He was one of the jinn,°
and he disobeyed the command
of his Lord. Will you then take him
and his progeny as protectors
instead of Me, though they
are your enemies?
What a wretched bargain
for wrongdoers!
51I did not make them
witness to the creation
of the heavens and the earth,
or their own creation.
I am not One to
take as aides of Mine
those who misguide.
52One day He will say,
“Call on the gods you claimed
to be My partners.”
And they will call on them,
but those gods will not answer;
and We shall place between them
a deathly chasm.
53Seeing the fire, the sinners
shall realize they are to fall into it—
they shall find no refuge from it.
54We have expounded in this Quran
parables of every kind for people;
but humankind is most contentious.°
55Once guidance has come to them,
what prevents people from
believing and seeking forgiveness
from their Lord except
that [they wait for] the fate
of their ancestors to visit them
or that their punishment
visit them face-to-face?
56We send the messengers
only to bring joyous news
and to warn people. But those
who refuse to believe dispute it,
using falsehood to impugn
the truth, even as they mock
My signs and warnings.
57And who does greater wrong
than one who is reminded
of the signs of his Lord,
yet turns away from them,
forgetting what his two hands
have done?° We have cast
mantles over their hearts
—so they will not grasp the Quran—
and deafness within their ears.
If you call them to guidance,
they will not be guided—ever.
58But your Lord is Forgiving,
Full of Mercy. If He took them
to account for what they earned,
he would hasten their punishment.
But they have their appointed time,
then they will find no refuge.
59These cities We destroyed
when they did wrong;
and We set an appointed time
for their desolation.
SECTION 5
60Moses said to his servant,
“I won’t stop until I reach
the convergence of the two seas,
even if I must go on
for many years.”
61But when they reached
the convergence of
the two seas,° they forgot
about their fish, which bore
its own course through the sea.
62When they journeyed farther,
Moses said to his servant,
“Bring our meal for us,
for this journey of ours
has tired us out.”
63The servant replied, “Did you see?
When we sheltered under the rock,
I forgot the fish—it was only Satan
who made me forget to mention it,
and it made its way
wondrously into the sea.”
64Moses said, “That is the place
we were seeking.” So they went back,
retracing their footsteps.
65And they came across
one of Our servants, on whom
We had bestowed Our Mercy,
and whom we had taught
from Our Knowledge.°
66Moses said to him,
“May I follow you,
so that you might teach me
what you have been taught
of right guidance?”
67The man said,
“Really, you will never be able
to bear with me patiently.
68“And how could you be patient
about something that’s beyond
your knowledge?”
69Moses said, “You’ll find
that I’m patient, if it is God’s wish,
and I won’t disobey you
in anything.”
70The man said, “If you
would follow me, then
don’t ask about anything
until I broach it
in my discourse with you.”
71So they both went on
and° when they embarked in the boat,
the man pierced a hole in it.
Moses demanded, “Did you bore this hole°
to drown the passengers?
What a strange thing to do!”
72He replied, “Did I not say that
you could not bear with me patiently?”
73Moses implored,
“Don’t take me to task for forgetting,
nor be hard on me by making my task
more difficult.”
74So they both went on
and when they met a youth,
the man killed him. Moses asked,
“How could you kill an innocent person
who had harmed no one?
What a terrible thing you’ve done!”
75He replied, “Did I not say that
you could not bear with me patiently?”
76Moses said, “If I question you
on any issue after this,
then spurn my company—
you’ve had [enough] excuse
[to part] from me.”
77So they both went on
and, when they came
to the people of a town,
they asked them for food,
but the people refused them
any welcome. They found there
a wall about to fall down,
but Moses’ companion
set it upright. Moses said,
“If you’d wanted, you could have
charged them for doing this.”
78He replied, “Here is where you
and I must part. Now let me tell you
the deeper meaning° of the things
you could not endure with patience.
79“The boat belonged to
needy people, who worked at sea.
I meant to disable it,
for behind them was a king
seizing every [usable] boat by force.
80“As for the youth, his parents
were both believers, and we feared
he would overwhelm them by
transgressing and disbelieving.
81“So we wished for their Lord to
bring them another son in his place,
purer and more affectionate.°
82“And the wall, well, it belonged
to two youths, orphans, in the city.
Beneath it was a buried treasure
which was theirs.
Their father was a righteous person,
so your Lord intended that
when they reached their maturity,
they should unearth their treasure,
a mercy from Him. So I did not
do this of my own accord. This
is the deeper meaning of the things
you could not endure with patience.”
SECTION 6
83They ask you, Prophet, about Dhu al-Qarnayn.°
Say, “I’ll recite to you a chronicle about him.”
84We established [his power]
on the earth, and We granted him
a path toward every end.
85He followed a certain path,
86and when he reached
the region of the setting sun
to find it setting in a muddy spring,
and found a community near it,
We said, “Dhu al-Qarnayn,
you can either punish them
or treat them well.”
