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Sura Xxxix. Zumar, Or The Crowds

*
"The Holy Quran", tr. by Yusuf Ali, [1934],

p. 1236

Sra Xxxix.

\"ZUMAR," Or The Crowds.

In the name of God, Most Gracious,

Most Merciful.

1.
The revelation

Of this Book

Is from God,

The Exalted in Power,

Full of Wisdom.

2.
Verily it is We Who have

Revealed the Book to thee

In Truth: so serve God,

Offering Him sincere devotion.

3.
Is it not to God

That sincere devotion

Is due? But those who

Take for protectors others

Than God (say): "We only

Serve them in order that

They may bring us nearer

To God.
" Truly God

Will judge between them

In that wherein they differ.

But God guides not

Such as are false

And ungrateful.

p. 1237

4.
Had God wished

To take to Himself

A son, He could have

Chosen whom He pleased

Out of those whom He

Doth create: but Glory

Be to Him! (He is above

Such things.
) He is God,

The One, the Irresistible.

5.
He created the heavens

And the earth

In true (proportions):


He makes the Night

Overlap the Day, and the Day

Overlap the Night:


He has subjected

The sun and the moon

(To His law):


Each one follows a course

For a time appointed.

Is not He the Exalted

In Power--He Who forgives

Again and again?

6. He created you (all)

From a single Person:


Then created, of like nature,

His mate; and He

Sent down for you eight head

Of cattle in pairs:


He makes you,

In the wombs

p. 1238

Of your mothers,

In stages, one after another,

In three veils of darkness.

Such is God, your Lord

And Cherisher: to Him belongs

(All) dominion. There is

No god but He: then

How are ye turned away

(From your true Centre)?

7.
If ye reject (God),

Truly God hath no need

Of you; but He liketh not

Ingratitude from His servants:

If ye are grateful, He

Is pleased with you.

No bearer of burdens

Can bear the burden

Of another. In the End,

To your Lord is your Return,

When He will tell you

The truth of all

That ye did (in this life).

For He knoweth well

All that is in (men's) hearts.

8.
When some trouble toucheth man,

He crieth unto his Lord,

p. 1239

Turning to Him in repentance:

But when He bestoweth

A favour upon him

As from Himself, (man)

Doth forget what he cried

And prayed for before,

And he doth set up

Rivals unto God,

Thus misleading others

From God's Path.

Say, "Enjoy thy blasphemy

For a little while:


Verily thou art (one)

Of the Companions of the Fire!
"

9. Is one who worships devoutly

During the hours of the night

Prostrating himself or standing

(In adoration), who takes heed

Of the Hereafter, and who

Places his hope in the Mercy

Of his Lord--(like one

Who does not)? Say:


"Are those equal, those who know

And those who do not know?

It is those who are

Endued with understanding

That receive admonition.

Section 2.

10.
Say: "O ye

My servants who believe!

Fear your Lord.

Good is (the reward)

For those who do good

In this world.

p. 1240

Spacious is God's earth!

Those who patiently persevere

Will truly receive

A reward without measure!"

11.
Say: "Verily, I am commanded

To serve God

With sincere devotion;

12.
\"And I am commanded

To be the first

Of those who bow

To God in Islam."

13.
Say: "I would, if I

Disobeyed my Lord,

Indeed have fear

Of the Penalty

Of a Mighty Day."

14.
Say: "It is God I serve,

With my sincere

(And exclusive) devotion:

15. \"Serve ye what ye will

Besides Him." Say:


"Truly, those in loss

Are those who lose

Their own souls

And their People

On the Day of Judgment:


Ah! that is indeed

The (real and) evident Loss!

p. 1241

16.
They shall have Layers

Of Fire above them,

And Layers (of Fire)

Below them: with this

Doth God warn off

His Servants: "O My Servants!

Then fear ye Me!"

17.
Those who eschew Evil,

And fall not into

Its worship,--and turn

To God (in repentance),--

For them is Good News:


So announce the Good News

To My Servants,--

18.
Those who listen

To the Word,

And follow

The best (meaning) in it:


Those are the ones

Whom God has guided, and those

Are the ones endued

With understanding.

19.
Is, then, one against whom

The decree of Punishment

p. 1242

Is justly due (equal

To one who eschews evil)?

Wouldst thou, then, deliver

One (who is) in the Fire?

20.
But it is for those

Who fear their Lord,

That lofty mansions,

One above another,

Have been built:


Beneath them flow

Rivers (of delight): (such is)

The Promise of God:


Never doth God fail in

(His) promise.

21.
Seest thou not that God

Sends down rain from

The sky, and leads it

Through springs in the earth.?

Then He causes to grow,

Therewith, produce of various

Colours: then it withers;

Thou wilt see it grow yellow;

Then He makes it

Dry up and crumble away.

Truly, in this, is

A Message of remembrance to

Men of understanding.

p. 1243

Section 3.

