The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
Allah - beginning with the name of - the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Alif Lam Ra. Those are the signs of the Book and of a manifest Koran. 1 Often will those who disbelieve wish that they had been 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 Never a city have We destroyed, but it had a known decree, 4 Every nation can only live for the time appointed for it. 5 (The unbelievers have said), "You to whom the Quran has been revealed are insane. 6 Why bringest thou not angels unto us if thou art of the truthtellers! 7 We do not send down the angels (in frivolity); and when We do send them down, We do so with Truth; then people are granted 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 We sent Messengers to the ancient people who lived before you. 10 But no Messenger came to them except he was mocked. 11 Even so do We [now] cause this [scorn of Our message] to pervade the hearts of those who are lost in sin, 12 They do not believe in the Truth and they exactly follow the tradition of the ancient (unbelievers) 13 And even if We open to them a gateway of heaven, so that they ascend into it all the while, 14 Even then they would say, “Our sights have been hypnotised – in fact, a magic spell has been cast upon us.” 15