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Alif lām mīm rā’: God knows best what He means by these [letters]. Those, these verses, are the verses of the Book, the Qur’ān (the genitive annexation carries the meaning of [partitive] min, ‘from’), and that which has been revealed to you from your Lord, namely, the Qur’ān (this [preceding sentence] constitutes the subject, the predicate of which is [the following]), is the Truth, wherein is no doubt, but most people, that is, the people of Mecca, do not believe, that it is from God, exalted be He.

God is He Who raised up the heavens without visible supports (‘amad is the plural of ‘imād, which is [the same as] an ustuwāna, ‘a column’; and this [statement] is true, since there are no actual supports) then presided upon the Throne, a presiding befitting Him, and disposed, made subservient, the sun and the moon, each one, of them, moving, along its course, until [the conclusion of] an appointed time, that is, [until] the Day of Resurrection. He directs the command, He conducts the affairs of His Kingdom. He details, He expounds, the signs, the indications of His power, so that you, O people of Mecca, might be certain of the encounter with your Lord, through resurrection.

And He it is Who spread out, extended [flat], the earth and set, created, therein firm mountains and rivers, and of every fruit He has made in it two kinds, of every species. He covers, He cloaks, the night, and its darkness, with the day. Surely in that, which is mentioned, are signs, indications of His Oneness, exalted be He, for a people who reflect, upon God’s handiwork.

And on the earth are tracts, diverse terrains, neighbouring each other, joined side by side, some good, some briny, some of little yield and some fruitful — and these constitute proofs of His power, exalted be He — and gardens, orchards, of vines and sown fields (read zar‘un, in the nominative, as a supplement to jannātun, ‘gardens’, or read zar‘in, in the genitive, [as a supplement] to a‘nābin, ‘of vines’); similarly [constituting proofs of His power are] His words: and date-palms sharing one root (sinwān is the plural of sinw, which are date-palms belonging to the same root, but with many offshoots) and date-palms otherwise, [each] of individual root, watered (read tusqā as [referring to] jannāt, ‘gardens’, and what is in them, or read yusqā as [referring to] the mentioned [date-palms]) by the same [source of] water; and We make some of them to excel (wa-nufaddil, or read wa-yufaddil, ‘and He [God] makes [some of them] to excel’) others in flavour (read fī’l-ukul or fī’l-ukl): and so some are sweet, others, bitter — and these are [also] proofs of His power, exalted be He. Surely in that, which is mentioned, are signs for a people who understand, [who] reflect.

And if you wonder, O Muhammad (s), at the disbelievers denying you, then surely wondrous, [surely] deserving wonder, is their saying, in denial of resurrection: ‘When we have become dust, shall we indeed then be [raised] in a new creation?’, [it is wondrous] because the One Who has the power to originate creation and [to originate] what has been mentioned [above], without any precedent, has [also] the power to restore them [to life] (both hamzas, in both instances [a-idhā and a-innā], are pronounced; or [one may] pronounce the first and not pronounce the second, but in both cases inserting an alif or not [inserting it]; one variant reading has the first [a-idhā] as the interrogative, and the second one [a-innā] as the predicate, while another variant reading has the [exact] opposite). Those are the ones who disbelieve in their Lord; those — fetters shall be around their necks; and those, they shall be the inhabitants of the Fire, abiding therein.

The following was revealed regarding their hastening on, out of mockery, of the chastisement: And they would have you hasten on the evil, the chastisement, rather than the good, [rather than] mercy, when there have indeed occurred before them exemplary punishments (mathulāt is the plural of mathula, similar [in pattern] to samura [pl. samurāt], ‘acacia’), that is to say, the punishments of disbelievers like them: will they not take warning from these? Truly your Lord is forgiving to mankind despite their evil-doing, for otherwise He would not have left a single creature on the face of it [the earth]; and truly your Lord is severe in retribution, against those who disobey Him.

