make the deaf hear your call
when they turn their backs to you,
53nor can you guide the blind
from their straying. The only ones
you can make hear are those
who believe in Our signs,
those who submit to Our will.°
SECTION 6
54It is God Who
created you weak,
then gave you strength,
then made you weak again
with gray hair.
He creates what He will,
for He is All Knowing,
All Powerful.
55On the day when the hour comes,
the sinners will swear that they
lingered but an hour [on earth]—
they were always deluded like this.
56Those given knowledge and faith
will say, “Actually, you lingered,
by God’s decree until
the day of resurrection.
The day of resurrection is now,
but you—you did not know.”
57On that day
the wrongdoers’ excuses
won’t help them,
nor can they beg
to make amends.
58We have contrived in this Quran,
every kind of parable for humankind—
yet if you bring them a sign,
the unbelievers declare,
“You are merely falsifiers.”
59In this way God sets a seal
on the hearts of those who don’t know.
60So, be patient. God’s promise
is true. And do not let those
who lack all conviction
lighten your resolve.
SURA 31
Luqman (Luqman)
A pre-Islamic wise man or sage, Luqman appears only here in the Quran. The heart of this middle or late Meccan sura of 34 verses is the section of advice given by Luqman to his son, featured in vv. 12–19.
In the Name of God, the All Merciful, Ever Merciful
SECTION 1
1Alif Lam Mim.°
2These are verses
of the wise Book,
3a guide and mercy
for those who do good,
4who are steadfast in prayer,
give in charity, and
are certain of the hereafter.
5It is they who are rightly
guided by their Lord—
they who will succeed.
6But among the people, there’s a person
who invests in idle tales°—without knowledge—
to mislead people, away from God’s path,
seeking to mock it. Shameful torment awaits him.
7When Our signs are recited to him,
he turns away in pride, as if he hadn’t
heard them, as if his ears
were weighed down in deafness.°
Warn him, then, of painful torment.
8Those who believe and do good deeds,
shall enter gardens of bliss,
9to live there forever.
God’s promise is true—
He is Almighty, All Wise.
10He created the heavens [raised up]
with no visible supports;
He set upon the earth firm mountains
so it would not quake beneath you;
He spread throughout it animals
of all kinds; and We sent down
rain from the sky, so that fine plants
of all kinds might bloom in pairs.
11All of this is God’s creation;
now show Me what those other gods
have created—the wrongdoers
are clearly mistaken.
SECTION 2
12We gave Luqman wisdom:
“Be thankful to God—
whoever gives thanks,
does so for his own sake,
and as for the thankless—
[they should know that] God
is Self-Sufficient, Praiseworthy.”
13Luqman cautioned his son,
“My son, don’t worship any
but God, for joining gods
with the One God
is a great wrong.”
14And We commanded people
to honor their parents;
their mothers bore them,
strain upon strain, weaning them
after two years—Be thankful, then,
to Me and to your parents,
for your destination ends with Me.
15But if your parents urge you
to join other gods with Me
—about whom you know nothing—
don’t obey them. However,
be kind companions to them
in this world while following
the path of those who turn to Me—
to Me you shall return,
and I shall inform you
of all you have done.
16“My son,” said Luqman,
“if even the slightest thing
—like a mustard seed°—
were hidden in a rock, or
anywhere in the heavens or earth,
God would bring it into sight,
for He is Subtle, All Aware.
17“My son, be steadfast in prayer,
commend what is right,
and forbid what is wrong;
endure with patience
whatever befalls you—
this is the true resolve
in all affairs.
18“And don’t shun people,
turning your face away from them;
nor walk haughtily upon the earth,
for God does not like
the proud and boastful.
19“Walk in a modest way,°
and lower your voice,
for the harshest of voices
is the braying of an ass.”°
SECTION 3
20Don’t you see that God
has subdued [to your use]
all that is in the heavens,
and all that is on the earth,
that He has multiplied
His blessings upon you,
both seen and unseen?
Yet some people dispute over God,
without knowledge, or guidance,
or recourse to an illuminating book.°
21And when they are told,
“Follow what God has revealed,”
they say, “No. We’ll follow
the ways of our fathers.”°
Really? Even if Satan
were beckoning them to the
torment of blazing fire?
22Whoever submits wholly to God,
and does good, has surely grasped
the securest handhold—
for all affairs are concluded in God.
23And don’t be grieved
by the disbelief of those
who deny: to Us they shall return,
and We shall inform them
of all that they did.
God is Aware of all
that their hearts contain.
24We grant them enjoyment
for a while, but then
We shall force them
into harsh torment.
25If you ask them who created
the heavens and the earth,
they will say, “God.”
Say, “Praise be to God.”
Yet most of them don’t know.
26To God belongs all
that is in the heavens and earth.
God is Self-Sufficient, Praiseworthy.
27If all the trees on earth
were pens, and the seas were ink,
with seven more seas beyond,
still the Word° of God
would not be exhausted.
God is Almighty, All Wise.
