The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful
۞ Alif-Lam-Ra. These are the verses of the Book, and a Qur'an luminous. 1 Perchance the unbelievers will wish that they had surrendered: 2 Let them eat and enjoy; and let their hopes deceive them, soon they shall know. 3 We have never destroyed a township without a definite decree having been issued; 4 No people can hasten or delay the term already fixed for them. 5 And yet, they [who deny the truth] say: "O thou unto whom this reminder has [allegedly] been bestowed from on high: verily, thou art mad! 6 Why bringest thou not angels unto us, if thou art of the truthful? 7 But then We never send the angels down save with the purpose (of enforcing their doom), after which they will not be given more 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 And whenever a Messenger came to them, they never failed to mock him. 11 Thus do We make it traverse the hearts of the guilty: 12 They would not believe in it (the Quran), and already the example of (Allah's punishment of) the ancients (who disbelieved) has gone forth. 13 Had We opened a door for them in the sky through which they could easily pass, 14 They would say, "Our eyes have only been dazzled. Rather, we are a people affected by magic." 15