to the fire [they will be told],
“You exhausted your share of the
good things in the life of this world
and you enjoyed them. But this day
you shall be requited
with humiliating torment,
for you were proud
upon the earth, without due right,
and were always disobedient.”
SECTION 3
21Recount [the story of Hud]
of the tribe of ʿAd, when he warned
his people amid the sand dunes
—others had come to warn them
before and after him—
“Worship none but God,
for I fear for you the torment
of a momentous day.”
22They retorted, “Have you come
to turn us away from our gods?
Then bring down upon us
the torment you threaten us with,
if you are speaking the truth.”
23He said, “Knowledge of that
rests with God alone. I merely convey
the message with which I am sent.
Yet I see you are an ignorant people.”
24Then, when they saw a cloud
looming over their valleys,
they exclaimed, “Here is a cloud
bearing rain for us”—“No.
It is [the threat] you asked
to be hastened—a stormy wind
bearing painful torment,
25“destroying all before it
by its Lord’s command.”
By morning, nothing could be seen
except their homes [in ruins]—
this is how We requite
a sinful people.
26We established them
with [such power and authority]
as we have not endowed you.
We gave them
hearing, sight, and hearts—but none
of these—hearing or sight or hearts—
availed them at all, for they denied
the signs of God, so they were engulfed
by the very thing they would mock.
SECTION 4
27We destroyed towns around you,
after giving them diverse signs
that they might return [to Our path].
28Why then did their gods
not help them—those they had taken
as gods instead of the One God
to bring them closer to Him?
Instead, they abandoned them—
that was the lie they invented.
29We sent to you, Prophet, a group
of jinn, to listen to the Quran,
and, while they attended it, they said,
“Listen in silence.”
When it was concluded, they turned
back to their people to warn them.
30They said, “Our people,
we have heard a Book, revealed
after Moses, confirming what came
before it. It guides to the truth
and to a straight way.
31“Our people, answer the one who
calls [us] to God, and believe in Him.
God will forgive you your sins
and deliver you from painful torment.
32“Those who fail to answer the one
who calls [us] to God shall find
no escape throughout the earth,
nor any protectors besides God—
they are clearly wrong.”
33Do they not see that God is the One
Who created the heavens and the earth,
unfatigued by their creation?
He is Able to give life to the dead—
He has Power over all things.
34On the day the unbelievers
are exposed to the fire,
[they will be asked,] “Is this not real?”
They will reply, “By our Lord, it is.”
[They will be told,]
“Taste the punishment
for your disbelief.”
35Be patient, then, as the messengers
of firm resolve° were patient,
and do not seek to hasten [torment
for the unbelievers]. On the day
they see the torment promised them,
it will seem as if they had stayed
[in this life] a mere hour of one day.
[This Quran] is a message.
Shall any be destroyed
but those who were disobedient?
SURA 47
Muhammad
A Medinan sura of 38 verses, this deals with historical events around the Battle of Badr (624 CE), which occurred two years after Muhammad’s move to Medina. The rare mention of Muhammad by name in the Quran (v. 2) is the reason this becomes the title of the sura.
In the Name of God, the All Merciful, Ever Merciful
SECTION 1
1God will nullify the deeds
of those who disbelieve
and bar [people] from His path.
2But for those who believe
and do good deeds, who believe
in what was revealed to Muhammad
—the truth from their Lord—
He will nullify their misdeeds
and rectify their condition.
3For those who disbelieve
pursue falsehood,
while those who believe
pursue the truth
from their Lord. This is how God
mirrors for people their true likeness.°
4When you meet the unbelievers
[in battle], strike at their necks,
and when you have subdued them,
bind them firmly, then you can
either be gracious [and free them]
or hold them for ransom, once
the weight of war has lifted.
That [is Our command].
Had God wished, He Himself
could have requited them,
but He would test you
against one another.
And the deeds of those killed
in God’s cause shall never be lost.
5He will guide them and
and rectify their condition,
6and bring them into the garden—
as He has made known to them.
7You who believe—if you help
in the cause of God, He will help you
and plant your feet firmly.
8As for the disbelievers—
destruction awaits them
and their deeds shall be lost.
9For they hate what God has revealed,
so He has nullified their deeds.
10Don’t they travel through the earth°
and see the fate of those before them?
God brought destruction to them;
the unbelievers shall see the same end.
11For God is Protector
of those who believe,
but the unbelievers
have no protector.
SECTION 2
12God will bring those who believe
and do good deeds into gardens,
with rivers flowing beneath.
The unbelievers enjoy [this world]
and eat as cattle eat; but the fire
shall be their [eternal] home.
13How many cities We destroyed
that had more power than your city
which drove you out—
and there was none to help them.
