The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful
۞ Alif. Lam. Ra. These are verses of the Scripture and a plain Reading. 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 did We destroy a town but it had a term made known. 4 No people can outstrip the term for its destruction nor can it delay it. 5 They say: "O you to whom the Admonition has been revealed, you are surely crazed. 6 “Why do you not bring angels to us, if you are truthful?” 7 We do not send down angels without reason, and if the angels descend they would not get any 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 (O Muhammad), certainly We did send Messengers before you among the nations which have gone by. 10 and not a single Messenger came to them, but they mocked at him; 11 So We make it enter the hearts of the sinners. 12 they believe not in it, though the wont of the ancients is already gone. 13 If We opened a gate in the heaven and they kept ascending through it, 14 They would say, "Our eyes have only been dazzled. Rather, we are a people affected by magic." 15