of the Book, and be steadfast in prayer;
prayer forestalls indecency and evil.
Paramount is remembrance of God,
for God knows all that you do.
46And do not argue
with the people of the Book,
except using the best means—unless
it is with the wrongful among them.
And say, “We believe
in what was revealed to us
and what was revealed to you;
our God and your God is One;
and to Him we submit.”
47This is how We sent
to you the Book; those given
the Book before believe in it,
and some of these [pagan Arabs]
believe in it. None but
unbelievers deny Our signs.
48You did not recite from any book
before this, nor did you write it
with your right hand, else
the falsifiers would have doubted.
49No, these are clear signs
in the hearts of those endowed
with knowledge; and none but
the wrongdoers deny Our signs.
50Yet they say,
“Why are signs not sent down
to him from his Lord?”
Say, “The signs are only
with God; and I am only
here to give plain warning.”
51Is it not enough for them
that We have sent down to you
the Book, as recited to them?
In this is a mercy and a reminder
for people who believe.
SECTION 6
52Say, “God suffices as Witness
between me and you;
He knows what is in the heavens
and the earth. And those who
believe in falsehood and deny God
shall be the ones in loss.”
53They taunt you—to hasten
the punishment; had it not been
appointed for a fixed time,
punishment would surely
have come upon them,
and it will come suddenly to them,
while they are unaware.
54They taunt you—to hasten
the punishment;
but hell shall encompass
the disbelievers,
55on the day the punishment
enshrouds them from above,
and from below their very feet—
and He will say, “Taste the deeds
that you have done!”
56My servants, who believe—
My earth is wide indeed,
so worship only Me.
57Every soul shall taste death;
then to Us
you shall be brought back.
58As for those who believe
and do good works,
We shall give them a home
in the garden, in raised halls,
beneath which rivers flow,
to dwell there always—
how superlative the reward
of those who labor,
59those who practice patience,
and trust in their Lord.
60How many are the creatures who
do not shoulder their own provision.
It is God Who provides for them
and for you—
for He is All Hearing, All Knowing.
61If you ask them,
who created the heavens and the earth,
and who controls the sun and moon,
they will surely say, “God.”
So how are they deluded?
62God enlarges or restricts provision
for whom He will of His servants—
God is Knower of all things.
63And if you ask them
who sends down rain from the sky
to give life to the earth after its death,
they will surely say, “God.”
Say, then, “Praise be to God.”
Still, most of them do not discern.
SECTION 7
64What is the life of this world
but amusement and play?
The home of the hereafter
is true life—if only they knew.
65Whenever they set sail by ship,
they call on God, on Him alone,
yet when He delivers them to dry land,
see how they join other gods
with Him in worship.
66Let them be ungrateful
for what We have given them
Let them enjoy themselves—
soon, they shall know.
67Don’t they see that We’ve made
a secure sanctuary, while people are
plucked away all around them?
Do they still believe in falsehood,
ungrateful for the favor of God?
68Who does more wrong
than those who invent
a lie about God,
or deny the truth
when it reaches them?
Is there not in hell a home
for the disbelievers?
69As for those who strive
in Our cause,°
We shall guide them in Our ways,
for God is with the righteous.
SURA 30
The Byzantines (Al-Rum)
A rare reference to actual historical events, the title of this middle Meccan sura numbering 60 verses refers to Byzantines or Greeks, cited in v. 2. who were enemies of the pre-Islamic Arabs and conquered by the new Muslim polity. God’s promises etched as His signs are repeatedly extolled, providing hope for believers, at the same time that God “sets a seal on the heart of those who don’t know” (v. 59).
In the Name of God, the All Merciful, Ever Merciful
SECTION 1
1Alif Lam Mim.°
2The Empire of the Byzantines
lies defeated
3in a neighboring domain,
yet soon after this defeat
they shall triumph
4within a few years—
God is ever in command,
both before and after—
and on that day
the believers shall rejoice°
5in the help of God.
He helps whom He will,
for He is Almighty,
Ever Merciful.
6God’s promise—He never breaks it.
but most people do not know.
7They know only the surface
of the life of this world, and they
remain heedless of the hereafter.
8Do they not reflect
upon themselves?
God did not create the heavens
and the earth and all
that lies between them
without true purpose
and for an appointed time.
Yet most people deny
that they will meet their Lord.
9Do they not travel
through the earth and observe
how those before them
met their end?
They were stronger than these,
they plowed the earth
and built upon it more than these.
Their messengers came to them [in vain]
with clear proofs—
God did not wrong them
but they wronged themselves.
10Those who did evil
met an evil end, for they
denied the signs of God,
and mocked them.
SECTION 2
11God originates creation
then renews it, then to Him
you shall be returned.°
12On the day when the hour comes,
the guilty shall be in despair.
