53:1  BY THE star when it declines

53:2  your compatriot¹ is not in error, nor is he deceived

53:3  He does not speak out of his own fancy

53:4  This is a revelation inspired

53:5  He is taught by one who is powerful and mighty.²

53:6  --(translation missing in source)-

53:7  He stood on the uppermost horizon

53:8  then, drawing near

53:9  he came down within two bows‘ length or even closer

53:10  and revealed to his servant that which he revealed

53:11  His³ own heart did not deny his vision

53:12  Do you⁴ doubt, then, what he beholds

53:13  He beheld him once agai

53:14  at the sidra tree, beyond which no one may pass

53:15  Nearby it is the Garden of Repose

53:16  When that tree was covered with what covered it

53:17  his eyes did not wander, nor did they turn aside

53:18  he beheld some of his Lord‘s mightiest signs

53:19  Have you thought on Al-Lāt and Al-‘Uzzā

53:20  and on Manāt, the third other?¹

53:21  Are you to have the male, and He the female

53:22  This is indeed an unfair distinction

53:23  They are but names which you and your forefathers have invented: God has vested no authority in them. The unbelievers follow but vain conjectures and the whims of their own souls, although the guidance of their Lord has long since come to them

53:24  Or is man to attain all that he desires

53:25  To God belongs the life to come, and this first life

53:26  Numerous are the angels in the heavens; yet their intercession shall avail nothing until God gives leave to whom He wills and accepts

53:27  Those that disbelieve in the hereafter call the angels by the names of females

53:28  Yet of this they have no knowledge: they follow mere conjecture, and conjecture is no substitute for Truth

53:29  Pay no heed, then, to those who ignore Our Admonition and seek only the life of this world

53:30  This is the sum of their knowledge. Your Lord best knows who has strayed from His path, and He best knows who has followed the right guidance

53:31  And to God belongs what the heavens and the earth contain. He will requite the evil-doers according to their deeds, and richly recompense those who do good works

53:32  To those who avoid the grossest sins and indecencies and commit only small offences, your Lord will show abundant forgiveness. He knew you well when He created you from earth and when you were still in your mothers‘ wombs. Do not pretend to purity; He best knows those who fear Him

53:33  Have you considered him who turns his back

53:34  giving little at first and then nothing at all

53:35  Does he know, and can he see, what is hidden

53:36  Or has he not been told of what is writ in the Scriptures of Mose

53:37  and Abraham, who was true to his covenant

53:38  that no burdened soul shall bear another‘s burden

53:39  and that man shall be judged only by his labours

53:40  that his labours shall be scrutinized

53:41  and that he shall be justly requited for them

53:42  that all things shall in the end return to your Lord

53:43  that it is He who moves to laughter and to tears

53:44  and He who ordains death and life

53:45  that God created the two sexes, the male and the female

53:46  from a drop of ejaculated semen

53:47  and will bring about the other creation

53:48  that it is He who bestows and enriches

53:49  He who is the Lord of Sirius;¹

53:50  that it was He who obliterated ‘Ād at firs

53:51  and then Thamūd, sparing no one

53:52  and before them the people of Noah, who were more sinful and more rebellious

53:53  The Mu‘tafikah² He also doomed

53:54  so that they were smitten by the scourge that smote them

53:55  Which then of your Lord‘s blessings would you deny

53:56  He that now warns you is just like those who warned the others before you

53:57  That which is coming is near at hand

53:58  none but God can disclose the Hour

53:59  Do you marvel then at this revelation

53:60  and laugh instead of weeping

53:61  Making merry still

53:62  Rather prostrate yourselves before God, and worship