23:1  THE TRUE BELIEVERS will be successful

23:2  Who are humble in their service

23:3  Who shun all frivolities

23:4  Who strive for betterment

23:5  Who guard their se

23:6  Except from their wives and women slaves of old are free of blame

23:7  But those who covet more than this will be transgressors

23:8  And those who fulfil their trusts and keep their promises

23:9  And those who are watchful of their acts of prayer

23:10  These are the real gainers

23:11  Who will inherit Paradise, and live in it for ever

23:12  We created man from the finest extract of clay

23:13  Then We placed him as a sperm in a firmly established lodging

23:14  Then We fashioned the sperm into an embryo, then fashioned the embryo into a shapeless lump of flesh; then from the lump of flesh We fashioned bones, then clothed the bones with flesh. Thus We formed him into a new creation. So blessed be God the best of Creators

23:15  And then you will certainly die

23:16  Then will be raised up on the Day of Resurrection

23:17  We made several highways one over the other above you. We are not neglectful of creation

23:18  We send down water from the sky in determined measure, and store it up in the earth; and We have power to drain it away

23:19  We grow orchards of dates and grapes from it for you, Which yield fruits in abundance that you eat

23:20  The tree that grows on Mount Sinai yields oil and seasoning for those who eat

23:21  There are lessons for you in the cattle from whose bellies We give you milk to drink, and there are other advantages that you derive from them, and some of them you eat

23:22  And you are carried on them and on boats

23:23  We sent Noah to his people. He said: "O my people, worship God, for you have no other god but He. Will you not take heed for yourselves?"

23:24  The chiefs of his people, who did not believe, said: "He is only a man like you. He wishes to acquire ascendancy over you. If God had willed He would have sent down angels. We never heard this from our elders

23:25  He is only a man possessed; so wait and watch him for a time."

23:26  "O my Lord," prayed (Noah), "help me against them, for they accuse me of lies."

23:27  So We asked him to build the ark under Our eyes and guidance, (and said): "When Our command is issued and the source of water boils over, put a pair of every species in it, and your family except those for whom Our sentence has been passed already; and do not speak to Me for those who are wicked: They will be drowned

23:28  When you and those with you have boarded the ark, say: 'All praise be to God who has delivered us from the people who were sinful.

23:29  And say: 'O Lord, disembark me in a welcome place; You are the best of deliverers.

23:30  There were surely signs in this; We will surely put you to the test

23:31  After them We raised a new generation

23:32  Then We sent to them an apostle from among them (who said): "Worship God, for you have no other god but He. Will you not take heed and fear God?"

23:33  The chiefs of the people who did not believe and denied the life to come, though We had given them good things of this life to enjoy, (said): "He is only a mortal like you. He eats as you do, and drinks as you drink

23:34  So if you follow a man like yourself you will certainly be doomed

23:35  Does he give you a promise that when you are dead and turned to dust and bones, you will be raised to life again

23:36  How far-fetched what you are promised

23:37  There is only the life of this world: We die and we live: there is no rising from the dead for us

23:38  He is just a man who invents a lie about God; we cannot believe in him."

23:39  (The apostle prayed): "O Lord, deliver me, for they accuse me of lies."

23:40  Answered (the Lord): "They shall wake up repenting soon."

23:41  So they were rightly seized by a mighty blast; and We turned them into mouldy rubbish: A good riddance of the wicked people

23:42  Then after them We raised other generations

23:43  No nation can live beyond its allotted time, or lag behind

23:44  Then We sent Our apostles one after the other. Every time an apostle came to a people they denied him. So We made one follow the other (to its doom), and turned them into bygone tales. Cursed be the people who do not believe

23:45  Then We sent Moses and his brother Aaron with Our miracles and clear proof

23:46  To Pharaoh and his nobles who behaved with arrogance, for they were a conceited lot

23:47  And said: "Should we believe in two men like yourselves, whose people are our subjects?"

23:48  Then they accused them of lies, and joined the company of those who were destroyed

23:49  And We gave the Book to Moses so that they may be guided

23:50  And We made the son of Mary and his mother a sign, and gave them shelter on an elevated ground, sequestered, watered by a spring

23:51  O you apostles, eat things that are clean, and do things that are good. We are surely cognisant of what you do

23:52  Verily this your order is one order, and I am your Lord, so fear Me

23:53  But then they divided up their order into different creeds, each section rejoicing in what it had come to have

23:54  So leave them to their ignorance for a time

23:55  Do they think that by increasing their wealth and childre

23:56  We are hastening to reward them for good deeds? No. They do not comprehend

23:57  Surely those who live in awe of their Lord

23:58  Who believe in their Lord's revelations

23:59  Who do not associate any one with their Lord

23:60  Who give whatsoever they give (in His way), and their hearts tremble with fear that they have to go back to their Lord

23:61  Are the ones who hasten to goodness and outpace the others

23:62  We do not burden a soul beyond capacity, for We have a record that tells the truth. No wrong will be done to any one

23:63  Yet their hearts are oblivious of this; and besides, they are busy with other things

23:64  So that when We seize the affluent among them with affliction, they will begin to implore for help

23:65  "Do not supplicate for help today; you will not be rescued by Us

23:66  For when My revelations were read out to you, you turned back on your heels and fle

23:67  Insolently, treating them like tales told at night."

