The Column (Al-Suff)
In the name of Allah, most benevolent, ever-merciful
All that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth glorifieth Allah, and He is the Mighty, the Wise. 1 O you who believe! why do you say that which you do not do? 2 It is most loathsome in the sight of Allah that you should profess what you do not practise. 3 Verily, Allah loves those who fight in His Cause in rows (ranks) as if they were a solid structure. 4 When Moses said to his people: "O my people, why do you afflict me though you know that I have been sent to you by God?" But when they turned aside God made their hearts turn farther away; for God does not show the transgressors the way. 5 And [this happened, too,] when Jesus, the son of Mary, said: "O children of Israel! Behold, I am an apostle of God unto you, [sent] to confirm the truth of whatever there still remains of the Torah, and to give [you] the glad tiding of an apostle who shall come after me, whose name shall be Ahmad." But when he [whose coming Jesus had foretold] came unto them with all evidence of the truth, they said: "This [alleged message of his] is [nothing but] spellbinding eloquence!" 6 Who could be more wicked than one who invents lies about God when called to submit to Him? God does not guide the wrongdoers: 7 They want to extinguish the light of God by uttering blasphemies. But God wills to perfect His light, however the unbelievers may dislike it. 8 It is He who sent His Apostle with the guidance and the true way to raise it above all faiths, however the idolaters may dislike it. 9