The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the name of Allah, most benevolent, ever-merciful
۞ Alif-Lam-Ra; these are verses of the Book and the bright Qur’an. 1 Perchance the unbelievers will wish that they had surrendered: 2 Leave them to eat and enjoy life and let false hopes amuse them. They will soon come to know. 3 And We destroyed no township but there was a known decree for it. 4 No people can outstrip the term for its destruction nor can it delay it. 5 And they say: O you to whom the Reminder has been revealed! you are most surely insane: 6 Why do you not bring down angels upon us if you are indeed truthful?" 7 We send not the angels down except for just cause: if they came (to the ungodly), behold! no respite would they have! 8 Indeed We have sent down the Qur’an, and indeed We Ourselves surely are its Guardians. (This is one of the miracles of the Qur’an – no one has been able to change even one letter of its text, despite every effort. It has remained in its original form since the 6th Century (A. D) and will remain so forever. Other Holy Books such as the Torah and the Bible have lost their originality.) 9 And assuredly We have sent apostles before thee among the sects of the ancients. 10 But never came a messenger to them but they mocked him. 11 Even so do We [now] cause this [scorn of Our message] to pervade the hearts of those who are lost in sin, 12 They do not believe in it, and indeed the example of the former people has already passed. 13 And even if We opened unto them a gate of heaven and they kept mounting through it, 14 They will say all the same: "Our eyes were dazed (and clouded over). We were a people ensorcelled." 15