The Night Journey (Al-Isra)
Allah - beginning with the name of - the Most Gracious, the Most 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 We gave Moses the Book, and made it a source of guidance for the Children of Israel, commanding: "Take no other Guardian beside Me." 2 The seed of those We bore with Noah; he was a thankful servant. 3 And We had made known to the children of Israel in the Book: Most certainly you will make mischief in the land twice, and most certainly you will behave insolently with great insolence. 4 And when the promise of the first came, We sent against you Our worshipers, those of great might, and they went through the habitations, and the promise was accomplished. 5 Then We granted you an upper hand against them, and strengthened you with wealth and children, and multiplied your numbers. 6 If you do good, you will do good for your own souls, and if you do evil, it shall be for them. So when the second promise came (We raised another people) that they may bring you to grief and that they may enter the mosque as they entered it the first time, and that they might destroy whatever they gained ascendancy over with utter destruction. 7 We said, "Your Lord may yet have mercy on you, but if you do the same again, so shall We: We have made Hell a prison for those who deny the truth." 8 Surely this Quran guides to that which is most upright and gives good news to the believers who do good that they shall have a great reward. 9 And those who do not believe in the Hereafter – We have kept prepared for them a punishment, most painful. 10