20:1  Ta-Ha

20:2  We have not revealed this Quran unto you to cause you misery.

20:3  But as a reminder for anyone who has deference [of His Lord].

20:4  A revelation from Him who created the earth and the high heavens.

20:5  Ar-Rahman [The All-merciful] who has spread out His presence on the throne.

20:6  Unto Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth and all that is between them and all that is under the ether.

20:7  Whether you make aloud your speech [is all the same] for He indeed knows what is secret and what is hidden.

20:8  Allah! There is no deity save Him. To Him belong all the excellent names.

20:9  Has the story of Moses come to you?

20:10  When he saw a fire he said to his family, “Tarry here. I have indeed perceived a fire maybe I can bring you from it a brand or I can find guidance at the fire.

20:11  But when he came to it [the fire] he was called upon, “O Moses!

20:12  Truly I am your Lord therefore take off your shoes for indeed you are in the sanctimonious valley of Tuwa.

20:13  And I have chosen you so listen then to what is being inspired [to you]

20:14  Truly, I am Allah. There is no deity except I. Therefore serve Me and establish the prayer for My remembrance.

20:15  Truly the hour is coming. I well-nigh hide it so that every soul is rewarded for that which it has endeavored

20:16  So do not let one who does not believe in it [the hour] and who has followed his desire hinder you from [remembering] it lest you perish.

20:17  And what is that in your right hand O Moses?”

20:18  He said, “It is my staff. I lean on it and I beat down leaves with it for my cattle and there are many other uses in it for me.”

20:19  He said, “Throw it O Moses!”

20:20  So he threw it and behold! it is a snake in real motion.

20:21  He said, “Seize it and fear not. We shall bring it back to its former state”

20:22  And stick your hand to your side it will come forth white without any blemish, as another sign.

20:23  So that We may show you from Our signs the most great.

20:24  Go to Pharaoh for he has indeed transgressed.

20:25  He [Moses] said, “O My Lord! Expand my bosom for me.

20:26  And ease my affair for me.

20:27  And untie a knot from my tongue.

20:28  That they may discern my speech.

20:29  And appoint for me a helper from my family;

20:30  Aaron. My brother.

20:31  Buttress my strength through him.

20:32  And give him a share in my affair.

20:33  So that we may glorify You abundantly.

20:34  And remember You abundantly.

20:35  For You truly are All-seeing about us”

20:36  He said, “Indeed you are granted your request O Moses!”

20:37  And indeed once again We have conferred Our favor upon you.

20:38  And remember when We inspired to your mother what is inspired.

20:39  Saying that, “Cast him [Moses] in the chest and then cast it [the chest] in the sea and let the sea cast him on the bank and an enemy of mine and an enemy of his will take it and I have put over you love from Me so that you are reared under My eyes.

20:40  And [remember] when your sister went out and she said [to pharaoh and his people] “Can I show you someone who can nurture him [for you]?” so We returned you back to your mother so that her eye may find coolness and that she grieve not. And [when] you killed a soul, We saved you from distress and We tried you through many trials then you remained among the folk of Madian many years and then you came back as ordained O Moses.”

20:41  And I have groomed you for My own self.

20:42  Go forth you and your brother with My signs and do not tire both of you in remembering Me.

20:43  Go forth both of you to Pharaoh for he indeed has transgressed [against His Lord].

20:44  And so both of you speak unto him a gentle word perhaps he may remember or defer to [His Lord].

20:45  They both said, “O our Lord, we do fear lest he hastily dispatch us or that he transgresses.”

20:46  He said, “Do not fear both of you for truly I am with both of you and I hear and I see.”

20:47  Go hence both of you to him and say both of you, “We are messengers of your Lord therefore send with us the children of Israel and do not afflict them with any more punishment. Truly we have come to you with a sign from Your Lord and the peace is on him who follows the guidance.

20:48  For we truly have been inspired that the punishment is on him who belies [Allah’s signs] and turns away from it [in arrogance].

20:49  He [Pharaoh] said, “who then is the Lord of you two, O Moses?”

20:50  He said, “Our Lord is one who gave everything its complete form and then guided it.”

20:51  He said, “What then is the case of the former generations?”

20:52  He said, “The knowledge of them is with My Lord in a book. My Lord does not err nor does He forget.”

20:53  It is He who has made the earth for you like a well laid bed and has traced out for you therein thoroughfares and has sent down from the heaven rain water and with it We brought forth pairs of diverse vegetation.

20:54  Eat thereof and graze your cattle. Truly in that indeed are signs for people of understanding.

20:55  From it We created you and in it We will return you and from it We will bring you forth once again.

20:56  And truly We showed him all of Our signs but he belied them and refused [to submit].

20:57  He said, “Have you come to us to drive us out of our land with your magic O Moses?”

20:58  We will therefore surely bring unto you a magic like unto it therefore appoint a tryst between us and you which we shall not fail neither us nor you in a place well suitable to all.

