The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Alif. Lam. Ra. THESE ARE MESSAGES of revelation - of a discourse clear in itself and clearly showing the truth. 1 Again and again will those who disbelieve, wish that they had bowed (to Allah's will) in Islam. 2 Let them eat and enjoy; and let their hopes deceive them, soon they shall know. 3 And never did We destroy a township but there was a known decree for it. 4 No community precedeth the term thereof nor doth it fall behind. 5 They say: 'You to whom the Remembrance is sent down, you are indeed mad. 6 Why dost thou not bring the angels unto us, if thou speakest truly?' 7 We do not send angels except with the truth. Then they shall have no respite. 8 Indeed We have sent down the Qur’an, and indeed We Ourselves surely are its Guardians. (This is one of the miracles of the Qur’an – no one has been able to change even one letter of its text, despite every effort. It has remained in its original form since the 6th Century (A. D) and will remain so forever. Other Holy Books such as the Torah and the Bible have lost their originality.) 9 We did send messengers before thee amongst the religious sects of old: 10 and never yet came an apostle to them without their deriding him. 11 Thus do We insert denial into the hearts of the criminals. 12 They believe not therein, though the example of the men of old hath gone before. 13 And even if We opened to them a gate from the heaven and they were to continue ascending thereto, 14 they would still say, "Our eyes have been dazzled. We are bewitched." 15