The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most 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 The disbelievers will ardently wish that if only they had been Muslims! (At the time of death / in their graves / on the Day of Resurrection.) 2 Leave them alone; let them eat and enjoy themselves the while the hope [of vain delights] beguiles them: for in time they will come to know [the truth]. 3 And never did We destroy a township but there was a known decree for it. 4 [but remember that] no community can ever forestall [the end of] its term - and neither can they delay [it]. 5 (The unbelievers have said), "You to whom the Quran has been revealed are insane. 6 Why dost thou not bring the angels unto us, if thou speakest truly?' 7 We do not send down angels without reason, and if the angels descend they would not get any 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 AND, INDEED, [O Prophet,] even before thy time did We send [Our apostles] unto communities of old 10 No Messenger went to them whom they did not mock. 11 We place in the hearts of sinners (disbelief). 12 They do not believe in him, and the tradition of earlier nations has passed. 13 and even if We opened to them a door from heaven, and they began ascending through it, 14 still they would say: 'Our eyes were dazzled; truly, we must have been a bewitched people' 15