The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
۞ Alif-Lam-Ra; these are verses of the Book and the bright Qur’an. 1 How strongly the unbelievers will wish that they had been Muslims. 2 Leave them alone; let them eat and enjoy themselves the while the hope [of vain delights] beguiles them: for in time they will come to know [the truth]. 3 We never destroyed any town without pre-ordaining the fate of its people. 4 No nation will precede its term, nor will they remain thereafter. 5 They say: "O thou to whom the Message is being revealed! truly thou art mad (or possessed)! 6 Why do you not bring down the angels if what you say is true". 7 We do not send down the angels (in frivolity); and when We do send them down, We do so with Truth; then people are granted no respite. 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 thee, among the factions of the ancients, 10 And no messenger would come to them except that they ridiculed him. 11 We place in the hearts of sinners (disbelief). 12 They do not believe in it, and indeed the example of the former people has already passed. 13 And [even] if We opened to them a gate from the heaven and they continued therein to ascend, 14 They would only say: "Our eyes have been intoxicated: Nay, we have been bewitched by sorcery." 15