1. Ta Sin Mim. Allah knows best what is meant by this

2. Those are the Signs of the Clear Book – the ayats of the Qur’an which make the truth clear from falsehood.

3. Perhaps you, Muhammad, will destroy yourself with grief because they (the people of Makka) will not become believers. This is compassion to him to instruct him so that his sorrow about that is diminished.

4. If We wished We could send down a Sign to them from heaven before which their heads would be bowed low in subjection – indicating that they would believe.

5. But no fresh reminder – in the form of the Qur’an – from the All- Merciful reaches them without their turning away from it.

6. They have denied the truth, but the news of what they mocked will certainly come to them.

7. Have they not looked at the earth and seen how We have made every sort of its myriad and beneficial species grow in it?

8. There is certainly a Sign in that, indicating the perfection of Allah’s power, yet most of them are not believers – in Allah’s knowledge.

9. Truly your Lord is the Almighty, possessing might with which He will take revenge on the unbelievers, the Most Merciful to the believers.

10. Mention to your people, Muhammad, about when your Lord called out to Musa on the night when he saw the fire and the bush: ‘Go to the wrongdoing people as a Messenger,

11. …the people of Pharaoh who have wronged themselves by rejecting Allah and wronged the tribe of Israel by enslaving them. Will they not be god-fearing and show their fear of Allah by obeying Him and affirming His unity?’ The question is a rebuke to them.

12. He (Mu sa) said, ‘My Lord, I fear they will deny me,

13. …and that my breast will be constricted – by their denial of me, and that my tongue will not be free – will be unable to convey the Message because of my speech impediment. So send – my brother – Harun as a Messenger as well.

14. They hold a wrong action against me – through my killing of the Copt – and I fear that they may kill me.’

15. He (Allah) said, ‘By no means! They will not kill you. Go, both of you, with Our Signs. We will certainly be together with you, listening. We will hear what you say and what is said to you.

16. Go to Pharaoh and say, “We are the Messenger of the Lord of all the worlds – to you –

17. …to tell you to send the tribe of Israel away to Syria with us.”’ They went to him and told him what they had been commanded to say.

18. He (Pharaoh) said to Musa, ‘Did we not bring you up among us as a child in our home and did you not spend many years of your life among us? He spent thirty years of his life wearing the garments of Pharaoh and riding in his entourage and was called his son.

19. Yet you did the deed you did – a reference to Musa’s killing of the Copt – and were ungrateful, refusing to acknowledge our beneficence to you by bringing you up and not enslaving you.’

20. He (Musa) said, ‘At the time I did it I was one of the misguided – unaware of the knowledge which Allah gave me later of and the Message,

21. …and so I fled from you when I was in fear of you but my Lord gave me right judgement (knowledge) and made me one of the Messengers.

22. And anyway you can only reproach me with this favour because you made the tribe of Israel into slaves!’ You enslaved them but not me. Therefore that is not beneficence on your part, since you did wrong by enslaving them.

23. Pharaoh said to Musa, ‘What is the Lord of all the worlds? Who is this whose Messenger you say that you are?’ There is no way for creation to know the reality of Allah. They only know Him through His attributes. Musa answered him by mentioning some of His attributes.

24. He said, ‘The Lord of the heavens and the earth and every - thing between them if you knew for sure that He is your Creator; therefore believe in Him alone.’

25. He (Pharaoh) said to those nobles of his people around him, ‘Are you listening? Do you not hear that his answer is not a proper answer to the question I asked?’

26. He (Musa) said, ‘Your Lord and the Lord of your forefathers, the previous peoples.’ This answer exasperated Pharaoh.

27. He said, ‘This Messenger, who has been sent to you, is mad.’

28. He (Musa) said, ‘The Lord of the East and the West and everything between them if you used your intellect.’ So believe in Him and affirm His unity.

29. He (Pharaoh) said to Musa, ‘If you take any god other than me, I will certainly throw you into prison.’ Prison was an extremely severe punishment in Pharaoh’s Egypt. It was under the ground and the prisoners did not see or speak to anyone.

30. He (Musa) said, ‘Even if I were to bring you something undeniable – clear evidence of my Prophethood?’

31. He (Pharaoh) said to him, ‘Produce it then if you are someone telling the truth.’

32. So He threw down his staff and there it was, unmistakably a huge snake.

33. And he drew out his hand from his pocket and there it was, pure white and shining, changed from its normal brown colour – to those who looked.

34. He (Pharaoh) said to the High Council round about him, ‘This certainly is a skilled magician – obviously well-versed in magic –

35. …who desires by his magic to expel you from your land, so what do you recommend?’

