The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful
۞ Alif. Lam. Ra. THESE ARE MESSAGES of revelation - of a discourse clear in itself and clearly showing the truth. 1 How strongly the unbelievers will wish that they had been Muslims. 2 Let them eat and enjoy life, and let (false) hope beguile them. They will come to know! 3 Whenever We destroyed a town, a definite term had previously been decreed for it. 4 [but remember that] no community can ever forestall [the end of] its term - and neither can they delay [it]. 5 They say, "You to whom the Reminder [the Quran] has been sent down, you are surely possessed. 6 Why do you not bring down the angels if what you say is true". 7 We do not send down angels except for a genuine purpose, at which time none will be given any further respite. 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 (O Muhammad), certainly We did send Messengers before you among the nations which have gone by. 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 will not believe in it, though they have before them the example of former peoples, 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 eyes have only been dazzled. Rather, we are a people affected by magic." 15