The Throngs (Al-Zumer)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
THE BESTOWAL from on high of this divine writ issues from God, the Almighty, the Wise: 1 It is We who sent down the Book to you [Prophet] with the Truth, so worship God with your total devotion: 2 Pay heed! Worship is for Allah only; and those who have taken others as their supporters beside Him say; “We worship* them only so that they get us closer to Allah”; Allah will surely judge between them regarding the matter in which they dispute; indeed Allah does not guide one who is a big liar, extremely ungrateful. (*The pagans regarded their idols as smaller Gods and worshipped them. So did the Christians. This does not apply to Muslims who only respect their elders, and ask for their blessings.) 3 If Allah had intended to take a son, He could have chosen from what He creates whatever He willed. Exalted is He; He is Allah, the One, the Prevailing. 4 He has created the heavens and the earth with the truth; He makes the night cover the day and makes the day overtake the night, and He has made the sun and the moon subservient; each one runs on to an assigned term; now surely He is the Mighty, the great Forgiver. 5 He created you from one being, then from that (being) He made its mate; and He hath provided for you of cattle eight kinds. He created you in the wombs of your mothers, creation after creation, in a threefold gloom. Such is Allah, your Lord. His is the Sovereignty. There is no Allah save Him. How then are ye turned away? 6 If ye are thankless, yet Allah is Independent of you, though He is not pleased with thanklessness for His bondmen; and if ye are thankful He is pleased therewith for you. No laden soul will bear another's load. Then unto your Lord is your return; and He will tell you what ye used to do. Lo! He knoweth what is in the breasts (of men). 7 ۞ When man suffers some affliction, he prays to his Lord and turns to Him in penitence, but once he has been granted a favour from God, he forgets the One he had been praying to and sets up rivals to God, to make others stray from His path. Say, "Enjoy your unbelief for a little while: you will be one of the inmates of the Fire." 8 Is he who prays devoutly to God in the hours of the night, prostrating himself and standing in prayer, who is ever mindful of the life to come and hopes for the mercy of his Lord [like one who does not]? Say, "Are those who know equal to those who do not know?" Truly, only those endowed with understanding will take heed. 9