1. Alif Lam Ra. Allah knows best what these letters mean. Those ayats are the Signs of the Book (the Qur’an) – the genitive structure here gives the meaning of “from” – and a clear Qur’an – which distinguishes what is true from what is false.

2. It may be (read as rubama and rubbama) that those who disbelieve will wish that they had been Muslims on the Day of Rising, when they see the difference between their state and that of the Muslims. The terrors will stupefy them so that the occasions on which they are able to wish for that are limited to a few.

3. Leave them (the unbelievers), Muhammad, to eat and enjoy themselves in this world. Let false hope of a long life and other things divert them from faith. They will soon know the end result of their affair. This was before the command to fight.

4. We did not destroy the inhabitants of any city without it having a set time for its destruction.

5. No nation can advance its appointed time, nor can they delay it.

6. They (the unbelievers of Makka) say to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace – ‘You, to whom the Reminder (the Qur’an) has been sent down, according to your claim, are clearly mad.

7. Why do you not bring angels to us if you are telling the truth and if this Qur’an is truly from Allah?’

8. Allah says: The angels only descend (read as matunazzalu and ma’ttanazzalu) with the truth (the punishment), and then they would be granted no reprieve – when the angels bring it down.

9. It is We – in the words innanahnu the pronoun nahnu (“we”) is repeated for stress or for separation – Who have sent down the Reminder (the Qur’an) and We Who will preserve it from alteration, distortion, additions, or deletions.

10. We sent Messengers before you among the disparate groups of previous peoples.

11. No Messenger came to them without their mocking him. ‘Previous peoples mocked their Messengers in the same way that your people mock you.’ This is to give solace to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

12. In that way We insert it (denial) into the evildoers’ hearts – referring to the unbelievers of the people of Makka.

13. They do not believe in him – meaning the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, or possibly “it”, referring to the Qur’an – e ven though the example of the previous peoples has gone before: a reference to their punishment for denying their Prophets. These people are like them.

14. Even if We opened up to them a door into heaven, and they spent the day ascending through it (the door),

15. …they would only say, ‘Our eyesight is befuddled (blocked), or rather we have been put under a spell! This is just an illusion.’

16. We have placed constellations in heaven and made them beautiful for those who look. They are twelve: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. They are the stations of the seven moving planets: Mercury, which has Aries and Scorpio; Venus, which has Taurus and Libra; Saturn, which has Gemini and Virgo; the moon, which has Cancer; the sun, which has Leo; Jupiter, which has Sagittarius and Pisces; and Saturn, which has Capricorn and Aquarius.

17. We have guarded them with meteors from every cursed Shaytan

18. …except for the one who listens stealthily by eavesdropping, and he is followed by an open flame – a shooting star which burns him or pierces him or confuses him.

19. As for the earth, We stretched it out and cast firmly embedded mountains in it – so that it does not move under its inhabitants – and made everything grow in due proportion on it – by a known amount.

20. And We put livelihoods – fruits and grains – in it both for you and for those you do not provide for – referring to slaves and animals and livestock: Allah provides for them.

21. There is nothing that does not have the keys to its stores with Us, and We only send it down in a known measure. It is all distributed according to the best interests of its recipients.

22. We send forth the pollinating winds – and they also make the clouds fill up with water – and send down water from the sky from the clouds and give it to you to drink. And it is not you who keep its stores – and you are not in control of them.

23. It is We who give life and cause to die, and We are the Inheritor – We will remain and all creation will return to Us.

24. We know those of you who have gone ahead – meaning all the creatures who have already appeared from the time of Adam – and those who are still to come up until the Day of Rising.

25. It is your Lord Who will gather them. He is All-Wise in what He does, All-Knowing of His creation.

26. We created mankind – meaning Adam – out of dried clay – from which a rattling sound could be heard when it was hollowed out – formed from fetid black mud.

27. We created the jinn before the creation of Adam out of the fire of a searing wind – a fire which has no smoke which that through the pores.

28. Remember when your Lord said to the angels, ‘I am creating a human being out of dried clay formed from fetid black mud.

