The Stars (Al-Najm)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
I CALL TO witness the star of the pleiades when it has dipped 1 That your companion is not confused, nor has he gone astray, 2 Neither does he speak of his own will. 3 It is no less than inspiration sent down to him: 4 taught by One who is Stern in power. 5 One of soundness. And he rose to [his] true form 6 while he was in the highest horizon; 7 Then he approached and came closer, 8 Till he was (distant) two bows' length or even nearer, 9 So did (Allah) convey the inspiration to His Servant- (conveyed) what He (meant) to convey. 10 His heart added no untruth to what he saw. 11 What! So do you dispute with him regarding what he saw? 12 And certainly he saw him descend a second time: 13 by the lote-tree of the farthest limit, 14 by the Garden of [Eternal] Repose, 15 when the lote tree was covered in mystic splendour. 16 his eyes did not swerve, nor did they stray 17 and he certainly saw some of the greatest Signs of His Lord. 18 HAVE YOU, then, ever considered [what you are worshipping in] Al-Lat and Al-Uzza, 19 and, another, the third manat? 20 What! For you the son, and for Him the daughter? 21 That indeed is a division most unfair! 22 These are only names which you and your fathers have invented. No authority was sent down by God for them. They only follow conjecture and wish-fulfilment, even though guidance had come to them already from their Lord. 23 Or shall man have what he wishes? 24 But it is to Allah that the End and the Beginning (of all things) belong. 25