Vanity (Al-Zukhruf)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
Ha, Meem. 1 By this luminous Book. 2 That We made it a distinctly lucid Qur'an that you may understand. 3 And verily, it is in the Mother of the Book, in Our Presence, high (in dignity), full of wisdom. 4 Shall We turn away the Remembrance from you, for that you are a prodigal people? 5 And how many a prophet did We send to people of olden times! 6 But never did a prophet come at whom they did not scoff. 7 We destroyed the strongest among them in power. The stories of the ancient people have already been mentioned. 8 And if you should ask them, Who created the heavens and the earth? they would most certainly say: The Mighty, the Knowing One, has created them; 9 The One Who made the earth a bed for you, and made roads for you in it, so that you may be guided. 10 And Who sendeth down from the heaven water in measure; then We quicken a dead land therewith: even so ye shall be brought forth. 11 And He Who created pairs of all things, and made for you of the ships and the cattle what you ride on, 12 in order that you might gain mastery over them, and that, whenever you have mastered them, you might remember your Sustainer's blessings and say: "Limitless in His glory is He who has made [all] this subservient to our use - since [but for Him,] we would not have been able to attain to it. 13 And lo! unto our Lord we surely are returning. 14 Yet they have assigned to Him a part of His own servants! Man is dearly unthankful. 15