20:1  Ṭa Ha

20:2  We did not send down to you the Qur’an that you should be miserable

20:3  but only as an admonition to him who fears [his Lord]

20:4  A sending down [of the Revelation] from Him who created the earth and the lofty heaven

20:5  —the All-beneficent, settled on the Throne

20:6  To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth, and whatever is between them, and whatever is under the ground

20:7  Whether you speak loudly [or in secret tones] He indeed knows the secret and what is still more hidden

20:8  Allah—there is no god except Him— to Him belong the Best Names

20:9  Did the story of Moses come to you

20:10  when he sighted a fire, and said to his family, ‘Wait! Indeed I descry a fire! Maybe I will bring you a brand from it, or find some guidance at the fire.’

20:11  So when he came to it, he was called, ‘O Moses

20:12  Indeed I am your Lord! So take off your sandals. You are indeed in the sacred valley of Tuwa

20:13  I have chosen you; so listen to what is revealed

20:14  Indeed I am Allah —there is no god except Me. So worship Me, and maintain the prayer for My remembrance

20:15  Indeed the Hour is bound to come: I will have it hidden, so that every soul may be rewarded for what it strives for

20:16  So do not let yourself be distracted from it by those who do not believe in it and who follow their desires, lest you should perish.’

20:17  ‘Moses, what is that in your right hand?’

20:18  He said, ‘It is my staff. I lean upon it, and with it I beat down leaves for my sheep; and I have other uses for it.’

20:19  He said, ‘Moses, throw it down.’

20:20  So he threw it down, and behold, it was a snake, moving swiftly

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

20:22  Now clasp your hand to your armpit: it will emerge white, without any fault. [This is yet] another sign

20:23  that We may show you some of Our great signs

20:24  Go to Pharaoh. He has indeed rebelled.’

20:25  He said, ‘My Lord! Open my breast for me

20:26  Make my affair easy for me

20:27  Remove the hitch from my tongue

20:28  [so that] they may understand my discourse

20:29  Appoint for me a minister from my family

20:30  Aaron, my brother

20:31  Strengthen my back through him

20:32  and make him my associate in my affair

20:33  so that we may glorify You greatly

20:34  and remember You greatly

20:35  Indeed You see us best.’

20:36  He said, ‘Moses, your request has been granted

20:37  Certainly, We have done you a favour another time

20:38  when We revealed to your mother whatever was revealed

20:39  “Put him in the casket, and cast it into the river. Then the river will cast it on the bank, and he shall be picked up by an enemy of Mine and an enemy of his.” And I cast upon you a love from Me, and that you might be reared under My eyes

20:40  When your sister walked up [to Pharaoh’s palace] saying, “Shall I show you someone who will take care of him?” Then We restored you to your mother, that she might be comforted and not grieve. Then you slew a soul, whereupon We delivered you from anguish, and We tried you with various ordeals. Then you stayed for several years among the people of Midian. Then you turned up as ordained, O Moses

20:41  And I chose you for Myself

20:42  Go ahead, you and your brother, with My signs and do not flag in My remembrance

20:43  Let the two of you go to Pharaoh. Indeed he has rebelled

20:44  Speak to him in a soft manner; maybe he will take admonition or fear.’

20:45  The two of them said, ‘Our Lord! We are indeed afraid that he will forestall us or will overstep the bounds.’

20:46  He said, ‘Do not be afraid, for I will be with the two of you, hearing and seeing [whatever happens]

20:47  So approach him and say, ‘‘We are the apostles of your Lord. Let the Children of Israel go with us, and do not torture them! We certainly bring you a sign from your Lord, and may peace be upon him who follows guidance

20:48  Indeed it has been revealed to us that the punishment shall befall those who deny and turn their backs [on us].’’ ’

20:49  He said, ‘Who is your Lord, Moses?’

20:50  He said, ‘Our Lord is He who gave everything its creation and then guided it.’

20:51  He said, ‘What about the former generations?’

20:52  He said, ‘Their knowledge is with my Lord, in a Book. My Lord neither makes any error nor forgets.’

20:53  He who made the earth for you a cradle, and in it threaded for you ways, and sent down water from the sky, and with it We brought forth various kinds of vegetation

20:54  ‘Eat and pasture your cattle.’ There are indeed signs in that for those who have sense

20:55  From it did We create you, into it shall We return you, and from it shall We bring you forth another time

20:56  Certainly We showed him all Our signs. But he denied [them] and refused [to believe them]

20:57  He said, ‘Have you come to us, Moses, to expel us from our land with your magic

20:58  Yet we [too] will bring you a magic like it! So fix a tryst between us and you, which neither we shall fail nor you, at a middle place.’

