1. By those angels drawn up in ranks – in prayer lines or on their wings in the air, waiting to see what they will be commanded to do –

2. …and by the warners crying warning – the angels who drive along the clouds –

3. …and by the reciters of the Reminder (the Qur’an):

4. …your God is One,

5. Lord of the heavens and the earth and everything between them; Lord of the Easts and the Wests, which is a reference to the rising and setting of the sun every day.

6. We have adorned the lowest heaven with the beauty of the stars – or the light given by them –

7. …and guarded it with meteors against every defiant – the word for “defiant”, marid means refusing any obedience – shaytan.

8. They (the shayitin) cannot eavesdrop (read as yassamma‘una and yasma‘ una) on the Highest Assembly – a gathering of angels in heaven which is guarded in the way described; and they are stoned – by meteors from every side of heaven –

9. …repelled – driven far away and expelled – with harshness. They will suffer eternal punishment in the Next World –

10. …except for him who passes by and snatches a snippet and then is pursued by a piercing flame. The only one able to eavesdrop is one shaytan who hears a word from the angels and takes it swiftly but is then pursued by a luminous star to pierce him, burn him, or confuse him.

11. Ask them (the people of Makka) for a fatwa (decision) – this is for affirmation or for rebuke: is it they who are stronger in structure or other things – such as the angels, the heavens and the earths and what is in them – We have created? We created them in the primary form of Adam from sticky clay – which sticks to the hand, the implication being that having been created weak people should not be arrogant by denying the Prophet and the Qur’an. That will lead to their quick destruction.

12. No wonder you are surprised (read as ‘ajabta and ‘ajabtu meaning “I am surprised”) as they laugh with scorn! This is addressed to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and refers to their denial of him.

13. When they are reminded – by means of the Qur’an – they do not pay heed.

14. When they see a Sign – like the splitting of the moon – they only laugh with scorn and make a mockery of it.

15. They say about it, ‘This is just downright magic. They deny the resurrection:

16. When (read as anna and, a’inna) we are dead and turned to dust and bones, will we then be raised up again alive?

17. And our early forefathers (read as awa aba’un and aw aba’un) as well?’ The question is: will they be among those who are resurrected as well?

18. Say to them: ‘Yes, you will be raised up – and you will be in a despicable state of abasement.’

19. There will be but one Great Blast – after which all creatures will be brought back to life – and then their eyes will open, waiting to see what will be done to them.

20. They (the unbelievers) will say, ‘Alas for us! – referring to the reality they are now facing. This is the Day of Reckoning and Repayment!’

21. This is the Day of Decision between creatures which you used to deny. Then the angels will be instructed:

22. Assemble those who did wrong to themselves by committing shirk, together with their associates among the jinn and what (idols) they worshipped…

23. …besides Allah, and guide and drive them to the Path of the Blazing Fire!

24. And call them to a halt at the sirat. They will be asked about all of their words and deeds. Then they will be rebuked as follows:

25. ‘Why are you not helping one another – as you did in your worldly lives?’ It will be said of them:

26. No, today they come – humbled – in absolute submission.

27. They will confront each other, questioning one another – blaming and arguing with one another.

28. One group (the followers) will say to those they followed, ‘You used to come at us from a position of power.’ Literally: “Come at us from the right,” meaning from a direction which they completely trusted since they swore that they had the truth. That is why they believed them and followed them. But they misled them.

29. The others (those who were followed) will say to their followers: ‘The truth is that you were not believers. You were happy to be misguided. If you had been believers, you would not have believed in us.

30. We had no authority over you to compel you to follow us; rather you were unbridled people – misguided like us.

31. Our Lord’s Word decreeing punishment has been carried out against us – and is mandatory for all of us, an example of which is Allah’s words: “I will fill up Hell with the jinn and mankind all together.” (11:119) – that we would taste it (the punishment).

32. We misled you and (because) we were ourselves misled.’

33. Allah says: On that Day – the Day of Rising – they will be partners in the punishment – just as they were partners in the error.

