The Dunes (Al-Ahqaaf)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Ha-Meem. (Alphabets of the Arabic language – Allah, and to whomever He reveals, know their precise meanings.) 1 The sending down of the Book is from Allah, the Almighty, the Wise. 2 We did not create the heavens and earth and what is between them except in truth and [for] a specified term. But those who disbelieve, from that of which they are warned, are turning away. 3 Say, "Have you thought about those you call upon apart from God? Show me what they have created on the earth. Or do they have a share in the heavens? Bring me a Book revealed before this or some other vestige of knowledge, if you are telling the truth. 4 And who is further astray than he who calls, apart from God, upon such a one as shall not answer him till the Day of Resurrection? Such as are heedless of their calling, 5 And when mankind will be gathered they will become unto them enemies and of their worship they will become deniers. 6 When Our Clear Signs are rehearsed to them, the Unbelievers say, of the Truth when it comes to them: "This is evident sorcery!" 7 Do they mean to say that the Messenger himself has fabricated it? Say [O Muhammad], "If I have fabricated it myself, you will not be able to do anything to save me from God. He knows quite well what talk you indulge in. He is enough as a witness between me and you; and He is the Forgiving, the Merciful One." 8 Say, “I am not something new* among the Noble Messengers, nor do I know (on my own) what will happen to me** or with you; I only follow that which is divinely revealed to me, and I am purely a Herald of clear warning. (* I am like the earlier ones. ** My knowledge comes due to divine revelations.) 9 Say, "Have you thought: what if this Quran really is from God and you reject it? What if one of the Children of Israel testifies to its similarity to earlier scripture and believes in it, and yet you are too arrogant to do the same? God certainly does not guide evil-doers." 10