The Throngs (Al-Zumer)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
The sending down of the Book is from Allah, the Almighty, the Wise, 1 We have revealed the Book to you in all truth. Worship God and be devoted to His religion. 2 Pay heed! Worship is for Allah only; and those who have taken others as their supporters beside Him say; “We worship* them only so that they get us closer to Allah”; Allah will surely judge between them regarding the matter in which they dispute; indeed Allah does not guide one who is a big liar, extremely ungrateful. (*The pagans regarded their idols as smaller Gods and worshipped them. So did the Christians. This does not apply to Muslims who only respect their elders, and ask for their blessings.) 3 If Allah had wanted to take to Himself a son, He could have chosen anyone He wanted out of those whom He creates. Glory be to Him (that He should have a son). He is Allah: the One, the Overpowering. 4 It is He Who created the heavens and the earth with the truth; He envelops the night over day and envelops the day over night, and He has subjected the sun and the moon; each one runs for its appointed term; pay heed! He only is the Most Honourable, the Oft Forgiving. 5 He it is Who created you from a single being, and He it is Who made from it its mate. He it is Who created for you eight heads of cattle in pairs. He creates you in your mothers' wombs, giving you one form after another in threefold depths of darkness. That, then, is Allah, your Lord. His is the kingdom. There is no god but He. So, whence are you being turned astray? 6 If you are ungrateful, then remember! God is independent of you, and He does not favour ingratitude on the part of His creatures. If you are grateful He will be pleased with you. For no one who carries a burden bears another's load; and your returning is to your Lord, when He will tell you what you used to do. Surely He knows what is in the hearts. 7 ۞ And when some hurt touches man, he cries to his Lord (Allah Alone), turning to Him in repentance, but when He bestows a favour upon him from Himself, he forgets that for which he cried for before, and he sets up rivals to Allah, in order to mislead others from His Path. Say: "Take pleasure in your disbelief for a while: surely, you are (one) of the dwellers of the Fire!" 8 Is he who payeth adoration in the watches of the night, prostrate and standing, bewaring of the Hereafter and hoping for the mercy of his Lord, (to be accounted equal with a disbeliever)? Say (unto them, O Muhammad): Are those who know equal with those who know not? But only men of understanding will pay heed. 9