And those who disbelieve say, ‘Why has not some sign been sent down upon him, upon Muhammad (s), from his Lord!’, the like of the staff and the [glowing] hand, or the she-camel. God, exalted be He, says: You are only a warner, one to threaten the disbelievers, for it is not your duty to bring forth signs; and for every folk there is a guide, a prophet, to guide them to their Lord with the signs that He gives him, and not what with they request.

God knows what every female bears, of male or female, one or more, and otherwise, and what the wombs reduce, of the time of gestation, and what they increase, of it. And everything with Him is according to a [precise] measure, a [precise] amount and limit which it does not exceed;

[He is] the Knower of the unseen and the visible, [of] what is hidden and what is witnessed; the Great, the Tremendous, the High Exalted, above His creation, through His [overpowering] subjugation (read al-muta‘ālī or al-muta‘āl, ‘the High Exalted’).

[They are all] the same, according to His knowledge, exalted be He, those of you who speak secretly and those who do so openly, and those who lurk, [who] hide themselves, in the night, in its darkness, and those who go forth, [those who] are manifest [to view] when they make their way, by day.

For him, for man, are attendants, angels who follow him, to his front and to his rear, guarding him through God’s command, that is, by His command, from [the danger of] the jinn and others. Indeed God does not alter the state of a people — He does not deprive them of His grace — unless they have altered the state of their souls, from [their] comely nature, through an act of disobedience. And if God wills misfortune, chastisement, for a people there is none that can repel it, either from among the attendant angels or others; and they, for whom God wills misfortune, have no protector (min wālin: min is extra) to avert it from them, apart from Him, that is, other than God.

He it is Who shows you the lightning, [inspiring] fear, in travellers, of thunderbolts, and hope, for those who are at home, of rain; and He produces, He creates, the clouds that are heavy, with rain.

And the thunder — this is an angel, who is in charge of the clouds, driving them, [while he] constantly, proclaims His praise, that is, he says, ‘Glory be to God through His praise’ (subhāna’Llāh wa-bi-hamdihi), and so too the angels, proclaim His praise, in awe of Him, that is, of God. He unleashes the thunderbolts — these are a fire which issues forth from the clouds — and smites with them whom He will, such that it burns [that person]: this was revealed regarding a man to whom the Prophet (s) had sent someone to invite [to Islam] and who said, ‘Who is the Messenger of God? And what is God? Is He [made] of gold, or of silver, or of copper?’, whereupon a thunderbolt came down on him and blew off the top of his head; yet they, that is, the disbelievers, dispute, argue with the Prophet (s), about God, though He is great in might, in power, or in [the severity of His] retribution.

His, exalted be He, is the call of truth, that is, the words that constitute it [the truth], and these are: ‘there is no god but God’ (lā ilāha illā’Llāh); and those upon whom they call (read yad‘ūn or tad‘ūn, ‘you call’), [those whom] they worship, apart from Him, that is, other than Him — namely, the idols — do not answer them anything, of which they ask; save as, is the response to, one who stretches forth his hands towards water, at the edge of a well, calling to it, that it may reach his mouth, by its rising through the well to [reach] him, but it would never reach it, that is, [reach] his mouth, ever: likewise they [the idols] will not answer them; and the call of the disbelievers, their worship of idols — or their actual supplication — goes only astray, [it is only] in perdition.

And to God prostrate whoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly, such as believers, or unwillingly, such as hypocrites and those coerced by the sword, and their shadows also, prostrate, in the mornings and the evenings.

Say, O Muhammad (s), to your people: ‘Who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth?’ Say: ‘God’ — and even if they do not say it, there can be no other response. Say, to them: ‘Then have you taken beside Him, other than Him, protectors, idols, to worship, who have no power to benefit or harm themselves?’, and you abandon the One Who is their Possessor? (an interrogative meant as a rebuke). Say: ‘Are the blind one and the seer, [respectively], the disbeliever and the believer, equal? Or are darkness, disbelief, and the light, faith, equal? No! Or have they set up for God associates who have created the like of His creation, so that creation seems alike, that is, [is] what the associates create and the creation of God [alike], to them?’, so that they believe them worthy of being worshipped on account of what these [associates] have created? (an interrogative of disavowal); in other words, not so! None save the Creator is worthy of being worshipped. Say: ‘God is the Creator of all things, having no associate therein, and so He cannot have an associate in terms of worship; and He is the One, the Subjugator’, of His servants.

