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SURA XI - HOUD (11) (MECCA - 85 VERSES) (LXXV - 215)

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

Elif. Lam. Ra. A book whose verses are stablished in wisdom and then

set forth with clearness - from the Wise, the All-informed -

That ye worship none other than God - Verily I come to you from Him

charged with warnings, announcements;

And that ye seek pardon of your Lord, and then be turned unto Him!

Goodly enjoyments will He give you to enjoy until a destined time, and His

favours will He bestow on every one who deserves his favours. But if ye turn

away, then verily I fear for you the chastisement of the great day.

Unto God shall ye return, and over all things is he Potent.

Do they not doubly fold up their breasts, that they may hide themselves

from Him?

But when they enshroud themselves in their garments, doth He not know

alike what they conceal and what they shew?
For He knoweth the very inmost of their breast.

There is no moving thing on earth whose nourishment dependeth not on

god; he knoweth its haunts and final resting place: all is in the clear Book.

And He it is who hath made the Heavens and the Earth in six days: His

throne had stood ere this upon the waters, that He might make proof which of

you would excel in works.

11:10 And if thou say, "After death ye shall surely be raised again," the

infidels will certainly explain, "This is nothing but pure sorcery."

And if we defer their chastisement to some definite time, they will

exclaim, "What keepeth it back?" What! will it not come upon them on a day

when there shall be none to avert it from them? And that at which they scoffed

shall enclose them in on every side.

And if we cause man to taste our mercy, and then deprive him of it,

verily, he is despairing, ungrateful.

And if after trouble hath befallen him we cause him to taste our favour,

he will surely exclaim, "The evils are passed away from me." Verily, he is

joyous, boastful.

Except those who endure with patience and do the things that are right:

these doth pardon await and a great reward.

Perhaps thou wilt suppress a part of what hath been revealed to thee,

and wilt be distressed at heart lest they say, "If a treasure be not sent down

to him, or an angel come with him...." But thou art only a warner, and God hath

all things in his charge.

If they shall say, "The Koran is his own device," Say: Then bring ten

Suras like it of your devising, and call whom ye can to your aid beside God, if

ye are men of truth.

But if they answer you not, then know that it hath been sent down to you

in the wisdom of God only, and that there is no God but He. Are ye then

Muslims?

Those who choose this present life and its braveries, we will recompense

for their works therein: they shall having nothing less therein than their

deserts.

These are they for whom there is nothing in the next world but the Fire:

all that they have wrought in this life shall come to nought, and vain shall be

all their doings.

11:20 With such can they be compared who rest upon clear proofs from their

Lord? to whom a witness from him reciteth the Koran, and who is preceded by

the Book of Moses, a guide and mercy? These have faith in it: but the

partisans of idolatry, who believe not in it, are menaced with the fire! Have

thou no doubts about that Book, for it is the very truth from thy Lord. But

most men will not believe.

Who is guilty of a greater injustice than he who inventeth a lie

concerning God? They shall be set before their Lord, and the witnesses shall

say, "These are they who made their Lord a liar." Shall not the malison of God

be on these unjust doers,

Who pervert others from the way of God, and seek to make it crooked, and

believe not in a life to come? God's power on earth they shall not weaken; and

beside God they have no protector! Doubled shall be their punishment! They

were not able to hearken, and they could not see.

These are they who have lost their own souls, and the deities of their

own devising have vanished form them:

There is no doubt but that in the next world they shall be the lost one.

But they who shall have believed and done the things that are right, and

humbled them before their Lord, shall be the inmates of Paradise; therein

shall they abide for ever.

These two sorts of persons resemble the blind and deaf, and the seeing

and the hearing: shall these be compared as alike? Ah! do ye not comprehend?

We sent Noah of old unto his people: - "Verily I come to you a plain

admonisher,

That ye worship none but God. Verily I fear for you the punishment of a

grievous day."

Then said the chiefs of his people who believed not, "We see in thee but

a man like ourselves; and we see not who have followed thee except our meanest

ones of hasty judgment, nor see we any excellence in you above ourselves: nay,

we deem you liars."

11:30 He said: "O my people! how think you? If I am upon a clear revelation

from my Lord, who hath bestowed on me mercy from Himself to which ye are blind,

can we force it on you, if ye are averse from it?

And, O my people! I ask you not for riches: my reward is of God alone:

and I will not drive away those who believe that they shall meet their Lord: -

but I see that ye are an ignorant people.