23:68  Why did they not think over the message? Or has something come to them which had not come to their fathers

23:69  Or did they not recognise their apostle, and rejected him

23:70  Or do they say that he is possessed? In fact, he has brought the truth to them, but most of them abhor the truth

23:71  Had truth been subject to their whims the heavens and the earth and all those within them would have been depraved. In fact We had sent them their reminder, but they turned away from good advice

23:72  Or do you ask of them any tribute? In that case the tribute of your Lord is better, for He is the best of providers

23:73  You are surely calling them to the right path

23:74  But those who believe not in the Hereafter turn away from the straight path

23:75  If We took compassion on them and removed the affliction they are in, they would only wander lost in confusion

23:76  We had seized them with the punishment, but they did not bow before their Lord nor turned to Him in humility

23:77  So that when at last We open up the gate of severe punishment on them they will be overwhelmed with despair

23:78  It is He who gave you hearing, sight, and hearts, but only few of you give thanks

23:79  It is He who multiplied you on the earth, and it will be before Him that you will be gathered

23:80  It is He who gives you life and death, and His the alternation of night and day. Even then you do not understand

23:81  And talk as did the people of old

23:82  They say: "When we are dead and turned to dust and bones, shall we be raised to life again

23:83  We and our fathers were promised this before; it is nothing but ancient lore!"

23:84  Say: "To whom does the earth and whosoever is upon it then belong, if you know?"

23:85  They will say: "To God." Say: "Then why do you not bethink yourselves?"

23:86  Say: "Then who is the Lord of the seven skies? And who is the Lord of the mighty Throne?"

23:87  They will say: "God." Say: "Then why do you not obey and fear Him?"

23:88  Say: "Whose is the sovereignty over all things, who protects, and against whom there is no protection? {Answer) if you have knowledge."

23:89  They will say: "God's." Say: "Then why are you so deluded?"

23:90  In fact We have sent the truth to them, but they are liars

23:91  God has not begotten a son, nor is there any god besides Him. Had this been so, each god would have taken away what he had created with him, and some would have risen over the others. God is much too glorious for what they attribute (to Him)

23:92  The knower of the absent and the present, too exalted is He for what they associate (with Him)

23:93  Say: "O Lord, if I am made to see what has been promised them

23:94  Then do not, O Lord, put me among the sinners."

23:95  We have certainly the power to make you see what We have promised them

23:96  Dispel evil with what is good. We know well what they attribute (to Us)

23:97  Say: "My Lord, I seek refuge in You from the evil promptings of the devils

23:98  I seek refuge in You lest they come to me."

23:99  (But the unbelievers will persist) until when death comes to one of them he will say: "O Lord, send me back agai

23:100  That I may do some good I did not do (in the world)." Not so. These are only words he utters. Behind them lies the intervening barrier (stretching) to the day of their resurrection

23:101  When the trumpet blast is sounded no ties of lineage will hold among them, nor will they ask after one another

23:102  Only those whose scales are heavier in the balance will find happiness

23:103  But those whose scales are lighter will perish and abide in Hell for ever

23:104  Their faces will be scorched by flames, and they will grin and scowl within it

23:105  "Were not My messages read out to you? But you denied them."

23:106  They will say: "O Lord, our misery overwhelmed us, so we remained a people astray

23:107  Get us out of this, O Lord. If we transgress we will surely be sinful."

23:108  He will say: "Remain condemned in it, and do not speak to Me

23:109  There was a section among My creatures that said: 'O Lord, we believe. Forgive us and have mercy upon us, for You are the best of the merciful.

23:110  But you ridiculed them. So much so that out of (spite) for them you forgot to remember Me and laughed at them

23:111  I have rewarded them this day for they were constant, and they have come to attainment."

23:112  They will be asked: "How long did you live on the earth in terms of years?"

23:113  They will say: "A day or less than a day. Ask the enumerators of numbers."

23:114  He will say: "You stayed there only a moment, if you knew

23:115  Do you think We created you for nothing, and that you will not return to Us?"

23:116  Exalted then be God, the King, the Real. There is no god but He, the Lord of the glorious throne

23:117  Whoever worships another god apart from God, for which he holds no proof, will have to account for it before his Lord. Verily the unbelievers will not prosper

23:118  Say: "My Lord, forgive and have mercy. You are the best of the merciful."