36. They said, ‘Detain him and his brother and delay them, and send out marshals to the cities – to gather the people –

37. …to bring you all the skilled magicians to demonstrate in public their superior knowledge of magic to that of Musa publicly.’

38. So the magicians were assembled for a meeting on a specified day – midmorning on the Day of Adornment, which was their festival.

39. The people were asked, ‘Are you all assembled,

40. …so we can follow the magicians if they are the winners?’ The question was to encourage the people to gather and anticipate victory so that they could continue in their religion and not follow Musa.

41. When the magicians came, they said to Pharaoh, ‘Will we be rewarded if we are the winners?’

42. He said, ‘Yes, and in that case you will be among those brought near.’

43. After the magicians said to him, “Will you throw or will we be the first to throw?” Müs said to them, ‘Throw whatever it is you are going to throw!’ The command implies giving them permission. Allowing them to throw first was a means to manifesting the truth.

44. They threw down their ropes and staffs and said, ‘By the might of Pharaoh we are the winners.’

45. But Musa threw down his staff and at once it swa l l owed up what they had fabricated – all their ropes and staffs which had appeared to be moving snakes.

46. The magicians threw themselves down, prostrating.

47. They said, ‘We believe in the Lord of all the worlds,

48. …the Lord of Musa and Harun.’ For they knew that what they had witnessed happening with Musa’s staff was not the result of magic.

49. He (Pharaoh) said, ‘Have you believed in him (Musa) before I authorised you? He is your chief who taught you magic. He taught you some magic and defeated you with other magic which you did not learn from him. But you will soon know what I will do to you! I will cut off your alternate hands and feet – the right hand and the left foot – and I will crucify every one of you.’

50. They said, ‘We do not care! That will not harm us. We are returning to our Lord in the Next World after we die, no matter how we die.

51. We remain hopeful that our Lord will forgive us our mistakes for being the first of the believers in our time.’

52. We revealed to Musa – after two years during which he stayed there calling them to the Truth by the Signs of Allah which only increased them in insolence – ‘Travel with Our slaves (the tribe of Israel) by night towards the sea. You will certainly be pursued. Pharaoh and his armies will follow you there and I will save you and drown them.’

53. When he heard that they had set out, Pharaoh sent marshals into the cities: It is said that there were one thousand cities and ten thousand towns. They were to marshal the people, saying:

54. ‘These people are a small group – and it is said that they were 670,000 whereas the vanguard of Pharaoh’s army was 700,000, so they were few in comparison with Pharaoh’s army –

55. …and we find them irritating – in what they do,

56. …and we constitute a vigilant (read as hadhiruna, meaning ready and prepared, and also hadhiruna which means alert) majority.’

57. Allah says: We expelled them (Pharaoh and his people) from gardens and springs – in their pursuit of Musa and his people. They had gardens beside the Nile, and streams from the Nile ran through their houses;

58. …from treasures – apparent wealth of gold and silver which is called “treasure” because Allah’s right on it had not been paid – and a splendid situation – a good assembly for commanders and ministers surrounded by their followers.

59. So it was – a reference to their expulsion from Egypt! And We bequeathed them to the tribe of Israel after Pharaoh and his people were drowned.

60. So they pursued them towards the east, catching them up just as the sun was rising.

61. And when the two hosts came into sight of one another, Musa’s companions said, ‘We will surely be overtaken and do not have sufficient strength to resist them!’

62. He (Musa) said, ‘Never! They will not catch us. My Lord is with me to help me and He will guide me to the path of salvation.’

63. Allah says: So We revealed to Musa, ‘Strike the sea with your staff.’ He struck it – and it split in two – revealing twelve paths, each part like a towering cliff: the two sides of the sea towered above them on either side, not wetting the saddle or garment of any rider.

64. And We brought the others (Pharaoh and his people) right up to it – so that they could start to follow the paths the tribe of Israel had taken.

65. We rescued Musa and all those who were with him – and they emerged from the sea safely.

66. Then We drowned the rest (Pharaoh and his people) – because the sea came down on them when they had all entered it and the tribe of Israel had emerged from it.

67. There is certainly a Sign and lesson in that – the drowning of Pharaoh and his people, yet most of them are not believers in Allah. Exceptions were Asiya, the wife of Pharaoh, and Hizqil, the believer of the family of Pharaoh, and Maryam bint Namusi who had directed people to the greatness of Yusuf, peace be upon him.

68. Truly your Lord is the Almighty, the Most Merciful. His might was indicated in this instance by His taking revenge on the idolaters by drowning them and His mercy towards the believers by saving them from drowning.

69. Recite to them (the people of Makka) the story of Ibrahim…

70. …when he said to his father and his people, ‘What do you wor - ship?’