34. That is how We deal with evildoers. We will deal with them as we dealt with those people in the past by punishing both followers and followed.

35. When they were told, ‘There is no god but Allah,’ they were arrogant.

36. They said, ‘Are we to forsake our gods for a mad poet – meaning Muhammad?’

37. Allah says: Rather he has brought the truth and confirmed the Messengers – who brought it. It is: “There is no god but Allah.”

38. You will definitely taste the painful punishment…

39. …and you will only be repaid for what you did –

40. except for Allah’s chosen slaves.

41. They will have preordained provision – in Paradise, morning and evening –

42. …sweet fruits – this refers to things that are eaten for pleasure, not for the preservation of health, because the people of the Garden have no need to preserve their bodies which are everlasting there, and high honour – indicated by the reward from Allah –

43. …in Gardens of Delight…

44. …on couches face to face – so they do not see one another’s backs.

45. A cup from a flowing spring will pass round among them, so that each of them drink from it. The spring is one of wine which flows on the surface of the earth like rivers of water in this world –

46. … as white as driven snow – whiter than milk, delicious to those who drink – unlike the wine of this world, which is unpleasant,

47 . …which has no headache in it – and does not befuddle their intellects – and does not leave them stupefied (read as yunzafuna and yunzifüna) – meaning make them insensible. It is therefore different from the wine of this world.

48. There will be dark-eyed maidens with them, with eyes reserved for them alone – meaning that they confine their eyes to their husbands and do not look at anyone other than them –

49. …just like closely guarded pearls. This refers to their colour; they are like the white of ostriches, covered with their feathers so that dust does not reach them. This whitish yellow is the best complexion for women.

50. They (the people of the Garden) will confront each other, questioning one another about what happened to them in this world.

51. One of them will say, ‘I used to have a friend – who denied the Resurrection –

52. …who would say to me – to rebuke him for believing in the Resurrection – “Are you one of those who say that it is true:

53. …that when we have died and are turned to dust and bones, we will face a Reckoning – and be paid back?”’

54. He will say to his brothers, ‘Are you looking down with me at Hell to see what his state is?’ They will answer, “No.”

55. So he – the speaker, who is one of the people of Paradise – will look down and see him (his comrade) in the midst of the Blazing Fire…

56. …and say to him in rebuke: ‘By Allah, you almost ruined me by your error!

57. If it were not for the blessing of my Lord – the faith He gave me – I would have been among those arraigned with you in the Fire.’ Then the people of the Garden say:

58. Are we not going to die,

59. …except for our first death in the world? Are we not going to be punished? This question is prompted by their joy at the blessing of Allah by granting them eternal life and not punishing them.

60. Truly this – what has been mentioned regarding the reward of the people of the Garden – is the Great Victory!

61. It is for the like of this that all workers should work!’ It is possible that these words are said to them; it is also said that they are the ones who say them.

62. Is that – the things which have been mentioned – better by way of hospitality – and other things prepared for the one who alights there – or the tree of Zaqqum, which is prepared for the people of the Fire? Zaqqum is the foulest of bitter trees in Tihama which Allah will make grow in Hellfire, as will be discussed later –

63. …which We have made to be an ordeal for the wrongdoers? It was a test for the unbelievers among the people of Makka when they said, “Fire burns trees, so how can it grow there?”

64. It is a tree that emerges in the depths of the Blazing Fire – the base of Hellfire, and its branches rise through its levels.

65. Its fruits are just like the heads of shaytans – resembling ugly snakes.

66. They (the unbelievers) will eat from it and fill their bellies with it in spite of its ugliness, because of the severity of their hunger.

67. Then they will have a boiling brew – scalding water which they drink – to drink on top of it – and it mixes with what they have eaten and makes the pain worse.

68. Then their destination will be the Blazing Fire. This implies that they emerge from it to drink the boiling water.

69. They found their fathers misguided…

70. …and they are following hard upon their heels. They are moved to follow them and hasten to do so.