28Nor was the creation
and resurrection of you all
any more for Him
than that of a single soul.
God is All Hearing, All Seeing.
29Do you not see how
God fades night into day,
and day into night,
and holds sway over sun
and moon, each sailing in
its own domain for its
ordained term?
And that God is Aware
of all that you do?
30All of this is because
God is the Truth, and those
they invoke besides Him
are false; and because God
is Most High, Most Great.
SECTION 4
31Do you not see that
ships sail upon the sea
by God’s grace, that He might
show you His signs?
In this are signs for all
who are patient, and all
who are grateful.
32When a towering wave hangs
over them, like a darkened vault,
they call upon God, with sincere
faith in Him; but once We deliver
them safely on land, some begin
to waver. Only the treacherous
and thankless dispute Our signs.
33Humankind, be mindful
of your Lord, and fearful
of a day when no father
can help his son in anything,
nor any son his father.
The promise of God is true,
so don’t let the life of this world
deceive you, nor let the deceiver
deceive you about God.
34God alone has knowledge
of the hour. It is He
Who sends down rain, and He
Who knows what is closed within
the womb. No soul knows what
it will reap tomorrow,
nor does any soul know
in which land it will die.
God is All Knowing,
All Aware.
SURA 32
Prostration (Al-Sajda)
A late Meccan sura of 30 verses, it extols the act of prostration (v. 15), which characterizes the believers, those who fall down, prostrate, in praise of God when they “are reminded of” His verses.
In the Name of God, the All Merciful, Ever Merciful
SECTION 1
1Alif Lam Mim.°
2This is the revelation
of the Book—free of doubt—
from the Lord of the universe.
3Yet they ask, “Has he forged it?”
No—it is the truth from your Lord,
so you might warn a people
warned by none before you,°
so they might be guided.
4It is God Who created
the heavens and the earth,
and all between them, in six days,
then set Himself upon the throne.
You have no protector or intercessor
beside Him—so will you not heed?
5He oversees all things
from heaven to earth.
All things shall rise to Him,
on a day which spans
a thousand years in your counting.
6This is the Knower
of the unseen and seen—
the Almighty, Ever Merciful,
7He Who perfected in its excellence
each thing that He created. He began
the creation of humankind from clay,
8then made its offspring
from the essence of a lowly fluid.
9He then proportioned it,
and breathed into it His Spirit;
and He gave you
hearing, seeing, and feeling°—
though little do you give thanks.
10And they say, “When we
are buried beneath the earth,
will we be created anew?”
Yes, the disbelievers
deny the meeting with their Lord.
11Say, “The angel of death
in charge of you shall take you;
then, you shall be returned
to your Lord.”
SECTION 2
12If only you could see how
the sinners will hang their heads
before their Lord, saying, “Our Lord,
we have seen and we have heard.
So send us back, and we will do
good deeds—for now we are certain.”
13Had We wished, We could have
given guidance to each soul.
But My words will come true,
“I will fill up hell with jinn
and humans—all together.
14“Taste, then—for you forgot
the meeting on this day of yours,
and We too will forget you—
taste the eternal punishment
for what you have done.”
15Only those people believe
in Our verses who, when
they are reminded of them,
fall down, prostrate, and
glorify their Lord with praise—
for they are not too proud.
16They° forsake their beds
to call upon their Lord, in fear and
in hope; and they spend in charity
from what we have given them.
17Nobody knows
what joy and comfort
lie hidden for them in reward
for what they have done.
18Is a person who believes
like a person who is defiant?
They are not the same.
19Those who believe and do good deeds,
shall have gardens as their home,
a reward for what they have done.
20As for those who still disobey,
their home shall be the fire.
Whenever they wish to escape it,
they shall be brought back to it,
and told, “Taste the torment of fire—
which you always denied.”
21And We shall make them taste
the nearer torment [of this life]
before the ultimate torment, so they
might return [to the straight path].
22Who does more wrong
than those who turn away
when the verses of their Lord
are recited to them?
We shall requite the sinners.
SECTION 3
23We gave the Book to Moses,
so be in no doubt, Prophet,
about receiving it—
We made it a guide
for the children of Israel.
24We made leaders among them,
giving guidance by Our command,
for they were patient,
and assured of Our signs.
25Your Lord will judge between them
on the day of resurrection
in the things they dispute.
26Will they not learn from
the number of generations
We destroyed before them,
in whose homes they now tread?
In this are signs—
so will they not listen?
27And do they not see that
We drive the rain to parched soil,
and bring from it crops from which
they and their livestock eat?
So will they not see?
28And they say,
“When will this verdict come,
if you are speaking the truth?”
29Say, “On the day of the verdict,
it will not profit the disbelievers
to then believe—for then
they will be granted no respite.”
30So turn away from them, and wait—
they too are waiting.
SURA 33
The Allied Forces (Al-Ahzab)
A Medinan sura, this takes its name from the forces who opposed Muhammad and his followers at the Battle of the Trench, which took place in