20:59  He [Moses] said, “Your tryst shall be the day of the feasting and let the people be gathered at the times of the early hours of the day.”

20:60  Thereupon Pharaoh went away and he put together all his plans and then he came.

20:61  Moses said to them, “Woe unto you. Do not contrive a lie against Allah lest He eradicate you with a punishment and truly whosoever contrives a lie [against Allah] will be met with frustration.”

20:62  So they disputed among them about their affair and they kept their counsel secret.

20:63  They said, “These two are surely sorcerers. They intend to drive you out from your land with their magic and [they intend] to do away with your way, the most exemplary.”

20:64  Therefore put together your plans and then come forward in a row and whosoever gets the upper hand today surely will prosper.

20:65  They said, “O Moses, either you throw or we be the ones who are the first to throw.”

20:66  He said, “Nay, you throw” and behold their ropes and their sticks due to their magic was made to appear to him to be in real motion.

20:67  So Moses sensed a fear within himself.

20:68  We said, “Do not fear truly you are the one who will have the upper hand.

20:69  And throw that which is in your right hand it will swallow up all that they have fabricated” and they have fabricated nothing except the tricks of a magician but the magician will not prosper no matter from which way he comes.

20:70  The magicians thereupon fell down prostrate and said, “We believe in the Lord of Aaron and Moses”

20:71  He [Pharaoh] said, “Believe you in him before I had given you permission? He certainly is your superior who has taught you the magic. Thus I will most certainly cut your hands and your legs from opposite sides and I will most certainly crucify you on the trunks of palm trees and you will most certainly come to know which of us is capable of inflicting the most severe punishment. [And which of us] will outlast [the other].”

20:72  They said, “We shall never prefer you above all that has come to us from the clear signs and above the one who has originated our creation. Therefore decree that which you are going to decree. You can only decree in regards to the life of this world.

20:73  We truly believe in our Lord [hoping] that He will forgive us our faults and all that magic that you have compelled us to and Allah is Best and is Most Lasting.”

20:74  Truly whoever comes to His Lord as an evildoer, for him indeed is the hell wherein he will not die nor will he live.

20:75  But whosoever comes to Him as a believer and has done the righteous deeds indeed for them would be the ranks most high.

20:76  Gardens of eternal felicity under which the rivers flow to abide therein forever and that is the reward of the one who sanctifies his soul.

20:77  And truly We inspired Moses [saying] that, “Journey forth with My slaves at night and strike for them a dry path through the sea and you will not fear being overtaken and nor will you fear being overwhelmed [with water].”

20:78  Then Pharaoh pursued them with his army but they were covered from the sea with that what overwhelmed them.

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

20:80  “O children of Israel! We did save you from your enemy and We have made a tryst with you on the right hand side of the mount of Toor and We sent down manna and salva on you.

20:81  Eat from the good things which We have provided you and do not abuse it lest My anger falls upon you and whosoever My anger falls upon, he indeed has fallen down.

20:82  And I am truly Most Forgiving to anyone who repents and believes and does a righteous deed and then keeps on the right guidance.

20:83  And what caused you to leave your people in haste O Moses?”

20:84  He said, “Here they are coming in my footsteps and I hastened to You My Lord so that You may be pleased.”

20:85  He [Allah] said, “We indeed have put a test on your people after you and Samiri has led them astray.”

20:86  So Moses returned to his people angry and sad. He said, “O my people, has Your Lord not promised to you a goodly promise? Did then the covenant seem far away to you or did you look forward that a punishment descend on you from Your Lord so you broke my appointment?”

20:87  They said, “We have not broken your appointment through our own volition but we were burdened with loads of ornaments of the people [Egyptians] so we casted them this is how Samiri casted [in the fire]”

20:88  So he brought forth for them a calf with a body and it has a bellowing sound so they said, “This is your god and the god of Moses” but he [Samiri] forgot.

20:89  Do they not see that it does not speak back to them a word and does not have control over any harm or any benefit for them?

20:90  And Aaron did tell it to them before [the coming of Moses], “O my people, you are only being tested by this and truly Your Lord is Ar-Rahman [The All-merciful] therefore follow me and obey my commandment.”

20:91  They said, “We will never cease to devoutly worship it [the calf] until Moses comes back to us.”

20:92  He [Moses] said, “O Aaron! What prevented you [from stopping them] when you saw them going astray?

20:93  Do you not follow me? Have you disobeyed my commandment?”

20:94  He said, “O son of my mother! Do not seize me by my beard nor by my hair. I truly feared lest you say that you have caused a split among the children of Israel and you did not regard my word.”

20:95  He said, “What then is your case O Samiri?”

20:96  He said, “I saw that which they did not see so I took a handful of the footsteps of the messenger then I cast it [into the calf] and thus has my soul made it seemly for me.”

20:97  He said, “Therefore be gone! Then certainly your fate in life is to say, ‘Do not touch [me]’ and truly there is an appointed tryst for you in which you shall never be failed and look at this deity of yours to which you have so devoutly dedicated yourself. We shall most certainly burn it and then scatter [its ashes] in the sea a complete scattering.”

