38:1  á¹¢ad. By the Qur’an bearing the Reminder

38:2  Yet the faithless dwell in conceit and defiance

38:3  How many a generation We have destroyed before them! They cried out [for help], but it was no more the time for escape

38:4  They consider it odd that there should come to them a warner from among themselves, and the faithless say, ‘This is a magician, a mendacious liar.’

38:5  ‘Has he reduced the gods to one god? This is indeed an odd thing!’

38:6  Their elite go about [urging others]: ‘Go and stand by your gods! This is indeed the desirable thing [to do]

38:7  We did not hear of this in the latter-day creed. This is nothing but a fabrication

38:8  Has the reminder been sent down to him out of [all of] us?’ Rather they are in doubt concerning My reminder. Rather they have not yet tasted My punishment

38:9  Do they possess the treasuries of the mercy of your Lord, the All-mighty, the All-munificent

38:10  Do they own the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them? [If so,] let them ascend [to the higher spheres] by the means [of ascension]

38:11  [They are but] a routed host out there, from among the factions

38:12  Before them Noah’s people impugned [their apostle] and [so did the people of] ‘a€d, and Pharaoh, the Impaler [of his victims]

38:13  and Thamud, and the people of Lot, and the inhabitants of Aykah: those were the factions

38:14  Each of them did not but impugn the apostles; so My retribution became due [against them]

38:15  These do not await but a single Cry which will not grant any respite

38:16  They say, ‘Our Lord! Hasten on for us our share before the Day of Reckoning.’

38:17  Be patient over what they say, and remember Our servant, David, [the man] of strength. Indeed he was a penitent [soul]

38:18  Indeed We disposed the mountains to glorify [Allah] with him at evening and dawn

38:19  and the birds [as well], mustered [in flocks], all echoing him [in a chorus]

38:20  We made his kingdom firm and gave him wisdom and conclusive speech

38:21  Has there not come to you the account of the contenders, when they scaled the wall into the sanctuary

38:22  When they entered into the presence of David, he was alarmed by them. They said, ‘Do not be afraid. [We are only] two contenders: one of us has bullied the other. So judge justly between us, and do not exceed [the bounds of justice], and show us the right path.’

38:23  ‘Indeed this brother of mine has ninety-nine ewes, while I have only a single ewe, and [yet] he says, ‘Commit it to my care,’ and he browbeats me in speech.’

38:24  He said, ‘He has certainly wronged you by asking your ewe in addition to his ewes, and indeed many partners bully one another, except such as have faith and do righteous deeds, and few are they.’ Then David knew that We had indeed tested him, whereat he pleaded with his Lord for forgiveness, and fell down prostrate and repented

38:25  So We forgave him that and indeed he has [a station of] nearness with Us and a good destination

38:26  ‘O David! Indeed We have made you a vicegerent on the earth. So judge between people with justice, and do not follow desire, or it will lead you astray from the way of Allah. Indeed those who stray from the way of Allah —there is a severe punishment for them because of their forgetting the Day of Reckoning.’

38:27  We did not create the sky and the earth and whatever is between them in vain. That is a conjecture of the faithless. So woe to the faithless for the Fire

38:28  Shall We treat those who have faith and do righteous deeds like those who cause corruption on the earth? Shall We treat the Godwary like the vicious

38:29  [It is] a blessed Book that We have sent down to you, so that they may contemplate its signs, and that those who possess intellect may take admonition

38:30  And to David We gave Solomon —what an excellent servant! Indeed he was a penitent [soul]

38:31  When one evening there were displayed before him prancing steeds

38:32  he said, ‘Indeed I have preferred the love of [worldly] niceties to the remembrance of my Lord until [the sun] disappeared behind the [night’s] veil.’

38:33  ‘Bring it back for me!’ Then he [and others] began to wipe [their] legs and necks

38:34  Certainly We tried Solomon, and cast a [lifeless] body on his throne. Thereupon he was penitent

38:35  He said, ‘My Lord! Forgive me, and grant me a kingdom that does not befit anyone except me. Indeed You are the All-munificent.’

