Hood (Hood)
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Alif-Lam-Ra. A Book this, the verses whereof are guarded, and then detailed, from before the Wise, the Aware. 1 Saying: ye shall not worship ought except Allah. Verily I am unto you from Him a warner and a bearer of glad tidings. 2 And that you should seek His forgiveness and turn towards Him. He will bestow the best things of life on you for a time ordained, and favour those with blessings who are worthy of grace. But if you turn away, I fear the punishment of a terrible Day for you. 3 Unto Allah is your return, and He is Able to do all things. 4 Now surely they fold up their breasts that they may conceal (their enmity) from Him; now surely, when they use their garments as a covering, He knows what they conceal and what they make public; surely He knows what is in the breasts. 5 ۞ And there is not a moving creature on the earth but upon Allah is the sustenance thereof, and He knoweth its habitation and its resting-place: everything is in a Book luminous. 6 And He it is who has created the heavens and the earth in six aeons; and [ever since He has willed to create life,] the throne of His almightiness has rested upon water. [God reminds you of your dependence on Him] in order to test you [and thus to make manifest] which of you is best in conduct. For thus it is: if thou sayest [unto men,] "Behold, you shall be raised again after death!" - they who are bent on denying the truth are sure to answer, "This is clearly nothing but an enchanting delusion" 7 And if We defer from them the torment until a period determined, they say: What withholdeth it! Lo! the day it betideth them it shall not be averted from them, and shall beset them that whereat they have been mocking. 8