The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Alif-Lam-Ra. These are the verses of the Book, and a Qur'an luminous. 1 The disbelievers will ardently wish that if only they had been Muslims! (At the time of death / in their graves / on the Day of Resurrection.) 2 Leave them thou to eat and to enjoy, and let vain hope divert them; presently they will know. 3 And never did We destroy a town but it had a term made known. 4 No nation can outstrip its term nor can they lag behind. 5 They say: "O thou to whom the Message is being revealed! truly thou art mad (or possessed)! 6 "Why do you not bring angels to us if you are of the truthful ones?" 7 We send not down the angels save with the Fact, and in that case (the disbelievers) would not be tolerated. 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 did send messengers before thee amongst the religious sects of old: 10 And not an apostle came unto them but at him they were wont to mock. 11 Thus do We make it to enter into the hearts of the guilty; 12 They do not believe in it, and indeed the example of the former people has already passed. 13 And [even] if We opened to them a gate from the heaven and they continued therein to ascend, 14 yet would they say, 'Our eyes have been dazzled; nay, we are a people bewitched!' 15