22.
Is one whose heart

God has opened to Islam,

So that he has received

Enlightenment from God,

(No better than one hard-hearted)?

Woe to those whose hearts

Are hardened against celebrating

The praises of God! They

Are manifestly wandering

(In error)!

23.
God has revealed

(From time to time)

The most beautiful Message

In the form of a Book,

Consistent with itself,

(Yet) repeating (its teaching

p. 1244

In various aspects
):

The skins of those who

Fear their Lord tremble

Thereat; then their skins

And their hearts do soften

To the celebration of

God's praises. Such is

The guidance of God:


He guides therewith

Whom He pleases, but such

As God leaves to stray,

Can have none to guide.

24.
Is, then, one who

Has to fear the brunt

Of the Penalty on the Day

Of Judgment (and receive it)

On his face, (like one

Guarded therefrom)? It will

p. 1245

Be said to the wrong-doers:

"Taste ye (the fruits

Of
) what ye earned!

25.
Those before them (also)

Rejected (revelation), and so

The Punishment came to them

From directions they did not

Perceive.

26.
So God gave them

A taste of humiliation

In the present life,

But greater is the Punishment

Of the Hereafter,

If they only knew!

27.
We have put forth

For men, in this Qur-n

Every kind of Parable,

In order that they

May receive admonition.

28.
(It is) a Qur-n

In Arabic, without any

p. 1246

Crookedness (therein):

In order that they

May guard against Evil.

29.
God puts forth a Parable--

A man belonging to many

Partners at variance with each other,

And a man belonging entirely

To one master: are those two

Equal in comparison?

Praise be to God!

But most of them

Have no knowledge.

30.
Truly thou wilt die

(One day), and truly they

(Too) will die (one day).

31.
In the End will ye

(All), on the Day

Of Judgment, settle your disputes

In the presence of your Lord.

p. 1247

Section 4.

32.
Who, then, doth more wrong

Than one who utters

A lie concerning God,

And rejects the Truth

When it comes to him

Is there not in Hell

An abode for blasphemers?

33.
And he who brings the Truth

And he who confirms

(And supports) it--such are

The men who do right.

34.
They shall have all

That they wish for,

In the presence of their Lord:


Such is the reward

Of those who do good:

35.
So that God will

Turn off from them

(Even) the worst in their deeds

And give them their reward

According to the best

Of what they have done.

p. 1248

36.
Is not God enough

For His servant? But

They try to frighten thee

With other (gods) besides Him!

For such as God leaves

To stray, there can be

No guide.

37.
And such as God doth

Guide there can be

None to lead astray.

Is not God Exalted

In Power, (Able to enforce

His Will
), Lord of Retribution?

38.
If indeed thou ask them

Who it is that created

The heavens and the earth,

They would be sure to say.

"God ". Say: "See ye then?

The things that ye invoke

Besides God,--can they,

If God wills some Penalty

For me, remove His Penalty?--

Or if He wills some Grace

For me, can they keep back

p. 1249

His Grace?" Say: "Sufficient

Is God for me!

In Him trust those

Who put their trust."

39. Say: "O my people!

Do whatever ye can:


I will do (my part):

But soon will ye know--

40.
\"Who it is to whom

Comes a Penalty

Of ignominy, and on whom

Descends a Penalty that abides."

41.
Verily We have revealed

The Book to thee

In Truth, for (instructing)

mankind.

He, then, that receives guidance

Benefits his own soul:

But he that strays

Injures his own soul.

Nor art thou set

Over them to dispose

Of their affairs.

Section 5.

42.
It is God that takes

The souls (of men) at death;

p. 1250

And those that die not

(He takes) during their sleep:

Those on whom He

Has passed the decree

Of death, He keeps back

(From returning to life),

But the rest He sends

(To their bodies)

For a term appointed.

Verily in this are Signs

For those who reflect.

43.
What! Do they take

For intercessors others

Besides God? Say: "Even if

They have no power whatever

And no intelligence?"

44.
Say: "To God belongs

Exclusively (the right

p. 1251

To grant
) Intercession:

To Him belongs the dominion

Of the heavens and the earth:

In the End, it is to Him

That ye shall be

Brought back."

45.
When God, the One and Only,

Is mentioned, the hearts

Of those who believe not

In the Hereafter are filled

With disgust and horror;

But when (gods) other than He

Are mentioned, behold,

They are filled with joy!

46.
Say: "O God!

Creator of the heavens

And the earth!

Knower of all that is

Hidden and open!

It is Thou that wilt

Judge between Thy Servants

In those matters about which

They have differed."

47.
Even if the wrong-doers

Had all that there is

On earth, and as much more,

(In vain) would they offer it

p. 1252

For ransom from the pain

Of the Penalty on the Day

Of Judgment: but something

Will confront them from God,

Which they could never

Have counted upon!

48.
For the evils of their Deeds

Will confront them,

And they will be (completely)

Encircled by that which

They used to mock at!

