Kingship (Al-Mulk)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Blessed is He in whose hand is the Kingdom: He has power over all things; 1 who created death and life that He might examine which of you is best in deeds, and He is the Almighty, the Forgiving, 2 who created seven heavens one upon another. Thou seest not in the creation of the All-merciful any imperfection. Return thy gaze; seest thou any fissure? 3 Look twice (and keep on looking), your eyes will only become dull and tired. 4 And indeed, We have adorned the skies nearest to the earth with lights, and have made them the object of futile guesses for the evil ones [from among men]: and for them have We readied suffering through a blazing flame 5 for, suffering in hell awaits all who are [thus] bent on blaspheming against their Sustainer: and how vile a journey's end! 6 When they are cast into that [hell,] they will hear its breath indrawing as it boils up, 7 Well-nigh it bursteth with rage. So oft as a company is cast thereinto, the keepers thereof will ask them: came there not unto you a warner? 8 They will say: “Yes, a warner came to us, but we gave the lie to him and said: 'Allah has revealed nothing. You are surely in huge error.' 9 And they will say: had we been wont to hearken or to reflect, we had not been among the fellows of the Blaze. 10 So they shall acknowledge their sins, but far will be (forgiveness) from the inmates of the burning fire. 11 [As against this,] behold, for those who stand in awe of God although He is beyond the reach of their perception, there is forgiveness in store and a great reward. 12 AND [know, O men, that] whether you keep your beliefs secret or state them openly, He has full knowledge indeed of all that is in [your] hearts. 13 Does He not know, Who created? And He is the Knower of the subtleties, the Aware. 14