The Romans (Al-Room)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
۞ Alif. Lam. Mim. 1 The Romans have been defeated in a nearby land and after this defeat, 2 in a land close by. But, after their defeat they shall become the victors. 3 Within a few (up to nine) years time; only for Allah is the command, before and after; and the believers will rejoice on that day. 4 In Allah succour. He succoureth whomsoever He will, and He is the Mighty, the Merciful. 5 (It is) a Promise of Allah (i.e. Allah will give victory to the Romans against the Persians), and Allah fails not in His Promise, but most of men know not. 6 They know only the outside appearance of the life of the world (i.e. the matters of their livelihood, like irrigating or sowing or reaping, etc.), and they are heedless of the Hereafter. 7 Do they not think deeply (in their ownselves) about themselves (how Allah created them from nothing, and similarly He will resurrect them)? Allah has created not the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them, except with truth and for an appointed term. And indeed many of mankind deny the Meeting with their Lord. [See Tafsir At-Tabari, Part 21, Page 24]. 8 Have they not travelled through the land to see how terrible was the end of the people who lived before them. The people who lived before them were stronger than them in might, in tilling, and in developing the earth. Our Messengers came to them with clear miracles. God did not do an injustice to them but they wronged themselves. 9 Evil was the end of the harmdoers, because they belied the verses of Allah and mocked at them. 10