19:1  Kaf Ha Ya ´Ayn Sad

19:2  Remembering your Lord´s mercy to His slave Zakariyya,

19:3  when he called on his Lord in secret

19:4  and said, ´My Lord, my bones have lost their strength and my head is crowned with white, but in calling on You, My Lord, I have never been disappointed.

19:5  I fear my relatives when I am gone and my wife is barren, so give me an heir from You

19:6  to be my inheritor and the inheritor of the family of Ya´qub, and make him, my Lord, pleasing to You.´

19:7  ´Zakariyya! We give you the good news of a boy named Yahya, a name We have given to no one else before.´

19:8  He said, ´My Lord! How can I have a boy when my wife is barren and I have reached advanced old age?´

19:9  He said, ´It will be so! Your Lord says, "That is easy for Me to do. I created you before, when you were not anything."´

19:10  He said, ´My Lord, give me a Sign.´ He said, ´Your Sign is not to speak to people for three nights despite the fact that you are perfectly able to.´

19:11  He came out to his people from the Upper Room and gestured to them to glorify Allah in the morning and the evening.

19:12  ´Yahya, take hold of the Book with vigour.´ We gave him judgement while still a child,

19:13  and tenderness and purity from Us — he had taqwa —

19:14  and devotion to his parents — he was not insolent or disobedient.

19:15  Peace be upon him the day he was born, and the day he dies, and the day he is raised up again alive.

19:16  Mention Maryam in the Book, how she withdrew from her people to an eastern place,

19:17  and veiled herself from them. Then We sent Our Ruh to her and it took on for her the form of a handsome, well-built man.

19:18  She said, ´I seek refuge from you with the All-Merciful if you have taqwa.´

19:19  He said, ´I am only your Lord´s messenger so that He can give you a pure boy.´

19:20  She said, ´How can I have a boy when no man has touched me and I am not an unchaste woman?´

19:21  He said, ´It will be so! Your Lord says, "That is easy for Me. It is so that We can make him a Sign for mankind and a mercy from Us." It is a matter already decreed.´

19:22  So she conceived him and withdrew with him to a distant place.

19:23  The pains of labour drove her to the trunk of a date-palm. She said, ´Oh if only I had died before this time and was something discarded and forgotten!´

19:24  A voice called out to her from under her, ´Do not grieve! Your Lord has placed a small stream at your feet.

19:25  Shake the trunk of the palm towards you and fresh, ripe dates will drop down onto you.

19:26  Eat and drink and delight your eyes. If you should see anyone at all, just say, "I have made a vow of abstinence to the All-Merciful and today I will not speak to any human being."´

19:27  She brought him to her people, carrying him. They said, ´Maryam! You have done an unthinkable thing!

19:28  Sister of Harun, your father was not an evil man nor was your mother an unchaste woman!´

19:29  She pointed towards him. They said, ´How can a baby in the cradle speak?´

19:30  He said, ´I am the slave of Allah, He has given me the Book and made me a Prophet.

19:31  He has made me blessed wherever I am and directed me to do salat and give zakat as long as I live,

19:32  and to show devotion to my mother. He has not made me insolent or arrogant.

19:33  Peace be upon me the day I was born, and the day I die and the day I am raised up again alive.´

19:34  That is ´Isa, son of Maryam, the word of truth about which they are in doubt.

19:35  It is not fitting for Allah to have a son. Glory be to Him! When He decides on something, He just says to it, ´Be!´ and it is.

19:36  ´Allah is my Lord and your Lord so worship Him. This is a straight path.´

19:37  The parties differed among themselves. Woe to those who are kafir when they are present on a terrible Day!

19:38  How clear will be their hearing, how perfect their sight, on the Day they come to Us; whereas today the wrongdoers are clearly misguided.

19:39  Warn them of the Day of Bitter Regret when the affair will be resolved. But they take no notice. They have no iman.

19:40  It is We who will inherit the earth and all those on it. They will be returned to Us.

19:41  Mention Ibrahim in the Book. He was a true man and a Prophet.

19:42  Remember when he said to his father, ´Father, why do you worship what can neither hear nor see and is not of any use to you at all?

19:43  Father, knowledge which never reached you has come to me, so follow me and I will guide you to the right path.

19:44  Father, do not worship Shaytan. Shaytan was disobedient to the All-Merciful.

19:45  Father, I am afraid that a punishment from the All-Merciful will afflict you, and turn you into a comrade of Shaytan.´

19:46  He said, ´Do you forsake my gods, Ibrahim? If you do not stop, I will stone you. Keep away from me for a good long time.´

19:47  He said, ´Peace be upon you. I will ask my Lord to forgive you. He has always honoured me.

