The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
۞ Alif Lam Ra. Those are the signs of the Book and of a manifest Koran. 1 Oft times would those who disbelieve fain that they had been Muslims. 2 (Muhammad), leave them alone to eat and enjoy themselves and let their desires deceive them; they will soon know (the Truth). 3 We never destroyed any town without pre-ordaining the fate of its people. 4 No nation will precede its term, nor will they remain thereafter. 5 And they say, "O you upon whom the message has been sent down, indeed you are mad. 6 If you are a man of truth, why can't you bring the angels to us?" 7 We do not send angels except with the truth. Then they shall have no 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 AND, INDEED, [O Prophet,] even before thy time did We send [Our apostles] unto communities of old 10 and never yet came an apostle to them without their deriding him. 11 thus We cause this [habit of mocking] to enter into the hearts of the sinful. 12 They will not believe in it, though they have before them the example of former peoples, 13 And even if We opened to them a gate from the heaven and they were to continue ascending thereto, 14 They would only say: "Our eyes have been intoxicated: Nay, we have been bewitched by sorcery." 15