The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful
۞ Alif Lam Ra. Those are the signs of the Book and of a manifest Koran. 1 Perhaps those who disbelieve will wish that they had been Muslims. 2 Leave them to eat and enjoy, and for aspiration to involve them in play – so they will shortly come to know. 3 We never destroyed a village whose term had not already been decreed. 4 No nation can outstrip its term nor can they lag behind. 5 They say: 'You to whom the Remembrance is sent down, you are indeed mad. 6 Why dost thou not bring before us angels, if thou art a man of truth? 7 We do not send down angels without reason, and if the angels descend they would not get any respite! 8 Indeed We have sent down the Qur’an, and indeed We Ourselves surely are its Guardians. (This is one of the miracles of the Qur’an – no one has been able to change even one letter of its text, despite every effort. It has remained in its original form since the 6th Century (A. D) and will remain so forever. Other Holy Books such as the Torah and the Bible have lost their originality.) 9 And We had certainly sent [messengers] before you, [O Muhammad], among the sects of the former peoples. 10 and not a single Messenger came to them, but they mocked at him; 11 Thus do We make it to enter into the hearts of the guilty; 12 who do not believe in it, although the way which those [evildoers] of olden times had to go has long been within their ken. 13 If We opened a gate in the heaven and they kept ascending through it, 14 They would say, "Our eyes have only been dazzled. Rather, we are a people affected by magic." 15