And, O my people! were I to drive them away, who shall help me against

God? Will ye not therefore consider?

And I tell you not that with me are the treasurers of God: nor do I

say, 'I know the things unseen;' nor do I say, 'I am an angel;' nor do I say of

those whom you eye with scorn, No good thing will God bestow on them: - God

best knoweth what is in their minds - for then should I be one of those who act

unjustly."

They said, "O Noah! already hast thou disputed with us, and multiplied

disputes with us: Bring then upon us what thou hast threatened, if thou be of

those who speak truth."

He said, "God will bring it on you at His sole pleasure, and it is not

you who can weaken him;

Nor, if God desire to mislead you, shall my counsel profit you, though I

fain would counsel you aright. He is your Lord, and unto Him shall ye be

brought back.

Do they say, "This Koran is of his own devising?" Say: On me be my own

guilt, if I have devised it, but I am clear of that whereof ye are guilty.

And it was revealed unto Noah. Verily, none of thy people shall

believed, save they who have believed already; therefore be not thou grieved at

their doings.

But build the Ark under our eye and after our revelation: and plead not

with me for the evil doers, for they are to be drowned.

11:40 So he built the Ark; and whenever the chiefs of his people passed by

they laughed him to scorn: said he, "Though ye laugh at us, we truly shall

laugh at you, even as ye laugh at us; and in the end ye shall know

On whom a punishment shall come that shall shame him, and on whom shall

light a lasting punishment."

Thus was it until our sentence came to pass, and the earth's surface

boiled up. We said, "Carry into it one pair of every kind, and thy family,

except him on whom sentence hath before been passed, and those who have

believed." But there believed not with him except a few.

And he said, "Embark ye therein. In the name of God be its course and

its riding at anchor! Truly my Lord is right Gracious, Merciful."

And the Ark moved on with them amid waves like mountains: and Noah

called to his son - for he was apart - "Embark with us, O my child! and be not

with the unbelievers."

He said, "I will betake me to a mountain that shall secure me from the

water." He said, "None shall be secure this day from the decree of God, save

him on whom He shall have mercy." And a wave passed between them, and he was

among the drowned.

And it was said, "O Earth! swallow up thy water;" and "cease, O Heaven!"

And the water abated, and the decree was fulfilled, and the Ark rested upon

Al-Djoudi; and it was said, "Avaunt! ye tribe of the wicked!"

And Noah called on his Lord and said, "O Lord! verily my son is of my

family: and thy promise is true, and thou art the most just of judges."

He said, "O Noah! verily, he is not of thy family: in this thou actest

not aright. Ask not of me that whereof thou knowest nought: I warn thee that

thou become not of the ignorant.

He said, "To thee verily, O my Lord, do I repair lest I ask that of thee

wherein I have no knowledge: unless thou forgive me and be merciful to me I

shall be one of the lost.

11:50 It was said to him, "O Noah! debark with peace from Us, and with

blessings on thee and on peoples to be born from those who are with thee; but

as for other and unbelieving peoples, we will give them their good things in

this world, but hereafter shall a grievous punishment light on them from us.

This is one of the secret Histories: we reveal it unto thee: neither

thou nor thy people knew it ere this: be patient thou: verily, there is a

prosperous issue to the God-fearing.

And unto Ad we sent their Brother Houd. He said, "O my people, worship

God. You have no God beside Him. Ye only devise a lie.

O my people! I ask of you no recompense for this: my recompense is

with Him only who hath made me. Will ye not then understand?

O my people! ask pardon of your Lord; then be turned unto Him: He will

send down the heavens upon you with copious rains;

And with strength on strength will He increase you:L only turn not

back with deeds of evil."

They said, "O Houd, thou hast not brought us proofs of thy mission: we

will not abandon our gods at thy word, and we believe thee not.

We can only say that some of our gods have smitten thee with evil." Said

he, "Now take I God to witness, do ye also witness, that I am clear of your

joining other gods

To God. Conspire then against me all of you, and delay me not.

For I trust in God, my Lord and yours. No single beast is there which

he holdeth not by its forelock. Right, truly, is the way in which my Lord

goeth.

11:60 But if ye turn back, I have already declared to you my message. And my

Lord will put another people in your place, nor shall ye at all hurt Him;

verily, my Lord keepeth watch over all things."

And when our doom came to be inflicted, we rescued Houd and those who

had like faith with Him, by our special mercy: we rescued them from the

rigorous chastisement.

