The Throngs (Al-Zumer)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
The sending down of the Book is from God the All-mighty, the All-wise. 1 Indeed, We have sent down to you the Book, [O Muhammad], in truth. So worship Allah, [being] sincere to Him in religion. 2 The religion of God is certainly pure. Concerning those whom they consider as their guardians besides God, they say, "We only worship them so that they may make our positions nearer to God." God will certainly issue His decree about their differences. God does not guide the liars and the disbelievers. 3 Had Allah willed to take a son (or offspring or children), He could have chosen whom He pleased out of those whom He created. But glory be to Him! (He is above such things). He is Allah, the One, the Irresistible. 4 He hath created the heavens and the earth with truth. He maketh night to succeed day, and He maketh day to succeed night, and He constraineth the sun and the moon to give service, each running on for an appointed term. Is not He the Mighty, the Forgiver? 5 He created you from a single soul, then from it He created its spouse. And He sent down to you eight pairs of the cattle. He creates you in your mothers' womb, creation after creation, in three (stages of) darkness. Such then is Allah, your Lord. For Him is the Kingdom. There is no god except Him. How, then, can you turn away? 6 If you are ingrate behold, God has no need of you; none the less, He does not approve of ingratitude in His servants: whereas, if you show gratitude, He approves it in you. And no bearer of burdens shall be made to bear another's burden. In time, unto your Sustainer you all must return, and then He will make you [truly] understand all that you were doing [in life]: for, verily, He has full knowledge of what is in the hearts [of men]. 7 ۞ And when distress afflicts a man he calls upon his Lord turning to Him frequently; then when He makes him possess a favor from Him, he forgets that for which he called upon Him before, and sets up rivals to Allah that he may cause (men) to stray off from His path. Say: Enjoy yourself in your ungratefulness a little, surely you are of the inmates of the fire. 8 Is he who prays devoutly to God in the hours of the night, prostrating himself and standing in prayer, who is ever mindful of the life to come and hopes for the mercy of his Lord [like one who does not]? Say, "Are those who know equal to those who do not know?" Truly, only those endowed with understanding will take heed. 9