28:1  TA. SEEN. MEEM.

28:2  Those there are signs of the explicit timeless Book.

28:3  WE convey to you, with the exclusive right, from the account of Moses and Pharaoh, for a people who believe.

28:4  Surely, Pharaoh exalted himself in the land and rendered its people into factions, systematically suppressing a group among them, slaughtering their sons, and keeping their women alive. He was truly of the corrupt.

28:5  While WE intend that WE bestow favor upon those who were systematically suppressed in the land, turn them into leaders and make them the inheritors,

28:6  and that WE establish them in the land, and that through them show Pharaoh and Haman and their forces, that of which they were wary.

28:7  WE revealed to the mother of Moses: Nurse him. Then when you fear for him, cast him in the water and do not fear, nor grieve. Surely, WE are his restorer to you, and his maker as one of the Messengers.

28:8  Thus [as it was meant to be], the House of Pharaoh plucked him [i.e., Moses] out, that he be an enemy and a source of sorrow unto them. Verily, Pharaoh and Haman and their forces were ever at fault.

28:9  And the wife of Pharaoh said, “A sight to savor, for me and for you. Do not anyone kill him. It is possible that he will benefit us, or we may adopt him as a son.” And they had no concept [of God’s plan].

28:10  The emotions of Moses’ mother took a turn towards being uncontainable, and she had come close to revealing all about him, were it not that WE strengthened her heart, that she be of the steadfast believers.

28:11  She said to his sister, “Keep tracking him” So she kept sight of him from afar, while they had no inkling [of her].

28:12  And from the outset, WE had forbidden the suckling by foster mothers for him, so then she said, “Shall I direct you to a household to feed him for you, and they will be earnest caregivers for him?”

28:13  Thus, WE restored him to his mother, so her eye could cherish him, and she would not grieve, and get to know that the promise of Allah is ever true. But most of them do not know.

28:14  And when in time, he reached maturity and became his own person, WE bestowed judgment and knowledge upon him. Thus, do WE reward the ones who do good in selfless devotion to God.

28:15  He entered the city during a time of laxity amongst its people and found therein two men locked in a fight: this one from his own faction and this [other] from his enemies. Then the one from his own faction sought his aid against the one who was of his enemies. Thereupon, [Moses] struck him, putting an end to him. Said [Moses], “This is some doing of Satan. Surely, he is an enemy—a plain misleader.”

28:16  He said, “My Rabb, I did indeed wrong my soul, so do forgive me.” So, HE forgave him. Surely, HE is the forgiving, the ever merciful.

28:17  He said, “MY Rabb, because YOU have bestowed favor on me, never will I be a backer of the lawbreakers.”

28:18  So then, the next morning in the city he was fearfully watchful. So it was when the one who sought his help the previous day, cried out to him [for help]. Said Moses to him. “You surely are one obvious baiter.”

28:19  Then when he intended to deal forcefully with the one who was an enemy to them both, said he, “O Moses do you desire that you kill me like you killed a person yesterday? You do not intend aught except to be tyrannical in the land. You intend not to be of the peacemakers.”

28:20  A man came running from the farthest part of the wider city. He said, “O Moses, for a fact the authorities are deliberating about you, in order to kill you. Therefore, get away. I am of those who wish well for you”

28:21  So, he got himself out of there— fearful and watchful. He prayed, “My Rabb, deliver me from the unjust people.”

28:22  And when he set his face in the direction of Madyan, he said, “May it be, that my Rabb guides me to the proper confines of the Way.”

28:23  When he came to the water of Madyan, he found there a crowd of people slaking, and he found two women, aside from them, holding back. He said, “What is the concern of the two of you?” They said, “We cannot slake [our animals] until the shepherds clear out, and our father is a grand old man.”

28:24  So, he watered for them, then turned back to the shade and said, “My Rabb, I am ever in need of whatever good YOU have sent down to me.”

28:25  Thereupon came one of the two, walking bashfully. She said, “My father invites you, so he may pay you back for the watering you did for us. When he came to him and narrated his story to him, [their father] responded, “Fear not, you have attained safety from the unjust people.”

28:26  Said one of the two, “O my papa, seek to retain him. Surely the best one you could retain is the one strong, trustworthy.”

28:27  He said, “I intend that I marry you to one of these two daughters of mine, based on you giving me your service, for eight [seasons] of pilgrimage. Thereafter if you complete ten, then that would be from you, [i.e., by your own choosing]. And I do not intend to impose any difficulty upon you. You shall find me, if Allah has willed, of the righteous.

28:28  He said, “That will be between you and me, whichever of the terms I complete— without a violation attributable to me. And Allah is ever a trustee over what we say.”

28:29  Then when Moses had completed the term and was travelling with his family, he sensed a fire issuing from a side of the Mount. He said to his family, “Rest here. I do sense a fire. I hope to be able to bring you some news from it, or a firebrand from the fire to enable you to warm yourselves.”

