The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace
۞ Alif-Lam-Ra; these are verses of the Book and the bright Qur’an. 1 Again and again will those who disbelieve, wish that they had bowed (to Allah's will) in Islam. 2 leave them to eat, and to take their joy, and to be bemused by hope; certainly they will soon know! 3 And never did We destroy a township but there was a known decree for it. 4 No people can hasten or delay the term already fixed for them. 5 They say: "O thou to whom the Message is being revealed! truly thou art mad (or possessed)! 6 “Why do you not bring angels to us, if you are truthful?” 7 [Yet] We never send down angels otherwise than in accordance with the [demands of] truth; and [were the angels to appear now,] lo! they [who reject this divine writ] would have no further 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 certainly We sent (apostles) before you among the nations of yore. 10 No Messenger went to them whom they did not mock. 11 This is how We make the mocking* enter the hearts of the guilty. (* The acts of disbelief.) 12 They will not believe in it, while there has already occurred the precedent of the former peoples. 13 If We opened a gate in the heaven and they kept ascending through it, 14 they would surely have said, "It is only our eyes that are spellbound! Nay, we have been bewitched! 15