The Night Journey (Al-Isra)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Purity is to Him Who took His bondman in a part of the night from the Sacred Mosque to the Aqsa Mosque around which We have placed blessings, in order that We may show him Our great signs; indeed he is the listener, the beholder. (This verse refers to the physical journey of Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him – to Al Aqsa Mosque and from there to the heavens and beyond. The entire journey back to Mecca was completed within a small part of the night.) 1 We gave Moses the Book and made it a guide for the Children of Israel saying, "Do not take anyone besides Me as a guardian, 2 (We made it a guide for) the offspring of those whom We carried in the Ark with Noah, a thankful servant (of God). 3 And We decreed for the Children of Israel in the Book: 'You shall corrupt the land twice, and you shall ascend exceedingly high' 4 So, when the time of the first prediction came, We sent against you Our creatures full of martial might, who ransacked your cities; and the prediction was fulfilled. 5 And after a time We allowed you to prevail against them once again, and aided you with wealth and offspring, and made you more numerous [than ever]. 6 If you do good, you will do good for your own souls, and if you do evil, it shall be for them. So when the second promise came (We raised another people) that they may bring you to grief and that they may enter the mosque as they entered it the first time, and that they might destroy whatever they gained ascendancy over with utter destruction. 7 Belike your Lord may yet have mercy on you; and if ye still revert, We will revert. And We have appointed Hell for the infidels a prison. 8 Lo! this Qur'an guideth unto that which is straightest, and giveth tidings unto the believers who do good works that theirs will be a great reward. 9 And that those who believe not in the Hereafter, for them We have prepared a painful doom. 10