71. They said, ‘We worship idols and will continue to cling to them.’ They clearly stated what they did in the hope that they would look favourably on them. They added their determination to continue doing it as a boast.

72. He said, ‘Do they hear you when you call…

73. …or do they help you – when you worship them or do you harm – when you do not worship them?’

74. They said, ‘No, but this is the same as what we found our fathers doing.’

75. He said, ‘Have you really thought about what you worship…

76. …you and your fathers who came before?

77. They are all my enemies and I do not worship them; I worship nothing – except for the Lord of all the worlds:

78. He who created me and guides me – to His din –

79. He who gives me food and gives me drink;

80. and when I am ill, it is He who heals me;

81. He who will cause my death, then give me life;

82. He who I sincerely hope will forgive my mistakes on the Day of Reckoning and Repayment.

83. My Lord, give me right judgement (knowledge) and unite me with the righteous (the Prophets);

84. …and make me highly esteemed among the later peoples, those who will come after me up until the Day of Rising –

85. …and make me one of the inheritors of the Garden of Delight – among those who are given it –

86. …and forgive my father by turning to him and pardoning him – he was one of the misguided; this was before it was clear that he was an enemy of Allah as mentioned in Surat at-Tawba (9:114).

87. …and do not disgrace me on the Day they are raised up at the Resurrection.

88. Allah says of it: the Day when neither wealth nor sons will be of any use or help to anyone,

89. …except to those who come to Allah with sound and flawless hearts – free of hypocrisy and shirk.’ That is the heart of the believer. That will benefit him.

90. The Garden will be brought near to those who are godfearing and they will see it.

91. The Blazing Fire will be displayed to the misled (the unbelievers).

92. They will be asked, ‘Where are those…

93. … idols you used to worship besides Allah? Can they help you against the punishment or even help themselves a gainst it?’ They cannot.

94. They will be bundled into it head first, they and the misled,

95. …and every one of Iblis’s regiments – those who follow him among the men and jinn.

96. Arguing in it with one another, they (the misled) will say to those they worshipped –

97. ‘By Allah, we were plainly misguided…

98. …when We equated you with the Lord of all the worlds – in terms of worship.

99. It was only the evildoers – referring either to the shaytans or to those who ruled them and whom they followed – who misguided us from guidance,

100. …and now we have no one to intercede for us – whereas the believers have the angels, Prophets and other believers;

101. …we do not have a single loyal friend who is concerned about us.

102. If only we could have another chance to return to the world – then we would be among the believers!’ This is wishful thinking expressed by them.

103. There is certainly a Sign in that which has been mentioned about the story of Ibrhım and his people – yet most of them are not believers.

104. Truly your Lord is the Almighty, the Most Merciful.

105. The people of Nuh denied the Messengers by denying Nuh who had been among them for such a long time that it was as if he were several messengers, or possibly their denial of him was tantamount to denying the rest of the Messengers by virtue of the fact that the basis of their Message is the same.

106. When their brother Nuh said to them, ‘Will you not be god - fearing and fear Allah?

107. I am a faithful Messenger to you in conveying to you what I was sent with,

108. …so be fearful of Allah and obey me by doing what I command you to do in terms of affirming Allah’s unity and obeying Him.

109. I do not ask you for any wage for conveying it. My wage – and reward is the responsibility of no one but the Lord of all the worlds.

110. …so be fearful of Allah and obey me.’ This is repeated for stress.

111. …they said, ‘Why should we believe you in what you say when the vilest people – the lowliest, like weavers and shoemakers – follow you (read as wattaba‘ aka as here and also as wa atba‘uka, meaning “your followers are the vilest people)?’

112. He said, ‘What do I know about what they have been doing?

113. Their reckoning is the concern of my Lord alone – and He will repay them – if you were but aware. If you knew that, you would not criticise them.

114. I am not going to chase away the believers.

115. I am only a clear warner.’

116. They said, ‘Nuh, if you do not desist from what you are saying to us you will be stoned with rocks or abuse.’

117. He (Nuh) said, ‘My Lord, my people have denied me…

118. …so make a clear judgement between me and them and rescue me and the believers who are with me.’

119. Allah said: So We rescued him and those with him in the loaded ship filled with people, animals, and birds.

120. Then afterwards We drowned the rest – after saving the believers from their people.

121. There is certainly a Sign in that, yet most of them are not believers.

122. Truly your Lord is the Almighty, the Most Merciful.

123. ‘Ad denied the Messengers…

124. …when their brother Hüd said to them, ‘Will you not be god -fearing?

