The Column (Al-Suff)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
ALL THAT IS in the heavens and all that is on earth extols God's limitless glory: for He alone is almighty, truly wise! 1 O ye who believe! Why say ye that which ye do not? 2 How despicable it is in the sight of Allah that you may preach what you do not practice. 3 Truly Allah loves those who fight in His Cause in battle array, as if they were a solid cemented structure. 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 when Jesus son of Mary said: O Children of Israel! Lo! I am the messenger of Allah unto you, confirming that which was (revealed) before me in the Torah, and bringing good tidings of a messenger who cometh after me, whose name is the Praised One. Yet when he hath come unto them with clear proofs, they say: This is mere magic. 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 God by uttering blasphemies. But God wills to perfect His light, however the unbelievers may dislike it. 8 It is He who has sent His Messenger with the guidance and the religion of truth, that he may uplift it above every religion, though the unbelievers be averse. 9