1. Mankind’s – referring especially to the people of Makka who denied the resurrection – Reckoning has drawn very close to them – meaning the Day of Rising – yet they heedlessly turn away from preparing for it by believing.

2. No fresh reminder comes to them – of the Qur’an, as it arrives piece by piece – from their Lord without their listening to it as if it was a game – and they make a mockery of it.

3. Their hearts are distracted – heedless to what it means. Those who do wrong confer together secretly, saying, ‘Is this man (Muhammad) anything but a mortal human being like yourselves? Do you succumb to magic with your eyes wide open – knowing that it is magic?’

4. Say – to them: ‘My Lord knows what is said secretly in heaven and earth. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.’

5. Furthermore – the conjunction used here, bal, is employed in Arabic to move to another subject – they say about what the Qur’an brings: ‘A muddled jumble of dreams!’ and, ‘He has invented it!’ and, ‘He is a poet!’ and, ‘Let him bring us a Sign like those sent to previous peoples – such as the She-camel, the Staff and the White Hand.’ When they demand a sign Allah says to them:

6. None of the inhabitants of the cities which We destroyed before them for denying the Signs which came to them believed. So will they believe? No.

7. We have only ever sent before you men to whom We gave Revelation (read as nuha, as here, and also yuha meaning, “men who were given Revelation”) – not angels. Ask the People of the Reminder – the scholars who know the Torah and the Gospel – if you do not know that, for they know it. You are more likely to believe them than to believe those who believe in Muhammad.

8. We did not give them (the Messengers) bodies – the singular jasad used here is generic – which did not eat food, nor were they immortal in this world.

9. But We kept Our promise to them – by saving them – and rescued them and those We willed – who believed them – and destroyed the profligate – who denied them.

10. We have sent down to you, company of Quraysh, a Book containing your Reminder in your own language to remind you, so will you not use your intellect and believe in it?

11. How many cities – meaning their inhabitants – which did wrong by disbelieving have We utterly destroyed, raising up other people after them!

12. When they perceived Our violent force – and were aware of their imminent destruction – they ran away from it.

13. The angels then said to them in mockery: ‘Do not run away! Return to the life of luxury you enjoyed and to the places where you lived, so that you may be interrogated about what you enjoyed in this world!’

14. They said, ‘Alas for us and our destruction! We were indeed wrongdoers by disbelieving!’

15. That cry of theirs went on – the words with which they were making supplication continued to be repeated – until We made them like the stubble of scythed crops as they had been killed by the sword – silent, stamped out – still, like a fire that had been extinguished.

16. We did not create heaven and earth and everything in between them as a game but rather to show the power of Allah and how Allah helps His slaves.

17. If We had desired to have some amusement – in the form of a wife or child – We would have derived it from Our Presence – from the houris or angels; but We did not do that. We neither did that nor desired to.

18. Rather We hurl the truth (faith) against falsehood (unbelief) and it cuts right through it – the word used here means to strike a fatal blow which exposes the brain and removes it – and it vanishes clean away! Woe – a terrible punishment – without end to you, unbelievers of Makka – for what you portray about Allah having a wife or child!

19. Everyone in the heavens and the earth belongs to Him as His property. Those in His presence – the angels, who never grow weary of worship – do not consider themselves too great to worship Him and do not grow tired of it.

20. They glorify Him by night and day, without ever flagging as we do, and nothing distracts them from it.

21. Or have they taken gods out of the earth – like their idols made of stone, gold and silver – who can bring the dead to life? The question demands a negative response, so the implication is that they cannot, and no one can be considered to have divinity except the One who can bring the dead to life.

22. If there had been any gods besides Allah in heaven or on earth, they would both have been ruined. Heaven and earth would have lost their normal orderedness since there would have inevitably been internal discord, as is normal when there are several rulers: they oppose one another in things and do not agree with one another. Glory be to Allah, Lord and Creator of the Throne, beyond what they (the unbelievers) describe and attribute to Him by way of a partner or anything else!

23. He will not be questioned about what He does, but they will be questioned about their actions.

24. Or have they taken other gods besides Him? This is a rebuke. Say: ‘Produce your proof for that! There is no way to do so. This is the message of those with me (my community) – that is, the Qur’an – and the message of those before me (past nations) – that is, the Torah, the Gospel, and other Books of Allah.’ Not one of those Books says that there is another god with Allah as they say. He is Exalted above that. But most of them do not know the truth – Allah’s Oneness – so they turn away – and fail to understand it.

25. We sent no Messenger before you without revealing (read as nuha and yuha: see 21:7 above) to him: ‘There is no god but Me, so worship Me and affirm My Unity.’

