The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
Allah - beginning with the name of - the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Alif. Lam. Ra. These are the verses of the Book and the glorious Quran. 1 Perchance the unbelievers will wish that they had surrendered: 2 so leave them to eat and enjoy themselves and let them be beguiled by vain hopes; for soon they will realise [the truth]. 3 Never did We destroy a population that had not a term decreed and assigned beforehand. 4 No people can hasten or delay the term already fixed for them. 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 angels to us, if you are truthful?” 7 We do not send the angels but with truth, and then they would not be respited. 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 AND, INDEED, [O Prophet,] even before thy time did We send [Our apostles] unto communities of old 10 and not a single Messenger came to them, but they mocked at him; 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 believe not in it, though the wont of the ancients is already gone. 13 If We opened a gate in the heaven and they kept ascending through it, 14 Even then they would say, “Our sights have been hypnotised – in fact, a magic spell has been cast upon us.” 15