The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Alif Lam Ra. These are the verses of the Book and (of) a Quran that makes (things) clear. 1 Soon will the time come when the unbelievers will wish they were Muslims. 2 Leave them alone; let them eat and enjoy themselves the while the hope [of vain delights] beguiles them: for in time they will come to know [the truth]. 3 We have never destroyed a township without a definite decree having been issued; 4 no people can forestall their doom, nor can they delay it. 5 And yet they say: "You, to whom this Exposition has been sent are surely possessed of the Devil. 6 Why do you not bring down the angels, if what you say is true' 7 We send not the angels down except with the truth (i.e. for torment, etc.), and in that case, they (the disbelievers) would have no respite! 8 Verily We: It is We Who have sent down the Dhikr (i.e. the Quran) and surely, We will guard it (from corruption). 9 And We had certainly sent [messengers] before you, [O Muhammad], among the sects of the former peoples. 10 And whenever a Messenger came to them, they never failed to mock him. 11 This is how We cause the hearts of the guilty ones to behave. 12 They will not believe in it, while there has already occurred the precedent of the former peoples. 13 Yet even had We opened to them a gateway to heaven and they had ascended, on and on, up to it, 14 they would still say, "Our eyes have been dazzled. We are bewitched." 15