Qaaf

Qaaaf; wal Qur aanil Majeed

Qaf. CONSIDER this sublime Qur’an!

Bal 'ajibooo an jaa'ahum munzirum minhum faqaalal kaafiroona haazaa shai'un 'ajeeb

But nay - they deem it strange that a warner should have come unto them from their own midst; and so these deniers of the truth are saying, “A strange thing is this!

'A-izaa mitnaa wa kunnaa turaaban zaalika raj'um ba'eed

Why - [how could we be resurrected] after we have died and become mere dust? Such a return seems far-fetched indeed!”

Qad 'alimnaa maa tanqu-sul-ardu minhum wa 'indanaa Kitaabun Hafeez

Well do We know how the earth consumes their bodies, for with Us is a record unfailing.

Bal kazzaboo bilhaqqi lammaa jaaa'ahum fahum feee amrim mareej

Nay, but they [who refuse to believe in resurrection] have been wont to give the lie to this truth whenever it was proffered to them; and so they are in a state of confusion.

Afalam yanzurooo ilas samaaa'i fawqahum kaifa banainaahaa wa zaiyannaahaa wa maa lahaa min furooj

Do they not look at the sky above them - how We have built it and made it beautiful and free of all faults?

Wal arda madadnaahaa wa alqainaa feehaa rawaasiya wa ambatnaa feehaa min kulli zawjim baheej

And the earth - We have spread it wide, and set upon it mountains firm, and caused it to bring forth plants of all beauteous kinds,

Tabsiratanw wa zikraa likulli 'abdim muneeb

thus offering an insight and a reminder unto every human being who willingly turns unto God.

Wa nazzalnaa minas samaaa'i maaa'am mubaarakan fa ambatnaa bihee jannaatinw wa habbal haseed

And We send down from the skies water rich in blessings, and cause thereby gardens to grow, and fields of grain,

Wannakhla baasiqaatil laha tal'un nadeed

and tall palm-trees with their thickly-clustered dates,

Rizqal lil'ibaad, wa ahyainaa bihee baldatam maitaa; kazaalikal khurooj

as sustenance appor­tioned to men; and by [all] this We bring dead land to life: [and] even so will be [man’s] coming-forth from death.

Kazzabat qablahum qawmu Noohinw wa Ashaabur Rassi wa Samood

[Long] before those [who now deny resur­rection] did Noah’s people give the lie to this truth, and [so did] the folk of Ar-Rass, and [the tribes of] Thamud

Wa 'Aadunw wa Fir'awnu wikhwaanu loot

and Ad, and Pharaoh, and Lot’s brethren,

Wa Ashaabul Aykati wa qawmu Tubba'; kullun kazzabar Rusula fahaqqa wa'eed

and the dwellers of the wooded dales [of Madyan], and the people of Tubba: they all gave the lie to the apostles - and thereupon that whereof I had warned [them] came true.

Afa'a yeenaa bilkhalqil awwal; bal hum fee labsim min khalqin jadeed

Could We, then, be [thought of as being] worn out by the first creation? Nay - but some people are [still] lost in doubt about [the possibility of] a new creation!

Wa laqad khalaqnal insaana wa na'lamu maa tuwaswisu bihee nafsuhoo wa Nahnu aqrabu ilaihi min hablil wareed

NOW, VERILY, it is We who have created man, and We know what his innermost self whispers within him: for We are closer to him than his neck-vein.

'Iz yatalaqqal mutalaqqi yaani 'anil yameeni wa 'anish shimaali qa'eed

[And so,] whenever the two demands [of his nature] come face to face, contending from the right and from the left,

Maa yalfizu min qawlin illaa ladaihi raqeebun 'ateed

not even a word can he utter but there is a watcher with him, ever-present.

Wa jaaa'at kullu nafsim ma'ahaa saaa'iqunw wa shaheed

And [then,] the twilight of death brings with it the [full] truth that [very thing, O man,] from which thou wouldst always look away! –

Wa nufikha fis Soor; zaalika yawmul wa'eed

and [in the end] the trumpet [of resurrection] will be blown: that will be the Day of a warning fulfilled.

Wa jaaa'at kullu nafsim ma'ahaa saaa'iqunw wa shaheed

And every human being will come forward with [his erstwhile] inner urges and [his] conscious mind,

Laqad kunta fee ghaf latim min haazaa fakashafnaa 'anka ghitaaa'aka fabasarukal yawma hadeed

[and will be told:] “Indeed, unmindful hast thou been of this [Day of Judgment]; but now We have lifted from thee thy veil, and sharp is thy sight today!”

Wa qaala qareenuhoo haazaa maa ladaiya 'ateed

And one part of him will say: “This it is that has been ever-present with me!”