20:59  He said, ‘Your tryst shall be the Day of Adornment, and let the people be assembled in early forenoon.’

20:60  Then Pharaoh withdrew [to consult privately], summoned up his guile, and then arrived [at the scene of the contest]

20:61  Moses said to them, ‘Woe to you! Do not fabricate a lie against Allah, lest He should annihilate you with a punishment. Whoever fabricates lies certainly fails.’

20:62  So they disputed their matter among themselves, and kept their confidential talks secret

20:63  They said, ‘These two are indeed magicians who intend to expel you from your land with their magic, and to abolish your excellent tradition

20:64  So summon up your ingenuity, then come in ranks. Today he who has the upper hand will be saved!’

20:65  They said, ‘O Moses! Either you will throw down, or we shall be the first to throw.’

20:66  He said, ‘Rather you throw down first.’ Behold, their ropes and staffs appeared to him by their magic to wriggle swiftly

20:67  Then Moses felt a fear within his heart

20:68  We said, ‘Do not be afraid. Indeed you will have the upper hand

20:69  Throw down what is in your right hand, and it will swallow what they have conjured. What they have conjured is only a magician’s trick, and the magician does not fare well wherever he may show up.’

20:70  Thereat the magicians fell down prostrating. They said, ‘We have believed in the Lord of Aaron and Moses!’

20:71  He said, ‘Do you profess faith in Him before I may permit you? He is indeed your chief who has taught you magic! Surely I will cut off your hands and feet from opposite sides, and I will crucify you on the trunks of palm trees. So you will know which of us can inflict a punishment severer and more lasting.’

20:72  They said, ‘We will never prefer you to the manifest proofs which have come to us and [to] Him who originated us. Decide whatever you may. You can only decide about the life of this world

20:73  We have indeed believed in our Lord that He may forgive us our iniquities and the magic you compelled us to perform. Allah is better and more lasting.’

20:74  Whoever comes to his Lord laden with guilt, indeed for him shall be hell where he will neither live nor die

20:75  But whoever comes to Him with faith and he has done righteous deeds, for such shall be the highest rank

20:76  —the Gardens of Eden, with streams running in them, to abide in them [forever], and that is the reward of him who keeps pure

20:77  Certainly We revealed to Moses, [saying], ‘Take My servants on a journey by night. Then strike out for them a dry path through the sea. Do not be afraid of being overtaken, and have no fear [of getting drowned]

20:78  Then Pharaoh pursued them with his troops, whereat they were engulfed by what engulfed them of the sea

20:79  Pharaoh led his people astray and did not guide them

20:80  O Children of Israel! We delivered you from your enemy, and We appointed with you a tryst on the right side of the Mount and We sent down to you manna and quails

20:81  ‘Eat of the good things We have provided you, but do not overstep the bounds therein, lest My wrath should descend on you. And he on whom My wrath descends certainly perishes

20:82  Indeed I am all-forgiver toward him who repents, becomes faithful and acts righteously, and then follows guidance.’

20:83  ‘What has hurried you from your people, O Moses?’

20:84  He said, ‘They are close upon my heels, and I hurried on to You, my Lord, that You may be pleased.’

20:85  He said, ‘Indeed We tried your people in your absence, and the Samira« has led them astray.’

20:86  Thereupon Moses returned to his people, indignant and grieved. He said, ‘O my people! Did not your Lord give you a true promise? Did the period [of my absence]seem too long to you? Or did you desire that your Lord’s wrath should descend on you and so you failed your tryst with me?’

20:87  They said, ‘We did not fail our tryst with you of our own accord, but we were laden with the weight of the people’s ornaments, and we cast them [into the fire] and so did the Samira« throw.’

20:88  Then he produced for them a calf —a [lifeless] body with a low— and they said, This is your god and the god of Moses, so he forgot

20:89  Did they not see that it did not answer them, nor could it bring them any benefit or harm

20:90  Aaron had certainly told them earlier, ‘O my people! You are only being tested by it. Indeed your Lord is the All-beneficent. So follow me and obey my command!’

20:91  They had said, ‘We will keep on clinging to it until Moses returns to us.’

20:92  He said, ‘O Aaron! What kept you, when you saw them going astray

20:93  from following me? Did you disobey my command?’

20:94  He said, ‘O son of my mother! Do not hold my beard or my head! I feared lest you should say, ‘‘You have caused a rift among the Children of Israel, and did not heed my word [of advice].’’ ’

20:95  He said, ‘What is your business, O Samira«?’

20:96  He said, ‘I saw what they did not see. I took a handful [of dust] from the messenger’s trail and threw it. That is how my soul prompted me.’

