34:1  All praise and gratitude are for God to Whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth (for it is He Who has created them and sustains them); and for Him are all praise and gratitude in the Hereafter (as it is He alone Who will found it as an eternal abode for His servants). He is the All-Wise, the All-Aware

34:2  He knows whatever enters into the earth and whatever comes out of it, and whatever descends from the heaven and whatever ascends to it. He is the All-Compassionate, the All-Forgiving

34:3  The unbelievers say: "The Last Hour will not come upon us." Say: "No indeed! By my Lord – and He is the Knower of the unseen – it most certainly will come upon you." Not an atom’s weight of whatever there is in the heavens or in the earth escapes Him, nor is there anything smaller than that, or greater, but it is (recorded) in a Manifest Book

34:4  (That is so, so) that He may reward those who believe and do good, righteous deeds. It is they for whom there is forgiveness (to bring unforeseen blessings) and an honorable, generous provision

34:5  Whereas those who strive against Our Revelations, seeking to frustrate and void (them), for those (who have thus distanced themselves from their Lord) is a painful punishment of loathsome kind (earned by their own loathsome deeds)

34:6  Those to whom the knowledge (of the truth) has been granted are well aware that what is sent down to you from your Lord (the Qur’an) is the truth (and what it declares of the afterlife is therefore true also), and that it guides to the Path of the All-Glorious with irresistible might, the All-Praiseworthy

34:7  But those who disbelieve say (in ridicule): "Shall we show you a man who will inform you that after you have been scattered entirely to dust, you will, even then, be raised in a new creation

34:8  "Does he fabricate something false in attribution to God or is there a madness in him?" No! (The truth is that) those who disbelieve in the Hereafter are in torment (of mind and heart) and lost far in error

34:9  Do they never consider that it is the heaven and the earth that are (extended) before and after them (so they are entirely and inescapably enclosed within His Kingdom)? If We so will, We can cause the earth to swallow them, or cause lumps of the heaven to fall down upon them. Surely in this is a sign for every servant of God who (being sincere in quest of the truth) will turn (to Him) in contrition

34:10  Assuredly We graced David with a great favor from Us: "O mountains! Sing the praises of God with him, and likewise you birds!" And We also made iron supple for him

34:11  (So that he was enabled to obey the command): "Make long coats-of-mail (to cover more of the body) and order with care the sequence (of actions in the process)". And (O family and followers of David,) do good, righteous deeds. Surely I see very well all that you do."

34:12  And to Solomon We (subjugated) the wind: its morning course covered the distance of a month’s journey (at normal pace), and its evening course, a month’s journey. And We caused molten cupper to flow for him (like a fountain). Among the jinn were some who, by the leave of his Lord, worked under him. Whoever of them swerved away from Our command (by disobeying him), We would make him taste the punishment of a fiery blaze

34:13  They made for him whatever he wished – sanctuaries, and figures (of inanimate objects), and carvings, as well as basins like ponds and boilers built into the ground. "Work, O family of David, in thankfulness to Me!" Few are the truly thankful among My servants

34:14  Then, when We executed Our decree for his death, nothing showed them (the jinn who had been laboring at the tasks he assigned to them) that he was dead, except that a termite had been gnawing away his staff (until it broke). Then when he fell to the ground, it became clear to the jinn that if they had known the Unseen, they would not have continued in the tormenting toil that humiliated them

34:15  Indeed, there was a sign (a meaningful lesson) for the people of Sheba to take from their abode –two (lovely, vast expanses of) gardens, on the right and on the left. "Eat of the provision your Lord has granted you, and give thanks to Him: a land most wholesome and a Lord All-Forgiving."

34:16  But they turned away (from thanksgiving to the sins of luxury and heedless self-indulgence). So We sent upon them the flood of (waters released from) the dams, and converted their two (lovely) gardens into a couple of gardens yielding bitter produce, tamarisks, and sparse lote-trees

34:17  Thus We recompensed them for their (sins originating in persistent) ingratitude. Do We ever punish any but the ingrate

34:18  We had set between them and the lands We blessed (Palestine and Damascus, with great blessings for their people) many towns within sight of one another, and We had established the journey distances (between them for ease and safety): "Travel therein by night or by day in security!"