19:48  I will separate myself from you and all you call upon besides Allah and I will call upon my Lord. It may well be that, in calling on my Lord, I will not be disappointed.´

19:49  When he had separated himself from them, and what they worshipped besides Allah, We gave him Ishaq and Ya´qub, making each of them a Prophet.

19:50  We endowed them with Our mercy and made them highly honoured.

19:51  Mention Musa in the Book. He was truly sincere and was a Messenger and a Prophet.

19:52  We called out to him from the right hand side of the Mount and We brought him near in close communication.

19:53  We endowed him with Our mercy, making his brother Harun a Prophet.

19:54  Mention Isma´il in the Book. He was true to his promise and was a Messenger and a Prophet.

19:55  He used to command his people to do salat and give zakat and he was pleasing to his Lord.

19:56  Mention Idris in the Book. He was a true man and a Prophet.

19:57  We raised him up to a high place.

19:58  Those are some of the Prophets Allah has blessed, from the descendants of Adam and from those We carried with Nuh, and from the descendants of Ibrahim and Isra´il and from those We guided and chose. When the Signs of the All-Merciful were recited to them they fell on their faces, weeping, in prostration.

19:59  An evil generation succeeded them who neglected the salat and followed their appetites. They will plunge into the Valley of Evil —

19:60  except for those who make tawba and have iman and act rightly. They will enter the Garden and they will not be wronged in any way:

19:61  Gardens of Eden which the All-Merciful has promised to His slaves in the Unseen. His promise is always kept.

19:62  They will not hear any prattling there — nothing but ´Peace´. They will receive their provision there morning and night.

19:63  That is the Garden which We will bequeath to those of Our slaves who have taqwa.

19:64  ´We only descend at your Lord´s command. Everything in front of us, and everything behind us, and everything in between belongs to Him. Your Lord does not forget.´

19:65  He is Lord of the heavens and the earth and everything in between them, so worship Him and persevere in His worship. Do you know of any other with His Name?

19:66  Man says, ´When I am dead, will I then be brought out again alive?´

19:67  Does not man recall that We created him before when he was not anything?

19:68  By your Lord, We will collect them and the shaytans together. Then We will assemble them around Hell on their knees.

19:69  Then We will drag out from every sect the one among them most insolent towards the All-Merciful.

19:70  Then it is We who will know best those most deserving to roast in it.

19:71  There is not one of you who will not come to it. That is the final decision of your Lord.

19:72  Then We will rescue those who had taqwa and We will leave the wrongdoers in it on their knees.

19:73  When Our Clear Signs are recited to them, those who are kafir say to those who have iman, ´Which of the two parties has the better position and the more illustrious gathering?´

19:74  How many generations We have destroyed before them who had finer furnishings and a better outward show!

19:75  Say: ´As for those who are astray, let the All-Merciful prolong their term until they see what they were promised, whether it be the punishment or the Hour. Then they will know who is in the worse position and has the weaker troops.´

19:76  Allah augments those who are guided by giving them greater guidance. In your Lord´s sight, right actions which are lasting are better both in reward and end result.

19:77  Have you seen him who rejects Our Signs and says, ´I will certainly be given wealth and children there.´

19:78  Has he surveyed the Unseen or has he a contract with the All-Merciful?

19:79  No indeed! We will write down what he says and prolong the punishment for him.

19:80  We will inherit from him the things he is talking about and he will come to Us all alone.

19:81  They have taken other gods besides Allah to be a source of power and strength for them!

19:82  No indeed! They will reject their worship and will be opposed to them.

19:83  Do you not see that We send the shaytans against those who are kafir to goad them on?

19:84  So do not try to hasten their punishment. We are simply counting out the number of their days.

19:85  On that Day We will gather those who have taqwa to the All-Merciful with due ceremony.

19:86  But We will drive the evildoers to Hell, like cattle to a watering hole.

19:87  They have no right of intercession. None do but those who have a contract with the All-Merciful.

19:88  They say, ´The All-Merciful has a son.´

19:89  They have devised a monstrous thing.

19:90  The heavens are all but rent apart and the earth split open and the mountains brought crashing down,

19:91  at their ascription of a son to the All-Merciful!

19:92  It is not fitting for the All-Merciful to have a son.

19:93  There is no one in the heavens and earth who will not come to the All-Merciful as a slave.

19:94  He has counted them and numbered them precisely.

19:95  Each of them will come to Him on the Day of Rising all alone.

19:96  As for those who have iman and do right actions, the All-Merciful will bestow His love on them.

19:97  We have made it easy on your tongue so that you can give good news to those who have taqwa and warn stubbornly hostile people by it.

19:98  How many generations We have destroyed before them! Do you see a trace of any one of them or hear even a whisper of them?