71. Most of the earlier peoples (past nations) went astray before them,

72. …though We sent warner’s to them – Messengers who tried to make them fear.

73. See the final fate of those who were warned; the unbelievers whose final end is the Fire –

74. …except for Allah’s chosen slaves (the believers). They will be saved from the punishment because of their sincerity in worship or because Allah will deliver them.

75. Nuh called out to Us with the words: “I am overwhelmed, so help me!” (54: 10), and what an excellent Responder We are! He asked us to help him against his people and so We destroyed them with the Flood.

76. We rescued him and his family from the terrible plight of drowning –

77. …and made his descendants the survivors, so all human beings are the descendants of Nuh, peace be upon him. He had three sons: Sam, who is the father of the Arabs, Persians and Greeks; Ham, who is the father of the blacks; and Yafith, who is the father of the Turks, the Khazars, and Ya’juj and Ma’juj and the rest –

78. …and We left the later people – both Prophets and their nations – to say of him – in praise until the Day of Rising:

79. ‘Peace – from us – be upon Nuh among all beings!’

80. That – repayment – is how we recompense the good-doers.

81. He truly was one of Our slaves who are believers.

82. Then We drowned the rest: the unbelievers of his people.

83. One of his followers – the word used here, shi‘a, means party or followers on the basis of their din – in faith was Ibrahim – there was a long time between them, said to be 2640 years, during which the Prophets Hud and Salih were sent –

84. …when he came to his Lord with an unblemished heart – free from doubt and any other flaws –

85. …and said to his father and his people – to rebuke them – ‘What are you worshipping?

86. Is it falsehood – the word used here, ifk, denotes the worst form of lying, gods besides Allah, that you desire? This means: Why do you worship something other than Allah?”

87. So what are your thoughts about the Lord of all the worlds?’ Did they think that Allah would leave them to worship something other than Him without punishing them? They were astrologers. They went out to their festival and left their food with their idols, claiming that they would receive blessing for doing so. Then when they returned, they ate the food. They told Ibrahim, “Come out with us.”

88. He took a look at the stars, suggesting to them that he relied on them so that they would trust him,

89. …and said, ‘I am sick.’ He pretended to see there that he would become ill.

90. So they turned their backs on him and went off to their festival.

91. He turned surreptitiously to their gods – the idols they worshipped, where the food had been left – and said, ‘Do you not eat? –

92. … and continued: What is the matter with you that you do not speak?’ They did not answer him.

93. He turned on them, striking out forcefully with his right hand and broke them. Those who saw him told his people.

94. They came rushing back to him and said to him, “We worship them and you have broken them!”

95. He said – to rebuke them – ‘Do you worship something you have carved – idols you have created from stone and other things –

96. …when Allah created both you and what you do – your carving and what you carve? So worship Him and affirm His unity?’

97. They said to one another ‘Build a pyre of wood for him – and set it alight so that it burns fiercely – and fling him into the blaze!’

98. They tried to outwit him by throwing him into the Fire to kill him but We made them the lowest. They were overcome and he emerged unharmed from the fire.

99. He said, ‘I am going towards my Lord – I will emigrate for Allah’s sake alone from the Abode of unbelief. He will be my guide to wherever He commands me to go – which was greater Syria. When he reached the Holy Land, he said:

100. My Lord, bestow on me a right-acting child!’ The word “child” is not actually mentioned, but is clearly implied.

101. And We gave him the good news of a very forbearing boy.

102. When he was of an age to work with him and help him, which is variously reckoned to be at either seven or thirteen years old – he said, ‘My son, I have seen in a dream that I must sacrifice you. The dreams of Prophets are true and their actions are commanded by Allah. What do you think about this?’ He consulted him so that he would be aware of what was going on and submit to what he was commanded to do to him. He said, ‘Do as you are ordered, father. Allah willing, you will find me resolute with regard to it.’

