Surah The Thunder [Ar-Rad] in English

Alif Lam Mim Ra. These are the verses of the Book. What is sent down to you from your Lord is the truth, yet most men do not believe in it.

It was God who raised the heavens with no visible supports, and then established Himself on the throne; He has regulated the sun and the moon, so that each will pursue its course for an appointed time; He ordains all things and makes plain His revelations, so that you may be certain of meeting your Lord;

it was He who spread out the earth and placed upon it mountains and rivers, and fruits of every kind in male and female pairs. He drew the veil of night over the day. In all this, truly, there are signs for people who reflect.

On the earth are diverse tracts, adjoining one another: vineyards and cornfields and groves of palm, the single and the clustered. Their fruits are nourished by the same water; yet We make the taste of some excel that of others. In this also are signs for people who understand.

If anything can astonish you, you should surely be astonished at their asking, \"What? When we become dust, shall we be created anew?\" These are the ones who deny their Lord: around their necks there shall be fetters. They are the inheritors of the Fire, and shall abide therein forever.

They demand that you hasten on the evil rather than the good, although there have been many examples of punishment before them -- your Lord is full of forgiveness for mankind, despite their wrongdoings, but He is truly severe in punishment.

Those who deny the truth ask, \"Why has no sign been sent down to him by His Lord?\" But you are only a warner; every people has its guide.

God knows what every female bears. He knows of every change within the womb. For everything He has a proper measure;

He is the knower of the unseen and the visible, the Great, the Most-Exalted.

It makes no difference whether you converse in secret or aloud, whether you hide under the cloak of night or walk about freely in the light of day.

Each has guardian angels before him and behind him, who watch him at God's command. God does not change the condition of a people's lot, unless they change what is in their hearts. But when God decrees punishment for a people, none can ward it off. Besides Him, they have no protector.

It is He who shows you the lightning, inspiring fear and hope, and gathers up the heavy clouds;

and the thunder glorifies Him with His praise and the angels do so too in awe of Him, and He sends His thunderbolts to strike anyone He pleases, yet they dispute about God, who is inexorable in His power.

The only true appeal is to God alone; those they appeal to instead of Him will never respond to them in any way. They are like a man who stretches forth his hands toward the water, so that it may reach his mouth, but it never does. The calls of those who deny the truth are all in vain.

All who dwell in heavens and on the earth submit to God alone, willingly or unwillingly, as do their shadows in the mornings and in the evenings.

Say, \"Who is Lord of the heavens and the earth?\" Say, \"God.\" Say, \"Why do you take protectors other than Him, who can neither benefit nor harm even themselves?\" Say, \"Are the blind and the seeing equal? Is darkness equal to the light? Or have they assigned partners to God who create as He creates, so that both creations appear to them alike?\" Say, \"God is the Creator of all things. He is the One, the Almighty.\"

He sends down water from the sky that fills riverbeds to overflowing, each according to its measure. The torrent carries along swelling foam, akin to what rises from smelted ore from which man makes ornaments and tools. God thus depicts truth and falsehood. The scum is cast away, but whatever is of use to man remains behind. God thus speaks in parables.

There will be the best of rewards for those who respond to their Lord: while those who do not respond to Him -- if they possessed all that is on earth and twice as much, they would surely offer it as ransom [on the Day of Judgement]; -- will have the worst reckoning and their goal is Hell: and how evil a resting-place!

Can one who knows that whatever has been sent down to you from your Lord is the Truth, be equal to one who is blind? It is only those who are endowed with insight who pay heed;

they who are true to their bond with God and never break their covenant;

and those who join together what God has commanded to be joined, and fear their Lord and dread the harshness of the reckoning;

those who are steadfast in seeking the favour of their Lord, and pray regularly and spend secretly and openly out of what We have provided them with, and ward off evil with good. Theirs shall be the final abode.

They shall enter the eternal Gardens of Eden, along with the righteous from among their fathers, wives and descendants. From every gate the angels will come to them, saying,

\"Peace be upon you for all that you have steadfastly endured. How excellent is the final abode!\"

As for those who break the covenant of God, after having confirmed it, who cut asunder what God has commanded to be joined and spread corruption in the land, a curse shall be laid on them; they shall have an evil abode.

God gives abundantly to whom He will and sparingly to whom He pleases -- [those who deny the truth] rejoice in the life of this world; yet the life of this world is but a fleeting pleasure compared with the life to come.

Those who deny the truth ask, \"Why has no Sign been sent down to him by his Lord?\" Say, \"God lets go astray those whom He wills and guides to Himself those who turn to Him,

those who believe and whose hearts find comfort in the remembrance of God -- surely in the remembrance of God hearts can find comfort.

\"As for those who believe and do righteous deeds -- blissful is their end.\"

Thus We have sent you to a people, before whom other peoples have passed away, so that you may recite to them what We have revealed to you. Yet they deny the Gracious God. Say, \"He is my Lord; there is no god but He. In Him I put my trust and to Him I shall return.\"

Even if there were a Quran by which mountains could be set in motion, by which the earth could be rent asunder, or by which the dead could be made to speak [they would not believe in it]. Surely all things are subject to God's will. Are the faithful unaware that, had He pleased, God could have guided all mankind? Calamity shall not cease to strike those who deny the truth because of their misdeeds or to strike near their homes, until God's promise be fulfilled. God will not fail to keep His promise.

Other messengers were also mocked before you; but though I granted respite to those who denied the truth, at last I seized them, and how awful was My punishment.

Is then He who watches over every soul and its actions [like any other]? Yet they ascribe partners to God. Say, \"Name them! Or do you presume to inform Him of something on the earth of which He does not know? Or, is all this only your verbal assertion?\" Indeed, their devices seem fair to those who deny the truth, and they are kept back from the right path. There can be no guide for those whom God lets go astray.

Punishment awaits them in the present life: but harsher is the punishment of the Hereafter -- no one will defend them against God.

Such is the Paradise which the righteous have been promised: it is watered by running streams: eternal is its fruit, and eternal is its shade. That is the recompense of those who are righteous, but the recompense of those who deny the truth is the Fire.

Those to whom We sent the Scriptures rejoice in what has been revealed to you, while some factions deny parts of it. Say to them, \"I have been commanded only to worship God and not to associate partners with Him: to Him I pray and to Him I shall return.\"

Thus We have revealed it as a [clear] commandment in Arabic. If you followed their desires after all the knowledge which has come to you, you would have no protector or shield against God.

We sent down messengers before you and gave them wives and children. Yet it was not possible for a messenger to bring a sign, save by the command of God. Every age has had its revelation.

God abrogates or confirms what He pleases; with Him is the source of all commandments.

Whether We show you part of what We have promised them or cause you to pass away [before that], your mission is only to give warning; it is for Us to do the reckoning.

Do they not see how We come to [their] land and shrink its borders? God decides, no one can reverse His decision, and He is swift in reckoning.

Those before them did also devise plots; but in all things the master planning is God's. He knows what each soul does. Those who deny the truth shall soon know for whom is the final abode.