Vanity (Al-Zukhruf)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
HA MIM. 1 I swear by the illustrious Book. 2 We verily, have made it a Quran in Arabic, that you may be able to understand (its meanings and its admonitions). 3 And indeed it is, in the Mother of the Book with Us, exalted and full of wisdom. 4 Shall We then take away from you the admonition because ye are a people extravagant? 5 How many a Prophet We sent among the ancients, 6 And not a prophet came unto them but him they were wont to mock. 7 Wherefore We destroyed peoples mightier than these in prowess; and there hath gone forth the example of the ancients. 8 And if you should ask them, Who created the heavens and the earth? they would most certainly say: The Mighty, the Knowing One, has created them; 9 He Who made the earth a resting-place for you, and made in it ways for you that you may go aright; 10 and who sent down out of heaven water in measure; and We revived thereby a land that was dead; even so you shall be brought forth; 11 and who created the pairs, all of them, and appointed for you ships and cattle such as you ride, 12 So that you may properly mount their backs, and may remember your Lord’s favour when you have mounted them, and say, “Purity is to Him, Who has given this ride in our control, and we did not have the strength for it.” 13 And surely to our Lord we must return. 14 And they allot to Him a portion of His bondmen! Lo! man is verily a mere ingrate. 15