The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
۞ Alif Lam Ra. These are the verses of a clear Book, the Quran. 1 And it will come to pass that those who are [now] bent on denying this truth will wish that they had surrendered themselves to God [in their life time]. 2 leave them to eat, and to take their joy, and to be bemused by hope; certainly they will soon know! 3 And We have not destroyed a town but there was therefor a decree known. 4 No nation will precede its term, nor will they remain thereafter. 5 And yet they say: "You, to whom this Exposition has been sent are surely possessed of the Devil. 6 Why do you not bring down the angels if what you say is true". 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 We have sent forth before you Messengers among the factions of the ancients. 10 And never came there unto them a messenger but they did mock him. 11 Even so do We [now] cause this [scorn of Our message] to pervade the hearts of those who are lost in sin, 12 That they should not believe in the (Message); but the ways of the ancients have passed away. 13 And even if We open to them a gateway of heaven, so that they ascend into it all the while, 14 They would surely say: "Our eyes have been (as if) dazzled. Nay, we are a people bewitched." 15