42:1  Ha Meem.

42:2  Ayn Seen Qaf,

42:3  thus God, the Revered, the Wise reveals to you, as He did to those before you.

42:4  To Him belongs everything in the heavens and everything on Earth. He is the Exalted, the Tremendous.

42:5  The heavens above them almost burst apart [from the awe of Him], while the angels praise their Lord’s limitless glory and ask forgiveness for those on Earth. God is indeed the Ever-Forgiving, the Mercy giver.

42:6  As for those who take others than Him as protectors, God is in charge of them, and you are not their keeper.

42:7  Thus We have revealed to you an Arabic Qur’an that you may warn this main city and all others around it and to give warning of the Day of Gathering, about which there is no doubt when some will be in the Garden and some in the Blazing Fire.

42:8  Had God willed, He could have made them one community. But He admits into His mercy him/her who wills (to enter). As for the unjust, they will have no protector and no helper.

42:9  Or do they think that they have protectors other than Him? God is the Protector, for He gives life to the dead, and He is able to do all things.

42:10  Whatever matters you differ about is for God to judge. Such is God, my Lord, in whom I trust, and to Him, I turn for help,

42:11  the Creator of the heavens and Earth who separated them and gave each a purpose. He has made mates for you from among yourselves and gave mates to the animals so that you may multiply. There is nothing like Him. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.

42:12  To Him belongs control of the heavens and the Earth. He provides abundantly or scarcely to whoever He wills. He is the All-knowing.

42:13  He has ordained for you the same faith He commanded Noah, and what We have revealed to you, and what We commanded Abraham and Moses and Jesus: “You shall uphold the faith and do not break up into factions.” Although what you are calling the idolaters to do is too hard for them. [However] God draws to Himself everyone who is willing and guides unto Himself everyone who turns to Him.

42:14  Yet they [the followers] split into factions, out of rivalry between them only after they came to know the truth. Judgment between them would have been pronounced were it not for a decision from your Lord to postpone it until a set time. Yet those who have inherited the Book after them are in grave doubt about it.

42:15  Therefore, go on inviting them and stay firm on the right path, as you have been commanded. Do not follow their whims and desires but say, "I have believed in what God has sent down of the Book, and I have been commanded to judge equitably between you. God is our Lord and your Lord. We have our deeds, and you have your deeds. Let there be no quarrel between you and us. God will bring us all together, and to Him is the ultimate return.”

42:16  And those who argue about God after having answered His call, their argument has no basis whatsoever with their Lord. Anger enfolds them, and a severe punishment awaits them.

42:17  It is God who has sent down the Book with the Truth and the Balance. For all you know, the Hour might be near.

42:18  Those who do not believe in it seek to hasten it, but those who believe are concerned about it, as they know it is the Truth. Unquestionably, those who question the Hour are in extreme error.

42:19  God is very gentle with His worshipers; He provides for whomever He wills. He is the All-Powerful, the Revered.

42:20  If anyone desires the harvest of the Hereafter, We will increase for him his harvest. And if he desires the harvest of this world, We will give him a share of it, but He will have no share of the Hereafter.

42:21  Or do they have partners who have ordained for them some faith that is not authorized by God? Were it not for [God’s] decisive word; Judgment would have been made between them. The unjust will have a painful punishment.

42:22  You will see the unjust worried about what they have committed, as they will have to answer for it. While those who have believed and done good deeds are in flowering meadows of the Gardens, having whatever they wish from their Lord: that is the supreme blessing.

42:23  This is the good news God gives to His worshipers who believe and do good deeds. Say, "I do not ask you any wage for it, except affection due to kin." Whoever does a good deed, We will increase it for him. God is Ever-Forgiving and Most Appreciative.

42:24  Or do they say, "He falsely claimed lies about God?" If God so willed, He could have sealed your heart, exterminated falsehood, and confirmed the Truth with His Words. He has full knowledge of what is in the hearts.

42:25  It is He who accepts repentance from his worshipers and forgives bad deeds; He knows what you do.

42:26  He answers those who have believed and done good deeds and increases for them out of His grace. But the unbelievers will have a severe punishment.

42:27  Were God to expand provision to His worshipers, they would have committed tyranny on Earth. But He sends down whatever He wills in due measures. He is well Acquainted and Fully Aware of His worshipers.

42:28  It is He who sends down the rain after they have lost hope and unfolds His mercy. He is the Protector, the Praiseworthy.

42:29  Among His signs is the creation of the heavens and Earth and the creatures He has spread throughout them: He is Able to gather them together if He so wishes.

42:30  Whatever disaster strikes you, It is for what your hands have done; Yet He forgives much.

42:31  On Earth, you will not be beyond God’s reach. You do not have any protector or helper besides God.

42:32  Among His Signs are ships floating like mountains through the sea.

42:33  If He wills, He could have settled down the winds, leaving them motionless on its surface. Surely in that are signs for every patient and grateful person.

42:34  Or He could destroy them for what they have earned, yet He pardons much.

42:35  Those who argue about Our signs know that there is no escape for them.

42:36  Whatever you have been given is only the provision of this life. But that which is with God is better and more enduring for those who believe and trust in their Lord;

42:37  those who avoid major sins and immoral acts, and even if they become angry, they will forgive;

42:38  and those who respond to their Lord, establish prayer, conduct their affairs by mutual consultation, and give of what We have provided for them;

42:39  and those who, when tyranny strikes them, they defend themselves.

42:40  The retribution for a bad deed is one like it, but whoever forgives and seeks reconciliation will have his reward with God. He certainly does not like those who do wrong.

42:41  Yet whoever defends himself after having been wronged, there is no blame on him.

42:42  The blame lies on those who wrong others and transgress in the land without any justification. Those will have a painful punishment.

42:43  As for him, who endures patiently and forgives, that is a sign of real resolve.

42:44  Whoever God lets go astray will have no protector apart from Him. And you will see the transgressors, when they see the punishment, saying, "Is there a way of going back?"

42:45  As they are exposed to the Fire, you will see them humbled from humiliation, glancing around covertly. While those who believed will say, "The losers are those who lost themselves and their kin on the Day of Resurrection.” Verily, the unjust are in an enduring punishment

42:46  they have no allies to support them apart from God. Anyone God lets go astray will find no way out.

42:47  Respond to your Lord before a Day comes from God’s judgment that cannot be turned back. You will have no refuge on that Day and no means of denial.

42:48  But if they turn away, We did not send you as their guardian. Your only duty is to deliver the message. When We let man taste Our mercy, he rejoices in it; but if harm afflicts him for what his hands have done, then man turns to denial.

42:49  The kingdom of the heavens and the Earth belongs to God. He creates what he wills. He gives daughters to whomever He wills, and He gives sons to whom He wills.

42:50  Or, He combines them; (giving some people) males and females, and He makes whom He wills sterile. He is All-knowing and Able to do all things.

42:51  God will not speak to any human being except by revelation or from behind a veil, or by sending a messenger who then reveals, by His permission, whatever He wills. He is Most High and All Wise.

42:52  Accordingly, We have revealed to you a Spirit of Our command. You did not know what is the Book or what faith is, but We have made it enlightenment, guiding with it whom We wish of Our worshipers. You indeed guide to a straight path

42:53  the path of God, to whom belongs everything that is in the heavens and Earth. Truly, all will eventually return to God.