Yunus 10:65–109

And let not what they say, to you, that you have not been sent [as a prophet] or otherwise, grieve you. Truly (inna: indicates a new sentence) power, might, belongs wholly to God. He is the Hearer, of speech, the Knower, of deeds, and will requite them and grant you victory.

Why, surely to God belongs all who are in the heavens and all who are in the earth, as servants, possessions and creatures. Those who call upon, [those who] worship, besides God, that is, other than Him, idols, are not following associates, of His, in reality, exalted be He above this: they are following nothing but conjecture, in this [matter], that is, their supposition that these are gods who intercede for them, and they are only telling lies, in this [matter].

He it is Who made for you the night that you should rest therein, and the day to see: the attribution of sight (ibsār) to ‘the day’ is figurative, since one is able to see during it. Surely in that are signs, indications of His Oneness, exalted be He, for a folk who are able to hear, hearing [in such a way so as] to reflect and be admonished.

They, that is, the Jews and the Christians, and those who claim that the angels are the daughters of God, say, ‘God has taken [to Him] a son’. God, exalted be He, says to them: Glory be to Him!, [in affirmation of] His transcending having offspring. He is Independent, [without need] of anyone, for only he who has need of a child would desire [to have] one. To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth, as possessions, creatures and servants. You have no warrant, [no] proof, for this, that you say. Do you say about God what you do not know? (an interrogative meant as a rebuke).

Say: ‘Truly those who invent lies concerning God, by attributing offspring to Him, shall not prosper’, they shall not find happiness.

Theirs will be, enjoyment, [only] a little, in this world, which they will enjoy for the duration of their lives, then to Us is their return, at death, then We shall make them taste terrible chastisement, after death, because they used to disbelieve.

And recite, O Muhammad (s), to them, that is, [to] the Meccan disbelievers, the story, the tale, of Noah (Nūhin is substituted by [the following, idh qāla]) when he said to his people, ‘O my people, if my sojourn, my stay among you, is too great [to bear], is a hardship, for you, as is my reminding you, my admonishing you, by the signs of God, in God have I put my trust; so decide upon your course of action, resolve upon what you will do to me, together with your associates (wa-shurakā’akum: the wāw [wa-] means here ‘with’), then let not your decision be a secret between you, concealed, nay, manifest it and proclaim it to me; then implement it against me, carry out what you desire, and do not put it off, [do not] give me respite, for I am not concerned by you.

But if you turn away, from my reminding [you], I have not asked you for any wage, any reward for it, so turn [and go] away: my wage, my reward, falls only on God, and I have been commanded to be of those who submit [to God]’.

But they denied him, so We saved him and those with him in the Ark, and made them, that is, those with him, successors, in the earth, and We drowned those who denied Our signs, by [unleashing] the Flood. Behold then the nature of the consequence for those who had been warned!, in that they were destroyed: likewise We deal with those who deny.

Then, after him, that is, [after] Noah, We sent messengers to their people, such as Abraham, Hūd and Sālih, and they brought them clear proofs, miracles, but it was not for them to believe in that which they had denied before, that is, before the sending of messengers to them. Thus do We seal, stamp [upon], the hearts of the transgressors — so that they cannot accept faith — in the same way that We sealed the hearts of those [before].

Then, after them, We sent Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh and his council, that is, his folk, with Our, nine, signs, but they were disdainful, to believe in them, and were a sinful folk.

So, when the Truth came to them from Us, they said, ‘Surely this is manifest sorcery’, [sorcery that is] clear and evident.

Moses said, ‘Do you say [so] of the Truth when it has come to you, that it is sorcery? Is this sorcery?, when the one who has brought it has indeed prospered and has invalidated the sorcery of the sorcerers? Now sorcerers do not prosper’ (the interrogative in both instances is meant as a disavowal).

They said, ‘Have you come to us to divert us, to turn us away, from what we found our fathers following, and that yours both might be the greatness, the kingship, in the land, the land of Egypt? We will not believe you two’.

And Pharaoh said, ‘Bring me every cunning sorcerer’, [every] individual excelling in the art of sorcery.

And when the sorcerers came, Moses said to them, after they had said to him, Either you cast, or we shall be the casters! [Q. 7:115]: ‘Cast your cast!’