49. Now, when trouble touches man,

He cries to Us:


But when We bestow

A favour upon him

As from Ourselves,

He says, "This has been

Given to me because of

A certain knowledge (I have)!"

Nay, but this is

But a trial, but most

Of them understand not!

50.
Thus did the (generations)

Before them say! But

All that they did

Was of no profit to them.

51.
Nay, the evil results

Of their deeds overtook them.

And the wrong-doers

Of this (generation)

The evil results of their deeds

Will soon overtake them (too),

p. 1253

And they will never be

Able to frustrate (Our Plan)!

52.
Know they not that

God enlarges the provision

Or restricts it, for any

He pleases? Verily, in this are

Signs for those who believe!

Section 6.

53.
Say: "O my Servants who

Have transgressed against their souls

Despair not of the Mercy

Of God: for God forgives

All sins: for He is

Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

54.
\"Turn ye to your Lord

(In repentance) and bow

To His (Will), before

The Penalty comes on you:


After that ye shall not

Be helped.

p. 1254

55.
\"And follow the Best

Of (the courses) revealed

To you from your Lord,

Before the Penalty comes

On you--of a sudden,

While ye perceive not!--

56.
\"Lest the soul should (then)

Say: "Ah! woe is me!--

In that I neglected

(My Duty) towards God,

And was but among those

Who mocked!"--

57. \"Or (lest) it should say:


"If only God had guided

Me, I should certainly

Have been among the righteous!"--

58.
\"Or (lest) it should say

When it (actually) sees

The Penalty, "If only

I had another chance,

I should certainly be

Among those who do good!"

59.
\"(The reply will be:) "Nay,

But there came to thee

p. 1255

My Signs, and thou didst

Reject them: thou vast

Haughty, and became one

Of those who reject Faith!

60.
(On the Day of Judgment

Wilt thou see those

Who told lies against God;--

Their faces will be turned

Black; is there not

In Hell an abode

For the Haughty?

61.
But God will deliver

The righteous to their place

Of salvation: no evil

Shall touch them,

Nor shall they grieve.

62.
God is the Creator

Of all things, and He

Is the Guardian and Disposer

Of all affairs.

63.
To Him belong the keys

Of the heavens

And the earth:


And those who reject

The Signs of God,--

It is they who will

Be in loss.

p. 1256

Section 7.

64.
Say: "Is it

Some one other than God

That ye order me

To worship, O ye

Ignorant ones?"

65.
But it has already

Been revealed to thee,--

As it was to those

Before thee,--"If thou

Wert to join (gods

With God
), truly fruitless

Will be thy work (in life),

And thou wilt surely

Be in the ranks of those

Who lose (all spiritual good)".

66.
Nay, but worship God,

And be of those who

Give thanks.

67.
No just estimate

Have they made of God,

Such as is due to Him:


On the Day of Judgment

The whole of the earth

Will be but His handful,

And the heavens will be

p. 1257

Rolled up in His right hand:

Glory to Him!

High is He above

The Partners they attribute

To Him!

68.
The Trumpet will (just)

Be sounded, when all

That are in the heavens

And on earth will swoon,

Except such as it will

Please God (to exempt).

Then will a second one

Be sounded, when, behold,

They will be standing

And looking on!

69.
And the Earth will shine

With the glory of its Lord:

The Record (of Deeds)

Will be placed (open);

The prophets and the witnesses

Will be brought forward;

And a just decision

Pronounced between them;

And they will not

Be wronged (in the least).

70.
And to every soul will be

Paid in full (the fruit)

p. 1258

Of its deeds; and (God)

Knoweth best all that

They do.

Section 8.

71. The Unbelievers will be

Led to Hell in crowd:


Until, when they arrive there,

Its gates will be opened.

And its Keepers will say,

"Did not apostles come

To you from among yourselves,

Rehearsing to you the Signs

Of your Lord, and warning you

Of the Meeting of this Day

Of yours?
" The answer

Will be: "True: but

The Decree of Punishment

Has been proved true

Against the Unbelievers!"

72. (To them) will be said:


"Enter ye the gates of Hell,

To dwell therein:

And evil is (this)

Abode of the arrogant!"

73.
And those who feared

Their Lord will be led

To the Garden in crowds:


Until behold, they arrive there;

p. 1259

Its gates will be opened;

And its Keepers will say:

"Peace be upon you!

Well have ye done!"

Enter ye here,

To dwell therein."

74.
They will say: "Praise be

To God, Who has

Truly fulfilled His promise

To us, and has given us

(This) land in heritage:


We can dwell in the Garden

As we will: how excellent

A reward for those

Who work (righteousness)!"

75.
And thou wilt see

The angels surrounding

The Throne (Divine)

On all sides, singing Glory

And Praise to their Lord.

The Decision between them

(At Judgment) will be

In (perfect) justice,

And the cry (on all sides)

Will be, "Praise be to God,

The Lord of the Worlds!"

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