26. They say, ‘The All-Merciful has a son – one of the angels.’ Glory be to Him! No, they are but honoured slaves! They are honoured by Him, but slavehood is not compatible with being a son.

27. They do not precede Him in speech – only saying what they say after He says it – and they act on His command – only acting once He has made a command.

28. He knows what is in front of them and what is behind them – what they are going to do and what they did in the past. They only intercede on behalf of those with whom He is pleased – that they should be interceded for – and even they are apprehensive out of fear of Him.

29. Were any of them to say, ‘I am a god apart from Him,’ a reference to Iblis, who called on people to worship him and ordered them to obey him, We would repay him with Hell. That is how We repay wrongdoers (idolaters).

30. Do those who disbelieve not see (read as aw lam yara and a-lam yara) – meaning “know” – that the heavens and the earth were sewn together and compacted together and then We unstitched them and made them seven heavens and seven earths. The word “unstitch” as applied to the heavens means that before that there was no rain and then there was rain; as applied to the earth it means that the earth did not previously produce plants but then allowed plants to grow – and that We made from water which descends from heaven and springs from the earth e very living thing – plants and other things? Water is the source of their life. So will they not believe in My Oneness?

31. We placed firmly embedded mountains on the earth, so it would not move under them, and We put broad valleys as roadways in it, so that perhaps they might be guided – so that they could travel through it and reach their destinations.

32. We made the sky a preserved and protected roof for the earth, as a house has a roof which does not collapse into it – yet still they turn away from Our Signs – meaning the sun, moon and stars; they do not reflect on them and thereby come to know that the Creator has no partner.

33. It is He who created night and day and the sun and moon and the stars; each has its own orbit in which it travels, like a millwheel in the sky – each one swimming in a sphere. The word “swim” is used to describe their speedy moving, which is compared to the way a swimmer moves in water. Because of the metaphor, the third person masculine plural pronoun built into the verb, which is normally only used for intelligent beings, is used in this instance to describe the sun and the moon.

34. The following was revealed when the unbelievers said, “Muhammad will die.” We did not give any human being before you immortality in this world; and if you die, will they then be immortal? This question demands a negative response.

35. Every self will taste death in this world. We test you with both good and evil – meaning poverty and wealth, illness and health, and similar things – as a trial to see whether or not you will be steadfast and thankful. And you will be returned to Us – and then We will repay you for what you did.

36. When those who disbelieve see you, they only make a mockery out of you and say: ‘Is this the one who makes mention of your gods – in other words, criticises them?’ Yet they are unbelievers about the mention of the All-Merciful. When the All-Merciful is mentioned, they say, “We do not recognise Him.”

37. This was revealed about hastening the punishment. Man was created hasty – he behaves hastily in many situations, as if it were part of his basic nature to do that. I will show you My Signs – evidence of the promised punishment to come – so do not try to hasten Me – in respect of that. Then Allah showed them by their slaughter at the Battle of Badr.

38. They say, ‘When will this promise of the Resurrection come about, if you are telling the truth about it?’

39. Allah says: If those who disbelieved only knew of the time when they will not be able to keep the Fire away from their faces or their backs! And they will receive no help in warding it off from themselves on the Last Day.

40. No, it (the Day of Rising) will come upon them suddenly, confounding them, taking them completely by surprise, and they will not be able to ward it off. They will be granted no reprieve – no delay for repentance or making excuses.

41. Messengers before you were also mocked – this was revealed to console the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace – but those who jeered were engulfed by what (the punishment) they mocked. So in the same way the punishment will envelop those who mock you.

42. Say to them: ‘Who will protect you night and day from the punishment of the All-Merciful if it alights on you?’ No one can do so. Those who are addressed do not fear the punishment of Allah because they deny it. Yet they turn away from the remembrance of their Lord – the Qur’an, which they do not think about.

43. Or do they have gods besides Us who will protect them from harm? The response to the question is negative. They (those gods) cannot even help themselves! They (the unbelievers) will not be safe from Us – from Our punishment.

44. No indeed! We have given these people enjoyment of blessings as We did their fathers, until life seemed long and good to them and they were deluded by having a long life. Do they not see how We come to the (their) land, eroding it from its extremities – decreasing its size by conquests by the Prophet? Or are they the victors? Who are victorious? It is the Prophet and his Companions.

45. Say to them: ‘I can only warn you through the Revelation – from Allah, not from myself.’ But the deaf cannot hear the call when they are warned. They fail to act on the admonition which they have heard, as if they were deaf.

