Vanity (Al-Zukhruf)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Ha. Mim. 1 I swear by the Book that makes things clear: 2 That We made it a distinctly lucid Qur'an that you may understand. 3 And Verily, it (this Quran) is in the Mother of the Book (i.e. Al-Lauh Al-Mahfuz), before Us, indeed Exalted, full of Wisdom. 4 Should We have withdrawn the Reminder from you as you are a people who exceed the bounds? 5 How many a Prophet did We send to the earlier peoples! 6 but whenever a prophet came to them, they mocked him, 7 and so, [in the end,] We destroyed them [even though they were] of greater might than these: and the [very] image of those people of old became a thing of the past. 8 If you ask them: "Who created the heavens and the earth?" they will answer: "The Mighty and All-knowing created them," 9 Who hath made for you the earth a bed, and hath made for you paths therein that haply ye may be directed. 10 And He Who sends down water from the cloud according to a measure, then We raise to life thereby a dead country, even thus shall you be brought forth; 11 And He Who created pairs of all things, and made for you of the ships and the cattle what you ride on, 12 so that you may sit firmly on their backs. Then once you have mounted them, remember your Lord's favour and say, "Glory be to Him who has subjected these creatures to us; we would never on our own have subdued them. 13 And verily unto our Lord we are to return. 14 Yet they make some of His servants partners in His divinity. Man is clearly ungrateful! 15