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 How strongly the unbelievers will wish that they had been Muslims. 2 Leave them to eat and enjoy life and let false hopes amuse them. They will soon come to know. 3 Never did We destroy a population that had not a term decreed and assigned beforehand. 4 No nation can outstrip its term, nor do they put it back. 5 And yet, they [who deny the truth] say: "O thou unto whom this reminder has [allegedly] been bestowed from on high: verily, thou art mad! 6 Why do you not bring down the angels, if what you say is true' 7 But We send down the angels only to bring justice and then they will not be reprieved. 8 We have sent down this Exposition, and We will guard it. 9 We verily sent (messengers) before thee among the factions of the men of old. 10 But never came a messenger to them but they mocked him. 11 Thus do We make it to enter into the hearts of the guilty; 12 They do not believe in it, and indeed the example of the former people has already passed. 13 and even if We opened to them a door from heaven, and they began ascending through it, 14 They would say: Our sight is wrong - nay, but we are folk bewitched. 15