20:1  TA HA

20:2  We have not sent down this Quran to you that you should be distressed

20:3  But only as a reminder to him who fears (or is in awe of Allah or fears doing wrong)

20:4  Descending (as a revelation) from Him who created the earth and the high heavens

20:5  The most Beneficent is firmly settled on the Throne (of Authority)

20:6  To Him belongs what is in the heavens, and what is in the earth, and all that which is between the two, and all that which is beneath the ground

20:7  And if you pronounce the words loudly (or publicly), yet, verily, he knows the secret and the even more hidden

20:8  Allah! There is no God but He! To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names

20:9  Has the story of Moses come to you

20:10  Behold, he saw a fire: and said to his folk, "Tarry ye; verily, I perceive a fire far off. Perhaps I may bring you there from a brand, or may find some guidance (news, information) by the fire."

20:11  And when he came to it he was addressed, "O Moses

20:12  Verily, I am your Lord, so take off your sandals; verily, you are in the holy valley Tuwa

20:13  And I have chosen you. So listen to what is inspired in you

20:14  "Verily, I am Allah; there is no God but Me! So serve Me, and be steadfast in prayer to remember Me

20:15  "Verily, the hour is coming, but I will to keep it hidden (but make it known), that every soul may be recompensed for its efforts

20:16  "Let not then him who believes not therein and follows his lusts (prejudices, fantasies, superstitions) ever turn you away there from, lest you be ruined

20:17  "What is that in your right hand, O Moses?"

20:18  Said he, "It is my staff on which I lean, and wherewith I beat down leaves for my flocks, and for which I have other uses."

20:19  Allah said, "Throw it down, O Moses!"

20:20  And he threw it down, and behold! It was a snake, moving (alive)

20:21  He said, "Take hold of it and fear not; We will restore it to its former state

20:22  "But press your hand to your side, it shall come forth white without harm, as another sign

20:23  To show you of Our greater signs

20:24  "Go unto Pharaoh. Verily, he is outrageous (he has transgressed beyond bounds)"

20:25  Said he, "My Lord! Expand for me my breast (relieve my mind from tension)

20:26  "And ease my task for me

20:27  And loosen the knot from my tongue

20:28  "That they may understand my saying

20:29  "Appoint for me a minister from my people

20:30  "Aaron, my brother

20:31  "Gird up my loins through him

20:32  "And let him share my task

20:33  "That we may glorify Thee much

20:34  "And much remember Thee

20:35  "Verily, Thou art He who is ever Seeing of us!"

20:36  He said, "You are granted your request, O Moses

20:37  "And We have already shown favours unto you at another time

20:38  "When We inspired your mother with the message

20:39  "´Put him into the ark, and put it into the river. The river shall cast him on the shore, and an enemy of Mine and of his shall take him.´ And on you have I cast love from Me, that you may be trained according to My will

20:40  When your sister walked on and said, "Shall I guide you to one who will nurse him? And We restored you to your mother, that her eye might be cheered and that she should not grieve. And you did slay a man and We saved you from the resulting trouble,

20:41  "And I have prepared you for Myself

20:42  "Go, you and your brother, with my Signs (revelations), and be not remiss in remembering Me

20:43  "Go you both to Pharaoh. Verily, he is outrageous (transgresses beyond bounds)

20:44  And speak to him a gentle speech, that per chance (or possibly) he may be mindful or fear."

20:45  They two said, "Our Lord! Verily, we fear that he may be beforehand with us (hasty in arrogance before we can accomplish our mission), or that he may be outrageous (transgressing all bounds or tyrannous)."

20:46  He said, "Fear not. Verily, I am with you twain, Hearing and Seeing

20:47  "So go you to him and say, ´Verily, we are the messengers of your Lord; Let the children of Israel go with us, and torment them not. We bring you a sign from your Lord, and peace will be upon him who follows the right guidance

20:48  "´Verily, it has been revealed unto us that the torment will surely come upon him who denies us and turns away.´"

20:49  Pharaoh said, "And who is your Lord, O Moses?"

20:50  He said, "Our Lord is He who gave everything its form, nature and existence, then guided it right."

20:51  Said he (Pharaoh), "And what of the former generations?"

20:52  He said, "The knowledge of them is with my Lord in a Book (or Record); my Lord neither errs nor forgets

20:53  "Who made for you the earth a bed; and has traced for you paths therein; and has sent down from the sky water." We have brought forth thereby divers classes of vegetation

20:54  Eat and pasture your cattle there from. Verily, in this are signs to those endowed with intelligence (minds or understanding)

20:55  From it have We created you and into it will We return you, and from it will We bring you forth again."