103. Then when they had both submitted to the command of Allah and he had laid him face down on the ground, and put the knife to his throat, but did not do anything because he was prevented by the power of Allah –

104. We called out to him, ‘Ibrahim,

105. You have fulfilled your vision.’ You have done as much as you could to sacrifice your son. That is enough for you. That is how We recompense good-doers – those who obey Allah’s command: by removing hardship from them.

106. This commanded sacrifice – as indeed a most manifest trial – a clear test.

107. We ransomed him – this pronoun refers to the son he was commanded to sacrifice, who was either Isma’il or Ishaq, as there are two views about it – with a mighty sacrifice – a large ram from Paradise. It was the one which Habil, the son of Adam, had sacrificed, and Jibrıl, peace be upon him, brought it, and Ibrahim sacrificed it, pronouncing the takbir as he did so.

108. and left the later people saying of him in praise:

109. ‘Peace from us be upon Ibrahim.’

110. That is how We recompense good-doers.

111. He truly was one of Our believing slaves.

112. We gave him the good news of Ishaq, a Prophet, one of the righteous. This is an indication that the one who was offered for sacrifice was Isma‘il rather than Ishaq.

113. We showered blessings upon him and upon Ishaq – by giving them many descendants, and among the offspring of his son, Ishaq, there were many Prophets. Among their descendants are good doers (believers) and also people who clearly wrong themselves (unbelievers).

114. We showed great kindness – in the form of Prophethood – to Musa and Harun.

115. We rescued them and their people (the tribe of Israel) from their terrible plight – which was that of being enslaved by Pharaoh.

116. We supported them against the Copts and so they were the victors.

117. We gave them the clarifying Book – one which is extremely clear with respect to the limits, laws and other things it conveys, meaning the Torah,

118. …and guided them on the Straight Path,

119. …and left the later people saying – in praise – of them,

120. ‘Peace from us be upon Musa and Harun!’

121. That is how We recompense good-doers.

122. They truly were among Our slaves who are believers.

123. Ilyas was one of the Messengers. It is said that he was the nephew of Harun, Musa’s brother. There are also different reports on the subject. He was sent to the people of Baalbek and the surrounding area.

124. Remember when he said to his people, ‘Will you not be god - fearing and fear Allah?

125. Do you call on Baal and abandon the Best of Creators? Baal was the name of a golden idol of theirs, from which the name of the town is derived.

126. Allah is your Lord (read as rabba and rabbu) and Lord of your forefathers, the previous peoples.’

127. They denied him and so they will be among those arraigned in the Fire,

128. …except for Allah’s chosen slaves – the believers who will be saved from it.

129. We left the later people saying in praise of him,

130. ‘Peace from us be upon the family of Yasin!’ Yasn is Ilyas. This is wishing peace upon him and those who believed with him, based on the reading il yasın. If it is read as al yasin, it means his family.

131. That is how We recompense good-doers.

132. He truly was one of Our slaves who are believers.

133. And Lut was one of the Messengers.

134. Remember when We rescued him and all his family –

135. …except an old woman among those who stayed behind and suffered the punishment.

136. Then We utterly destroyed the rest – the unbelievers of his people.

137. And you pass by them – the ruins of their houses, when you travel in the daytime…

138. …and at night. So will you people of Makka not use your intellect?

139. Yunus too was one of the Messengers,

140. … when he ran away to the fully laden ship – he did this when he was angry with his people and the punishment which he had promised them did not befall them. He embarked on a ship and then it stopped in an ocean gulf. The sailors said, “There is a slave on board who has run away from his master.” He was exposed when they drew lots.

141. …and the people of the ship cast lots and he lost – and so they threw him into the sea.

142. Then the fish devoured him and he was to blame. He had gone to the coast in a blameworthy way and embarked on the ship without permission from his Lord.

143. Had it not been that he was a man who glorified Allah, remembering Allah frequently, even in the belly of the fish. He said, “There is no god but You. Glory be to You. I have been one of the wrongdoers,” as Allah relates about him in Sürat al-Anbiy’ (21:86) –

144. …he would have remained inside its belly – and it would have been his grave – until the Day (the Day of Rising) they are raised again.

