The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
۞ Alif, Lam, Ra. These are the verses of the Book and a clear Qur'an. 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 thou to eat and to enjoy, and let vain hope divert them; presently they will know. 3 And never have We destroyed any community [for its wrongdoing] unless a divine writ had [previously] been made known to it; 4 No nation can outstrip its term nor can they lag behind. 5 They say: "O you to whom the Admonition has been revealed, you are surely crazed. 6 Why do you not bring to us the angels if you are of the truthful ones? 7 [Yet] We never send down angels otherwise than in accordance with the [demands of] truth; and [were the angels to appear now,] lo! they [who reject this divine writ] would have no further 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 And certainly We sent (apostles) before you among the nations of yore. 10 But never came a messenger to them but they mocked him. 11 So We make it enter the hearts of the sinners. 12 They do not believe in him, and the tradition of earlier nations has passed. 13 Even if We opened out to them a gate from heaven, and they were to continue (all day) ascending therein, 14 they would still say, "Our eyes have been dazzled. We are bewitched." 15