The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
۞ Alif Lam Ra. Those are the signs of the Book and of a manifest Koran. 1 It could be that those who disbelieve will wish that they were Muslims. 2 Let them eat and enjoy; and let their hopes deceive them, soon they shall know. 3 Never did We destroy a population that had not a term decreed and assigned beforehand. 4 No group may advance its appointed promise nor postpone it. 5 And they said, “O you upon whom the Qur’an has been sent, you are indeed insane.” 6 Why dost thou not bring before us angels, if thou art a man of truth? 7 We send not down the angels save with the Fact, and in that case (the disbelievers) would not be tolerated. 8 Indeed We have sent down the Qur’an, and indeed We Ourselves surely are its Guardians. (This is one of the miracles of the Qur’an – no one has been able to change even one letter of its text, despite every effort. It has remained in its original form since the 6th Century (A. D) and will remain so forever. Other Holy Books such as the Torah and the Bible have lost their originality.) 9 Indeed, We sent Messengers before you (O Muhammad SAW) amongst the sects (communities) of old. 10 And there never came an apostle to them but they mocked him. 11 This is how We make the mocking* enter the hearts of the guilty. (* The acts of disbelief.) 12 They believe not therein, and already the example of the ancients hath gone forth. 13 And if We opened upon them a door of the heaven, and they passed the day mounting thereto. 14 They would surely say: intoxicated have been our sights; aye! we are a people enchanted. 15