125. I am a faithful Messenger to you…

126. …so be fearful of Allah and obey me.

127. I do not ask you for any wage for it. My wage is the responsibility of no one but the Lord of all the worlds.

128. Do you build a tower on every hilltop, just to amuse yourselves – at the expense of those who passed by and to mock at them –

129. …and construct great fortresses – also said to mean aqueducts – hoping to live for ever…

130. …and when you attack – by striking or killing people – attack as tyrants do – without compassion?

131. So be fearful of Allah alone and obey me in what I command you to do.

132. Be fearful of Him who has supplied you with what you know – bestowed His blessings on you;

133. …supplied you with livestock and children,

134. …and gardens and clear springs.

135. I fear for you the punishment of a terrible Day both in this world and the Next World, if you disobey Me.’

136. They said, ‘It makes no difference to us whether you preach or do not preach and admonish; we will not pay any attention to you.

137. This is only what the previous peoples (read as khuluq and khalq) did. What you are trying to frighten us with is only the legends and lies of earlier peoples.

138. We are not going to be punished.’

139. So they denied him – or the punishment – and We destroyed them in this world with a wind. There is certainly a Sign in that, yet most of them are not believers.

140. Truly your Lord is the Almighty, the Most Merciful.

141. Thamud denied the Messengers…

142. …when their brother Salih said to them, ‘Will you not be godfearing?

143. I am a faithful Messenger to you…

144. …so be fearful of Allah and obey me.

145. I do not ask you for any wage for it. My wage is the responsibility of no one but the Lord of all the worlds.

146. Are you going to be left secure amid what is here of blessings,

147. …amid gardens and clear springs…

148. …and cultivated fields and palms with supple spathes?

149. Will you continue hewing houses from the mountains with exultant skill? (read as farihın meaning “exultant” and farihin meaning “skilful”)

150. So be fearful of Allah and obey me.

151. Do not obey the orders of the profligate…

152. …those who corrupt the earth through acts of disobedience and do not put things rightthrough acts of obedience.’

153. They said, ‘You are merely someone bewitched – greatly, so that your intellect is totally overwhelmed by it.

154. You are nothing but a human being like ourselves, so produce a Sign if you are telling the truth about your Message.’

155. He said, ‘Here is a she-camel. She has a time for drinking and you have a time for drinking – on specified days.

156. Do not do anything to harm her or the punishment of a terrible day will come down on you.’

157. But they hamstrung her – with the consent of others – and woke up full of remorse…

158. …for the promised punishment did come down on them – and so they were destroyed. There is certainly a Sign in that, yet most of them are not believers.

159. Truly your Lord is the Almighty, the Most Merciful.

160. The people of Lut denied the Messengers…

161. …when their brother Lut said to them, ‘Will you not be god - fearing?

162. I am a faithful Messenger to you.

163. …so be fearful of Allah and obey me.

164. I do not ask you for any wage for it. My wage is the responsibility of no one but the Lord of all the worlds.

165. Of all beings, do you lie with males,

166. …leaving the wives – ceasing to have sexual intercourse with women – Allah has created for you? You are a people who have overstepped the limits.’ You have left what is lawful for what is unlawful.

167. They said, ‘Lut if you do not desist – and stop objecting to us – you will be expelled – from our land.’

168. He (Lut) said, ‘I am someone who detests the deed you perpetrate.

169. My Lord, rescue me and my family from the punishment for what they are doing.’

170. Therefore We rescued him and all his family –

171. …except for an old woman (his wife) who remained behind – with those We destroyed.

172. Then We utterly destroyed the rest…

173. …and made a Rain of stones come pouring down upon them. How evil is the rain of those who are warned!

174. There is certainly a Sign in that, yet most of them are not believers.

175. Truly your Lord is the Almighty, the Most Merciful.

176. The Companions of the Thicket (read as layka and al-ayka) – referring to a thicket of trees close to Madyan – denied the Messengers…

177. …when Shu‘ayb said to them – it does not say “their brother” in this instance because he was not one of their tribe – ‘Will you not be godfearing?

178. I am a faithful Messenger to you.

179. …so be fearful of Allah and obey me.

180. I do not ask you for any wage for it. My wage is the responsibility of no one but the Lord of all the worlds.

181. Give full measure. Do not skimp by giving short measure.

182. Weigh with a level balance.

183. Do not diminish people’s goods – by giving people less than their full due – and do not go about the earth, corrupting it – by killing and other disruptive actions.

184. Be fearful of Him who created you and the earlier creatures.’

185. They said, ‘You are merely someone bewitched.

186. You are nothing but a human being like ourselves. We think you are a liar.

187. So make lumps (read as kisaf and kisf) from heaven fall down on us if you are telling the truth – about your Message.’