87He said, “We shall punish
whoever does wrong, then
he shall be returned to his Lord,
Who will give him a punishment
even more terrible.
88“But those who believe
and do good deeds
shall have a fine reward,
and we will command them
to do what is easy for them.”
89Then he continued on the path,
90and, when he reached
the region of the rising sun,
he found it rising
on a community to whom
We had given no shelter from it.
91In this way, Our Knowledge
Encompassed everything about him.°
92Then he continued on the path,
93and, when he reached
a pass between two mountains,
he found, beside them, a community
that could scarcely grasp his speech.
94They said, “Dhu al-Qarnayn,
Gog and Magog are workers
of mischief in the land.°
If we paid you a tribute,
would you build a barrier
between us and them?”
95He replied,
“My Lord has empowered me
with something better;
but lend me some strong help,
and I will build a strong rampart
between you and them.
96“Bring me bars of iron.”
Then, when he had filled the chasm
between the two mountainsides,
he said, “Blow with your bellows,”
and when he had made it glow red as fire,
he said, “Bring me molten brass
to pour over it.”
97So Gog and Magog
were unable to scale the rampart
or tunnel through it.
98He said,
“This is a mercy from my Lord.
But when the promise
of my Lord comes to pass,
He will reduce the rampart
to level dust; and His promise
is always true.”
99On that day, We will leave them
surging against one another like waves.
The trumpet will sound, and
We shall gather them all together.
100And on that day We shall lay
hell itself, spread out wide,
before the unbelievers—
101those whose eyes
were veiled against
remembrance of Me,
those who could not hear.
102Do those who disbelieve
suppose they can take my servants
as protectors instead of Me?
We have prepared hell
for disbelievers as their home.
SECTION 7
103Prophet, say to them,
“Shall we inform you
of those whose deeds
will bring them the most loss,
104“those whose labors have
been wasted in the life of the world,
even as they supposed
they were doing good?
105“Those who deny
the signs of their Lord
and [their] meeting with Him—
their works shall be in vain,
and We will accord them
no weight on the day
of resurrection.”
106This will be their requital—
hell—for they disbelieved, mocking
My signs and My messengers.
107Those who believe
and do good deeds shall have
the gardens of paradise
as their home.
108They will abide there
forever, desiring no change.
109Say, “If the sea were ink
for the words of my Lord,
the sea would run dry
before the words, even if
We brought another sea just like it.”°
110Say, “I am but a human being
like you; it has been revealed to me
that your God is One God,
so let whoever yearns to meet Him
do good works, and join
none with Him in worship.”
SURA 19
Mary (Maryam)
A middle Meccan sura, this relates the birth of John and Jesus, highlighting their lives and missions as God’s ordained prophets. Its 98 verses provide both comparison and contrast with biblical narratives in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Remarkably, it is the sole sura named after a woman, and Mary looms as the major female figure in the Quran, her central role in the divine plan extolled in vv. 16–33, and Jesus’ role as God’s servant, not His son, reinforced toward the end (vv. 88–95).
In the Name of God, the All Merciful, Ever Merciful
SECTION 1
1Kaf. Ha. Ya. ʿAin Sad.°
2This is a reminder
of your Lord’s mercy
toward His servant Zachariah,
3when he called to his Lord secretly,
4“My Lord, my bones are now frail,
and my hair is ablaze with gray,
yet never has my prayer to You,
my Lord, been in vain.
5“I fear what my kin will do after me,°
for my wife is barren.
So grant me an heir—through Your grace.
6“to bear my legacy°
as well as that of Jacob’s family;
and let him, my Lord, be well pleasing.”
7[God replied,]
“Zachariah, We give you
joyous news of a son,
whose name will be John,°
a name we gave to none before him.”
8“My Lord,° how can I have a son,
when my wife is barren
and I am withering with extreme age?”
9He replied, “These are the words
of Your Lord: ‘It is easy for Me.
I created you before°—
when you were nothing.’ ”
10Zachariah said,
“My Lord, give me a sign.”
“Your sign is this—
you will not speak to people
for three straight nights.”°
11So he ventured out to his people
from his sanctuary, urging them
by gestures,° to glorify God
morning and evening.
12“John,” We said,
“Hold firmly to the Book,”
and We endowed him
as a child with sound judgment,
13and with tenderness, and purity,
from Our grace.
He was mindful of God,
14solicitous of his parents, and
never imperious° or disobedient.
15Peace be with him
the day he was born,
the day he dies,
and the day
he will be raised alive.
SECTION 2
16And mention in the Book
the story of Mary,
when she withdrew from her people
to a place in the East.
17She veiled herself from them.
Then We sent Our spirit,
appearing to her
in the perfect form of a man.
18She said, “I seek refuge from you
with the All Merciful—withdraw°
if you fear Him.”
19He said, “I am just a messenger
from your Lord
Who grants you a pure son.”
20“How shall I have a son,” she said,
“for no man has touched me,
and I
