The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Alif Lam Ra. Those are the signs of the Book and of a manifest Koran. 1 The unbelievers would haply like to wish that they had submitted (and become Muslim). 2 so leave them to eat and enjoy themselves and let them be beguiled by vain hopes; for soon they will realise [the truth]. 3 We have never destroyed a township without a definite decree having been issued; 4 No nation can anticipate its term, nor delay it. 5 They say: "O thou to whom the Message is being revealed! truly thou art mad (or possessed)! 6 Why dost thou not bring the angels unto us, if thou speakest truly?' 7 But then We never send the angels down save with the purpose (of enforcing their doom), after which they will not be given more 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 AND, INDEED, [O Prophet,] even before thy time did We send [Our apostles] unto communities of old 10 and not a single Messenger came to them, but they mocked at him; 11 Thus do We let it (polytheism and disbelief) enter into the hearts of the Mujrimun [criminals, polytheists, pagans, etc. (because of their mockery at the Messengers)]. 12 They do not believe in it even though the practice of the ancients has already gone. 13 And even if We opened to them a gate from the heaven and they were to continue ascending thereto, 14 They would say: Our sight is wrong - nay, but we are folk bewitched. 15