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 saying, "Do not take anyone besides Me as a guardian, 2 (They were) the seed of those whom We carried (in the ship) along with Noah. Lo! he was a grateful slave. 3 And We decreed for the Children of Israel in the Scripture: Ye verily will work corruption in the earth twice, and ye will become great tyrants. 4 So when the [time of] promise came for the first of them, We sent against you servants of Ours - those of great military might, and they probed [even] into the homes, and it was a promise fulfilled. 5 Then We gave back to you a return victory over them. And We reinforced you with wealth and sons and made you more numerous in manpower 6 If ye will do well ye will do well for yourselves, and if ye will do evil it will be against the same. Then when the promise of the second came, We raised up a people that they may disgrace your faces and may enter the Mosque even as they entered it the first time, and that they may destroy with utter destruction whatsoever may fall under their power. 7 Your Sustainer may well show mercy unto you; but if you revert [to sinning,] We shall revert [to chastising you]. And [remember this:] We have ordained that [in the hereafter] hell shall close upon all who deny the truth. 8 Surely this Koran guides to the way that is straightest and gives good tidings to the believers who do deeds of righteousness, that theirs shall be a great wage, 9 And that (as for) those who do not believe in the hereafter, We have prepared for them a painful chastisement. 10