The Night Journey (Al-Isra)
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, 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 And [thus, too,] We vouchsafed revelation unto Moses, and made it a [source of] guidance for the children of Israel, [commanding them:] "Do not ascribe to any but Me the power to determine your fate, 2 The descendants of those whom We boarded along with Nooh; he was indeed a grateful bondman. 3 And We decreed for the Children of Israel in the Book: 'You shall do corruption in the earth twice, and you shall ascend exceeding high.' 4 Then when the promise for the first of the two came, We raised against you bondmen of Ours endued with exceeding violence, so they entered the dwellings; and it was a promise fulfilled. 5 Then did We grant you the Return as against them: We gave you increase in resources and sons, and made you the more numerous in man-power. 6 If you do good deeds, you will for your own good – and if you commit evil, it is for yourself; therefore when the second of those promises came – so the enemy maim your faces, and enter the mosque as they had entered it the first time, and destroy until they ruin all they could capture. 7 We said, "Your Lord may yet have mercy on you, but if you do the same again, so shall We: We have made Hell a prison for those who deny the truth." 8 Indeed this Qur’an guides to the most Straight Path, and gives glad tidings to the believers who do good deeds, that for them is a great reward. 9 And that those who believe not in the Hereafter - for them We have gotten ready a torment afflictive. 10