainly bring them forth together with the evil ones, and then We shall most certainly gather them, on their knees, around hell;

19:69  and thereupon We shall drag out from every group those who had been most obstinate in their rebellion against the Most Merciful.

19:70  For, indeed, We know best who most deserve to be burnt in the fire of hell.

19:71  There is not one among you who shall not pass over it: this is, for your Lord, a decree that must be fulfilled.

19:72  But We shall save those who are God-fearing, and leave the wrongdoers there, on their knees.

19:73  When Our revelations are recited to them in all their clarity, the unbelievers say to those who believe: 'Which of the two sides has a better position and a superior community?'

19:74  How many a generation have We destroyed before their time, who were superior in material riches and in splendour.

19:75  Say: As for those who live in error, may the Most Merciful lengthen their span of life!' But when they see the fulfilment of that of which they have been forewarned, be it suffering or the Last Hour, they will realize who is worst in position and weaker in forces.

19:76  God advances in guidance those who seek His guidance. Good deeds of lasting merit are, in your Lord's sight, worthy of greater recompense, and yield far better returns.

19:77  Have you ever considered [the case of] the one who denies Our signs and boasts: 'I shall surely be given wealth and children!'

19:78  Has he, perchance, attained to a realm which is beyond the reach of a created being's perception? Or has he concluded a covenant with the Most Merciful?

19:79  By no means! We shall record what he says, and We shall long extend his suffering,

19:80  and We shall divest him of all that he is now speaking of, and he shall appear before Us all alone.

19:81  They have taken to worshipping deities other than God, hoping that they will give them power and glory.

19:82  By no means! They will renounce their worship and turn against them.

19:83  Have you not seen how We let loose satanic forces upon the unbelievers to repeatedly incite them to evil?

19:84  So, be not in haste: We only allow them a fixed number of days.

19:85  The day [will surely come] when We shall gather the God-fearing before [God] the Most Merciful, as honoured guests,

19:86  and drive those who are lost in sin to hell as a thirsty herd.

19:87  None will have power to intercede for them except one who has received permission from [God] the Most Merciful.

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

19:89  Indeed you have said a most monstrous falsehood,

19:90  at which the heavens might be rent into fragments, and the earth be split asunder, and the mountains fall down in ruins!

19:91  That people should ascribe a son to the Most Merciful,

19:92  although it is inconceivable that the Most Merciful should take to Himself a son.

19:93  Not one of all [the beings] that are in the heavens or on earth but shall appear before the Most Merciful as a servant.

19:94  Indeed, He has full cognizance of them. He has kept a strict count of their numbers,

19:95  and, on the Day of Resurrection, every one of them will appear before Him all alone.

19:96  God will certainly bestow love on those who believe and do righteous deeds.

19:97  And so have We made [the Qur'ān] easy to understand, in your own tongue, so that you may give good tidings to the God- fearing and give warning to those who are given to futile contention.

19:98  How many a generation have We destroyed before their time! Can you find a single one of them now, or hear so much as a whisper of them?