28:30  Then when he approached it, he was called from the right bank of the valley, from the tree in the blessed patch: “O Moses! I am Allah, Rabb of all the realms.

28:31  And: “Throw forth your staff.” Thereupon when he saw it writhing, as if it were an apparition, he turned around in flight, not looking back. “O Moses, turn back and draw near and do not fear. Surely, you are among the ones given security.”

28:32  Pass your hand through your pocket [to your heart], it will emerge radiant-white without a blot. And join your arm to yourself against all fear. These then are two proofs from your Rabb to Pharaoh and his notables. Surely, they are an iniquitous people.”

28:33  He said, “My Rabb, I did kill a soul from among them, so I fear they will kill me.”

28:34  My brother Aaron is more eloquent than me in speech, so send him with me as a bolster, validating me, for I do fear that they will give me the lie.

28:35  HE said, “WE shall strengthen your arm with your brother and empower you both with authority, so they will not lay a hand on you two. With OUR signs, the two of you and those who follow you, will be the ones to prevail.

28:36  So then, when Moses came to them with OUR signs as telling proofs, they said, “This here is nothing but conjured up magic. We have not heard of this through the course of our forefathers.”

28:37  Said Moses, “My Rabb knows best about who has come with Guidance from HIM, and for whom is to be the Home’s finality. Surely, the unjust will not succeed.

28:38  Said Pharaoh, “O my notables, I have not ever known of any god for you other than me. So then, fire-treat the clay for me O Haman, to make a lofty pavilion for me, to enable me to view the God of Moses. Whereas I do consider him to be of the liars.”

28:39  He and his forces waxed arrogant in the land, without the right. And they had assumed that they were not being returned to US.

28:40  So, WE seized him and his forces and flung them in the sea. See how the end of the wrongdoers was.

28:41  And WE rendered them as leaders beckoning to the fire, and on the Day of Resurrection they will not be helped.

28:42  And WE caused them to be pursued by denunciation in this world, and on the Day of Resurrection they will be among the detested.

28:43  And WE did give Moses the timeless Book in the aftermath of OUR destruction of the earlier generations— [a trove of] insights for humankind, and guidance and mercy, to enable them to mindfully contemplate.

28:44  You were not on the side of the setting sun, when WE directed the command unto Moses, and neither were you among the witnesses.

28:45  But WE did bring into being many generations, and the span of time extended long over them. And neither were you a dweller amidst the residents of Madyan, reciting OUR messages to them. But it was ever US sending the messengers.

28:46  And you were not on the side of the Mount when WE called. But a mercy it is from your Rabb, that you may warn a people unto whom no warner has come before you, to enable them to mindfully contemplate.

28:47  [God would not be sending messengers], if it were not that a calamity would befall them for what their own hands have sent ahead, and then they would say, “OUR Rabb why did YOU not send a messenger unto us, so we could have followed YOUR messages and been of the believers?”

28:48  But now when the Truth has come to them from US, they say, “Why was he not given the like of what was given to Moses?” Did they not before this disbelieve in what was given to Moses? They have [now] said, “Two sorceries—backing each other.” And they have said, “We are disbelievers of each one.”

28:49  Say, “Then bring a book from Allah, which is better guidance than the two— I would follow it, if you were truthful.

28:50  If they do not respond to you, then know that they only follow their whims. Who could be more astray than one who follows his own whims, to the exception of guidance from Allah? Surely, Allah does not guide the unjust people.

28:51  WE have continuously imparted the Word to them, to enable them to mindfully contemplate.

28:52  The ones unto whom WE gave the timeless Book before it, they believe in it.

28:53  When it is recited unto them, they say, “We have believed in it. It is certainly the Truth from our Rabb. Surely, we were in willful surrender unto God, even prior to it.

28:54  Those will be given their reward twice because they have persevered. And they repel the foul with good and spend [in God’s way] from what WE have provided them.

28:55  And when they hear the frivolous, they turn away from it and say, “Unto us our deeds and unto you your deeds. Peace [Salaam] be upon you. We do not seek the [morally] ignorant.”

28:56  You do not guide whoever you have loved [to guide], but Allah guides whoever HE wills, and HE is most knowing about the rightly guided.

28:57  They say, “If we follow the Guidance with you, we would be swept off from our land.” Have WE not established for them a secure sanctuary, and directed toward it fruits of all things, as sustenance from OUR divine domain? But most of them know not.

28:58  How many a town have WE destroyed which boasted about its living standard. And then those dwellings of theirs, except for a few, are not inhabited after them. WE are ever the inheritors.

28:59  And not is your Rabb ever a destroyer of a settlement until after HE has raised in its midst a messenger who has recited to them OUR verses. WE are not ever destroyers of a settlement, except while its inhabitants were wrongdoers.