These men of Ad gainsaid the signs of their Lord, and rebelled against

his messengers, and followed the bidding of every proud contumacious person.

Followed therefore were they in this world by a curse; and in the day of

Resurrection it shall be said to them, "What! Did not Ad disbelieve their

Lord?" Was not Ad, the people of Houd, cast far away?

And unto Themoud we sent their Brother Saleh: - "O my people! said he,

worship God: you have no other god then Him. He hath raised you up out of the

earth, and hath given you to dwell therein. Ask pardon of him then, and be

turned unto him; for thy Lord is nigh, ready to answer."

They said, "O Saleh! our hopes were fixed on thee till now: forbiddest

thou us to worship what our fathers worshipped/ Truly we misdoubt the faith to

which thou callest us, as suspicious."

He said, "O my people! what think ye? If I have a revelation from my

Lord to support me, and if He hath shewed his mercy on me, who could protect me

from God if I rebel against him? Ye would only confer on me increase of ruin.

O my people! this is the she-Camel of God, and sign unto you. Let her

go at large and feed in God's earth, and do her no harm, lest a speedy

punishment overtake you."

Yet they hamstrung her: then said he, "Yet three days more enjoy

yourselves in your dwellings: this menace will not prove untrue."

And when our sentence came to pass, we rescued Saleh and those who had a

like faith with him, by our mercy, from ignominy on that day. Verily, thy Lord

is the Strong, the Mighty!

11:70 And a violent tempest overtook the wicked, and they were found in the

morning prostrate in their dwellings,

As though they had never abode in them. What! Did not Themoud

disbelieve his Lord? Was not Themoud utterly cast off?

And our messengers came formerly to Abraham with glad tidings. "Peace,"

said they. He said, "Peace," and he tarried not, but brought a roasted calf.

And when he saw that their hands touched it not, he misliked them, and

grew fearful of them. They said, "Fear not," for we are sent to the people of

Lot."

His wife was standing by and laughed; and we announced Isaac to her; and

after Isaac, Jacob.

She said, "Ah, woe is me! shall I bear a son when I am old, and when

this my husband is an old man? This truly would be a marvellous thing."

They said, "Marvellest thou at the command of God? God's mercy and

blessing be upon you, O people of this house; praise and glory are His due!"

And when Abraham's fear had passed away, and these glad tidings had

reached him, he pleaded with us for the people of Lot. Verily, Abraham was

right kind, pitiful, relenting.

"O Abraham! desist from this; for already hath the command of thy God

gone forth; as for them, a punishment not to be averted is coming on them."

And when our messengers came to Lot, he was grieved for them; and he was

too weak to protect them, and he said, "This is a day of difficulty."

11:80 And his people came rushing on towards him, for aforetime had they

wrought this wickedness. He said, "O my people! these my daughters will be

purer for you: fear God, and put me not to shame in my guests. Is there no

rightminded man among you?"

They said, "Thou knowest now that we need not thy daughters; and thou

well knowest what we require."

He said, "Would that I had strength to resist you, or that I could find

refuge with some powerful chieftain."

The Angels said, "O Lot! verily, we are the messengers of thy Lord:

they shall not touch tee: depart with thy family in the dead of night, and let

not one of you turn back: as for thy wife, on her shall light what shall light

on them. Verily, that with which they are threatened is for the morning. Is

not the morning near?"

And when our decree came to be executed we turned those cities upside

down, and we rained down upon them blocks of claystone one after another,

marked by thy Lord himself. Nor are they far distant from the wicked Meccans.

And we sent to Madian their brother Shoaib. He said, "O my people!

worship God: no other God have you than He: give not short weight and

measure: I see indeed that ye revel in good things; but I fear for you the

punishment of the all-encompassing day.

O my people! give weight and measure with fairness; purloin not other

men's goods; and perpetrate not injustice on the earth with corrupt practices:

A residue, the gift of God, will be best for you if ye are believers:

But I am not a guardian over you."

They said to him, "O Shoaib! is it thy prayers which enjoin that we

should leave what our fathers worshipped, or that we should not do with our

substance as pleaseth us? Thou forsooth art the mild, the right director!"

11:90 He said, "O my people! How think ye? If I have a clear revelation from

my Lord, and if from Himself He hath supplied me with goodly supplies, and if I

will not follow you in that which I myself forbid you, do I seek aught but your

amendment so far as in me lieth? My sole help is in God. In Him do I trust,

and to Him do I turn me.

