Vanity (Al-Zukhruf)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Ha-Mim. 1 CONSIDER this divine writ, clear in itself and clearly showing the truth: 2 Lo! We have appointed it a Lecture, in Arabic that haply ye may understand. 3 And verily, it is in the Mother of the Book, in Our Presence, high (in dignity), full of wisdom. 4 Should We withdraw the admonition from you because you are a people far gone in transgression? 5 How many a Prophet We sent among the ancients, 6 No Prophet came to them whom they did not mock. 7 And We destroyed greater than them in [striking] power, and the example of the former peoples has preceded. 8 And if you should ask them, "Who has created the heavens and the earth?" they would surely say, "They were created by the Exalted in Might, the Knowing." 9 He who made the earth a bed for you, and laid out tracks upon it so that you may find the way; 10 That sends down (from time to time) rain from the sky in due measure;- and We raise to life therewith a land that is dead; even so will ye be raised (from the dead);- 11 And the One Who created all pairs, and made the ships and cattle as rides for you. 12 in order that you might gain mastery over them, and that, whenever you have mastered them, you might remember your Sustainer's blessings and say: "Limitless in His glory is He who has made [all] this subservient to our use - since [but for Him,] we would not have been able to attain to it. 13 And to our Lord we shall surely return." 14 And they allot to Him a portion of His bondmen! Lo! man is verily a mere ingrate. 15