The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
۞ Alif Lam Ra. These are the verses of a clear Book, the Quran. 1 Perhaps those who disbelieve will wish that they had been Muslims. 2 Leave them thou to eat and to enjoy, and let vain hope divert them; presently they will know. 3 Never did We destroy a population that had not a term decreed and assigned beforehand. 4 and no nation outstrips its term, nor do they put it back. 5 And yet they say: "You, to whom this Exposition has been sent are surely possessed of the Devil. 6 Why do you not bring down the angels upon us, if you are truthful?" 7 We send not the angels down save with judgment, and then they would not be respited. 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 (O Muhammad), certainly We did send Messengers before you among the nations which have gone by. 10 And never came a Messenger to them but they did mock him. 11 even so We cause it to enter into the hearts of the sinners -- 12 That they should not believe in the (Message); but the ways of the ancients have passed away. 13 If We opened a gate in the heaven and they kept ascending through it, 14 they would still have said: "Surely our eyes have been dazzled; rather, we have been enchanted." 15