The Throngs (Al-Zumer)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
This Book is sent down by God the Mighty, the Wise. 1 Lo! We have revealed the Scripture unto thee (Muhammad) with truth; so worship Allah, making religion pure for Him (only). 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 pleased to take a son, He could have chosen whom He liked from among those He has created. Glory be to Him. He is God, the one, the omnipotent. 4 It is He Who created the heavens and the earth with the truth; He envelops the night over day and envelops the day over night, and He has subjected the sun and the moon; each one runs for its appointed term; pay heed! He only is the Most Honourable, the Oft Forgiving. 5 He created you from a single soul, then from it He created its spouse. And He sent down to you eight pairs of the cattle. He creates you in your mothers' womb, creation after creation, in three (stages of) darkness. Such then is Allah, your Lord. For Him is the Kingdom. There is no god except Him. How, then, can you turn away? 6 If you are ungrateful, then surely Allah is Self-sufficient above all need of you; and He does not like ungratefulness in His servants; and if you are grateful, He likes it in you; and no bearer of burden shall bear the burden of another; then to your Lord is your return, then will He inform you of what you did; surely He is Cognizant of what is in the breasts. 7 ۞ When an affliction befalls a human, he supplicates to his Lord and turns to Him (in repentance) yet, no sooner does He bestow on him His blessing than he forgets that for which he had just supplicated and sets up associates with Allah in order to lead (people) away from His Path. Say: 'Enjoy your disbelief for awhile, you shall surely be among the companions of the Fire. 8 Or, is he who is obedient that prostrates himself and stands during parts of the night, being afraid of the Everlasting Life but hoping for the Mercy of the Lord (to be compared to the unbeliever)' Say: 'Are they equal, those who know and those who do not know' Only those with minds remember. 9