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 And We gave Musa (Moses) the Scripture and made it a guidance for the Children of Israel (saying): "Take not other than Me as (your) Wakil (Protector, Lord, or Disposer of your affairs, etc). 2 "O offspring of those whom We carried (in the ship) with Nuh (Noah)! Verily, he was a grateful slave." 3 And We conveyed to the Children of Israel in the Scripture that, "You will surely cause corruption on the earth twice, and you will surely reach [a degree of] great haughtiness. 4 So, when the occasion for the first of the transgressions arrived, We raised against you some of Our creatures who were full of might, and they ran over the whole of your land. This was a promise that was bound to be 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 (We said): 'If you do good, it shall be for your own souls; but if you do evil it is likewise' And when the second promise came (We sent them against you), to sadden your faces and to enter the Mosque as they entered it the first time, they utterly destroyed whatever they came across. 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 Verily this Qur'an guideth unto that path which is sraightest and beareth glad tidings to the believers who work righteous deeds that for them shall be a hire great. 9 And that those who believe not in the Hereafter, for them We have prepared a painful doom. 10