The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Alif. Lam. Ra. THESE ARE MESSAGES of revelation - of a discourse clear in itself and clearly showing the truth. 1 The disbelievers will ardently wish that if only they had been Muslims! (At the time of death / in their graves / on the Day of Resurrection.) 2 leave them to eat, and to take their joy, and to be bemused by hope; certainly they will soon know! 3 Whenever We destroyed a town, a definite term had previously been decreed for it. 4 [but remember that] no community can ever forestall [the end of] its term - and neither can they delay [it]. 5 They say, "You to whom the Reminder [the Quran] has been sent down, you are surely possessed. 6 Why do you not bring down the angels, if what you say is true' 7 We do not send down the angels (in frivolity); and when We do send them down, We do so with Truth; then people are granted 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 have sent forth before you Messengers among the factions of the ancients. 10 No Messenger went to them whom they did not mock. 11 Even so do We [now] cause this [scorn of Our message] to pervade the hearts of those who are lost in sin, 12 they believe not in it, though the wont of the ancients is already gone. 13 Though We opened to them a gate in heaven, and still they mounted through it, 14 They would certainly say: Only our eyes have been covered over, rather we are an enchanted people. 15