29. When I have formed him and perfected him and breathed My Ruh into him – caused some of My Ruh (Spirit) to flow into him so that he becomes alive – fall down in prostration in front of him to honour him!’ The prostration was a greeting which took the form of bowing.

30. Then the angels prostrated all together, every one of them –

31. … except Iblıs. Iblıs was the father of the jinn. He was with the angels. He disdained to be one of the prostrators.

32. He (Allah) said, ‘Iblıs, what is it that prevents you being among the prostrators?’

33. He said, ‘I will not prostrate to a human being – it is not appropriate for me to do such a thing – whom You have created out of dried clay formed from fetid black mud.’

34. He said, ‘Get out from here – out of the Garden or the heavens. You are accursed (ousted).

35. The curse will be on you till the Day of Reckoning (Repayment).’

36. He said, ‘My Lord, grant me a reprieve until the Day they (mankind) are raised again.’

37. He said, ‘You are among the reprieved…

38. …until the Day whose time is known. ’ That is the time of the First Blast on the Trumpet.

39. He said, ‘My Lord, because You misled me, I will make things on the earth (acts of disobedience) seem good to them and I will mislead them all, every one of them,

40. …except Your slaves among them who are sincere (the believers).’

41. He (Allah) said, ‘This is a Straight Path to Me.

42. You have no authority over any of My slave s (the believers) except for the misled (the unbelievers) who follow you.’

43. Allah says: Hell is the promised meeting-place for all of them.

44. It has seven gates (layers) and each gate has its allotted share.

45. Those who are godfearing will be amid Gardens and running Springs:

46. It will be said to them: ‘Enter them in peace – safe from every fearful thing – in complete security, safe from every anxiety!’

47. We will strip away any rancour in their hearts – brothers, resting on couches face to face. No one looks at anyone else’s back, because the couches are arranged in a circle.

48. They will not be affected by any tiredness there and they will never be made to leave.

49. Tell My slaves, Muhammad, that I am the Ever-Forgiving to the believers, the Most Merciful to them,

50. …but also that My punishment of the disobedient is the Painful Punishment.

51. And tell them about the guests of Ibrahim – angels, who were twelve, ten or three in number, one of whom was Jibril.

52. When they came in to him, they said, ‘Peace!’ He ( Ibrahim) said – when he offered them food, but they did not eat it, which caused him to be alarmed – ‘Truly we are afraid of you.’

53. They said, ‘Do not be afraid. We are the messengers of your Lord. We bring you the good news of a boy with great knowledge.’ This was Ishaq, as mentioned in Surat Hud.

54. He asked, ‘Do you bring me this good news of a child despite old age having reached me? What kind of good news are you bringing me?’ The question is one of wonder.

55. They said, ‘We bring you good news of the truth, so do not be among those who despair.’

56. He said, ‘Who despairs (read as yaqnatu and yaqnitu) of the mercy of his Lord except for misguided people (unbelievers)?’

57. He added, ‘What is your business, messengers?’

58. They said, ‘We have been sent to a people who are evildoers (unbelievers) – referring to the people of Lu† – in order to destroy them,

59. …except the family of Lut, all of whom We will save because of their belief

60. … except for his wife. We have decreed her to be one of those who stay behind – to suffer the punishment because of her disbelief.’

61. When the Messengers came to the family of Lut,

62. he said to them, ‘You are people we do not know.’

63. They said, ‘We have come to you with what they (your people) had doubts about – a reference to the punishment.

64. We have brought you the truth and we are certainly truthful men in what we say.

65. Travel with your family in the dead of night, following behind – walking behind them – with them in front of you. None of you must look back – in order not to see the terrible fate which will befall them. Go where you are ordered to.’ They were ordered to go to Syria.

66. We revealed to him the command We had decreed: that on the following morning the last remnant of those people would be cut off and eradicated.

67. The inhabitants of the city of Sodom (the people of Lut) came, exulting at the news – when they heard that Lut had handsome, beardless young men in his house. They were angels. The people desired to engage in disgusting actions with them.