Alqiyaa fee Jahannama kulla kaffaarin 'aneed

[Whereupon God will command:] “Cast, cast into hell every [such] stubborn enemy of the truth,

Mannaa'il lilkhayri mu'tadim mureeb

[every] withholder of good [and] sinful aggressor [and] fomentor of distrust [between man and man – everyone]

Allazee ja'ala ma'al laahi ilaahan aakhara fa alqiyaahu fil'azaabish shadeed

who has set up another deity beside God: cast him, then, cast him into suffering severe!”

Qaala qareenuhoo Rabbanaa maaa atghaituhoo wa laakin kaana fee dalaahim ba'eed

Man’s other self’ will say: “O our Sustainer! It was not I that led his conscious mind into evil [nay,] but it had gone far astray [of its own accord]!

Qaala laa takhtasimoo ladaayya wa qad qaddamtu ilaikum bilwa'eed

[And] He will say: “Contend not before Me, [O you sinners,] for I gave you a forewarning [of this Day of Reckoning].

Maa yubaddalul qawlu ladaiya wa maaa ana bizal laamil lil'abeed

The judgment passed by Me shall not be altered; but never do I do the least wrong unto My creatures!”

Yawma naqoolu li'jahannama halim talaati wa taqoolu hal mim mazeed

On that Day We will ask hell, “Art thou filled?”- and it will answer, “[Nay,] is there yet more [for me]?”

Wa uzlifatil jannatu lil muttaqeena ghaira ba'eed

And [on that Day] paradise will be brought within the sight of the God-conscious, and will no longer be far away; [and they will be told:]

Haaza maa too'adoona likulli awwaabin hafeez

“This is what you were promised - [promised] unto every­one who was wont to turn unto God and to keep Him always in mind –

Man khashiyar Rahmaana bilghaibi wa jaaa'a biqalbim muneeb

[everyone] who stood in awe of the Most Gracious although He is beyond the reach of human perception, and who has come [unto Him] with a heart full of contrition.

Udkhuloohaa bisalaamin zaalika yawmul khulood

Enter this [paradise] in peace; this is the Day on which life abiding begins!”

Lahum maa yashaaa'oona feehaa wa ladainaa mazeed

In that [paradise] they shall have whatever they may desire - but there is yet more with Us.

Wa kam ahlaknaa qablahum min qarnin hum ashaddu minhum batshan fanaqqaboo fil bilaad, hal mim mahees

AND HOW MANY a generation have We destroyed before those [who now deny the truth] people of greater might than theirs; but [when Our chastise­ment befell them,] they became wanderers on the face of the earth, seeking no more than a place of refuge

Inna fee zaalika lazikraa liman kaana lahoo qalbun aw alqas sam'a wa huwa shaheed

In this, behold, there is indeed a reminder for everyone whose heart is wide-awake -that is, [every­one who] lends ear with a conscious mind -

Wa laqad khalaqnas samaawaati wal arda wa maa bainahumaa fee sittati ayyaamin wa maa massanaa mil lughoob

and [who knows that] We have indeed created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in six aeons, and [that] no weariness could ever touch Us.

Fasbir 'alaa maa yaqooloona wa sabbih bihamdi Rabbika qabla tuloo'ish shamsi wa qablal ghuroob

HENCE, [O believer,] bear thou with patience what­ever they may say, and extol thy Sustainer’s limit­less glory and praise before the rising of the sun and before its setting;

Wa minal laili fasabbih hu wa adbaaras sujood

and in the night, too, extol His glory, and at every prayer’s end.

Wastami' yawma yunaa dil munaadi mim makaanin qareeb

And [always] listen for the day when He who issues the call [of death] shall call [thee] from close-by;

Yawma yasmaoonas sai hata bilhaqq zaalika yawmul khurooj

[and bethink thyself, too, of] the Day on which all [human beings] will in truth hear the final blast - that Day of [their] coming-forth [from death].

Innaa Nahnu nuhyee wa numeetu wa ilainal maseer

Verily, it is We who grant life and deal death; and with Us will be all journeys’ end

Yawma tashaqqaqul ardu 'anhum siraa'aa; zaalika hashrun 'alainaa yaseer

on the Day when the earth is riven asunder all around them as they hasten forth [towards God’s judgment]: that gathering will be easy for Us [to encompass].

Nahnu a'lamu bimaa yaqooloona wa maaa anta 'alihim bijabbaarin fazakkir bil quraani many yakhaafu wa'eed

Fully aware are We of what they [who deny resurrection] do say; and thou canst by no means force them [to believe in it]. Yet none the less, remind, through this Qur’an, all such as may fear My warning.