Thunder (Al-Ra'ad)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Alif. Lam. Mim. Ra. THESE ARE MESSAGES of revelation: and what has been bestowed upon thee from on high by thy Sustainer is the truth - yet most people will not believe [in it]? 1 God is He who raised up the heavens without pillars you can see, then He sat Himself upon the Throne. He subjected the sun and the moon, each one running to a term stated. He directs the affair; He distinguishes the signs; haply you will have faith in the encounter with your Lord. 2 It is He who stretched out the earth and set therein firm mountains and rivers, and of every fruit He placed there two kinds, covering the day with the night. Surely in that are signs for a people who reflect. 3 And there are on earth [many] tracts of land close by one another [and yet widely differing from one another]; and [there are on it] vinyards, and fields of grain, and date-palms growing in clusters from one root or standing alone, [all] watered with the same water: and yet, some of them have We favoured above others by way of the food [which they provide for man and beast]. Verily, in all this there are messages indeed for people who use their reason! 4 ۞ BUT IF thou art amazed [at the marvels of God's creation,] amazing, too, is their saying, "What! After we have become dust, shall we indeed be [restored to life] in a new act of creation?" It is they who [thus show that they] are bent on denying their Sustainer; and it is they who carry the shackles [of their own making] around their necks; and it is they who are destined for the fire, therein to abide. 5 They ask thee to hasten on the evil in preference to the good: Yet have come to pass, before them, (many) exemplary punishments! But verily thy Lord is full of forgiveness for mankind for their wrong-doing, and verily thy Lord is (also) strict in punishment. 6 Those who disbelieve say: If only some portent were sent down upon him from his Lord! Thou art a warner only, and for every folk a guide. 7