The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ ALIF LAM RA. These are the verses of the Book and the perspicuous oration. 1 Perhaps those who disbelieve will wish that they had been Muslims. 2 leave them to eat, and to take their joy, and to be bemused by hope; certainly they will soon know! 3 We never destroyed any town without pre-ordaining the fate of its people. 4 No nation can outstrip its term nor can they lag behind. 5 And they say: O thou unto whom the admonition hath been sent down! verily thou art possessed. 6 Why do you not bring down the angels if what you say is true". 7 We do not send down the angels (in frivolity); and when We do send them down, We do so with Truth; then people are granted no respite. 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 Indeed, We sent Messengers before you (O Muhammad SAW) amongst the sects (communities) of old. 10 but there was never a messenger who came to them but they mocked him: 11 Even so do we let it creep into the hearts of the sinners - 12 So, they will not believe in it: The example of former people is there. 13 If We opened a gate in the heaven and they kept ascending through it, 14 they would have said, "Our eyes are bewildered and we have been affected by magic." 15