they bring upon themselves
calumny and flagrant sin.
SECTION 8
59Prophet, tell your wives,
daughters, and believing women
to wrap their robes
about them in public;
this is most appropriate
so they will be known
and not open to offense.
God is Forgiving, Ever Merciful.
60If the hypocrites,
the sick in heart,
and rumormongers in the city
don’t desist,
We will rouse you against them
and they won’t stay long in it
as your neighbors,
61and will be cursed.
Wherever they are found,
they will be taken
and executed.
62This was God’s way
with those who passed before;
and you will find no change
in God’s way.
63People ask you about the hour.
Say, “Knowledge of that
lies with God alone.”
And how could you know this?
Perhaps the hour draws near.
64God has cursed the disbelievers,
and has prepared for them a blazing fire,
65where they shall stay forever;
they shall find no protector,
nor any helper.
66That day, their faces
will be turned around in the fire;
they will say, “If only
we had obeyed God
and obeyed the messenger.”
67And they will say,
“Our Lord, we in fact obeyed
our chiefs and our great ones,
and they led us astray
from the path.
68“Our Lord, double
their punishment, and curse
them with a great curse.”
SECTION 9
69You who believe,
don’t be like those
who offended Moses,
whom God absolved
of their charges,
and was honored
in the sight of God.
70You who believe,
be mindful of God, and speak
in a forthright manner,
71that He might reform
your deeds and forgive your sins.
Whoever obeys God
and His messenger
has surely gained a great victory.
72We offered the [burden
of moral] trust
to the heavens and the earth
and the mountains, but
they refused to bear it,
fearing it.°
Yet humankind bore it,
being unjust and ignorant,
73so God will punish
hypocritical men and women,
and idolatrous men and women,
but God will turn in mercy to
the believing men and women—
for God is Forgiving, Ever Merciful.
SURA 34
Sheba (Sabaʾ)
This late Meccan sura of 54 verses warns of judgment, death, and disaster, citing David and Solomon as forewarners, with the people of Sheba in Yemen their primary audience (vv. 15–21).
In the Name of God, the All Merciful, Ever Merciful
SECTION 1
1All praise be to God,
to Whom belongs
all that is the heavens and
all that is on the earth;
to Whom belongs
all praise in the hereafter—
He is All Wise, All Aware.
2He knows all that goes into the earth
and all that comes out of it,
all that comes down from the sky
and all that goes up to it—
He is Ever Merciful, Forgiving.
3The unbelievers say,
“The hour shall never fall upon us.”
Tell them, “No! It will
befall you—by my Lord,
Knower of the unseen,
Whom even an atom’s weight
cannot escape, in the heavens or earth,
nor anything smaller or greater,
for all is recorded in a clear Book
4“so He might reward those who believe
and do good deeds: they shall know
forgiveness and a rich provision.”
5Those who strive against Our signs,
trying to undermine them
shall face painful torment.
6Those who were granted knowledge
of what your Lord revealed to you
see that it is the truth,
which guides to the path
of the Almighty, the Praiseworthy.
7The unbelievers say,
“Shall we show you a man
who tells you that when
you are wholly decomposed,
you’ll be re-created anew?
8“Has he invented a falsehood
about God, or is he mad?”
No—those who disbelieve
in the hereafter
shall face punishment,
for they are far astray.
9Don’t they see what lies before them
and behind them, in heaven and earth?
If We willed, We could make the earth
swallow them, or fragments of sky
fall on them. In this is a sign
for every servant who turns to God.
SECTION 2
10We graced David with Our favor,
“You mountains, hymn with David
Our praise, and you birds too!”
And we made iron pliable for him,
11saying, “Make armor of chain mail,
measuring the links correctly,
and do righteous deeds,
for I See all that you do.”
12We subdued the wind to Solomon;
its morning journey took a month,
its evening course a month.
And We made to flow for him
a fountain of molten brass,
and some jinn worked for him
with their Lord’s leave,
but if any turned from Our command,
We made them taste
the torment of blazing fire.
13They worked to make him all
that he wanted: places of worship,
statues, basins large as cisterns,
and anchored cauldrons.
“Work, people of David, with gratitude,
for few of my servants are grateful.”
14When We decreed Solomon’s death,
nothing showed the jinn that he was dead
except an earthworm gnawing at his staff.
So, when he fell down, it was clear to them—
had they known what is in the unseen,
they would not have remained
in degrading torment [of this labor].
15There was a sign for Sheba’s people
in their own home—two gardens,
right and left: “Eat of what your Lord
has provided, and be thankful to Him—
a good land and a Forgiving Lord.”
16But they turned away, so We sent
upon them a flood from the dam,°
replacing their two gardens
with two others bearing bitter fruit,
tamarisks, and a few lote-trees.
17This is how We rewarded them,
for they were ungrateful—
and who but the ungrateful
would We reward like this?
18Also, We placed between them
and the towns We had blessed,
other towns, clearly visible,
between which We placed easy stages:
“Travel through them safely,
by night and by day.”
19But they said, “Our Lord,
lengthen the stages of our journeys,”°
and they wronged themselves.