13None of the gods
they joined with God
shall intercede for them
and they will deny belief
in these gods.°
14On the day when the hour comes,
people will be sorted [into two groups]:
15those who believed
and did good deeds,
will be filled with delight
in a lush meadow,
16while those who disbelieved,
denying Our signs and
the meeting in the hereafter
shall be brought forward
for punishment.
17So hymn the glory of God
when you reach evening and rise at dawn
18—praise be to Him throughout
the heavens and earth—
and in your late afternoons
as well as your midday hour.°
19He brings the living from
the dead, and the dead from
the living, and brings the earth
to life after its death. Likewise,
you shall be brought back
[to life after death].
SECTION 3
20Among His signs is that
He created you from dust, then,
see, you became humans,
scattered wide.
21And among His signs is that
He created partners for you
from among yourselves,
to live serenely with them;
and He placed between you
love and mercy.
In this are signs
for a discerning people.
22And among His signs is
the creation of the heavens
and the earth, the diversity
in your languages and colors.
In this are signs
for people who know.°
23And among His signs
is that you sleep by night and
seek His bounty by day.
In this are signs
for people who hear.
24Among His signs—
He shows you the lightning,
that engenders fear and hope, and
he sends down rain from the sky
bringing life to the earth
after its death.
In this are signs
for people who reason.
25Among His signs is that
the heaven and the earth
stand by His command, then
once He calls you—see,
you shall come forward.
26To Him belong
all in the heavens
and on the earth—
and all obey Him.
27He originates creation,
then renews it;
this is most easy for Him,
He is beyond analogy
in the heavens and the earth,
for he is Almighty, All Wise.
SECTION 4
28He coins for you this analogy
from your own lives: Do you make
your slaves your partners, with
equal part in what we gave you?
Do you fear them as you fear
one another? This is how
We clarify Our signs°
for a people who reason.
29Yet the wrongdoers follow
their own desires, without knowledge.
And who will guide those
whom God allows to stray?
They shall have none to help them.
30So set your sights, upright,
toward the true faith,° the nature°
from which God created humankind.
No change can there be
in God’s creation.
This is the upright faith,
but most of humankind don’t know.
31Turn to Him, and
be mindful of Him;
be steadfast in prayer,
and don’t be one of those
who join other gods with God,
32nor those who sunder
their religion, becoming sects,
each party exulting
in what it has.
33When calamity strikes people,
they call upon their Lord, turning
to Him. Then, when he lets them
savor His mercy, some of them
join other gods with Him,
34ungrateful for what
We have given them.
Enjoy yourselves, then—
for soon you shall know.
35Did We reveal to them any authority,
sanctioning the partners
they join with God?
36When We let people savor Our mercy,
they rejoice in it.
But if some evil befalls them
—wrought by their own hands—
see how they despair.
37Don’t they see that God
enlarges or restricts provision
for whom He will? In this
are signs for people who believe.
38So give what is due
to relatives, the poor,
and the traveler.
This is better for those
who seek the Face of God—
it is they who shall flourish.
39What you lend with usury
to reap interest through
the wealth of others
shall reap no interest with God.
But what you give in charity,
seeking the Face of God,
shall be multiplied.
40It is God Who created you,
then gave you sustenance;
He will bring you to death, then to life.
Can any of the gods you join with Him
do any of these things? Glory be to Him,
and exalted is He over
the gods they join with Him.
SECTION 5
41Corruption has surfaced
on land and sea, through
the hands of humankind,
and He will let them taste the [fruits]
of some of their deeds,
that they might return [to Him].
42Say, “Travel through the earth
and observe what was the end
of those before you.
Most of them joined
other gods with God.”
43So direct your face
toward the steadfast faith,
before there comes from God
a day that cannot be averted.
On that day, humankind
will be divided—
44as for those who disbelieved—
their disbelief will stand against them;
while those who did good deeds
make provision for themselves,
45so that out of His bounty
He may reward those
who believed and did good deeds
for He does not love
those who disbelieve.
46Among His signs is that
He sends the winds, bearing joyous news,
so you might savor His mercy.
Your ships sail by His leave,
so you may seek His bounty,
and be grateful.
47And We sent, before you,
messengers to their own peoples,
coming to them with clear proofs.
We requited those who sinned—
It is always Our province
to help those who believe.
48It is God Who sends
the winds that raise up the clouds,
which He spreads across the sky
as He will, bursting them
into fragments; you see the rain
pouring from within their midst,
and when he makes it fall
upon His servants, as He will—
see how they rejoice,
49though before—before
it was sent down upon them—
they were in despair.
50Consider then the traces
of God’s mercy, how He gives life
to the earth after its death.
He is Restorer of life to the dead,
and He has Power over all things.
51Yet, if We sent a [scorching] wind
so they saw their crops all yellowed,
they would still disbelieve.°
52Prophet, you cannot
make the dead