He then strikes a similitude of truth and falsehood, saying: He, exalted be He, sends down water, rain, from the sky, whereat the valleys flow according to their measure, according to their full capacity, and the flood carries a scum that swells, rising above it, and this [scum] is the filth and the like that lies on the surface of the earth, and from that which they smelt (read tūqidūn, ‘you smelt’, or yūqidūn, ‘they smelt’) in the fire, of the earth’s minerals, such as gold, silver or copper, desiring, seeking [to make], ornaments, adornment, or ware, which is useful, such as utensils, when they [the minerals] are melted; [there rises] a scum the like of it, that is, the like of the scum of the flood, and this [latter scum] consists of the impurities expelled by the bellows. Thus, in the way mentioned, God points out truth and falsehood, that is, [He points out] the similitude thereof. As for the scum, of the flood and of the minerals smelted, it passes away as dross, useless refuse, while that which is of use to mankind, in the way of water and minerals, lingers, remains, in the earth, for a time: likewise, falsehood wanes and is [eventually] effaced, even if it should prevail over the truth at certain times. Truth, on the other hand, is established and enduring. Thus, in the way mentioned, God strikes, He makes clear, similitudes.

For those who respond to their Lord, [those who] answer Him, by way of obedience, there shall be the goodly reward, Paradise, and those who do not respond to Him, namely the disbelievers — if they possessed all that is in the earth, and therewith the like of it, they would offer it to redeem themselves therewith, against the chastisement. For such there shall be an awful reckoning, and that is that they will be requited for every single thing they did, none of which will be forgiven, and their abode shall be Hell, an evil resting place, it is!

The following was revealed regarding Hamza and Abū Jahl: Is he who knows that what is revealed to you from your Lord is the truth, and so believes in it, like him who is blind?, and does not know it, nor believes in it? No! But only people of pith, possessors of intellect, remember, heed [such admonitions];

such as fulfil God’s covenant, [meaning] the one that was taken from them while they were still atoms — or [meaning] any covenant — and do not break the pact, by abandoning belief, or [religious] obligations;

and such as cement what God has commanded should be cemented, of faith and kinship ties and so forth, and fear their Lord, that is, His Threat [of punishment], and dread an awful reckoning — a similar [statement] has preceded;

such as are patient, through obedience and [during] hardship, and [staying] away from disobedience, desiring, seeking, their Lord’s countenance, and nothing else, from among the transient things of this world; and maintain the prayer and expend, in obedience, of that which We have provided them, secretly and openly, and repel evil with good, such as [repelling] ignorance through forbearance, and harm through patience; those, theirs shall be the sequel of the [heavenly] Abode: that is, the praiseworthy sequel in the Hereafter, namely:

Gardens of Eden, as a [place of] residence, which they shall enter, they, along with those who were righteous, [those who] believed, from among their fathers and their spouses and their descendants, even if these [latter] did not perform deeds of the same [merit] as theirs, they shall share with them their stations [of Paradise] as an honouring for them; and the angels shall enter to them from every gate, of the gates of Paradise or of [the gates of] the palaces [of Paradise], when they first enter, in order to congratulate them.

They will say [to them]: ‘Peace be upon you, this is the reward, for your patience’, during life on earth. How excellent is, your sequel, the sequel of the [heavenly] Abode!

And those who break God’s covenant after pledging it, and sever what God has commanded should be cemented, and work corruption in the earth, through unbelief and acts of disobedience, theirs shall be the curse, banishment from God’s mercy, and theirs shall be the awful abode, the awful sequel in the abode of the Hereafter, namely, Hell.