46. If even a single waft – the slightest trace – of the punishment were to touch them, they would say, ‘Alas for us on account of our destruction! We were indeed wrongdoers by committing shirk and rejecting Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.’

47. We will set up the Just Balance on the Day of Rising and no self will be wronged in any way: no one will be given any additional wrong actions or lose a single one of their good actions. Even if it (the action) be no more than the weight of a grain of mustard-seed, We will produce it. We are sufficient as a Reckoner of every action.

48. We gave to Musa and Harun the Discrimination – the Torah, which distinguishes between the truth and the false, and the lawful and unlawful – and a Shining Light and a Reminder for those who are godfearing:

49. …those who fear their Lord in the Unseen – when no one can see them and they are alone – and are apprehensive about the terrors of the Last Hour.

50. This Qur’an is a blessed Reminder which We have sent down. So are you going to ignore it? The question is a rebuke.

51. We gave Ibrhım his right guidance early on – before he came of age – and We had complete knowledge of him – knowledge that he was worthy of the guidance he received.

52. When he said to his father and his people, ‘What are these statues (idols) you are clinging to and worshipping?’

53. They said, ‘We found our fathers worshipping them and we imitated them.’

54. He said to them ‘You and your fathers are clearly misguided in worshipping them.’

55. They said, ‘Have you brought us the truth in what you say or are you playing games?’

56. He said, ‘Far from it! Your Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth – He is the One who should be worshipped: He who brought them into being without any prior model. I am one of those who bear witness to that.

57. By Allah, I will devise some scheme against your idols when your backs are turned.’

58. He broke them in pieces (read as judhadh and jidhadh) – with his axe after his people went to their gathering on their festival day – except for the biggest one, from whose neck he hung the axe, so that they would have it to consult about what it had done to the others!

59. They said – after they returned and saw what he had done – ‘Who has done this to our gods? He is definitely one of the wrongdoers!’

60. They said to one another: ‘We heard a young man mentioning and criticising them. They call him Ibrahim.’

61. They said, ‘Bring him publicly before the people’s eyes so they can be witnesses and testify that he did it.’

62. They asked him after he was brought: ‘Did you do this to our gods, Ibrahim?’

63. He was silent about what he did, and he said, ‘No, this one, the biggest of them, did it. Ask them who did it, if they are able to speak!’ This is an allusion to the fact that the specific idol was unable to act and unable to speak and therefore could not be a god.

64. They consulted among themselves – reflecting on his words – and said to each other: ‘It is you yourselves who are wrongdoers by worshipping those who do not speak.’

65. But then they relapsed from this insight back into their unbelief and said: ‘You know full well these idols cannot talk, so how can you ask us to ask them?’

66. He said, ‘Do you then worship, instead of Allah, what cannot help or harm you in any way – in respect of provision or anything else? It will not harm you if you do not worship them.

67. Shame on you (read as uffin, uffa and uffi, an exclamation used for something ugly and foul) and what you worship besides Allah! Will you not use your intellect?’ Will you not realise that these idols do not deserve worship and are not a proper subject for it? Allah alone is the One who is entitled to worship.

68. They said, ‘Burn him (Ibrahim) and support your gods by burning him if you are resolved to do something to help them.’ They gathered a great deal of firewood, set fire to all of it, tied Ibrhım up, put him in a catapult, and shot him into the Fire. Then Allah said:

69. We said, ‘Fire, be coolness and peace for Ibrahim!’ The fire only burned his bonds. Its heat departed and its light remained. By “peace” what is meant is safety from death by means of the fire being made cool.

70. They desired to trap him and burn him; but We made them the losers – by the fact that they failed to achieve what they wanted.

71. We delivered both him and Lut – the son of his brother Harun – from Iraq to the land which We had blessed for all beings with many rivers and trees, which was Syria. Ibrahim settled in Palestine and Lut in Sodom; there was a day’s distance between them.

72. And in addition to that We gave him Ishaq and Ya‘qub – because he had asked for a child, as we find in Surat as-Saffat (37:100). Ya‘qüb was added as the grandchild – and made both of them righteous Prophets.

73. We made them leaders, guiding people to good by Our command – to the dın of Allah – and revealed to them how to do good actions and establish the prayer and pay zakat, and they worshipped Us.

74. We gave right judgement – of how to decide between litigants – and knowledge to Lut and rescued him from the city the inhabitants of which committed disgusting acts, such as sodomy, sniping at passers-by, looking at omens and other things. They were inwardly evil people who were deviators.

75. We admitted him into Our mercy and saved him from his people. He was one of the righteous.

76. And remember Nuh, when he called out before Ibrahim and Lut, and prayed against his people, saying, “Lord, do not leave…!” (71: 28- 30), and We responded to him and rescued him and his family from the terrible plight of drowning in the Flood, and from the denial of his people.