145. So We cast him up out of the belly of the fish onto the beach – either on the same day, after three days, after seven days, after twenty days, or after forty days – and he was sick like a featherless fledgling;

146. and We caused a gourd tree to grow over him on a trunk to shade him, which is different from the normal growth of the gourd, as a miracle for him. He drank from its juice until he became strong.

147. We sent him to a hundred thousand or even more – as before, to the people of Nineveh in the land of Mosul. The number exceeded a hundred thousand by twenty, thirty or seventy thousand.

148. They had believed, when they saw the punishment they had been promised, and so We gave them enjoyment for a time and allowed them to remain enjoying their property until the end of their life spans.

149. Ask them (the unbelievers of Makka) for a fatwa (a statement) – as a rebuke: does your Lord have daughters – after their claim about the angels being the daughters of Allah – while they themselves have sons? So they consider themselves better.

150. Or did We create the angels female, with them as witnesses to their creation so that they can say this?

151. No indeed! It is one of their blatant lies to say,

152. ‘Allah has given birth’ – when they say that the angels are the daughters of Allah. They are truly liars in what they say.

153. Has He chosen daughters over sons?

154. What is the matter with you? How do you reach your judgment? Your judgment is a false one.

155. Will you not pay heed and remember that Allah is glorious and exalted above having a child?

156. Or do you have some clear authority – clear evidence that Allah has a child?

157. Bring your Book, then – meaning the Torah, and show me where that is in it – if you are telling the truth in what you say!

158. They (the idolaters) claim there is a blood-tie between Him and the jinn through the angels, since they are hidden from the eyes according to their statement that they are His daughters; but the jinn know very well that they will be arraigned – they know that those who say that will be punished in the Fire.

159. Glory be to Allah above what they describe – Allah is too exalted to have a child –

160. …except for Allah’s chosen slaves (the believers). They exalt Allah above what the other people describe Him as.

161. You and those you worship (the idols):

162. …you will entice no one to them – to what you worship,

163. …except for him who is to roast in the Blazing Fire – in the foreknowledge of Allah.

164. Jibril said the following to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. ‘There is not one of us (the angels) who does not have a known station in the heavens, in which he worships Allah and which he does not exceed.

165. We are those drawn up in ranks – standing in rows in the prayer.

166. We are those who glorify.’ We proclaim Allah free of eve r ything which is not fitting for Him.

167. They (the unbelievers of Makka) used to say,

168. ‘If we had only had a Reminder (a Book) from the Books of the previous peoples (past nations),

169. … we would certainly have been sincere slaves of Allah in worshipping Him!’

170. Allah says: But they have rejected it – the Book which has come to them, meaning the Noble Qur’an – and they will soon know the result of their unbelief.

171. Our Word – meaning victory in this instance – was given before to Our slaves, the Messengers, a reference to Allah’s words: “I will be victorious, I and My Messengers.” (58:21)

172. …that they would certainly be helped.

173. It is Our army (the believers) which will be victorious over the unbelievers by the proof and victory over them in this world. If some of them are not victorious in this world, they will be in the Nex t World.

174. Therefore turn from them (the unbelievers of Makka) for a time, until the time when you are commanded to fight them,

175. … and watch them when the punishment befalls them, for they will soon see the consequences of their unbelief.

176. They said in mockery, “When will this punishment occur?” Allah then threatens them: Are they trying to hasten Our punishment?

177. When it descends in their courtyard – the word used here, saha, means the courtyard around a house. According to al-Farra’, when the Arabs mention the courtyard, it really means the people there – how evil will be the morning of those who were warned!

178. So turn from them for a time.

179. And watch, for they will soon see! This is repeated to stress the threat against them and to give solace to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

180. Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of Might, beyond anything they describe about Him having a child.

181. And peace be upon the Messengers who conveyed the Message of Allah’s unity and laws.

182. And praise be to Allah – for helping them and destroying the unbelievers – the Lord of all the worlds!