38:36  So We disposed the wind for him, blowing softly by his command wherever he intended

38:37  and the devils [as well as], every builder and diver

38:38  and others [too] bound together in chains

38:39  ‘This is Our bounty: so give away or withhold, without any reckoning.’

38:40  Indeed he has [a station of] nearness with Us and a good destination

38:41  And remember Our servant Job [in the Qur’an]. When he called out to his Lord, ‘The devil has visited on me hardship and torment,’

38:42  [We told him:] ‘Stamp your foot on the ground; this [ensuing spring] is a cooling bath and drink.’

38:43  And We gave [back] his family to him along with others like them, as a mercy from Us and an admonition for those who possess intellect

38:44  [We told him:] ‘Take a faggot in your hand and then strike [your wife] with it, but do not break [your] oath.’ Indeed We found him to be patient. What an excellent servant! Indeed he was a penitent [soul]

38:45  And remember Our servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, men of strength and insight

38:46  Indeed We purified them with the exclusiveness of the remembrance of the abode [of the Hereafter]

38:47  Indeed with Us they are surely among the elect of the best

38:48  And remember Ishmael, Elisha and Dhu’l-Kifl —each [of whom was] among the elect

38:49  This is a reminder, and indeed the Godwary have a good destinatio

38:50  —the Gardens of Eden, whose gates are flung open for them

38:51  Reclining therein [on couches], therein they ask for abundant fruits and drinks

38:52  and with them will be maidens of restrained glances of a like age

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

38:54  This is indeed Our provision, which will never be exhausted

38:55  This [is for the righteous], and as for the rebellious there will surely be a bad destinatio

38:56  —hell, which they shall enter, an evil resting place

38:57  This; let them taste it: scalding water and pus

38:58  and other kinds [of torments] resembling it

38:59  ‘This is a group plunging [into hell] along with you.’ ‘May wretchedness be their lot! They will indeed enter the Fire.’

38:60  They say, ‘Rather, may wretchedness be your lot! You prepared this [hell] for us. What an evil abode!’

38:61  They say, ‘Our Lord! Whoever has prepared this for us, double his punishment in the Fire!’

38:62  And they say, ‘What is the matter with us that we do not see [here] men whom we used to count among the bad ones

38:63  Did we ridicule them [unduly in the world], or do [our] eyes miss them [here]?’

38:64  That is indeed a truth: the contentions of the inmates of the Fire

38:65  Say , ‘I am just a warner, and there is no god except Allah, the One, the All-paramount

38:66  the Lord of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them, the All-mighty, the All-forgiver.’

38:67  Say, ‘It is a great prophesy

38:68  of which you are disregardful

38:69  I have no knowledge of the Supernal Elite when they contend

38:70  All that is revealed to me is that I am just a manifest warner.’

38:71  When your Lord said to the angels, ‘Indeed I am about to create a human being out of clay

38:72  So when I have proportioned him and breathed into him of My spirit, then fall down in prostration before him.’

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

38:74  but not Iblis; he acted arrogantly and he was one of the faithless

38:75  He said, ‘O Iblis! What keeps you from prostrating before that which I have created with My [own] two hands? Are you arrogant, or are you [one] of the exalted ones?’

38:76  ‘I am better than him,’ he said. ‘You created me from fire and You created him from clay.’

38:77  He said, ‘Begone hence, for you are indeed an outcast

38:78  and indeed My curse will be on you till the Day of Retribution.’

38:79  He said, ‘My Lord! Respite me till the day they will be resurrected.’

38:80  Said He, ‘You are indeed among the reprieve

38:81  until the day of the known time.’

38:82  He said, ‘By Your might, I will surely pervert them

38:83  except Your exclusive servants among them.’

38:84  He said, ‘The truth is that —and I speak the truth—

38:85  I will surely fill hell with you and all of those who follow you.’

38:86  Say, ‘I do not ask you any reward for it, and I am no impostor

38:87  It is just a reminder for all the nations

38:88  and you will surely learn its tidings in due time.’