The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Alif, Lam, Ra. These are the verses of the Book and a clear Qur'an. 1 Perchance the unbelievers will wish that they had surrendered: 2 Let them eat and enjoy life, and let (false) hope beguile them. They will come to know! 3 Never did We destroy a population that had not a term decreed and assigned beforehand. 4 No nation can outstrip its term, nor do they put it back. 5 They say: "O thou to whom the Message is being revealed! truly thou art mad (or possessed)! 6 If you are a man of truth, why can't you bring the angels to us?" 7 We send not down the angels, save with truth; 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 (O Muhammad), certainly We did send Messengers before you among the nations which have gone by. 10 But no Messenger came to them except he was mocked. 11 We place in the hearts of sinners (disbelief). 12 They would not believe in it (the Quran), and already the example of (Allah's punishment of) the ancients (who disbelieved) has gone forth. 13 And even if We open to them a gateway of heaven, so that they ascend into it all the while, 14 they would have said, "Our eyes are bewildered and we have been affected by magic." 15