188. He said, ‘My Lord knows best what you are doing – and He will repay you.’

189. They denied him and the punishment of the Day of Shadow came down on them. This refers to a cloud which shaded them after a terrible heat had afflicted then and then rained down fire on them and they were burned up. It was indeed the punishment of a terrible Day.

190. There is certainly a Sign in that, yet most of them are not believers.

191. Truly your Lord is the Almighty, the Most Merciful.

192. Truly it (the Qur’an) is revelation sent down by the Lord of all the worlds.

193. T he Faithful Ruh (read as ar-ruhu al-amınu and ar-ruha alamina) – meaning Jibril – brought it down (read as nazala and also nazzala, in which case the meaning becomes: “He sent down the Faithful Ruh with it”)…

194. …to your heart so you would be one of the Warners…

195. … in a clear Arabic tongue.

196. It – clearly referring to the Qur’an, which was revealed to Muhammad – is certainly in the scriptures of the previous peoples – such as the Torah and the Gospel.

197. Is it (read as yakun and takun) not indeed a Sign for them (the unbelievers of Makka) that the scholars of the tribe of Israel – such as ‘Abdullah ibn Salam and his companions who believed (in Islam) – have knowledge of it? They told people about it.

198. If We had sent it down to a non-Arab…

199. …who had then recited it to them (the unbelievers of Makka), they still would not believe in it.

200. That is how We thread it – your claim that it comes from a non- Arab – into the hearts of the evildoers (the unbelievers of Makka). This sort of thing entered their hearts when the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, recited the Qur’an.

201. They will not believe in it until they see the painful punishment.

202. It will come upon them suddenly when they are not expecting it.

203. They will say, ‘Can we be granted a reprieve to give us time to believe?’ The answer will be ‘No.’

204. They say, “When is this punishment coming?” Allah says to them: Do they want to hasten Our punishment?

205. Tell me: Do you think, if We let them enjoy themselves for years…

206. …and then what they were promised – in terms of punishment – comes to them…

207. …that what they enjoyed will be of any use to them – in terms of repelling the punishment it or lightening it? This means that nothing will be of any use.

208. We have never destroyed a city without giving it prior warning – sending a Messenger to warn its inhabitants.

209. …as a reminder and warning to them. We were never unjust – because We have only ever destroyed people after warning them first.

210. Then Allah reveals in order to refute the idolators: The shaytans did not bring it (the Qur’an) down.

211. It does not befit them and they are not capable of it.

212. They are debarred from hearing it – prevented from hearing the words of the angels by meteors.

213. So do not call on any other god along with Allah or you will be among those who will be punished – if you do what they invite you to do.

214. Warn your near relatives. This refers to the Banu Hashim and Banu’l-Muttalib. As is reported in al-Bukhari and Muslim, “he called them openly.”

215. …and take the believers who follow you under your wing. Be gentle to those who affirm Allah’s unity.

216. If they (your tribe ) disobey you, say, ‘I am free of what you do – from your worship of other than Allah.’

217. Put your trust (read as fa- tawakkil and wa- tawakkil) in the Almighty, the Most Merciful: entrust all your affairs to Him.

218. He who sees you when you stand up to pray,

219. …and your movements with those who prostrate – meaning those who pray; this refers to the core elements of the prayer: standing, sitting, bowing and prostrating.

220. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.

221. Shall I tell you, unbelievers of Makka, upon whom the shaytans descend?

222. They descend on every evil liar – every impious liar, such as Musaylima and other soothsayers.

223. They (the shayatin) give them (the soothsayers) a hearing – telling them what they heard from the angels – and most of them are liars – adding many lies to what they heard. This was before the shayatin were barred from the heavens.

224. And as for poets, it is the misled who follow them in their poetry, repeating it and relating it from them and so they also are blameworthy.

225. Do you not see how they ramble on in every style – literally “in every valley,” which here means every style and form of speech. They proceed and exceed the limits in their eulogies and satires –

226. …and say things which they do not do – such as: “We have done such-and-such,” when they have not and so they are lying –

227. …except those poets who believe and do right actions and remember Allah repeatedly – so that their poetry does not distract them from remembering Allah – and defend themselves, by using satire themselves, after they have been wronged by the unbelievers satirising them as believers? They are not blameworthy then. Allah says, “Allah does not like evil words to be voiced out loud, except in the case of someone who has been wronged.” (4:148) He also says, “So if anyone oversteps the limits against you, overstep against him the same as he did to you.” (2:194) Those poets and others who do wrong will soon know the kind of reversal they will receive – and where they will return to after they die.