Sura XLIV (44)
Smoke
(
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In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Ha.
Mim. By this clear Book!
See!
on a blessed night have we sent it down, for we would warn mankind:
On the
night wherein all things are disposed in wisdom,
By
virtue of our behest. Lo! we have ever sent forth Apostles,
A
mercy from thy Lord: he truly heareth and
knoweth all things --
Lord
of the Heavens and of the Earth and of all that is between them, -- if you be
firm in faith --
There
is no God but He! -- He maketh alive and killeth! -- Your Lord and the Lord of
your sires of old!~
Yet
with doubts do they disport them.
But
mark them on the day when the Heaven shall give out a palpable smoke,
44:10 Which shall enshroud mankind: this will be an afflictive torment.
They
will cry, "Our Lord! relieve us from this torment:
see! we are believers."
But
how did warning avail them, when an undoubted apostle had come to them;
And
they turned their back son him, and said, "Taught by others,
possessed?"
Were
we to relieve you from the plague even a little, you would certainly relapse.
On the
day when we shall fiercely put forth our great fierceness, we will surely take
vengeance on them!
Of
old, before their time, had we proved the people of Pharaoh, when a noble
apostle presented himself to them.
"Send
away with me," cried he, "the servants of God; for I am an apostle
worthy of all credit:
And
exalt not yourselves against God, for I come to you with undoubted power;
And I
take refuge with Him who is my Lord and your Lord, that you stone me not:
44:20 And if you believe me not, at least
separate yourselves from me,"
And he
cried to his Lord, "That these are a wicked people."
"March
forth then, said God, with my servants by night, for you will be
pursued.
And
leave behind you the cleft sea: they are a
drowned host."
How
many a garden and fountain did they quit!
And
corn fields and noble dwellings!
And
pleasures in which they rejoiced them!
So was
it: and we gave them as a heritage to another
people.
Nor
Heaven nor Earth wept for them, nor was their sentence respited;
And we
rescued the children of Israel from a degrading affliction --
44:30 From Pharaoh, for he was haughty,
given to excess.
And we
chose them, in our prescience, above all peoples,
And we
shewed them miracles wherein was their clear trial.
Yet
these infidels say,
"There
is but our first death, neither shall be be raised again:
Bring
back our sires, if you be men of truth."
Are
they better than the people of Tobba,
And
those who flourished before them whom we destroyed for their evil deeds?
We
have not created the Heavens and the Earth and whatever is between them in
sport:
We
have not created them but for a serious end:
but the greater part of them understand it not.
44:40 Verily the day of severing shall be
the appointed time fo all:
A day
when the master shallnot at all be aided by the servant, neither shall they
behelped;
Save
those on whom God shall have his mercy: for He
is the mighty, the merciful.
Verily
the tree of Ez-Zakkoum
Shall
be the sinner's food:
Like
dregs of oil shall it boil up in their bellies,
Like
the boiling of scalding water.
"-Seize
you him, and drag hinm into the mid-fire;
Then
pour on his head of the tormenting boiling water.
-'Taste
this:' for thou forsooth art the mighty, the
honourable!
44:50 Lo! this is that of which you
doubted.!
But
the pious shall be in a secure place,
Amid
gardens and fountains,
Clothed
in silk and richest robes, facing one another:
Thus
shall it be: and we will wed them to the
virgins with large dark eyes:
Therein
shall they call, secure, for every kind of fruit;
Therein,
their first death passed, shall they taste death no more; and He shall keep
them from the pains of Hell: --
'Tis
the gracious bounty of thy Lord! This is the great felicity.
We
have made this Koran easy for thee in thine own tongue, that they may take the
warning.
Therefore
wait thou, for they are waiting.