77. We helped him against the people who rejected Our Signs which proved His Message, so that they could not do evil to him. They were an evil people and We drowned them, every one.

78. And remember the story of Dawud and Sulayman when they gave judgement about the field – either a wheatfield or vineyard, which sheep went into at night without a shepherd when they got loose – when the people’s sheep strayed into it at night. We were Witness to their judgement. Dawud said that the owner of the field should take the sheep. Sulayman said that he should have the use of their milk, offspring and wool until the field was restored to the state it had been in and then the sheep should be returned.

79. We gave Sulayman understanding of it – arbitration and judgement by ijtihad; and Dawud preferred Sulayman’s judgement. It is said that it came about by Revelation. Sulayman’s judgement super seded Dawud’s. We gave each of them judgement (Prophethood) and knowledge of matters of the dın. We subjected the mountains to Dawud, glorifying, and the birds as well. The birds were subjected to glorification with him at his command whenever he became tired, to encourage him. This is something We are well able to do. We are able to subject the glorification of the birds and the mountains to Dawud, even though you might find that surprising.

80. We taught him the art of making garments for you – coats of chain mail for the first time; before that plated armour was used – to protect you (read as tuhsinakum as here and nuhsinakum meaning, “so that We might protect you”) against each others’ violence – referring to war with enemies. But do you, people of Makka, show any thanks for My blessings by believing the Messenger?

81. And to Sulayman We gave p ower over the fiercely blowing wind – here it is described as “fiercely blowing” whereas in another ayat (38:36) it is described as blowing “softly”, which indicates that both strong and gentle winds were subject to him, speeding at his command and will towards the land which We had blessed (Syria). And We had full knowledge of everything. Allah knew that what He gave Sulayman would make him humble to his Lord, and He acted accordingly.

82. And We subjected some of the shaytans to Sulayman who dived for him into the sea and brought out gems from it for him, and did other things apart from that, such as building. And We were watching over them so that they did not ruin what they did; because when the jinn finish work before night, they ruin it if they are distracted by something else.

83. And remember Ayyub when he called out to his Lord – when he was tested by the loss of all his wealth and children and the lesions on his body, and everyone except his wife shunned him for three, seven or eighteen years, restricting his livelihood – ‘Great harm has afflicted me, but You are the Most Merciful of the merciful.’

84. We responded to him and his supplication, removed from him the harm which was afflicting him, and restored his family to him – giving him male and female children by bringing them back to life; and he had three or seven of each – and the same again with them – from his wife, since his youth was restored. He had one threshing floor for wheat and another for barley. Allah sent two clouds, one of which emptied gold onto the wheat floor and the other silver onto the barley floor until they overflowed – as a mercy direct from Us and a Reminder to all worshippers to be steadfast so that they may be rewarded.

85. And remember Isma‘il and Idrıs and Dhu’l-Kifl. Each one was among the steadfast in obeying Allah and in not disobeying Him.

86. We admitted them into Our mercy ( Prophethood). They were among the righteous – suitably prepared for it. The name of Dhu’l- Kifl comes from the fact that he obliged (takaffal) himself to fast everyday and pray every night and to render judgement between people and not to become angry; and he fulfilled all of that. According to another opinion, though, he was not a Prophet.

87. And remember Dhu’n-Nun – “Possessor of the fish”, another name for Yunus ibn Matta – when he left his people in anger – although he did not have permission to do so, because of the obduracy he experienced from them – and thought We would not punish him – that We would not decree for him what We decreed, in that he was confined inside the belly of the fish; or that We would not constrict him for doing so. He called out in the pitch darkness – the plural is used and refers to the three darknesses of the night, the sea and the belly of the fish: ‘There is no god but You! Glory be to You! Truly I have been one of the wrongdoers in leaving my people without permission.’

88. We responded to him on account of those words and rescued him from his grief. That is how We rescue the believers from grief when they call on Us for help.

89. And remember Zakariyya when he called out to his Lord, ‘My Lord, do not leave me on my own – without a child to inherit from me – though You are the Best of Inheritors. You are the One who will remain after the rest of Your creation disappears.’

90. We responded to him after his plea and gave him – a son – Yahya, restoring for him his wife’s fertility after she had become barren. They – those of the Prophets We have mentioned – outdid one another in good actions – hastening to acts of obedience to Allah – calling out to Us in yearning for Our mercy and in awe of Our punishment, and humbling themselves to Us in their worship.