68. He (Lut) said, ‘These are my guests, so do not put me to shame.

69. Be fearful of Allah and do not dishonour me – by perpetrating the disgusting actions you intend to do with them.’

70. They said, ‘Did we not forbid you to play host to anyone at all?’

71. He said, ‘Here are my daughters if you are determined to do something. If you desire to satisfy your lust, then marry them.’ Then Allah says:

72. By your life! This is addressed to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. They were wandering back and forth blindly in their drunkenness.

73. So the Great Blast – the Shout of Jibril – seized hold of them at the break of day (sunrise).

74. We turned the place (their cities) completely upside down – Jibril lifted them to heaven and turned them over and dropped them back to the earth – and rained down on them stones of hard baked clay.

75. There are certainly Signs in that which has been mentioned regarding the oneness of Allah, for the discerning – those who look and reflect.

76. They – the cities of the people of Lut – were beside a road which still exists – the road that Quraysh took to Syria. The ruins still existed; ‘so why do you not consider them?’

77. There is certainly a Sign (a lesson) in that for the believers.

78. The people of the Thicket – a reference to a thicket of trees close to Madyan; they were the people of Shu‘ayb – were also wrongdoers in denying the prophethood of Shu‘ayb.

79. We took revenge on them as well, by destroying them with intense heat. They are both beside a well-worn track. ‘The cities of these people are on well-known routes, so will you not reflect on them, people of Makka?”

80. The people of al-hijr denied the Messengers. Al-hijr is a river valley between Madina and Syria and is another name for the tribe of Thamud. They denied Salih and by doing so denied the rest of Allah’s Messengers, because they all bring the Message of Allah’s oneness.

81. We brought them Our Signs – specifically the She-camel – but they turned away from them and did not reflect.

82. They carved out houses from the mountains, feeling safe,

83. but the Great Blast seized hold of them in the morning,

84. …so all that they earned was of no use to them – incapable of defending them from the punishment: neither their fortresses nor all their wealth.

85. We did not create the heavens and earth and everything between them, except with truth. The Hour is certainly coming – the time when everyone will be repaid for their actions cannot be avoided. So, Muhammad, turn away from your people graciously and do not be grieved by them. This was abrogated by the Ayat of the Sword.

86. Your Lord is the Creator of everything, the All-Knowing of everything.

87. We have given you the Seven Oft-repeated – the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said that this refers to the Fatiha (al-Bukari and Muslim related this.), so-called because it is recited twice in every pair of rak‘ats – and the Magnificent Qur’an.

88. Do not direct your eyes longingly to what We have given certain categories of them to enjoy. Do not feel sad concerning them if they do not believe; but take the believers under your wing (protection).

89. Say: ‘I am indeed a clear warner of the punishment of Allah which will befall you, and I make the warning clear.’

90. Just as We sent down punishment on the dissectors (the Jews and Christians);

91. …those who divide the Qur’an into little pieces: those who split the books revealed to them into parts, by believing in some of it and rejecting some of it. It is also said that what is meant by this are those who form groups on the roads of Makka to prevent people from becoming Muslims. Some of them said that the Qur’an was magic, some that it was soothsaying and some that it was poetry.

92. By your Lord, We will question them all, to rebuke them, every one of them,

93. …about what they did!

94. Proclaim, Muhammad, what you have been ordered to – out loud and broadcast it – and turn away from the idolaters. This was before the command to fight jihad.

95. We are enough for you against the mockers – We will prevent them from harming you by destroying them. Those referred to were al-Walıd ibn al-Mughira, al-‘Asi ibn Wa’il, ‘Adı ibn Qays, al-Aswad ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib and al-Aswad ibn ‘Abdu Yaghuth.

96. …those who set up another god beside Allah. They will soon know the end of the affair!

97. We know that your breast is constricted by what they say, their mockery and denial,

98. So glorify your Lord with praise – say, “Subhana’llahi wa bi-hamdihi” – and be one of the prostrators in prayer.

99. And worship your Lord until what is certain (death) comes to you.