O my people! let not your opposition to me draw down upon you the like

of that which befel the people of Noah, or the people of Houd, or the people of

Saleh: and the abodes of the people of Lot are not far distant from you!

Seek pardon of your Lord and be turned unto Him: verily, my Lord is

Merciful, Loving.

They said, "O Shoaib! we understand not much of what thou sayest, and we

clearly see that thou art powerless among us:L were it not for thy family we

would have surely stoned thee, nor couldest thou have prevailed against us."

He said, "O my people! think ye more highly of my family than of God?

Cast ye Him behind your back, with neglect? Verily, my Lord is round about

your actions.

And, O my people! act with what power ye can for my hurt: I verily will

act: and ye shall know

On whom shall light a punishment that shall disgrace him, and who is the

liar. Await ye; verily I will await with you."

And when our decree came to pass, we delivered Shoaib and his companions

in faith, by our mercy: And a violent tempest overtook the wicked, and in the

morning they were found prostrate in their houses

As if they had never dwelt in them. Was not Madian swept off even as

Themoud had been swept off?

Of old sent we Moses, with our signs and with incontestable power to

Pharaoh, and to his nobles - who followed the behests of Pharaoh, and,

unrighteous were Pharaoh's bests.

11:100 He shall head his people on the day of the Resurrection and cause them

to descend into the fire: and wretched the descent by which they shall

descend!

They were followed by a curse in this world; and in the day of the

Resurrection, wretched the gift that shall be given them!

Such, the histories of the cities which we relate to thee. Some of them

are standing, others mown down:

We dealt not unfairly by them, but they dealt not fairly by themselves:

and their gods on whom they called beside God availed them not at all when thy

Lord's behest came to pass. They did not increase their ruin.

Such was thy Lord's grasp when he laid that grasp on the cities that had

been wicked. Verily his grasp is afflictive, terrible!

Herein truly is a sign for him who feareth the punishment of the latter

day. That shall be a day unto which mankind shall be gathered together; that

shall be a day witnessed by all creatures.
No do we delay it, but until a time appointed.

When that day shall come no one shall speak a word but by His leave, and

some shall be miserable and others blessed.

And as for those who shall be consigned to misery - their place the

Fire! therein shall they sigh and bemoan them -

Therein shall they abide while the Heavens and the Earth shall last,

unless thy Lord shall will it otherwise; verily thy Lord doth what He chooseth.

11:110 And as for the blessed ones - their place the Garden! therein shall

they abide while the Heavens and the Earth endure, with whatever imperishable

boon thy Lord my please to add.

Have thou no doubts therefore concerning that which they worship: they

worship but what their fathers worshipped before them: we will surely assign

them their portion with nothing lacking.

Of old gave we Moses the Book, and they fell to variance about it. If a

decree of respite had not gone forth from thy Lord, there had surely been a

decision between them. Thy people also are in suspicious doubts about the

Koran.

And truly thy Lord will repay every one according to their works! for He

is well aware of what they do.

Go straight on then as thou hast been commanded, and he also who hath

turned to God with thee, and let him transgress no more. He beholdeth what ye

do.

Lean not on the evil doers lest the Fire lay hold on you. Ye have no

protector, save God, and ye shall not be helped against Him.

And observe prayer at early morning, at the close of the day, and at the

approach of night; for the good deeds drive away the evil deeds. This is a

warning for those who reflect:

And persevere steadfastly, for verily God will not suffer the reward of

the righteous to perish.

Were the generations before you, endued with virtue, and who forbad

corrupt

doings on the earth, more than a few of those whom we delivered? but the evil

doers followed their selfish pleasures, and became transgressors.

And thy Lord was not one who would destroy those cities unjustly, when

its inhabitants were righteous.

11:120 Had thy Lord pleased he would have made mankind of one religion:L but

those only to whom thy Lord hath granted his mercy will cease to differ. And

unto this hath He created them; for the word of thy Lord shall be fulfilled, "I

will wholly fill hell with Djinn and men."

And all that we have related to thee of the histories of these Apostles,

is to confirm thy heart thereby. By these hath the truth reached thee, and a

monition and warning to those who believe.

But say to those who believe not, "Act as ye may and can: we will act

our part: and wait ye; we verily will wait."

To God belong the secret things of the Heavens and of the Earth: all

things return to him: worship him then and put thy trust in Him: thy Lord is

not regardless of your doings!