The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Alif Lam Ra. Those are the signs of the Book and of a manifest Koran. 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 Leave them that they may eat and enjoy themselves and (that) hope may beguile them, for they will soon know. 3 We never destroyed any town without pre-ordaining the fate of its people. 4 No people can outstrip the term for its destruction nor can it delay it. 5 And yet they say: "You, to whom this Exposition has been sent are surely possessed of the Devil. 6 Why dost thou not bring the angels unto us, if thou speakest truly?' 7 We send not the angels down except for just cause: if they came (to the ungodly), behold! no respite would they have! 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 And assuredly We have sent apostles before thee among the sects of the ancients. 10 And there never came an apostle to them but they mocked him. 11 Even so we make a way for it in the hearts of the culprits. 12 They do not believe in it even though the practice of the ancients has already gone. 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 still say, "Our eyes have been dazzled. We are bewitched." 15