38:1  Sâd By the Qur´an holding the Remembrance.

38:2  But those who are kafir are full of vainglory and entrenched in hostility.

38:3  How many generations We have destroyed before them! And they cried out when it was too late to escape.

38:4  They are surprised that a warner should come to them from among themselves. The kuffar say, ´This is a lying magician.

38:5  Has he turned all the gods into One God? That is truly astonishing!´

38:6  Their leaders went off saying, ´Carry on as you are! Hold fast to your gods. This is clearly something planned.

38:7  We have not heard of this in the old religion. This is merely something contrived.

38:8  Has the Reminder been sent down to him out of all of us?´ They are in doubt about My Reminder. They have yet to taste My punishment.

38:9  Or do they possess the treasuries of your Lord´s mercy, the Almighty, the Ever-Giving?

38:10  Or does the kingdom of the heavens and earth and everything between them belong to them? Let them, in that case, climb the ropes to heaven!

38:11  Even a whole army of Confederates will be routed there!

38:12  Before them the people of Nuh denied the truth, as did ´Ad and Pharaoh of the Stakes,

38:13  and Thamud and the people of Lut and the Companions of the Thicket.* Those too were Confederates.

38:14  Each one of them denied the Messengers and so My punishment was justly carried out.

38:15  These people too are only awaiting a single Blast and it will not be repeated.

38:16  They say, ´Our Lord, advance our share to us before the Day of Reckoning.´

38:17  Be steadfast in the face of what they say and remember Our slave Dawud, who possessed true strength. He truly turned to his Lord.

38:18  We subjected the mountains to glorify with him in the evening and at sunrise.

38:19  And also the birds, flocking together, all of them turned to Him.

38:20  We made his kingdom strong and gave him wisdom and decisive speech.

38:21  Has the story of the litigants reached you? How they climbed up to the Upper Room

38:22  and came in on Dawud who was alarmed by them. They said, ´Do not be afraid. We are two litigants, one of whom has acted unjustly towards the other, so judge between us with truth and do not be unjust and guide us to the Right Path.

38:23  This brother of mine has ninety-nine ewes and I have only one. He said, "Let me have charge of it," and got the better of me with his words.´

38:24  He said, ´He has wronged you by asking for your ewe to add to his ewes. Truly many partners are unjust to one another — except those who have iman and do right actions, and how few they are!´ Dawud realised that We had put him to the test. He begged forgiveness from his Lord and fell down prone, prostrating, and repented.

38:25  So We forgave him for that and he has nearness to Us and a good Homecoming.

38:26  ´Dawud! We have made you a khalif on the earth, so judge between people with truth and do not follow your own desires, letting them misguide you from the Way of Allah. Those who are misguided from the Way of Allah will receive a harsh punishment because they forgot the Day of Reckoning.´

38:27  We did not create heaven and earth and everything between them to no purpose. That is the opinion of those who are kafir. Woe to those who are kafir, because of the Fire!

38:28  Would We make those who have iman and do right actions the same as those who cause corruption on the earth? Would We make those who have taqwa the same as the dissolute?

38:29  It is a Book We have sent down to you, full of blessing, so let people of intelligence ponder its Signs and take heed.

38:30  We gave Dawud Sulayman. What an excellent slave! He truly turned to his Lord.

38:31  When swift horses, champing at the bit, were displayed before him in the afternoon,

38:32  he said, ´I have put the love of good things above the remembrance of my Lord until the sun disappeared behind its veil.

38:33  Return them to me!´ And he set about slashing through their shanks and necks.

38:34  We tested Sulayman and placed a lifeless body on his throne. Then he made tawba.

38:35  He said, ´My Lord, forgive me and give me a kingdom the like of which will never be granted to anyone after me. Truly You are the Ever-Giving.´

38:36  So We subjected the wind to him to blow at his command, softly, wherever he directed.

38:37  And the shaytans, every builder and diver,

38:38  and others of them, yoked together in chains.

38:39  ´This is Our gift: so bestow it or withhold it without reckoning.´

38:40  He will have nearness to Us and a good Homecoming.

38:41  Remember Our slave Ayyub when he called on his Lord: ´Shaytan has afflicted me with exhaustion and suffering.´

38:42  ´Stamp your foot! Here is a cool bath and water to drink.´

38:43  We gave him back his family and the same again with them as a mercy from Us and a reminder for people of intellect.

38:44  ´Take a bundle of rushes in your hand and strike with that but do not break your oath.´ We found him steadfast. What an excellent slave! He truly turned to his Lord.

38:45  And remember Our slaves Ibrahim, Ishaq and Ya´qub, men of true strength and inner sight.

38:46  We purified their sincerity through sincere remembrance of the Abode.

38:47  In Our eyes they are among the best of chosen men.

38:48  Remember Our slaves Isma´il, Al-Yasa´ and Dhu´l-Kifl; each of them was among the best of men.

38:49  This is a Reminder. Those who have taqwa will have a good Homecoming:

38:50  Gardens of Eden, whose gates will be open to them,

38:51  where they will recline, calling for plentiful fruit and drink;

38:52  and there will be dark-eyed maidens with them with eyes reserved for them alone.

38:53  This is what you are promised on the Day of Reckoning.

38:54  This is Our provision which will never run out.

38:55  This! Whereas for the profligate there is an evil Homecoming:

38:56  Hell, where they will roast. What an evil resting-place!

38:57  This! So let them taste it — boiling water and scalding pus,

38:58  and other such torments.

38:59  This! A crowd hurtling in with you. There is no welcome for them. They will certainly roast in the Fire.

38:60  They will say, ´No, it is you who have no welcome. It is you who brought it upon us. What an evil place to settle!´

38:61  They will say, ´Our Lord, give him who brought this on us double the punishment in the Fire!´

38:62  They will say, ´How is it that we do not see some men whom we used to count among the worst of people?

38:63  Did we turn them into figures of fun? Did our eyes disdain to look at them?´

38:64  All this is certainly true — the bickering of the people of the Fire.

38:65  Say: ´I am only a warner. There is no god except Allah, the One, the All-Conquering,

38:66  Lord of the heavens and the earth and everything between them, the Almighty, the Endlessly Forgiving.´

38:67  Say: ´This is momentous news

38:68  yet you ignore it!

38:69  I knew nothing of the Highest Assembly when they debated.

38:70  It is only revealed to me that I am a clear warner.´

38:71  Your Lord said to the angels, ´I am going to create a human being out of clay.

38:72  When I have formed him and breathed My Ruh into him, fall down in prostration to him!´

38:73  So the angels prostrated, all of them together,

38:74  except for Iblis who was arrogant and was one of the kafirun.

38:75  He said, ´Iblis, what prevented you prostrating to what I created with My own Hands? Were you overcome by arrogance or are you one of the exalted?´

38:76  He said, ´I am better than him. You created me from fire but You created him from clay.´

38:77  He said, ´Get out! you are accursed!

38:78  My curse is upon you until the Day of Reckoning.´

38:79  He said, ´My Lord, grant me a reprieve until the Day they are raised again.´

38:80  He said, ´You are among the reprieved

38:81  until the Day whose time is known.´

38:82  He said, ´By Your might, I will mislead all of them

38:83  except for Your chosen slaves among them.´

38:84  He said, ´By the truth — and I speak the truth —

38:85  I will fill up Hell with you and every one of them who follows you.´

38:86  Say: ´I do not ask you for any wage for it, nor am I a man of false pretensions.

38:87  It is simply a reminder to all the worlds.

38:88  You will come to know what it is talking about after a while.´