23:1  It is the muminun who are successful:

23:2  those who are humble in their salat;

23:3  those who turn away from worthless talk;

23:4  those who pay zakat;

23:5  those who guard their private parts —

23:6  except from their wives or those they own as slaves, in which case they are not blameworthy;

23:7  but those who desire anything more than that are people who have gone beyond the limits —

23:8  those who honour their trusts and their contracts;

23:9  those who safeguard their salat:

23:10  such people are the inheritors

23:11  who will inherit Firdaws, remaining in it timelessly, for ever.

23:12  We created man from the purest kind of clay;

23:13  then made him a drop in a secure receptacle;

23:14  then formed the drop into a clot and formed the clot into a lump and formed the lump into bones and clothed the bones in flesh; and then brought him into being as another creature. Blessed be Allah, the Best of Creators!

23:15  Then subsequently you will certainly die.

23:16  Then on the Day of Rising you will be raised again.

23:17  We created above you seven levels and We were not unaware of the creation.

23:18  We sent down a measured amount of water from heaven and lodged it firmly in the earth; and We are well able to remove it.

23:19  By means of it We produce gardens of dates and grapes for you, in which there are many fruits for you and from which you eat,

23:20  and a tree springing forth from Mount Sinai yielding oil and a seasoning to those who eat.

23:21  And there is certainly a lesson for you in your livestock. We give you to drink from what is in their bellies and there are many ways in which you benefit from them, and some of them you eat;

23:22  and you are conveyed on them and on ships as well.

23:23  We sent Nuh to his people and he said, ´My people, worship Allah. You have no god other than Him. So will you not have taqwa?´

23:24  The ruling circle of those of his people who were kafir said, ´This is nothing but a human being like yourselves who simply wants to gain ascendancy over you. If Allah had wanted He would have sent angels down. We never heard of anything like this among our ancestors, the earlier peoples.

23:25  He is nothing but a man possessed so wait a while and see what happens to him.´

23:26  He said, ´My Lord, help me because of their calling me a liar!´

23:27  We revealed to him: ´Build the Ship under Our supervision and as We reveal. When Our command comes and water bubbles up from the earth, load into it a pair of every species, and your family — except for those among them against whom the word has already gone ahead. And do not address Me concerning those who do wrong. They shall be drowned.

23:28  When you and those with you are settled in the Ship, then say: "Praise be to Allah who has rescued us from the people of the wrongdoers!"

23:29  And say: "My Lord, land me in a blessed landing-place. You are the best Bringer to Land."´

23:30  There are Signs in that. We are always putting people to the test.

23:31  Then We raised up another generation after them

23:32  and sent a Messenger to them from themselves: ´Worship Allah. You have no god other than Him! So will you not have taqwa?´

23:33  The ruling circle of his people — those who were kafir and denied the encounter of the Next World and whom We had given opulence in this world — said, ´This is nothing but a human being like yourselves. who eats what you eat and drinks what you drink.

23:34  If you were to obey a human being like yourselves, you would, in that case, definitely be the losers.

23:35  Does he promise you that when you have died and become dust and bones you will be brought forth again?

23:36  What you have been promised is sheer nonsense!

23:37  What is there but our life in this world? We die and we live and we will not be raised again.

23:38  What is he but a man who has invented a lie against Allah? We do not have iman in him.´

23:39  He said, ´My Lord, help me because of their calling me a liar!´

23:40  He said, ´In a short while they will be full of regret.´

23:41  The Great Blast seized hold of them inexorably and We turned them into dirty scum. Away with the people of the wrongdoers!

23:42  Then We raised up other generations after them.

23:43  No nation can advance its appointed time nor can they delay it.

23:44  Then We sent Our Messengers one after another, at intervals. Each time its Messenger came to a community they called him a liar so We made them follow one another too and turned them into myths and legends. Away with the people who have no iman!

23:45  Then We sent Musa and his brother Harun with Our Signs and clear authority

23:46  to Pharaoh and his ruling circle. But they were proud and were a haughty people.

23:47  They said, ´What! Should we have iman in two human beings like ourselves when their people are our slaves?´

23:48  They denied them and so they were destroyed.

23:49  We gave Musa the Book so that perhaps they would be guided.

23:50  And We made the son of Maryam and his mother a Sign and gave them shelter on a mountainside where there was a meadow and a flowing spring.

23:51  Messengers, eat of the good things and act rightly. I most certainly know what you do.

23:52  This faith of yours is a single faith and I am your Lord, so have taqwa of Me.

23:53  But they disagreed and split up, dividing into sects, each party exulting in what it had.

23:54  So leave them in their glut of ignorance for a while.

23:55  Do they imagine that, in the wealth and children We extend to them,

23:56  We are hastening to them with good things? No indeed, but they have no awareness!

23:57  Those who are filled with the fear of their Lord,

23:58  those who have iman in the Signs of their Lord,

23:59  those who do not associate anything with their Lord,

23:60  those who give what they have given, their hearts fearful of their return to their Lord,

23:61  such people are truly racing towards good things, and they are the first to reach them.

