The Night Journey (Al-Isra)
Allah - beginning with the name of - the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Purity is to Him Who took His bondman in a part of the night from the Sacred Mosque to the Aqsa Mosque around which We have placed blessings, in order that We may show him Our great signs; indeed he is the listener, the beholder. (This verse refers to the physical journey of Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him – to Al Aqsa Mosque and from there to the heavens and beyond. The entire journey back to Mecca was completed within a small part of the night.) 1 We gave Moses the Book, and made it a source of guidance for the Children of Israel, commanding: "Take no other Guardian beside Me." 2 You are the descendants of those whom We carried (in the Ark) with Noah. He was truly a thankful servant. 3 And We conveyed to the Children of Israel in the Scripture that, "You will surely cause corruption on the earth twice, and you will surely reach [a degree of] great haughtiness. 4 So when the promise for the first of the two came, We sent over you Our servants, of mighty prowess, so they went to and fro among the houses, and it was a promise to be accomplished. 5 Then We granted you an upper hand against them, and strengthened you with wealth and children, and multiplied your numbers. 6 If ye will do well ye will do well for yourselves, and if ye will do evil it will be against the same. Then when the promise of the second came, We raised up a people that they may disgrace your faces and may enter the Mosque even as they entered it the first time, and that they may destroy with utter destruction whatsoever may fall under their power. 7 Your Lord may well show Mercy to you, but if you revert to your evil behaviour, We shall revert to chastising you. We have made Hell a prison for those who are thankless of Allah's bounties. 8 Indeed this Qur’an guides to the most Straight Path, and gives glad tidings to the believers who do good deeds, that for them is a great reward. 9 And those who do not believe in the Hereafter – We have kept prepared for them a punishment, most painful. 10