The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Alif. Lam. Ra. These are verses of the Scripture and a plain Reading. 1 The disbelievers will ardently wish that if only they had been Muslims! (At the time of death / in their graves / on the Day of Resurrection.) 2 so leave them to eat and enjoy themselves and let them be beguiled by vain hopes; for soon they will realise [the truth]. 3 And never have We destroyed any community [for its wrongdoing] unless a divine writ had [previously] been made known to it; 4 No nation can outstrip its term, nor do they put it back. 5 (The unbelievers have said), "You to whom the Quran has been revealed are insane. 6 Why do you not bring to us the angels if you are of the truthful ones? 7 We send not down the angels, save with truth; 8 Indeed We have sent down the Qur’an, and indeed We Ourselves surely are its Guardians. (This is one of the miracles of the Qur’an – no one has been able to change even one letter of its text, despite every effort. It has remained in its original form since the 6th Century (A. D) and will remain so forever. Other Holy Books such as the Torah and the Bible have lost their originality.) 9 We sent messengers before you to the previous peoples, 10 And whenever a Messenger came to them, they never failed to mock him. 11 Even so We make a way for it (that is, the Admonition) in the hearts of the culprits (like a hot rod); 12 They do not believe in him, and the tradition of earlier nations has passed. 13 Yet even had We opened to them a gateway to heaven and they had ascended, on and on, up to it, 14 yet would they say, 'Our eyes have been dazzled; nay, we are a people bewitched!' 15