The Throngs (Al-Zumer)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
THE REVELATION OF this Book is from God, the mighty and all-wise. 1 We have indeed divinely revealed the Book to you (O dear Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him) with the truth, therefore worship Allah, as His sincere bondman. 2 Pay heed! Worship is for Allah only; and those who have taken others as their supporters beside Him say; “We worship* them only so that they get us closer to Allah”; Allah will surely judge between them regarding the matter in which they dispute; indeed Allah does not guide one who is a big liar, extremely ungrateful. (*The pagans regarded their idols as smaller Gods and worshipped them. So did the Christians. This does not apply to Muslims who only respect their elders, and ask for their blessings.) 3 Had God wanted to have a son, He would have chosen one from His creatures according to His will. God is too Exalted to have a son. He is One and Almighty. 4 He created the heavens and the earth in truth, wrapping night about the day, and wrapping the day about the night; and He has subjected the sun and the moon, each of them running to a stated term. Is not He the All-mighty, the All-forgiving? 5 He created you (all) from a single person: then created, of like nature, his mate; and he sent down for you eight head of cattle in pairs: He makes you, in the wombs of your mothers, in stages, one after another, in three veils of darkness. such is Allah, your Lord and Cherisher: to Him belongs (all) dominion. There is no god but He: then how are ye turned away (from your true Centre)? 6 If you disbelieve - indeed, Allah is Free from need of you. And He does not approve for His servants disbelief. And if you are grateful, He approves it for you; and no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another. Then to your Lord is your return, and He will inform you about what you used to do. Indeed, He is Knowing of that within the breasts. 7 ۞ When man suffers some affliction, he prays to his Lord and turns to Him in penitence, but once he has been granted a favour from God, he forgets the One he had been praying to and sets up rivals to God, to make others stray from His path. Say, "Enjoy your unbelief for a little while: you will be one of the inmates of the Fire." 8 Or is he who is obedient in the watches of the night, bowing himself and standing, he being afraid of the world to come and hoping for the mercy of his Lord..? Say: 'Are they equal -- those who know and those who know not?' Only men possessed of minds remember. 9