The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ 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 enjoy, and for aspiration to involve them in play – so they will shortly come to know. 3 And never did We destroy a township but there was a known decree for it. 4 No group may advance its appointed promise nor postpone it. 5 They say: "O thou to whom the Message is being revealed! truly thou art mad (or possessed)! 6 Why do you not bring down angels upon us if you are indeed truthful?" 7 But We send down the angels only to bring justice and then they will not be reprieved. 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 there was never a messenger who came to them but they mocked him: 11 Even so do we let it creep into the hearts of the sinners - 12 They will not believe in it, while there has already occurred the precedent of the former peoples. 13 And even if We opened unto them a gate of heaven and they kept mounting through it, 14 they would have said, "Our eyes are bewildered and we have been affected by magic." 15