23:62  We do not impose on any self any more than it can stand. With Us there is a Book which speaks the truth. They will not be wronged.

23:63  However, their hearts are overwhelmed by ignorance about this matter and they do other things as well.

23:64  But then when We seize the affluent among them with the punishment, they will suddenly start praying fervently.

23:65  ´Do not pray fervently today. You will not get any help from Us.

23:66  My Signs were recited to you and you turned round on your heels,

23:67  arrogant towards it, talking arrant nonsense all night long.´

23:68  Do they not ponder these words? Has anything come to them that did not come to their ancestors the previous peoples?

23:69  Or is it that they do not recognise their Messenger and therefore do not acknowledge him?

23:70  Or do they say, ´He is a man possessed,´ when he has brought the truth to them? But most of them hate the truth.

23:71  If the truth were to follow their whims and desires, the heavens and the earth and everyone in them would have been brought to ruin. No indeed! We have given them their Reminder, but they have turned away from it.

23:72  Are you asking them for payment? Your Lord´s payment is better. He is the Best of Providers.

23:73  You are calling them to a straight path.

23:74  But those who do not have iman in the akhira recoil from the path.

23:75  If We did have mercy on them and removed the harm afflicting them, they would still obstinately persist in wandering blindly in their excessive insolence.

23:76  We seized them with the punishment, but they did not go low before their Lord; nor will they humble themselves

23:77  until We open to them a gate to a harsh punishment in which they will at once be crushed by despair.

23:78  It is He who has created hearing, sight and hearts for you. What little thanks you show!

23:79  It is He who dispersed you about the earth and you will be gathered to Him.

23:80  It is He who gives life and causes to die and His is the alternation of the night and day. So will you not use your intellect?

23:81  However, they say the same as previous peoples said.

23:82  They say, ´When we are dead and turned to dust and bones, shall we then be raised again?

23:83  We and our forefathers were promised this before. This is nothing but the myths of previous peoples!´

23:84  Say: ´To whom does the earth belong, and everyone in it, if you have any knowledge?´

23:85  They will say: ´To Allah.´ Say: ´So will you not pay heed?´

23:86  Say: ´Who is the Lord of the Seven Heavens and the Lord of the Mighty Throne?´

23:87  They will say: ´Allah.´ Say: ´So will you not have taqwa?´

23:88  Say: ´In whose hand is the dominion over everything, He who gives protection and from whom no protection can be given, if you have any knowledge?´

23:89  They will say: ´Allah´s.´ Say: ´So how have you been bewitched?´

23:90  The fact is that We have given them the truth and they are liars.

23:91  Allah has no son and there is no other god accompanying Him, for then each god would have gone off with what he created and one of them would have been exalted above the other. Glory be to Allah above what they describe,

23:92  Knower of the Unseen and the Visible! May He be exalted above all they associate with Him!

23:93  Say: ´My Lord, if You let me see what they have been promised,

23:94  do not then, my Lord, put me among the wrongdoing people!´

23:95  We are certainly capable of letting you see what We have promised them.

23:96  Ward off evil with what is better. We know very well what they express.

23:97  Say: ´My Lord, I seek refuge with You from the goadings of the shaytans,

23:98  and I seek refuge with You, my Lord, from their presence.´

23:99  When death comes to one of them, he says, ´My Lord, send me back again.

23:100  so that perhaps I may act rightly regarding the things I failed to do!´ No indeed! It is just words he utters. Before them there is an interspace until the Day they are raised up.

23:101  Then when the Trumpet is blown, that Day there will be no family ties between them; they will not be able to question one another.

23:102  Those whose scales are heavy, they are the successful.

23:103  Those whose scales are light, they are the losers of their selves, remaining in Hell timelessly, for ever.

23:104  The Fire will sear their faces, making them grimace horribly in it, their lips drawn back from their teeth.

23:105  ´Were My Signs not recited to you and did you not deny them?´

23:106  They will say, ´Our Lord, our miserable destiny overpowered us. We were misguided people.

23:107  Our Lord, remove us from it! Then if we revert again, we will definitely be wrongdoers.´

23:108  He will say, ´Slink away into it and do not speak to Me.

23:109  There was a group of My slaves who said, "Our Lord, we have iman, so forgive us and have mercy on us. You are the Best of the Merciful."

23:110  But you made a mockery of them so that they made you forget to remember Me while you were laughing at them.

23:111  Today I have rewarded them for being steadfast. They are the ones who are victorious.´

23:112  He will say, ´How many years did you tarry on the earth?´

23:113  They will say, ´We tarried there for a day or part of a day. Ask those able to count!´

23:114  He will say, ´You only tarried there for a little while if you did but know!

23:115  Did you suppose that We created you for amusement and that you would not return to Us?´

23:116  Exalted be Allah, the King, the Real. There is no god but Him, Lord of the Noble Throne.

23:117  Whoever calls on another god together with Allah, has no grounds for doing so at all and his reckoning is with his Lord. Truly the kafirun have no success.

23:118  Say: ´My Lord, forgive and be merciful! You are the Best of the Merciful.´