28:60  Whatever of anything that is given to you is a temporal provision for the earthly life and its adornment. That which is with Allah is best and everlasting. Will you then not give thought?

28:61  Is then one to whom WE have promised a beautiful promise, and who then is its attainer, like one whom WE have provided for with the provisions of earthly life, and who will then be of the ones arraigned on the Day of Resurrection?

28:62  A day HE summons them, to ask: “Where are MY partners, the ones you were claiming?”

28:63  Those against whom the Word was deserved said, “Our Rabb, these are the ones we had snatched [away from the Path]. We snatched them just as we had been snatched. We have disavowed [them] before YOU. It was not us they were serving.”

28:64  And it was said, “Call your partner-gods.” So, they called them, but none responded to them, and they did see the punishment. If only they were rightly guided!

28:65  And on a day, HE will summon them to ask: “What answer did you give to the Messengers?”

28:66  Then that day, the [dogmatic] details [they had crafted] blanked out on them— unable even to ask each other.

28:67  Yet whosoever has repented and has embraced Faith and acted righteously, he has thus made possible his being of the successful ones.

28:68  Your Rabb creates what HE wills and chooses. The option was not ever theirs. Limitless is the glory of Allah! Supremely exalted is HE, beyond any association they make.

28:69  Your Rabb knows what they conceal in their bosoms and what they reveal.

28:70  HE is Allah. There is no god except HE. To HIM belongs the praise, in the very first and the very last [instance], and to HIM belongs the[ultimate] Judgement and unto HIM you are being returned.

28:71  Say, “Have you considered: If Allah made the night to be perpetually upon you, through to the Day of Resurrection, who is God other than Allah, who can bring you a lamp? Will you then not listen?

28:72  Say, “Have you considered: If Allah made the light of day to be perpetually upon you, through to the Day of Resurrection, who is God other than Allah, who can bring you the night wherein you rest? Will you not then see?

28:73  From HIS mercy HE rendered the night and the day for you, that you may rest therein and that you may seek of HIS bounty, and to enable you to be grateful.

28:74  On a day HE will summon them to ask, “Where are MY partners— the ones you were claiming?”

28:75  WE drew from every community a witness, then WE said, “Bring your proof.” Then they knew that the Truth is for Allah, and what they were fabricating had forsaken them.

28:76  Hearken! Qārūn was of the people of Moses. Yet, he exploited them. WE gave him such of the treasures [of the world], that the keys thereof would weigh down a pack of strong ones. Whereupon his people said to him, “Do not gloat. Allah does not love the gloating ones.

28:77  [O Qārūn] seek through what Allah has given you, the home of the Hereafter and do not forget [the temporal nature of] your portion of this world and do good [unto others] like Allah has done good unto you. And do not seek [to side with and contribute to] the corruption in the land. Surely, Allah does not love the corrupt.”

28:78  He responded, “All is given to me only on the basis of a know-how with me.” Does he not know that Allah has indeed destroyed from the generations before him, such who was greater than him in power and exceeding by far in accumulation. Not are the ones guilty of flouting divine guidance, asked about their trespasses [before their sudden destruction].

28:79  So, [heedless still], he went out to his people in his pomp. Said the ones fixating on the earthly life, “Ah! Were there for us the like of what has been given to Qārūn. He is the owner of a great fortune.”

28:80  While those who were given true knowledge, said, “Woe unto you. The recognition of Allah is best for one who has embraced Faith and acted righteously. It is not conferred upon any except the patiently persevering.

28:81  Then WE caused the earth to swallow him and his dwelling. And thus, there was not any squad who could help him, other than Allah, and neither was he of the self-sustaining.

28:82  With the turn of the day, those who had wished for his status the day before, were saying, “Ah! Like that! Allah expands the provision for whoever of HIS created beings HE wills, and HE measures it out. Had Allah not been gracious to us, HE could have surely sunk us. Ah! Like that, the ungrateful do not succeed.”

28:83  That home in the Hereafter, WE assign it to those who do not pursue superiority in the land, nor corruption. The final sequel belongs to the God-conscious.

28:84  Whoever comes with a good deed, for him shall be better than it. And whoever comes with a bad deed—not will HE requite the ones who did the wrong deeds except by what they were doing.

28:85  Surely, HE WHO has ordained the Quran upon you, is your certain restorer to a [defined] destination. Say, “My Rabb best knows who has brought the right guidance, and who is in evident error.”

28:86  You were not expecting the presentation of the timeless Book to you, save for a mercy from your Rabb. So, be categorically not a backer for the disbelievers.

28:87  And do not let them hinder you from the verses of Allah, now when they have been sent down unto you. Invite unto your Rabb and be categorically not of the ones who ascribe a share to others in HIS divinity.

28:88  And do not beseech alongside Allah any other god. There is no god except HE. Everything is to perish except HIS countenance. HIS is the final Judgement and unto him you are being returned.