The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
۞ Alif Lam Ra. These are the verses of the Book and (of) a Quran that makes (things) clear. 1 It may be that those who disbelieve wish ardently that they were Muslims. 2 Let them eat and enjoy; and let their hopes deceive them, soon they shall know. 3 And We destroyed no township but there was a known decree for it. 4 No group may advance its appointed promise nor postpone it. 5 They say: "O thou to whom the Message is being revealed! truly thou art mad (or possessed)! 6 Why dost thou not bring the angels unto us, if thou speakest truly?' 7 We do not send angels except with the truth. Then they shall have 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 We have sent forth before you Messengers among the factions of the ancients. 10 And not an apostle came unto them but at him they were wont to mock. 11 Even so We make a way for it (that is, the Admonition) in the hearts of the culprits (like a hot rod); 12 They would not believe in it (the Quran), and already the example of (Allah's punishment of) the ancients (who disbelieved) has gone forth. 13 And if We opened upon them a door of the heaven, and they passed the day mounting thereto. 14 still they would say: 'Our eyes were dazzled; truly, we must have been a bewitched people' 15