The Night Journey (Al-Isra)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Purity is to Him Who took His bondman in a part of the night from the Sacred Mosque to the Aqsa Mosque around which We have placed blessings, in order that We may show him Our great signs; indeed he is the listener, the beholder. (This verse refers to the physical journey of Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him – to Al Aqsa Mosque and from there to the heavens and beyond. The entire journey back to Mecca was completed within a small part of the night.) 1 We gave Moses the Book and made it a guide for the Children of Israel. 'Take no guardian other than Me. 2 The offspring of those whom We bore with Nuh; surely he was a grateful servant. 3 And We decreed unto the Children of Isra'il in the Book; ye will surely cause corruption in the land twice, and ye will surely rise to a great height. 4 So, when the occasion for the first of the transgressions arrived, We raised against you some of Our creatures who were full of might, and they ran over the whole of your land. This was a promise that was bound to be fulfilled. 5 Then we gave you once again your turn against them, and We aided you with wealth and children and made you more in soldiery. 6 If ye did well, ye did well for yourselves; if ye did evil, (ye did it) against yourselves. So when the second of the warnings came to pass, (We permitted your enemies) to disfigure your faces, and to enter your Temple as they had entered it before, and to visit with destruction all that fell into their power. 7 It is likely that your Lord may have mercy on you; and if you repeat the mischief, We will repeat the punishment; and We have made hell a prison for the disbelievers. 8 Lo! this Qur'an guideth unto that which is straightest, and giveth tidings unto the believers who do good works that theirs will be a great reward. 9 And that (as for) those who do not believe in the hereafter, We have prepared for them a painful chastisement. 10