The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Alif-Lam-Ra. [These letters are one of the miracles of the Quran, and none but Allah (Alone) knows their meanings]. These are the Verses of the Book, and a plain Quran. 1 Soon will the time come when the unbelievers will wish they were Muslims. 2 leave them to eat, and to take their joy, and to be bemused by hope; certainly they will soon know! 3 Not one habitation have We destroyed but at the time determined for it. 4 and no nation outstrips its term, nor do they put it back. 5 And they said, “O you upon whom the Qur’an has been sent, you are indeed insane.” 6 "Why bringest thou not angels to us if it be that thou hast the Truth?" 7 But then We never send the angels down save with the purpose (of enforcing their doom), after which they will not be given more 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 before you to the previous peoples, 10 and not a single Messenger came to them, but they mocked at him; 11 Even so do we let it creep into the hearts of the sinners - 12 They believe not therein, and already the example of the ancients hath gone forth. 13 And even if We opened unto them a gate of heaven and they kept mounting through it, 14 yet would they say, 'Our eyes have been dazzled; nay, we are a people bewitched!' 15