God expands provision, He makes it abundant, for whom He will, and straitens, restricts it, for whomever He will; and they, the people of Mecca, rejoice, a wanton rejoicing, in the life of this world, that is, in what they acquire therein, yet the life of this world, in, comparison with the life of, the Hereafter, is but [a brief] enjoyment, a trifling thing, enjoyed and then lost.

And those who disbelieve, from among the people of Mecca, say, ‘Why has not some sign, like the staff and the [glowing] hand or the she-camel, been sent down upon him, upon Muhammad (s), from his Lord?’ Say, to them: ‘Indeed God sends astray whomever He will, to send astray — such that signs cannot avail him in any way — and He guides, He directs, to Him, to His religion, those who turn in repentance’, [those who] return to Him (man, ‘those who’, is substituted by [the following, alladhīna, ‘those who …’]);

those who believe and whose hearts are reassured, find rest, by God’s remembrance, that is, by His promise [of reward]. Verily by God’s remembrance are hearts reassured, that is, the hearts of the believers;

those who believe and perform righteous deeds: (alladhīna āmanū wa-‘amilū’l-sālihāt is the subject, the predicate of which [is the following]) theirs shall be blessedness (tūbā is a verbal noun derived from tīb, ‘goodness’, or [the name of] a tree in Paradise, whose shade a mounted traveller travelling for 100 years would still not traverse) and a fair resort, [a fair] place to return to.

Thus, just as We sent prophets before you, We have sent you to a community before whom other communities have passed away, that you may recite to them that which We have revealed to you, that is, the Qur’ān; yet they disbelieve in the Compassionate One, for, when they were commanded to prostrate themselves to Him, they said, ‘And what is the Compassionate One?’ Say, to them, O Muhammad (s): ‘He is my Lord; there is no god save Him. In Him I trust and to Him is my recourse’.

The following was revealed when they said to him, ‘If you are [truly] a prophet, then make these mountains of Mecca drift away before us, and make for us rivers and springs in it, that we may plant and sow seeds, and resurrect for us our dead fathers to speak to us and tell us that you are a prophet’: Even if it were a Qur’ān whereby the mountains were set in motion, moved from their places, or the earth were cleft, torn, or the dead were spoken to, such that they would respond, they still would not believe. Nay, but the affair belongs entirely to God, and none other, so that none believes except he whom He wills that he believes, and no other; even if they were given what they request [of signs]. The following was revealed when the Companions were keen that what was requested [of signs] should be manifested, hoping that they [the ones requesting them] might believe: Have they not realised, those who believe, that (an is softened, in other words [understand it as] annahu) had God willed, He could have guided all mankind?, to faith, without [the need for] any sign? And the disbelievers, from among the people of Mecca, continue to be struck by devastation, a catastrophe that devastates them through all manner of hardship, such as being killed, taken captive, and [suffering] war or drought, because of what they wrought, because of their actions, that is, their disbelief; or you alight, O Muhammad (s), together with your army, near their home — Mecca — until God’s promise, of victory against them, comes to pass; truly God does not break His promise: and indeed, he alighted at Hudaybiyya until the conquest of Mecca took place;

messengers were certainly mocked before you, in the same way that you have been mocked — this is meant as solace for the Prophet (s) — but I gave respite to those who disbelieved; then I seized them, with retribution, and how was My retribution?, that is to say, it [My retribution] will come to pass; and I shall deal with those who have mocked you in the same way.

Is He Who stands, watches, over every soul what it has earned?, what it has done of good or evil — and this is God — like the idols who are not so? No! This [response] is suggested by [the following words]: Yet they ascribe to God associates. Say: ‘Name them!, for Him: who are they? Or will you inform Him, will you inform God, of something, that is, of an associate, which He does not know in the earth? (an interrogative of disavowal); in other words, He has no associate, for if He did, He would know him — exalted be He above such a thing. Or is it — nay — you call them associates, merely [a manner of] speaking?’, that is, [it is merely] on the basis of false conjecture, without any truth in it. Nay, but their scheming, their unbelief, has been adorned for those who disbelieve and they have been barred from the way, [from] the path of guidance; and whomever God sends astray, for him there is no guide.

