The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Alif-Lam-Ra. These are the verses of the Book, and a Qur'an luminous. 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 (Muhammad), leave them alone to eat and enjoy themselves and let their desires deceive them; they will soon know (the Truth). 3 Never did We destroy a population that had not a term decreed and assigned beforehand. 4 and no nation outstrips its term, nor do they put it back. 5 And they say: "O you (Muhammad SAW) to whom the Dhikr (the Quran) has been sent down! Verily, you are a mad man. 6 "Why bringest thou not angels to us if it be that thou hast the Truth?" 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 We verily sent (messengers) before thee among the factions of the men of old. 10 And whenever a Messenger came to them, they never failed to 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 They believe not therein, though the example of the men of old hath gone before. 13 And even if We open to them a gateway of heaven, so that they ascend into it all the while, 14 They would say: Our sight is wrong - nay, but we are folk bewitched. 15