91. And remember Maryam she who protected her private parts and guarded her chastity. We breathed into her some of Our Ruh– Jibril breathed into the pocket of her shift and she became pregnant with Isa – and made her and her son a Sign for all the worlds – for human beings, jinn and angels, since she gave birth to him without a father.

92. This nation of yours – the nation of Islam – is one nation and your din which you are obliged to follow – and I am your Lord, so worship Me and affirm My Unity.

93. But they – some of those who were told to do this – disagreed and split into different sects regarding their din; this refers to the many sects of the Jews and Christians. Allah continues – Each one will return to Us and We will repay them for what they did.

94. As for anyone who does right actions and is a believer, his striving certainly does not go unthanked (unacknowledged). We are writing it down on his behalf. Allah commands the recording angels to write it down and then He will repay him for what he did.

95. There is a ban on any city – meaning its inhabitants – We have destroyed; they will not return to this world.

96. The prohibition against returning continues until when Ya’juj and Ma’juj – these are two non-Arabic names which are the names of tribes – are let loose (read as futihat and futtihat) – lit. “are opened”, which may refer to the breaching of the wall holding them in. When this happens, it will be close to the time of the Rising – and rush rapidly down from every slope,

97. …and the True Promise of the Day of Rising is very close, the eyes of those who disbelieved will be transfixed because of the intensity of that day and they will say: ‘Alas for us! We are destroyed! We were unmindful of this day in this world! No, rather we were certainly wrongdoers in denying the Messengers.’

98. You, people of Makka, and what (the idols) you worship – according to your claim – besides Allah are fuel for Hell. You will go down into it.

99. If those idols had really been gods – as you claim – they would not have gone down into it – into the Fire. Each one – those who worshipped idols and the idols they worshipped – will be in it timelessly, for ever.

100. There will be sighing for them (those who worshipped idols) in it and they will not be able to hear anything – on account of the intensity of its boiling. This was revealed when Ibn az-Zib‘ari asked, “‘Uzayr, the Messiah, and the angels were worshipped. Will they be in the Fire, then?”

101. Those for whom the Best from Us was pre-ordained will be far away from it.

102. They will not hear the slightest hint of it at all and they will remain there in bliss timelessly, for ever, among everything theirselves desire.

103. The greatest terror will not upset them – a reference to the time when people are commanded to go to the Fire – and the angels will welcome them – when they emerge from the graves: ‘This is your Day, the one that you were promised in the world.’

104. That Day We will fold up heaven like folding up the pages of a book (read as kitab and kutub). The word for “pages” here, sijil, is also said to be the name of an angel, in which case the meaning becomes: “like when (the angel) Sijil folds up the Book.” The “book” referred to is the record of the son of Adam when he dies. As We originated the first creation – from non-existence – so We will regenerate it – after it has been made non-existent again. It is a promise binding on Us because We have made it; that is what We will do – as We promised.

105. We wrote down in the Zabur – the word zabur is sometimes used in the Qur’an to refer specifically to the biblical Psalms, but literally means any written text and in this case refers to every Divinely Revealed Book – after the Reminder – the Mother of the Book which is with Allah – came: ‘It is My slaves who are righteous who will inherit the earth – in Paradise . ’ All who are righteous will inherit it.

106. Certainly there is an adequate transmission in this Qur’an about entering the Garden – for people who worship and act according to it.

107. We have sent you, Muhammad, only as a mercy to all the worlds – to both human beings and the jinn.

108. Say: ‘It is revealed to me that your god is One God. So are you Muslims?’ Will you obey what has been revealed to me about the Oneness of God? The question is in reality a command to become Muslim.

109. If they turn their backs on that, then say: ‘I have informed all of you equally – of a war which will be waged against you and so we are all equal in that respect; the warning is not directed to me alone but to you as well, and so you should prepare yourselves for what is to come – and I do not know if what you have been promised – regarding the punishment or the Rising which entails it – is near or far. Allah alone knows that.

110. He (Allah) knows what is said openly – and what you and others do – and He knows what you hide and do secretly.

111. For all I know, it – what I have told you about, whose destined time I do not know – might be a trial for you – to see what you will do – and you will have enjoyment for a time until the end of your lifespan.’

112. He said (read as qala and qul, “Say”) – ‘Lord, judge between me and those who deny me with truth – by punishing them or granting us victory against them. They were punished at Badr, Uhud, Hunayn, al-Ahzab and the Ditch and were finally defeated completely. Our Lord is the All-Merciful, the One Whose help is sought in the face of what you describe.’ This refers to their denial of Allah in their words, “He has taken a son,” and of the Prophet, peace be upon him, when they called him a magician and said that the Qur’an was poetry.