34:19  But (this comfort and security spoiled them, and) they said: "Our Lord! Make the distances between our travel-stages longer!" , and they wronged themselves (by committing sins). So We caused them to become one of the legends (to circulate among later generations about the distant past), and dispersed them around in numerous fragments. Surely in that are signs (important lessons) for all who are greatly patient and perseverant (in obedience to God and in adversity for His sake), and greatly thankful (for His favors)

34:20  Iblis certainly found his conjecture (about humankind) true in what they (the people of Sheba) did. (He called them, and) they followed him, all but a group of true believers

34:21  And yet, he had no authority over them (to compel them to do anything), except in that (by testing humankind through him) We distinguish those who truly believe in the Hereafter from those who are in doubt concerning it. Your Lord keeps watch and record of all things

34:22  Say: "Call upon those (things or beings) whom you fancy to be deities besides God: they have no ownership or authority over an atom’s weight (of anything) either in the heavens or on the earth (so that they could benefit you therewith or avert from you any harm), nor do they have any share in (governing), nor does He (God) have any aide from among them

34:23  Besides, no intercession (for the fulfillment of any demand and for the accomplishment of any deed) is of any avail before Him, except that it be made for him (and by him) whom He permits. Yet, when the dread and awe (the angels whose intercession those polytheists hope for feel before God’s commands) is removed from their hearts, (other angels) ask: "What has your Lord commanded?" They answer: "The truth (that which is always and unalterably true)." He is the All-Exalted, the All-Great

34:24  Say: "Who is it that provides for you out of the heavens and the earth?" Say: "It is God! Surely then, either we (who believe in His Oneness as the Deity, Lord, and Supreme Sovereign) or you (who associate partners with Him in His Divinity, Lordship, and Sovereignty) follow the right guidance or are in obvious error."

34:25  Say: "(If you consider us to be committing a wrong in believing in and worshipping the One God, then know that) you will not be called to account for what we have done, nor will we be called to account for what you do."

34:26  Say: "Our Lord will bring us all together and then He will judge between us with truth and separate us. He is One Who judges between people with truth and separates them, the All-Knowing."

34:27  Say: "Show me those beings that you have joined with Him as partners (so that I may see whether any among them deserve worship!) No! (You cannot do it because it is impossible!) But He alone is God, the All-Glorious with irresistible might (Who never needs and admits any partnership), the All-Wise (Whose Divine Wisdom rejects partnership with Him)."

34:28  We have not sent you but to all humankind as a bearer of glad tidings (of prosperity for faith and righteousness) and a warner (against the consequences of misguidance). But most of humankind do not know (this, nor do they appreciate what a great blessing it is for them)

34:29  They say: "When is this promise (of judgment) to be fulfilled, if you are truthful (in your claim)?"

34:30  Say: "You have the promise of a Day which you can neither delay by a single moment nor advance."

34:31  Those who disbelieve say: "We will not believe in this Qur’an, nor in any (Message) that came before it." If you could but see when such wrongdoers are made to stand before their Lord, throwing back blame at one another! Those who (in the world) were oppressed (and did not oppose being oppressed, humiliated, and misled) say to those who acted in arrogance and oppressed others: "Had it not been for you, we would have been true believers."

34:32  The arrogant oppressors retort to those who were oppressed: "What! did we (forcibly) bar you from following the guidance after it had reached you? No, but you yourselves were the criminals (committed to accumulating sins)?"

34:33  Those who were oppressed and humiliated say to the arrogant (who oppressed them): "No! Rather, (it was your) scheming night and day (that kept us away from the guidance); you were constantly commanding us to blaspheme against God and set up rivals to Him." When they all face the punishment, they will be unable to express their remorse. We will put fetters around the necks of those who disbelieved (and keep them in the Fire). Will they have been recompensed for anything other than what they used to do

34:34  We never sent a warner to any township but those of its people who had been lost in the pursuit of pleasures without scruples reacted, saying: "Surely we are unbelievers in that with which you have been sent."