20:97  He said, ‘Begone! It shall be your [lot] throughout life to say, ‘‘Do not touch me!’’ Indeed there is a tryst for you which you will not fail to keep! Now look at your god to whom you went on clinging. We will burn it down and then scatter it[s ashes] into the sea

20:98  Indeed your God is Allah. There is no god except Him. He embraces all things in [His] knowledge.’

20:99  Thus do We relate to you some accounts of what is past. Certainly We have given you a Reminder from Ourselves

20:100  Whoever disregards it shall bear its onus on the Day of Resurrection

20:101  remaining in it [forever]. Evil is their burden on the Day of Resurrectio

20:102  —the day the Trumpet will be blown— on that day We shall muster the guilty with blind eyes

20:103  They will whisper to one another: ‘You have stayed only for ten [days].’

20:104  We know best what they will say, when the best of them in conduct will say, ‘You stayed only a day!’

20:105  They question you concerning the mountains. Say, ‘My Lord will scatter them [like dust].’

20:106  Then He will leave it a level plain

20:107  You will not see any crookedness or unevenness in it

20:108  On that day they will follow a summoner in whom there will be no deviousness. The voices will be muted before the All-beneficent, and you will hear nothing but a murmur

20:109  Intercession will not avail that day except from him whom the All-beneficent allows and approves of his word

20:110  He knows that which is before them and that which is behind them, but they cannot comprehend Him in their knowledge

20:111  All faces shall be humbled before the Living One, the All-sustainer, and he will fail who bears [the onus of] wrongdoing

20:112  But whoever does righteous deeds, should he be faithful, shall neither fear any wrong nor detraction

20:113  Thus We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur’an and We have paraphrased the threats in it so that they may be Godwary or it may evoke remembrance for them

20:114  So exalted is Allah, the True Sovereign. Do not hasten with the Qur’an before its revelation is completed for you, and say, ‘My Lord! Increase me in knowledge.’

20:115  Certainly We had enjoined Adam earlier; but he forgot, and We did not find any resoluteness in him

20:116  When We said to the angels, ‘Prostrate before Adam,’ they prostrated, but not Iblis: he refused

20:117  We said, ‘O Adam! This is indeed an enemy of yours and your mate’s. So do not let him expel you from paradise, or you will be miserable

20:118  Indeed you will neither be hungry in it nor naked

20:119  Indeed you will neither be thirsty in it, nor suffer from the sun.’

20:120  Then Satan tempted him. He said, ‘O Adam! Shall I show you the tree of immortality, and an imperishable kingdom?’

20:121  So they both ate of it, and their nakedness became evident to them, and they began to stitch over themselves with the leaves of paradise. Adam disobeyed his Lord, and went amiss

20:122  Then his Lord chose him, and turned to him clemently, and guided him

20:123  He said, ‘Get down both of you from it, all together, being enemies of one another! Yet, should any guidance come to you from Me, those who follow My guidance will not go astray, nor will they be miserable

20:124  But whoever disregards My remembrance, his shall be a wretched life, and on the Day of Resurrection We shall raise him blind.’

20:125  He will say, ‘My Lord! Why have You raised me blind, though I used to see?’

20:126  He will say: ‘So it is. Our signs came to you, but you forgot them, and thus you will be forgotten today.’

20:127  Thus do We requite him who is a profligate and does not believe in the signs of his Lord. And the punishment of the Hereafter is severer and more lasting

20:128  Does it not dawn upon them how many generations We have destroyed before them, amid [the ruins of] whose dwellings they walk? There are indeed signs in this for those who have reason

20:129  And were it not for a prior decree of your Lord and a specified time, it was inevitable

20:130  So be patient with what they say, and celebrate the praise of your Lord before the rising of the sun and before the sunset, and glorify Him in watches of the night and at the day’s ends, that you may be pleased

20:131  Do not extend your glance toward what We have provided certain groups of them as a glitter of the life of this world, so that We may test them thereby. And the provision of your Lord is better and more lasting

20:132  And bid your family to prayer and be steadfast in its maintenance. We do not ask any provision of you. It is We who provide for you, and the outcome will be in favour of Godwariness

20:133  They say, ‘Why does he not bring us a sign from his Lord?’ Has there not come to them a manifest proof in that which is in the former scriptures

20:134  Had We destroyed them with a punishment before it, they would have surely said, ‘Our Lord! Why did You not send us an apostle so that we might follow Your signs before we were abased and disgraced?’

20:135  Say, ‘Each [of us] is waiting. So wait! Soon you will know who are the people of the right path, and who is guided.’