Surah The wind-curved sandhills [Al-Ahqaf] in English

Ha Mim

This Book is sent down from God, the Almighty, the Wise One.

We created the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them purely for just ends, and for a specific term, but those who reject Faith turn away from what they have been warned of.

Say, \"Have you thought about those you call upon apart from God? Show me what they have created on the earth. Or do they have a share in the heavens? Bring me a Book revealed before this or some other vestige of knowledge, if you are telling the truth.

And who is more misguided than one who invokes, besides God, such as will not answer him until the Day of Resurrection, and who [in fact] are not even aware of his call,

and when mankind are gathered together, they will become their enemies, and will deny their worship?

And whenever Our clear revelations are recited to them and the Truth is brought to them, those who deny the truth say, \"This is plain magic.\"

Do they mean to say that the Messenger himself has fabricated it? Say [O Muhammad], \"If I have fabricated it myself, you will not be able to do anything to save me from God. He knows quite well what talk you indulge in. He is enough as a witness between me and you; and He is the Forgiving, the Merciful One.\"

Say, \"I am not the first of God's messengers, and I do not know what will be done with me or with you: I do not follow anything but what is revealed to me, and I am merely a plain warner.\"

Say, \"Have you thought: what if this Quran really is from God and you reject it? What if one of the Children of Israel testifies to its similarity to earlier scripture and believes in it, and yet you are too arrogant to do the same? God certainly does not guide evil-doers.\"

Those who deny the truth say of the believers, \"If there were any good in this Quran, they would not have believed in it before we did.\" And since they refuse to be guided by it, they say, \"This is an ancient fabrication.\"

Yet the scripture of Moses was revealed before it as a guide and a blessing; and this is a Book in the Arabic language, fulfilling [previous prophecies], to forewarn those who do evil and to bring good news to those who do good.

Surely those who say, \"Our Lord is God,\" and remain firm [on that path] shall feel no fear, nor shall they grieve:

it is they who are the people of Paradise, they shall abide therein as a reward for all that they have done.

We have enjoined on man kindness to his parents: his mother bore him, in pain and in pain she gave birth to him, and his bearing and weaning takes thirty months. At length, when he reaches the age of full maturity and attains forty years, he says, \"O my Lord! Help me to be grateful for Your favours which You have bestowed upon me, and upon both my parents, and to do good deeds that will please You. Grant me righteousness in my offspring. Truly, I have turned to You and, truly, I submit to You.\"

We accept from such people the best of what they do and We overlook their bad deeds. They will be among the people of Paradise -- this is a true promise that has been given to them.

But he who says to his parents, \"Shame upon you! Do you threaten me with being taken out of the grave after death while many a generation has passed away before me and none has risen from among them?\" The parents both cry for God's help and say to him, \"Believe! Alas for you! God's promise is true.\" But he says, \"These are nothing but ancient fables.\"

It is against such as these that the word of God has proved true, along with all the communities that went before them, jinns and humans: surely they are losers.

All will be ranked according to their deeds. We will requite them in full for their actions and they will not be wronged.

On the Day when those who deny the truth are brought before the Fire, it will be said to them, \"You have had the good things of the life of this world, and you enjoyed them. Now this Day you shall be requited with humiliating punishment, because you were arrogant in the land without justification, and because you acted rebelliously.\"

Tell of the brother of 'Ad; when he warned his people in the sand dunes -- and indeed warners came and went before him and after him -- saying, \"Worship none but God; surely I fear for you the punishment of an awful Day,\"

but they said, \"Have you come to us to turn us away from our deities? Then bring down upon us what you threaten us with, if you are truthful.\"

He said, \"God alone knows when it will come, and I deliver to you the message with which I am sent, but I see you are a people who are ignorant.\"

So, when they saw it in the shape of a dense cloud approaching their valleys, they exclaimed, \"This is only a heavy cloud which will bring us [welcome] rain!\" [But Hud said]: \"By no means! It is the very thing which you sought to hasten -- a wind bearing grievous suffering

which will destroy everything at its Lord's behest!\" And in the morning there was nothing left to be seen save their [empty] dwellings: thus We repay the evil-doers.

We had empowered them to an extent which We have not empowered you, [O people of later times]; and We had endowed them with hearing, and sight, and hearts: but neither their hearing, nor their sight, nor their hearts were of the least avail to them, since they went on rejecting God's revelations; and they were overwhelmed by the very thing which they had been wont to deride.

We have also destroyed other towns that once [flourished] around you, We had given them various signs so that they might return [to the right path],

so why did their gods not help them, those they set up as gods besides God to bring them nearer to Him? No indeed! They failed them utterly: it was all a lie, a fabrication of their own making.

Remember how We sent to you a band of jinn who wished to hear the Quran and as they listened to its recitation, they said to one another, \"Be silent and listen,\" and, then when it was finished, they went back to their people, to give them warning.

They said, \"O our people, we have heard a Book, which has been sent down after Moses, fulfilling the predictions existing in previous scriptures; it guides to the truth, and to the right path.

Our people, respond to the one who calls you to God. Believe in him! God will forgive you your sins and protect you from a painful punishment.

But he who does not respond to God's calls can never elude [Him] on earth, nor can he have any protector against Him. Such people have clearly gone far astray.\"

Have they not seen that God, who created the heavens and the earth and was not wearied by their creation, has the power to bring the dead back to life? Yes, indeed, He has power over all things.

On the Day when those who deny the truth will be brought before the Fire, they shall be asked, \"Is this not the truth?\" They will reply, \"Yes, by our Lord.\" He will say, \"Then taste the punishment, because of your denial of the truth.\"