Vanity (Al-Zukhruf)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace
Ha-Mim. 1 I swear by the Book that makes things clear: 2 We have made it an Arabic reading text so that perhaps you may understand. 3 Truly, it is inscribed in the Original Book, in Our keeping; it is sublime and full of wisdom. 4 So shall We divert the advice away from you, because you are a nation that exceeds the limits? 5 How many a Prophet did We send to the ancients, 6 but whenever a prophet came to them, they mocked him, 7 and so, [in the end,] We destroyed them [even though they were] of greater might than these: and the [very] image of those people of old became a thing of the past. 8 Yet, if you ask them who created the heavens and the earth, they will answer: 'The Almighty, the Knower created them' 9 He it is who has made the earth a cradle for you, and has provided for you ways [of livelihood] thereon, so that you might follow the right path. 10 He Who sent down water from the sky in a determined measure, and thereby We revived a dead land: likewise will you be raised up (from the earth) -- 11 He Who created these pairs, all of them, and provided you ships and cattle on which you ride, 12 That you may firmly sit on their backs, then remember the favor of your Lord when you are firmly seated thereon, and say: Glory be to Him Who made this subservient to us and we were not able to do it 13 And surely to our Lord we must return. 14 AND YET, they attribute to Him offspring from among some of the beings created by Him! Verily, most obviously bereft of all gratitude is man! 15