The Throngs (Al-Zumer)
Allah - beginning with the name of - the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
The revelation of this Book (the Quran) is from Allah, the All-Mighty, the All-Wise. 1 Verily it is We Who have revealed the Book to thee in Truth: so serve Allah, offering Him sincere devotion. 2 Pay heed! Worship is for Allah only; and those who have taken others as their supporters beside Him say; “We worship* them only so that they get us closer to Allah”; Allah will surely judge between them regarding the matter in which they dispute; indeed Allah does not guide one who is a big liar, extremely ungrateful. (*The pagans regarded their idols as smaller Gods and worshipped them. So did the Christians. This does not apply to Muslims who only respect their elders, and ask for their blessings.) 3 If Allah desire to take a son to Himself, He will surely choose those He pleases from what He has created. Glory be to Him: He is Allah, the One, the Subduer (of all). 4 It is He Who created the heavens and the earth with the truth; He envelops the night over day and envelops the day over night, and He has subjected the sun and the moon; each one runs for its appointed term; pay heed! He only is the Most Honourable, the Oft Forgiving. 5 He it is Who created you from a single being, and He it is Who made from it its mate. He it is Who created for you eight heads of cattle in pairs. He creates you in your mothers' wombs, giving you one form after another in threefold depths of darkness. That, then, is Allah, your Lord. His is the kingdom. There is no god but He. So, whence are you being turned astray? 6 If ye disbelieve, then verily Allah is independent of you. And He approveth not of infidelity in His bondmen. And if ye return thanks He approveth of that in you. No burdened soul shall bear another's burthen. Thereafter unto your Lord is your return; and He shall declare unto you that which ye have been working. Verily He is the Knower of that which is in the breasts. 7 ۞ And when adversity touches man, he calls upon his Lord, turning to Him [alone]; then when He bestows on him a favor from Himself, he forgets Him whom he called upon before, and he attributes to Allah equals to mislead [people] from His way. Say, "Enjoy your disbelief for a little; indeed, you are of the companions of the Fire." 8 Will he, whose night hours pass in obedience while prostrating and standing, fearing the Hereafter and hoping for the mercy of his Lord, ever be equal to the disobedient? Proclaim, “Are the knowledgeable and the ignorant equal?” It is only the men of intellect who heed advice. 9