Vanity (Al-Zukhruf)
In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
Ha. Mim. 1 By the Clear Book, 2 Lo! We have appointed it a Lecture, in Arabic that haply ye may understand. 3 It (the Quran) exists in the original Book with Us which is certainly Most Exalted, full of wisdom and (beyond linguistic structures). 4 Then should We turn the message away, disregarding you, because you are a transgressing people? 5 How many a Prophet We sent among the ancients, 6 Yet never did a Prophet come to them but they mocked him. 7 and so, [in the end,] We destroyed them [even though they were] of greater might than these: and the [very] image of those people of old became a thing of the past. 8 And if you ask them, “Who has created the heavens and the earth?”, they will surely say, “They are created by the Most Honourable, the All Knowing.” 9 Who made the earth a resting-place for you, and placed roads for you therein, that haply ye may find your way; 10 And Who sendeth down water from the sky in (due) measure, and We revive a dead land therewith. Even so will ye be brought forth; 11 And who created the species, all of them, and has made for you of ships and animals those which you mount. 12 so that you can sit upon their backs and then remember the Favors of your Lord and say: 'Exaltations to Him who has subjected these to us otherwise, we ourselves were not capable of it, 13 And lo! unto our Lord we surely are returning. 14 Yet they have made some of His servants a part of Him. Indeed man is most evidently thankless. 15