20:56  We did show him Our signs, all of them, but he called them lies and refused

20:57  Said he, "Have you come to us, to turn us out of our land with your magic, O Moses

20:58  "Then we will bring you magic like it; and we will make between us and you an appointment which we shall not fail to keep - neither we nor you - at a fair place (convenient to both or one where both have an equal chance)."

20:59  Moses said, "Let your appointment be for the day of the festival, and let the people assemble when the sun is high (noon)."

20:60  Then Pharaoh gathered his strength (being disconcerted), and returned (having formed a plot)

20:61  Said Moses to him, "Woe to you! Forge you not against Allah a lie; lest He destroy you by punishment. The forger must ever suffer disappointment (or failure)."

20:62  And they argued the matter among themselves, but they kept their counsel secret

20:63  Said they, "These two are certainly two expert magicians, who wish to turn you out of (authority in) the land by their magic, and to remove your most cherished (or exemplary) traditions (doctrines, institutions)

20:64  Collect, therefore, your tricks (or lay your plans), and then form a row (or battle line); for he who has the upper-hand this day will be successful indeed."

20:65  Said they, "O Moses! Either you must throw first, or let us throw first."

20:66  He said, "Nay, you throw first!" And lo! Their ropes and their staves appeared to move along

20:67  And Moses felt a secret fear within his soul

20:68  Said We, "Fear not! You shall have the upper hand

20:69  "Throw what is in your right hand; and it shall devour what they have made. Verily, that which they have made is but a magician´s trick; and no magician shall prosper whatever skill he has."

20:70  And then the magicians were cast down in prostration (obeisance), saying, "We believe in the Lord of Aaron and of Moses!"

20:71  Said he (Pharaoh), "Do you believe in Him before I give you leave? Verily, he is your master who taught you magic! Therefore will I surely cut off your hands and feet on alternate sides, and I will surely crucify you on the trunks of palm trees; and

20:72  Said they, "We will never prefer you to what has come to us as Manifest Signs, and to Him who originated us. Decree then whatever you desire to decree; for you can only decree about the life of this world

20:73  Verily, we believe in our Lord. May He pardon us our sins, and the magic you have forced us to use; and Allah is better and more lasting!"

20:74  Verily, he who comes to his Lord guilty, verily, for him is hell; he shall therein neither die nor live

20:75  But he who comes to Him a believer who has done right, for them are the highest ranks

20:76  Gardens of Eden beneath which rivers flow, to dwell therein for ever. That is the reward for him who grows (or purifies himself)

20:77  And We inspired Moses, saying, "Journey by night with my servants, and strike out for them a dry road in the sea. Fear not pursuit, nor be afraid!"

20:78  Then Pharaoh followed them with his armies, and the sea overwhelmed them and covered them up completely

20:79  Pharaoh had led his people astray instead of guiding them right

20:80  O Children of Israel! We delivered you from your enemy; and We made a covenant with you on the side of the mount; and We sent down upon you the manna and the quails

20:81  Saying, "Eat of the good things We have provided you with, but do not commit excesses therein, lest My wrath justly descend upon you; for on whomsoever My wrath descends they perish indeed

20:82  "Yet am I also He who forgives unto him who repents and believes and does right, and then is guided

20:83  "But what has hastened you on away from your people, O Moses?"

20:84  Moses said, "They are here close behind, and I hastened to Thee, my Lord, to please Thee."

20:85  Said He, "Verily, We have tested your people in your absence, and As-Samiri has led them astray."

20:86  And Moses returned to his people, wrathful, grieving! Said he, "O my people! Did not your Lord make you a goodly promise? Has the time seemed too long for you, or do you desire that wrath should descend on you from your Lord, and so you have broken

20:87  They said, "We have not broken our promise to you of our own accord. But we were made to carry the load of the ornaments of the people, and we hurled them (into the fire). That was what As-Samiri bid us

20:88  Then he brought forth for the people (out of the fire) a corporeal (a statue of a) calf. It seemed to low, and they said, "This is your god and the god of Moses, but he has forgotten!"

20:89  What! Do they not see that it does not answer them in speech, and cannot control for them harm or profit

20:90  Aaron had already, before this, said to them, "O my people! You are only being tried (or seduced) thereby; and, verily, your Lord is the Beneficent, so follow me and obey my bidding."

20:91  They said, "We will not cease to pay devotion to it until Moses return to us."

20:92  Said he (Moses), "O Aaron! What prevented you, when you did see them go astray

20:93  From following me? Have you then rebelled against my bidding

20:94  Said he, "O son of my mother! Seize me not by my beard, or my head! Verily, I feared lest you should say, ´You have made a division amongst the children of Israel, and have not waited for my word.´"

20:95  (Moses) said, "What was your design, O Samiri?"