For them there is chastisement in the life of this world, through being killed or taken captive; and verily the chastisement of the Hereafter is more grievous, is more severe; and they have no defender, protector, from God, that is, from His chastisement.

The likeness, the description, of Paradise, which has been promised to the God-fearing (this is a subject, the predicate of which has been omitted), in other words, according to what We recount to you [is as follows]: beneath it rivers flow, its food, what is consumed in it, is everlasting, never perishing, and its shade, is everlasting, never replaced by any sun, because it does not exist therein. That, namely, Paradise, is the reward, the sequel, of those who were wary, of idolatry, and the requital of the disbelievers is the Fire!

And those to whom We have given the Scripture, such as ‘Abd Allāh b. Salām and others from among the believing Jews, rejoice in that which has been revealed to you, because of its according with what they have with them [of revelation]; and among the factions, that aligned themselves against you in enmity, from among the idolaters and the Jews, are those who reject some of it, such as the mention of the ‘Compassionate One’ (al-Rahmān) and all that is other than the stories [related therein]. Say: ‘I have been commanded — in that which has been revealed to me — only to worship God, and not to associate [anything] with Him. To Him I call and to Him shall be my return’.

And so, just like that [manner of] revelation, We have revealed it, that is, the Qur’ān, as a [decisive] judgement in Arabic, in the language of the Arabs, for you to judge thereby between people. And if you should follow their whims, that is, [those of] the disbelievers, in that to which they summon you of their creed, hypothetically [speaking], after what has come to you of knowledge, of God’s Oneness, you shall have no protector, to assist you, against God (mina’Llāhi min: the [second] min is extra) and no defender, to ward off His chastisement.

And when they derided him for having many wives, the following was revealed: And indeed We sent messengers before you, and We assigned to them wives and seed, children — and you are like them; and it was not for any Messenger, from among them, that he should bring a sign, save by God’s leave, because they are servants enthralled [by Him]. For every term, period, there is a Book, wherein is inscribed its delimitation.

God effaces, of it [the Book], whatever He will and He fixes (read yuthbit or yuthabbit), therein whatever He will of rulings or other matters, and with Him is the Mother of the Book, its [source of] origin, of which nothing is ever changed, and which consists of what He inscribed in pre-eternity (azal).

And whether ([read as] immā: the nūn of the conditional particle in, ‘whether’, has been assimiliated with the extra mā) We show you a part of that which We promise them, of chastisement, during your lifetime (the response of the conditional statement has been omitted, in other words [understand it as being], fa-dhāk [‘then so shall it be’]); or We take you [to Us], before chastising them; it is for you only to convey [the Message], your duty is only to deliver [the Message], and it is for Us to do the reckoning, when they finally come to Us, whereupon We shall requite them.

Or is it that they, the people of Mecca, have not seen how We visit the land, [how] We target their land, diminishing it at its outlying regions?, by giving victory to the Prophet (s). And God judges, among His creatures as He will; there is none that can repel His judgement and He is swift at reckoning.

And indeed those that were before them, of communities, plotted, against their prophets just as they plot against you; but to God belongs all plotting. And nor is their plotting like the plotting of God, for, exalted be He, He knows what every soul earns, and so its requital is prepared for it, and this is the ultimate plotting, since He brings it to them whence they are not aware. The disbeliever (the genus is meant here; a variant reading has kuffār [‘the disbelievers’]) shall assuredly know for whom shall be the sequel of the [heavenly] Abode, that is, the praiseworthy sequel in the abode of the Hereafter: will it be theirs or that of the Prophet (s) and his Companions?

And those who disbelieve say, to you: ‘You have not been sent [by God]!’ Say, to them: ‘God suffices as a witness between me and you, to my truthfulness [as a messenger], and he who possesses knowledge of the Book’, from among the Christian and Jewish believers.