The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
۞ Alif Lam Ra. These are the verses of a clear Book, the Quran. 1 Soon will the time come when the unbelievers will wish they were Muslims. 2 Leave them to eat and enjoy, and for aspiration to involve them in play – so they will shortly come to know. 3 Never a city have We destroyed, but it had a known decree, 4 No community precedeth the term thereof nor doth it fall behind. 5 And they say, "O you upon whom the message has been sent down, indeed you are mad. 6 Why dost thou not bring before us angels, if thou art a man of truth? 7 We do not send down angels without reason, and if the angels descend they would not get any 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 We had also sent apostles to people of earlier persuasions. 10 and not a single Messenger came to them, but they mocked at him; 11 Thus do We make it to enter into the hearts of the guilty; 12 They will not believe in it, while there has already occurred the precedent of the former peoples. 13 And if We open for them a gate in the heavens, to ascend it through the day – 14 They would only say: "Our eyes have been intoxicated: Nay, we have been bewitched by sorcery." 15