20:96  Said he, "I beheld what they beheld not, and I grasped a handful of dust from the footprint of the messenger and cast it; for thus my soul induced me."

20:97  Said he, "Then get you gone; verily, it shall be yours in life to say, "Touch me not!" and, verily, for you there is a tryst which you shall surely never break. But look at your god to which you were just now a devout worshipper. We will s

20:98  "Your God is only Allah besides Whom there is no other God. He embraces all things in His knowledge."

20:99  Thus do We narrate to you the history of what has gone before, and We have brought you from Our Presence a reminder

20:100  Whoever turns there from, verily, he shall bear a great burden on the Day of Resurrection

20:101  Abiding under it, an evil burden to bear on the Day of Resurrection

20:102  On the day when the Trumpet shall be blown, and We will gather the guilty on that day white-eyed (with terror)

20:103  They shall whisper to each other, "You have only tarried ten days."

20:104  We know best what they say, when their leaders, best in conduct say, "You have only tarried a day."

20:105  They will ask you about the mountains; say, "My Lord will break them into scattered dust

20:106  "And He will leave them a level plain

20:107  "Wherein you will see no curve or ruggedness (crookedness or unevenness)."

20:108  On that day they shall follow the Caller who deceives not; and the voices shall be hushed before the Beneficent, and you shall hear naught but a shuffling (or tramp of marching feet)

20:109  On that day shall no intercession be of any avail, save from such as the Beneficent permits, and who is acceptable to Him

20:110  He knows what is before them and what is behind them, but they comprehend not His knowledge

20:111  All faces shall be humbled before the Living, the Self-subsisting, Eternal; Hopeless will be indeed the man that carries iniquity on his back

20:112  But he who does righteous acts and has faith, he shall fear neither wrong nor diminution

20:113  Thus have We revealed it in an Arabic Lecture (Quran); and have displayed in it certain threats, that per chance (or possibly) they may fear evil, or it may cause them to take heed

20:114  Exalted then be Allah, the King, the Truth (or the True King)! Hasten not the Quran before its inspiration is completed for you; but say, "O Lord! increase me in knowledge."

20:115  We did make a covenant with Adam of yore, but he forgot it, and We found no firm purpose in him

20:116  And when We said to the angels, "Prostrate yourselves before Adam," they prostrated themselves, save Iblis, who refused

20:117  And We said, "O Adam! Verily, this is a foe to you and to your wife; never then let him drive you twain forth from the garden or you will be wretched

20:118  Verily, you have not to be hungry there, nor naked

20:119  And, verily, you shall not thirst therein, nor suffer from the sun´s heat!"

20:120  But Satan whispered to him, saying. "O Adam! shall I guide you to the Tree of Immortality, and a kingdom that wastes not away?"

20:121  And they ate there from, and their shame became apparent to them; and they began to stitch upon themselves some leaves of the garden; and Adam rebelled against his Lord, and went astray

20:122  Then his Lord chose him, and relented towards him, and guided him

20:123  Said he, "Go down, you twain, there from altogether, some of you foes to the other. And if there should come to you from Me a guidance; then whoever follows My guidance shall neither err nor come to grief

20:124  But he who turns away from Remembrance of Me, verily, for him shall be a narrow life; and I shall bring him blind to the assembly on the Day of Resurrection."

20:125  He shall say, "My Lord! Wherefore have you gathered me blind when I used to see?"

20:126  He shall say, "Our revelations came to you, and you did forget them; In like manner are you forgotten this Day!"

20:127  Thus do We recompense him who is extravagant and believes not in the revelations of his Lord; and the doom of the hereafter is keener and more lasting

20:128  Is it not guidance for them to know how many generations We have destroyed before them, amidst whose dwelling-places they walk? Verily, in that are signs to men of thought (or intelligence)

20:129  But for the decree already passed from your Lord, and a term already fixed, the judgment would have come to them now

20:130  Therefore, bear patiently with what they say, and celebrate the praises of your Lord ere the rising of the sun, and ere its setting, and glorify Him at times in the night and at the two ends of the day, that you may find acceptance

20:131  And do not strain after what We have provided a few of them - the splendours of the life of this world, through which We test them; but the provision of your Lord is better and more lasting

20:132  Bid your people worship, and persevere in it; We do not ask you to provide, it is We Who will provide for you. But the sequel is for righteousness

20:133  They say, "Unless he brings us a sign from his Lord.....". What! Has there not come to them the proof of what was in the former scriptures

20:134  But had We destroyed them with doom before it, they would have said, "If only Thou had sent to us a messenger, that we might follow Thy signs before we were abased and put to shame."

20:135  Say, "Each one has to wait, so wait you also! But in the end you shall know who it is that is on the straight and level path, and who it is that is guided right."