they have only to wait for one single blast [of punishment]: it shall not be delayed by one whit. 15 And they say: O our Lord! hasten on to us our portion before the day of reckoning. 16 [But] bear thou with patience whatever they may say, and remember Our servant David, him who was endowed with [so much] inner strength! He, verily, would always turn unto Us: 17 With him We subjected the mountains to give glory at evening and sunrise, 18 And the birds gathered together; all joined in singing with him. 19 We strengthened his kingdom, and gave him wisdom and speech decisive. 20 ۞ And has the news of the litigants reached you? When they climbed over the wall into (his) Mihrab (a praying place or a private room,). 21 they went to David whereupon he was afraid of them, but they said: 'Do not be afraid, we are two that have a dispute, one of us has wronged the other. Judge between us justly, and do not transgress, and guide us to the Right Path. 22 "Behold, this is my brother: he has ninety-nine ewes, whereas I have [only] one ewe - and yet he said, 'Make her over to me,' and forcibly prevailed against me in this [our] dispute." 23 Said [David]: "He has certainly wronged thee by demanding that thy ewe be added to his ewes! Thus, behold, do many kinsmen wrong one another [all] save those who believe [in God] and do righteous deeds: but how few are they!" And [suddenly] David understood that We had tried him: and so he asked his Sustainer to forgive him his sin, and fell down in prostration, and turned unto Him in repentance. ۩ 24 So We forgave him this (lapse): he enjoyed, indeed, a Near Approach to Us, and a beautiful place of (Final) Return. 25 We said, "David, We have given you mastery over the land. Judge fairly between people. Do not follow your desires, lest they divert you from God's path: those who wander from His path will have a severe punishment, because they ignore the Day of Reckoning." 26