34:35  And they said: "We are more abundant (than you) in wealth and children and so we are not (the ones) to be punished (as you tell us to happen in the Hereafter)."

34:36  Say: "Surely my Lord God enlarges provision for whom He wills, and straitens it (for whom He wills); but most of humankind do not know."

34:37  And it is neither your wealth nor your children which will bring you near to Us; but only one who believes and does good, righteous deeds (can come near to Us), and it is those whose reward for their deeds is multiplied, and they will dwell in high, lofty mansions (of Paradise), secure (from any suffering)

34:38  Whereas those who strive hard against Our Revelations, seeking to frustrate them, such will be arraigned for punishment (in Hell)

34:39  Say: "Surely God enlarges provision for whom He wills of His servants, and straitens it (for whom He wills). Whatever you spend (in God’s cause and in alms), He will replace it. He is the Best to be sought as provider with the ultimate rank of providing."

34:40  And a Day (will come and) He will gather those (who strive against Our Revelations and those beings or things they worshipped in the world) all together, and will ask the angels, "Was it you that those used to worship (within your knowledge and to your pleasure)?"

34:41  They will answer: "All-Glorified You are (in that You are absolutely above having partners). You alone are our Guardian (Whom We worship,) having no such relation with them." Rather, they were worshipping jinn; most of them believed in them (jinn as beings deserving worship)."

34:42  So on this Day you will have no power over one another to benefit or harm. And We will say to those who have persistently committed wrong (by following misleading paths): "Taste the punishment of the Fire, (the existence of) which you used to deny!"

34:43  When Our Revelations clear as evidence and in meaning are recited to them (the Makkan polytheists), they say: "This is but a man who wants to bar you from what your forefathers used to worship." They also say (of the Qur’an): "This is nothing but a fabrication falsely attributed to God." Those who disbelieve say of the truth when it has reached them (in willful defiance of its clarity): "This is clearly nothing but sorcery."

34:44  But We did not grant them any Book which they studied (so that they should dare pretend to be able to discriminate between true and false scripture). Nor did We send them a warner before you (so that they should dare pretend to be able to distinguish you as being a fabricator and a sorcerer)

34:45  Many of those who lived before them also denied the truth. These have not attained a tenth of what We granted to those (of knowledge, as well as power and means); and yet they denied My Messengers – then how awesome was My disowning them

34:46  Say: "I exhort you to one thing: Pull yourselves together and draw aside purely for God’s sake, together with another person or alone, and then reflect (on this issue, leaving aside all your prejudices). There is no madness in your companion (God’s Messenger). He is but a warner to you (sent) prior to a severe punishment."

34:47  Say: "(I ask of you no wage, yet, even so) whatever you may think I might ask you for by way of wage, it is yours. My wage is only due from God. He is indeed a witness over everything."

34:48  Say: "Surely my Lord sends down the truth, hurling it (against falsehood to destroy it). (My Lord:) He alone is the All-Knowing of the whole of the unseen (all that is beyond human perception)."

34:49  Say: "The truth has come (and manifested itself); and falsehood cannot originate (anything even if its followers try to keep it going), nor can it restore anything (of that which it has lost)."

34:50  Say: "Were I to go astray, it would be to my own harm (and due to my own self). And if I am rightly guided, it is by virtue of what my Lord is revealing to me. Surely He is All-Hearing, All-Near."

34:51  If you could but see when they quake with dread (of death), with no escape, and are seized from a position very near

34:52  They say: "We have believed in it (the Qur’an)!" But how can they hope to attain to faith and salvation from a position so far away

34:53  (Seeing that) they certainly disbelieved in it before. They have been aiming at the Unseen (the Hereafter) from far away (with words all untrue and without any basis in true knowledge)

34:54  And a barrier has been placed between them and what they had appetite for (while in the world), as was done with the likes of them before. Surely they were (lost) in hopeless doubt