The Hijjr Valley (Al-Hijjr)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
۞ Alif Lam Ra. These are the verses of the Book and (of) a Quran that makes (things) clear. 1 How strongly the unbelievers will wish that they had been Muslims. 2 Leave them thou to eat and to enjoy, and let vain hope divert them; presently they will know. 3 And We have not destroyed a town but there was therefor a decree known. 4 No people can outstrip the term for its destruction nor can it delay it. 5 They say: 'Thou, upon whom the Remembrance is sent down, thou art assuredly possessed! 6 Why do you not bring down angels upon us if you are indeed truthful?" 7 But We send down the angels only to bring justice and then they will not be reprieved. 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 Indeed, We sent Messengers before thee, among the factions of the ancients, 10 No Messenger went to them whom they did not mock. 11 Even so We make a way for it (that is, the Admonition) in the hearts of the culprits (like a hot rod); 12 They believe not therein, though the example of the men of old hath gone before. 13 If We opened a gate in the heaven and they kept ascending through it, 14 still they would say: 'Our eyes were dazzled; truly, we must have been a bewitched people' 15