The Night Journey (Al-Isra)
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially 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 And We gave Moses the Scripture and made it a guidance for the Children of Israel that you not take other than Me as Disposer of affairs, 2 O descendants of those We carried [in the ship] with Noah. Indeed, he was a grateful servant. 3 And We decreed unto the Children of Isra'il in the Book; ye will surely cause corruption in the land twice, and ye will surely rise to a great height. 4 So when the first of those promises came, We sent upon you Our extremely militant bondmen – they therefore entered the cities pursuing you; and this was a promise that had to be fulfilled. 5 We, then, gave you a chance to defeat your enemies with the help of increasing your wealth and offspring. 6 [And We said:] "If you persevere in doing good, you will but be doing good to yourselves; and if you do evil, it will be [done] to yourselves." And so, when the prediction of the second [period of your iniquity] came true, [We raised new enemies against you, and allowed them] to disgrace you utterly, and to enter the Temple as [their forerunners] had entered it once before, and to destroy with utter destruction all that they had conquered. 7 It is likely that your Lord may have mercy on you; and if you repeat the mischief, We will repeat the punishment; and We have made hell a prison for the disbelievers. 8 Surely, this Quran guides to the most upright way and gives good news to the believers who do good deeds, so that they will have a great reward 9 And that those who do not believe in the Hereafter - We have prepared for them a painful punishment. 10