14Is a person who acts
on clear proof from his Lord
the same as someone whose
wicked deeds seem fair to him,
or the same as those
who follow their own desires?
15[Here is] a parable of the garden
promised to those who fear God:
It has rivers of pure water,
and rivers of milk whose taste
never changes, and rivers of wine,
delicious to those who drink,
and rivers of purified honey.
It has every kind of fruit for them,
and forgiveness from their Lord.
Are such people like
those who abide in eternal fire,
those given scalding water to drink,
that tears apart their bowels?
16Among them are some
who listen to you,
but when they leave you,
they say to those
who have received knowledge,
“What was it he said just now?”
They are the ones
whose hearts God has sealed,
for they follow only
their own desires.
17But God increases guidance
for those who will be guided,
and He makes them mindful of Him.°
18Do they but wait, then, for the hour
to fall upon them suddenly?
Some tokens of it have already come—
and once it has fallen upon them
what good is it then for them
to remember God’s warning?
19Know, then, that there is
no god but the One God,
so ask forgiveness for your sin,
and for believing men and women.
For God knows where you move
and where you rest.°
SECTION 3
20Those who believe say,
“Why is a sura not revealed
[commanding us to fight]?”
But when a sura is revealed that
clearly mentions fighting, you’ll see
the sick-hearted staring at you
with the look of one about to faint
at the prospect of death.
More appropriate for them
21would be obedience
and upright words.°
And once the stratagem [of war]
is resolved upon,°
it would be better for them
to stand true to God.
22If you turn away, would you
sow corruption in the land,
and cut your bonds of kinship?
23These are the ones God has cursed,
making them deaf
and taking away their sight.°
24Do they not reflect on the Quran—
or are there locks on their hearts?
25As for those who turned their backs
after clear guidance was given them—
it was Satan who enticed them,
and prolonged them in [false] hope.
26For they declared to those
who hate what God has revealed,
“We’ll obey you in some things”—
but God knows what they keep secret.
27How will it be when the angels
take their souls at death,
striking their faces and their backs?
28For they pursued what angered God
and were loath to please Him,
so He shall nullify all their deeds.
SECTION 4
29Or do those with sick hearts think
that God will not expose their hatred?
30Had We wished, We could have
shown them to you and you would have
known them by their marks––
but you’ll know them indeed
by their tone of speech.
And God knows all that you do.
31And We shall test you, to see°
which of you strive [in God’s cause]
and are steadfast—We shall test
the truth of what is said by you.°
32As for those who disbelieve,
who bar people from God’s path,
and oppose the messenger
after clear guidance was given them—
they cannot harm Him at all—
but He shall render their deeds void.
33You who believe: obey God,
obey the messenger, and
do not render vain your own deeds.
34As for those who disbelieve
and bar people from God’s path,
then die as disbelievers—
God shall never forgive them.
35So do not weaken and cry for peace
while you have ascendancy,
for God is with you;
He will never deprive you
of the reward for your deeds.
36The life of this world
is but a pastime and a sport;
but if you believe, and fear God,
He will give you your reward;
nor is He not asking you
to give up your possessions.
37If He were to ask you this,
and press you, you would hold back,
and He would expose your ill will.
38See—you are the ones called upon
to spend in the cause of God,
but some of you still hold back.
Those who hold back do so
at the cost of their own souls—
for God is Self-Sufficient,
while you are in need [of His mercy].
If you turn back, He will replace you
with another people—
who will not be like you.
SURA 48
Victory (Al-Fath)
Another Medinan sura with historical resonance, its opening verse, “We have given you a clear victory,” could refer to the Battle of Badr, noted in the previous sura, or it could be an anticipation of the victory that would come later (after the Peace of Hudaybiyya in 628 CE) when the Muslims delayed their reentry to Mecca in exchange for permission to go later (630). Its notable verses refer to God’s serenity being sent down on Muhammad and believers after Hudaybiyya (v. 26), and the marks left on foreheads of the devout at prayer (v. 29).
In the Name of God, the All Merciful, Ever Merciful
SECTION 1
1We have given you a clear victory,
2such that God might forgive you
your past and future sins,
fulfill His favor to you,
and guide you to a straight path,
3granting you His mighty help.
4It is He Who sent down serenity
into believers’ hearts to increase
their faith—the forces of the heavens
and earth belong to God;
God alone is All Knowing, All Wise—
5so that He might usher
the believing men and women
into gardens, beneath which
rivers flow, abiding there forever,
and so that He might absolve them
of their bad deeds—in God’s eyes
that is the supreme triumph—
6and that He might punish
the hypocrites, both men and women,
and the polytheists, men and women,
who harbor a wrongful conception
of God.
