The Throngs (Al-Zumer)
Allah - beginning with the name of - the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
The revelation of the Book is from Allah, the Mighty, the Wise. 1 We have sent down to thee the Book with the truth; so worship God, making thy religion His sincerely. 2 Pay heed! Worship is for Allah only; and those who have taken others as their supporters beside Him say; “We worship* them only so that they get us closer to Allah”; Allah will surely judge between them regarding the matter in which they dispute; indeed Allah does not guide one who is a big liar, extremely ungrateful. (*The pagans regarded their idols as smaller Gods and worshipped them. So did the Christians. This does not apply to Muslims who only respect their elders, and ask for their blessings.) 3 Had God willed to take unto Himself a son, He could have chosen anyone that He wanted out of whatever He has created - [but] limitless is He in His glory! He is the One God, the One who holds absolute sway over all that exists! 4 It is He Who created the heavens and the earth with the truth; He envelops the night over day and envelops the day over night, and He has subjected the sun and the moon; each one runs for its appointed term; pay heed! He only is the Most Honourable, the Oft Forgiving. 5 He has created you [all] out of one living entity, and out of it fashioned its mate; and he has bestowed upon you four kinds of cattle of either sex; [and] He creates you in your mothers' wombs, one act of creation after another, in threefold depths of darkness. Thus is God, your Sustainer: unto Him belongs all dominion: there is no deity save Him: how, then, can you lose sight of the truth? 6 If you disbelieve - indeed, Allah is Free from need of you. And He does not approve for His servants disbelief. And if you are grateful, He approves it for you; and no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another. Then to your Lord is your return, and He will inform you about what you used to do. Indeed, He is Knowing of that within the breasts. 7 ۞ And when some hardship strikes man, he prays to his Lord, inclined only towards Him – then when Allah grants him a favour from Himself, he forgets why he had prayed to Him earlier, and sets up equals to Allah in order to mislead from Allah’s way; proclaim, “Revel in your disbelief for some days; you are indeed of the people of the fire.” 8 Will he, whose night hours pass in obedience while prostrating and standing, fearing the Hereafter and hoping for the mercy of his Lord, ever be equal to the disobedient? Proclaim, “Are the knowledgeable and the ignorant equal?” It is only the men of intellect who heed advice. 9