So We made an exemplary tale
of them, scattering them into fragments.
In this are signs for all
who are patient and thankful.
20Iblis proved his view of them
to be true,° for they followed him
—all but a group of believers—
21though he would have had
no authority over them—
only so that We might show
who believes in the hereafter,
and who is in doubt over it,
for your Lord is Guardian
over all things.
SECTION 3
22Say, “Call on those you claim
besides God—they don’t control
even an atom’s weight in either
the heavens or the earth; they hold
no share in either,
nor can any of them help Him.
23“No intercession can help with Him
except by those He allows.”
Once fear is driven from their hearts
they’ll ask the intercessors,
“What did your Lord say?”
They’ll answer, “The truth,
for He is Most High, Most Great.”
24Say, “Who gives you provision
from the heavens and the earth?”
Say, “It is God. And either we or you
are rightly guided, while [the other]
has clearly gone astray.”
25Say, “You won’t be questioned
about the sins we committed,
nor will we be questioned
about what you did.”
26Say, “Our Lord shall gather us
together and shall decide justly
between us, for He is the Judge,°
the All Knowing.”
27Say, “Show me the gods
you have joined with Him—
no—He alone is God,
the Almighty, the Wise.”
28We sent you as a messenger
to all peoples, only to bring
joyous news as well as warning;
but most people won’t understand.
29They say, “When will this promise
come to pass,
if you are speaking the truth?”
30Say, “Your meeting [with God]
is on a day
that you can’t put back or forward—
even by one hour.”
SECTION 4
31The disbelievers say,
“We shall never believe this Quran
or what came before it.”
If you could see the wrongdoers,
arrayed before their Lord,
flinging back rebukes on one another.
The oppressed will accuse
their oppressors, “If not for you,
we would have been believers.”
32The oppressors will reply
to the oppressed, “Was it we
who kept you from true guidance
after it had come to you?
No, you were sinners.”
33The oppressed will rejoin, “No,
it was your scheming, night and day,
urging° us not to believe in God
and to set up equals beside Him.”
When they see the punishment,
they will feel inward remorse,
and We shall shackle the necks
of the disbelievers.
How should they be rewarded
except for what they did?
34Whenever We sent someone
to warn a town, its wealthy people
would say, “We don’t believe
in the message you’re sent with.”
35And they would say,
“We have more wealth and children,
and we won’t be punished.”
36Say, “My Lord enlarges provision
or restricts it for whom He will,
yet most people don’t know.”
SECTION 5
37It is not your wealth or children
that will bring you close to Us,
only those who believe
and do good deeds—they shall reap
a double reward for their deeds
and high mansions, safe [in paradise].
38Those who strive against Our signs,
trying to undermine them
shall be brought for punishment.
39Say, “My Lord grants more or less
to whom He will of his servants;
and whatever you spend
[in His cause], He will restore,
for He is the Best of Providers.”
40One day He shall gather them
all together, and ask the angels,
“Were these the ones
who used to worship you?”
41They will say, “Glory be to You—
You are our Protector, not they.
In fact, they worshipped the jinn,
and most believed in them.”
42And on this day,
none of you will have power
to help or harm the others,
and We shall say to the wrongdoers,
“Taste the torment of fire—
which you denied.”
43When Our clear signs
are recited to them, they sneer,
“This is just a man who wants
to bar you from what your fathers
worshipped,” and they jeer,
“This is just a lie, concocted.”
Even when the truth comes their way,
unbelievers say, “This is plain magic”
44—though We had not given them
any books to study,
nor sent anyone to warn them.
45Those before them also denied,
and these people have achieved
not a tenth of what We gave them.
When they denied My messengers,
[see] how I rejected them!
SECTION 6
46Say, “I counsel you
on one thing only: stand before God,
in pairs or individually, and reflect:
your companion is not possessed;
he simply warns you
of impending, severe torment.”
47Say, “I ask of no reward
from you—it is all for you.
My only reward is from God,
for He is Witness to all things.”
48Say, “My Lord casts down
the truth before you—
Knower of the unseen.”
49Say, “The truth has come,
and falsehood can neither
originate nor resurrect a thing.”
50Say, “If I am astray, it is to my loss,
but if I am rightly guided,
it is by what my Lord reveals to me.
He is All Hearing, Ever Near.”
51If you could see how terrified
they will be—there shall be no escape,
when they are seized from a nearby place.°
52And they will say,
“We believe in it now,”
but how can they attain it
from such a distant place,°
53since they denied it before
and conjectured about the unseen
from that distant place?
54A barrier shall be imposed
between them and their desires,
as was done with their kind before,
for they have always been
deep in grave doubt.°
SURA 35
The Originator (Fatir)
Another late Meccan sura, this stresses human moral responsibility in response to recognition of, and gratitude for, creation (hence the title). The Book of God is extolled as the resource and reminder for both rewards and punishments, with the latter underscored as the outcome for evil schemers in the final verses (vv. 42–45).
In the Name of God, the All Merciful, Ever Merciful
SECTION
