The Throngs (Al-Zumer)
In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful
The revelation of this Book is from Allah, the Exalted in Power, full of Wisdom. 1 Verily We! We have sent down the Book unto thee with truth: wherefore worship thou Allah, making exclusion for Him in religion. 2 Pay heed! Worship is for Allah only; and those who have taken others as their supporters beside Him say; “We worship* them only so that they get us closer to Allah”; Allah will surely judge between them regarding the matter in which they dispute; indeed Allah does not guide one who is a big liar, extremely ungrateful. (*The pagans regarded their idols as smaller Gods and worshipped them. So did the Christians. This does not apply to Muslims who only respect their elders, and ask for their blessings.) 3 Had God wanted to have a son, He would have chosen one from His creatures according to His will. God is too Exalted to have a son. He is One and Almighty. 4 He hath created the heavens and the earth with truth. He maketh night to succeed day, and He maketh day to succeed night, and He constraineth the sun and the moon to give service, each running on for an appointed term. Is not He the Mighty, the Forgiver? 5 He it is Who created you from a single being, and He it is Who made from it its mate. He it is Who created for you eight heads of cattle in pairs. He creates you in your mothers' wombs, giving you one form after another in threefold depths of darkness. That, then, is Allah, your Lord. His is the kingdom. There is no god but He. So, whence are you being turned astray? 6 If ye disbelieve, then verily Allah is independent of you. And He approveth not of infidelity in His bondmen. And if ye return thanks He approveth of that in you. No burdened soul shall bear another's burthen. Thereafter unto your Lord is your return; and He shall declare unto you that which ye have been working. Verily He is the Knower of that which is in the breasts. 7 ۞ And when some hardship strikes man, he prays to his Lord, inclined only towards Him – then when Allah grants him a favour from Himself, he forgets why he had prayed to Him earlier, and sets up equals to Allah in order to mislead from Allah’s way; proclaim, “Revel in your disbelief for some days; you are indeed of the people of the fire.” 8 Is one who is obedient to Allah, prostrating himself or standing (in prayer) during the hours of the night, fearing the Hereafter and hoping for the Mercy of his Lord (like one who disbelieves)? Say: "Are those who know equal to those who know not?" It is only men of understanding who will remember (i.e. get a lesson from Allah's Signs and Verses). 9