43:1  Ḥa, Ma«m

43:2  By the Manifest Book

43:3  We have made it an Arabic Qur’an so that you may apply reason

43:4  and indeed it is with Us in the Mother Book [and it is] surely sublime and wise

43:5  Shall We withhold the Reminder from you unconcernedly, because you are a profligate lot

43:6  How many a prophet We have sent to the ancients

43:7  There did not come to them any prophet but that they used to deride him

43:8  So We destroyed those who were stronger than these, and the example of the ancients has passed

43:9  If you ask them, ‘Who created the heavens and the earth?’ they will surely say, ‘The All-mighty, the All-knowing created them.’

43:10  He, who made the earth a cradle for you and made in it ways for you, so that you may be guided [to your destinations]

43:11  and who sent down water from the sky in a measured manner, and We revived with it a dead country. (Likewise you [too] shall be raised [from the dead].

43:12  And who created all the kinds and made for you the ships and the cattle such as you ride

43:13  that you may sit on their backs, then remember the blessing of your Lord when you are settled on them, and say, ‘Immaculate is He who has disposed this for us, and we [by ourselves] were no match for it

43:14  Indeed we shall return to our Lord.’

43:15  They ascribe to Him offspring from among His servants! Man is indeed a manifest ingrate

43:16  Did He adopt daughters from what He creates while He preferred you with sons

43:17  When one of them is brought the news of what he ascribes to the All-beneficent, his face becomes darkened and he chokes with suppressed agony, [and says]

43:18  ‘What! One who is brought up amid ornaments and is inconspicuous in contests?’

43:19  And they have made the angels —who are servants of the All-beneficent— females. Were they witness to their creation? Their testimony will be written down and they shall be questioned

43:20  They say, ‘Had the All-beneficent wished, we would not have worshipped them.’ They do not have any knowledge of that, and they do nothing but surmise

43:21  Did We give them a Book before this, so that they are holding fast to it

43:22  Rather they say, ‘We found our fathers following a creed, and we are indeed guided in their footsteps.’

43:23  And so it has been that We did not send any warner to a town before you, without its affluent ones saying, ‘We found our fathers following a creed and we are indeed following in their footsteps.’

43:24  He would say, ‘What! Even if I bring you a better guidance than what you found your fathers following?!’ They would say, ‘We indeed disbelieve in what you are sent with.’

43:25  Thereupon We took vengeance on them; so observe how was the fate of the deniers

43:26  When Abraham said to his father and his people, ‘I repudiate what you worship

43:27  excepting Him who originated me; indeed He will guide me.’

43:28  And He made it a lasting word among his posterity so that they may come back [to the right path]

43:29  Rather I provided for these and their fathers until there came to them the truth and a manifest apostle

43:30  But when the truth came to them, they said, ‘This is magic, and we indeed disbelieve in it.’

43:31  And they said, ‘Why was not this Qur’an sent down to some great man from the two cities?’

43:32  Is it they who dispense the mercy of your Lord? It is We who have dispensed among them their livelihood in the present life, and raised some of them above others in rank, so that some may take others into service, and your Lord’s mercy is better than what they amass

43:33  Were it not [for the danger] that mankind would be one community, We would have surely made for those who defy the All-beneficent, silver roofs for their houses and [silver] stairways by which they ascend

43:34  and [silver] doors for their houses and [silver] couches on which they recline

43:35  and ornaments of gold; yet all that would be nothing but the wares of the life of this world, and the Hereafter near your Lord is for the Godwary

43:36  Whoever turns a blind eye to the remembrance of the All-beneficent, We assign him a devil who remains his companion

43:37  Indeed they bar them from the way while they suppose that they are [rightly] guided

43:38  When he comes to Us, he will say, ‘I wish there had been between me and you the distance between east and west! What an evil companion [are you]!’

43:39  ‘Today that will be of no avail to you. As you did wrong, so will you share in the punishment.’

43:40  Can you, then, make the deaf hear or guide the blind and someone who is in manifest error

43:41  Either We shall take you away —for We will indeed take vengeance on them—

43:42  or We shall show you what We have promised them, for indeed We hold them in Our power

43:43  So hold fast to what has been revealed to you. Indeed you are on a straight path

43:44  Indeed it is a reminder for you and for your people, and soon you will be questioned

43:45  Ask those of Our apostles We have sent before you: Did We set up any gods besides the All-beneficent to be worshipped

43:46  Certainly We sent Moses with Our signs to Pharaoh and his elite. He said, ‘I am indeed an apostle of the Lord of all the worlds.’

