The Romans (Al-Room)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
۞ Alif-Laam-Meem. (Alphabets of the Arabic language – Allah, and to whomever He reveals, know their precise meanings.) 1 The Romans have been defeated in a nearby land and after this defeat, 2 In a land close by; but they, (even) after (this) defeat of theirs, will soon be victorious- 3 in a few years. To God belongs the Command before and after, and on that day the believers shall rejoice 4 In the help of God. He helps whom He will; He is all-mighty, ever-merciful. 5 (It is) a Promise of Allah (i.e. Allah will give victory to the Romans against the Persians), and Allah fails not in His Promise, but most of men know not. 6 They know only the outside appearance of the life of the world (i.e. the matters of their livelihood, like irrigating or sowing or reaping, etc.), and they are heedless of the Hereafter. 7 Do they not think for themselves that God did not create the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them without reason and a determined purpose? But many men reject the meeting with their Lord. 8 Have they not travelled in the land and seen the nature of the consequence for those who were before them? They were stronger than these in power, and they dug the earth and built upon it more than these have built. Messengers of their own came unto them with clear proofs (of Allah's Sovereignty). Surely Allah wronged them not, but they did wrong themselves. 9 In the long run evil in the extreme will be the End of those who do evil; for that they rejected the Signs of Allah, and held them up to ridicule. 10