20:98  Your only deity is Allah whom there is no deity besides Him. He encompasses everything in [His] knowledge.

20:99  Thus We relate unto you some of the news of things that had gone before and We have indeed given unto you a remembrance from Our own presence.

20:100  Whosoever turns away from it, he will be the very one who will carry a heavy burden on the day of resurrection.

20:101  to abide therein [in that state] forever and how woeful a burden on them on the day of resurrection;

20:102  The day when the trumpet will be blown and We will gather [all] the evildoers on that day pale in the eyes.

20:103  Whispering among themselves [some say], “You have not tarried in the world but ten days.”

20:104  It is We who know well about what they say when the one among them who is best in position says, “You have tarried [in the world] but a day.”

20:105  And they ask you concerning the mountains say, “My Lord will reduce them to dust and scatter them.”

20:106  And He will leave it [the earth] like a plain all level.

20:107  You will see no curve in it nor a bump.

20:108  That day they will follow the caller in whom there is no crookedness and all the voices are hushed for Ar-Rahman [The All-merciful] and you will hear nothing but whispers.

20:109  On that day the intercession will avail none except one for whom Ar-Rahman [The All-merciful] will have granted permission [to intercede] and He is pleased for him to speak.

20:110  He knows what is before them and what is behind them but they do not encompass Him in knowledge.

20:111  And humbled will be the faces for The Ever-living, The Upholder of Everything and whosoever bears an offence, he indeed will meet with frustration.

20:112  And whosoever does any work from the righteous deeds while he is a believer, he will not have any fear of any offence [against him] nor any cheating.

20:113  And thus We have revealed it as an Arabic Quran and We have given in it many facets from the warning so that perhaps they will revere Allah or perhaps it will occasion for them a renewed remembrance.

20:114  Far exalted is Allah, The King, The Truth and do not be in haste with the Quran before its revelation to you is consummated and say, “O My Lord, increase me in knowledge.”

20:115  And indeed We gave Our assignment to Adam beforetime but he forgot and We did not find in him a firm resolution.

20:116  And when We said to the angels, “Prostrate yourselves for Adam” so they did prostrate themselves except Iblis he refused [out of arrogance].

20:117  So We said, “O Adam, this [Iblis] is an enemy for you and for your spouse so beware lest he drives the two of you out of the garden and then you will be in misery.”

20:118  It is given that in this [garden] you will not go hungry nor naked

20:119  and nor will you go thirsty therein nor suffer from the sunlight.

20:120  So Satan whispered to him he said, “O Adam, may I show you the tree of eternal life and a kingdom that will never decay.”

20:121  So they both ate from it and immediately their stark nakedness became apparent to them and they began to sew around themselves [the covering] from the leaves of the garden and Adam disobeyed His Lord so he became constricted.

20:122  Thereafter his Lord selected him and accepted his repentance and guided [him].

20:123  He said, “Both of you go down from here [the garden] altogether and be [henceforth] enemy unto one another but if ever a guidance comes to you from Me, whosoever follows My guidance, he will not go astray nor will he fall in misery.

20:124  But whoever turns away from My remembrance truly for him shall be a constricted livelihood and We will gather him [unto Us] a blind on the day of resurrection.”

20:125  He will say [on the day of resurrection], “O My Lord, why have you raised me a blind while I was seeing [in the past life]?”

20:126  He will say, “Similarly had Our signs come to you [in the life before] but you forgot them and likewise this day you will be forgotten.”

20:127  And thus do We requite one who has transgressed and did not believe in the signs of his Lord and truly the punishment of the hereafter is more severe and more lasting.

20:128  Have they not found how many generations before them We destroyed and in whose homes they are walking about now. Truly in that indeed are signs for people of understanding.

20:129  Had it not been for a sentence and a fixed term already passed by Your Lord, a binding punishment [would certainly have befallen them in this life].

20:130  So bear patience over that which they say and glorify the praise of your Lord before the sunrise and before its setting and in hours of the night praise [Him] and as well as in parts of the day perhaps you will be pleased.

20:131  And do not stretch your gaze unto that which We have provided to some kinds of them as a temporary enjoyment as a flowering of the life of this world so that We may try them thereby and provision of Your Lord is better and more lasting.

20:132  And command your family to the prayer and be steadfast on it. We do not charge you with providing [for yourself and for them]. We provide for you and the good ending is for those who revere Allah.

20:133  And they say, “Why does he not bring us a sign from His Lord?” Has not a clarification of all that is in the former books come to them?

20:134  And had We destroyed them through a punishment before it [Quran] they would have said, “O Our Lord, if only You had sent unto us a messenger, we would have followed Your signs before we are humiliated and disgraced.”

20:135  Say, “Each one [of us] is waiting so wait you [for the final judgment] and you shall soon come to know who is on the path which is even and who is well guided.”