The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
۞ ALIF LAM RA. These are the verses of the Book and the perspicuous oration. 1 A time will surely come when those who are bent on denying the truth will wish that they had surrendered themselves to God, 2 Let them eat and enjoy life, and let (false) hope beguile them. They will come to know! 3 We never destroyed any town without pre-ordaining the fate of its people. 4 No nation can outstrip its term, nor do they put it back. 5 (The unbelievers have said), "You to whom the Quran has been revealed are insane. 6 Why dost thou not bring before us angels, if thou art a man of truth? 7 We do not send down angels except for a genuine purpose, at which time none will be given any further respite. 8 Behold, it is We Ourselves who have bestowed from on high, step by step, this reminder; and behold, it is We who shall truly guard it [from all corruption]. 9 And We had certainly sent [messengers] before you, [O Muhammad], among the sects of the former peoples. 10 And no messenger would come to them except that they ridiculed him. 11 even so We cause it to enter into the hearts of the sinners -- 12 They do not believe in him, and the tradition of earlier nations has passed. 13 If We were even to open for them a way to the heavens, and they could continually climb up to it in broad daylight, 14 They would only say: "Our eyes have been intoxicated: Nay, we have been bewitched by sorcery." 15