43:47  But when he brought them Our signs, behold, they laughed at them

43:48  And We did not show them a sign but it was greater than the other, and We seized them with punishment so that they might come back

43:49  They would say, ‘O magician! Invoke your Lord for us by the covenant He has made with you. We will indeed be guided.’

43:50  But when We lifted the punishment from them, behold, they would break their pledge

43:51  And Pharaoh proclaimed amongst his people. He said, ‘O my people! Does not the kingdom of Egypt belong to me and these rivers that run at my feet? Do you not perceive

43:52  Am I not better than this humble one who cannot even speak clearly

43:53  Why have no bracelets of gold been cast upon him, nor have the angels come with him as escorts?’

43:54  So he misled his people and they obeyed him. Indeed they were a transgressing lot

43:55  So when they roused Our wrath, We took vengeance on them and drowned them all

43:56  Thus We made them the vanguard and an example for posterity

43:57  When the Son of Mary was cited as an example, behold, your people raise an outcry

43:58  They say, ‘Are our gods better or he?’ They only cite him to you for the sake of contention. Rather they are a contentious lot

43:59  He was just a servant whom We had blessed and made an exemplar for the Children of Israel

43:60  Had We wished We would have set in your stead angels to be [your] successors on the earth

43:61  Indeed he is a portent of the Hour; so do not doubt it and follow Me. This is a straight path

43:62  Do not let Satan bar you [from the way of Allah]. Indeed he is your manifest enemy

43:63  When Jesus brought the manifest proofs, he said, ‘I have certainly brought you wisdom, and [I have come] to make clear to you some of the things that you differ about. So be wary of Allah and obey me

43:64  Indeed Allah is my Lord and your Lord; so worship Him. This is a straight path.’

43:65  But the factions differed among themselves. So woe to the wrongdoers for the punishment of a painful day

43:66  Do they await anything but that the Hour should overtake them suddenly, while they are unaware

43:67  On that day, friends will be one another’s enemies, except for the Godwary

43:68  [They will be told,] ‘O My servants! Today you will have no fear, nor will you grieve

43:69  Those who believed in Our signs and had been muslims

43:70  Enter paradise, you and your spouses, rejoicing’

43:71  (they will be served around with golden dishes and goblets, and therein will be whatever the souls desire and eyes delight in) ‘and you will remain in it [forever]

43:72  That is the paradise you have been given to inherit for what you used to do

43:73  Therein are abundant fruits for you from which you will eat.’

43:74  Indeed the guilty will remain [forever] in the punishment of hell

43:75  It will not be lightened for them and they will be despondent in it

43:76  We did not wrong them, but they themselves were wrongdoers

43:77  They will call out, ‘O Malik! Let your Lord finish us off!’ He will say, ‘Indeed you will stay on.’

43:78  ‘We certainly brought you the truth, but most of you were averse to the truth.’

43:79  Have they settled on some [devious] plan? Indeed We too are settling [on Our plans]

43:80  Do they suppose that We do not hear their secret thoughts and their secret talks? Yes indeed! And with them are Our messengers, writing down

43:81  Say, ‘If the All-beneficent had a son, I would have been the first to worship [him].’

43:82  Clear is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, the Lord of the Throne, of whatever they allege [concerning Him]

43:83  So leave them to gossip and play until they encounter their day which they are promised

43:84  It is He who is God in the sky, and God on the earth; and He is the All-Wise, the All-Knowing

43:85  Blessed is He to whom belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them, and with Him is the knowledge of the Hour, and to Him you will be brought back

43:86  Those whom they invoke besides Him have no power of intercession, except those who are witness to the truth and who know [for whom to intercede]

43:87  If you ask them, ‘Who created them?’ they will surely say, ‘Allah.’ Then where do they stray

43:88  And his plaint: ‘My Lord! Indeed these are a people who will not have faith!’

43:89  So disregard them, and say, ‘Peace!’ Soon they will know