The Galaxies (Al-Burooj)
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
I CALL TO witness the sky (bespangled) with the signs of the Zodiac, 1 by the promised day, 2 And by the witnessing day (i.e. Friday), and by the witnessed day [i.e. the day of 'Arafat (Hajj) the ninth of Dhul-Hijjah]; 3 destroyed were the people of the trench, 4 the fire abounding in fuel, 5 Lo! [With glee do] they contemplate that [fire,] 6 and they were witnesses of what they did to the believers 7 And they did not take vengeance on them for aught except that they believed in Allah, the Mighty, the Praised, 8 Him unto Whom belongeth the Sovereignty of the heavens and the earth; and Allah is of all things the Witness. 9 Surely (as for) those who persecute the believing men and the believing women, then do not repent, they shall have the chastisement of hell, and they shall have the chastisement of burning. 10 Verily, those who believe and do righteous good deeds, for them will be Gardens under which rivers flow (Paradise). That is the great success. 11 Stern indeed is your Lord's punishment. 12 Indeed it is He Who initiates and redoes. 13 And He only is the Oft Forgiving, the Beloved of His bondmen. 14 Owner of the Throne, the Exalted. 15 Always doing whatever He wills. 16 HAS IT ever come within thy ken, the story of the [sinful] hosts 17 (The armies of) Firaun and the tribe of Thamud. 18 Nay! The disbelievers (persisted) in denying (Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and his Message of Islamic Monotheism). 19 And Allah encompasses them on every side. 20 But this is an honored Qur'an 21 that exists in a well-guarded tablet. 22