The Column (Al-Suff)
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth exalts Allah, and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise. 1 O you who have believed, why do you say what you do not do? 2 Saying what you do not practice is odious to God. 3 Indeed, Allah loves those who fight in His cause in a row as though they are a [single] structure joined firmly. 4 Now when Moses spoke to his people, [it was this same truth that he had in mind:] "O my people! Why do you cause me grief, the while you know that I am an apostle of God sent unto you?" And so, when they swerved from the right way, God let their hearts swerve from the truth: for God does not bestow His guidance upon iniquitous folk. 5 And [this happened, too,] when Jesus, the son of Mary, said: "O children of Israel! Behold, I am an apostle of God unto you, [sent] to confirm the truth of whatever there still remains of the Torah, and to give [you] the glad tiding of an apostle who shall come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad." But when he [whose coming Jesus had foretold] came unto them with all evidence of the truth, they said: "This [alleged message of his] is [nothing but] spellbinding eloquence!" 6 And who could be more wicked than one who invents [such] a lie about [a message from] God, seeing that he is [but] being called to self-surrender unto Him? But God does not bestow His guidance upon evil-doing folk. 7 They want to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will perfect His light, although the disbelievers dislike it. 8 He it is Who hath sent His apostle with the guidance and the true religion, that He may make it triumph over all religion, even though averse may be the associaters. 9