The Dunes (Al-Ahqaaf)
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
۞ Ha-Meem. (Alphabets of the Arabic language – Allah, and to whomever He reveals, know their precise meanings.) 1 The sending down of the Book is from Allah, the Almighty, the Wise. 2 We have not created the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them but with a purpose for an appointed time. Yet the unbelievers turn away from the warning. 3 Say thou: bethink ye: whatsoever ye call upon beside Allah - show me whatsoever they have created of the earth? Or have they any partnership in the heavens? Bring me a Book before this, or some trace of knowledge if ye say sooth. 4 Who is farther strayed from the Right Path than he who calls upon others than Allah that cannot answer his call till the Day of Resurrection, the while they are not even conscious that callers are calling upon them? 5 When people will be resurrected, such gods will become their enemies and will reject their worship. 6 When Our clear revelations are read out to them, the infidels say of the truth, when it has come to them: "This is pure magic." 7 Or do they say: "He has invented all this"? Say [O Muhammad]: "Had I invented it, you would not be of the least help to me against God. He is fully aware of that [slander] into which you so recklessly plunge: enough is He as a witness between me and you! And [withal,] He alone is truly-forgiving, a true dispenser of grace." 8 Say, “I am not something new* among the Noble Messengers, nor do I know (on my own) what will happen to me** or with you; I only follow that which is divinely revealed to me, and I am purely a Herald of clear warning. (* I am like the earlier ones. ** My knowledge comes due to divine revelations.) 9 Say: Have you considered if it is from Allah, and you disbelieve in it, and a witness from among the children of Israel has borne witness of one like it, so he believed, while you are big with pride; surely Allah does not guide the unjust people. 10