Then, when they had cast, their ropes and staffs, Moses said, ‘What (mā is interrogative and the subject, its predicate being [the following, ji’tum bihi]) have you brought? Sorcery? (ā’l-sihru [a-al-sihru] is a substitute [for the predicate ji’tum bihi, ‘have you brought’]; a variant reading has al-sihru with a single hamza, making it predicative, in which case mā is the relative particle of the subject) Verily God will bring it to nothing, He will efface it. Truly God does not make right the work of those who do corruption.

And God will vindicate, He will establish and make prevail, the Truth by His words, by His promises, however much the sinners be averse’.

But with Moses, none believed save a few descendants, a party, of, the children of, his, that is, Pharaoh’s, folk, out of fear of Pharaoh and their council, that he [Pharaoh] might persecute them, turn them away from his [Moses’s] religion by torturing them; and truly Pharaoh was despotic, arrogant, in the land, the land of Egypt, and truly he was of the prodigal, [of] those who transgress the bounds by claiming to be Lords.

And Moses said, ‘O my people, if you have believed in God then put your trust in Him, if you have [truly] submitted [to Him]’.

So they said, ‘In God we have put our trust. Our Lord, make us not a [cause of] temptation for the evildoing folk, that is, do not make them prevail over us, lest they then think that they are upon the right path and so end up succumbing to [the] temptation [of thinking that they are upon the right path] because of us;

and deliver us by Your mercy from the unbelieving folk’.

And We inspired Moses and his brother [saying]: ‘Appoint houses for your people in Egypt and make your houses oratories, places in which to perform prayers, so that you might be secure from fear — for Pharaoh had prohibited them from performing prayers — and establish, fulfil, worship; and give good tidings to the believers’, of victory and Paradise.

And Moses said, ‘Our Lord, You have indeed given Pharaoh and his council splendour and riches in the life of this world. Our Lord, You have given them this, that they may lead [people] astray, as a consequence thereof, from Your way, [from] Your religion. Our Lord, obliterate, transform, their riches and harden their hearts, stamp upon them and shackle [them], so that they do not believe until they see the painful chastisement’: he [Moses] invoked God against them and Aaron said ‘Amen’ at the end of his invocation.

He, [God] exalted be He, said, ‘Your prayer has been answered: thus their riches were transformed into stones and Pharaoh did not believe until he was about to drown. So the two of you remain upright, with the Message and the Call until such time as chastisement befalls them, and do not follow the way of those who have no knowledge’, when they seek to hasten on My judgement — it is reported that he [Moses] remained [alive] a further forty years thereafter.

And We brought the Children of Israel across the sea; and Pharaoh pursued them, he caught up with them, together with his hosts, in insolence and transgression (baghyan wa-‘adwan: these constitute the [direct] object denoting reason), until, when the [fate of] drowning overtook him, he said, ‘I believe that (annahu is [to be understood as] bi-annahu; a variant reading has innahu, ‘truly it is …’ indicating a new sentence) there is no god save Him in whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am of those who submit [to Him]’: he reiterated this [his submission to God] so that it might be accepted from him, but it was not; and Gabriel thrust mud from the sea into his mouth, lest [God’s] mercy embrace him. And he [Gabriel] said to him:

‘Now, do you believe, when hitherto you have disobeyed and been of those who do corruption?, on account of your being astray and your leading [others] astray, away from belief.

But this day We shall save you, We shall bring you out of the sea, in your body, your lifeless corpse, that you may be, for those after you a sign, a lesson, that they might come to know your servitude and not venture upon deeds like yours. According to Ibn ‘Abbās, some of the Children of Israel doubted his death and so he was brought out [of the sea] for them to see. And truly most people, that is, the people of Mecca, are heedless of Our signs’, not learning the lesson therefrom.

And verily We appointed for the Children of Israel an excellent abode, a noble [place of] residence, namely, Syria and Egypt, and We provided them with good things; and they did not differ, such that some believed while others disbelieved, until the knowledge came to them. Truly your Lord will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection concerning that wherein they used to differ.

So, if you, O Muhammad (s), are in doubt concerning what We have revealed to you, of stories — hypothetically speaking — then question those who read the Scripture, the Torah, before you, for it is confirmed [therein] with them and they can inform you of its truth. The Prophet (s) said, ‘I have no doubt, nor will I question’. Verily the Truth from your Lord has come to you; so do not be of the waverers, [of] those who have doubts about it.

And do not be of those who deny God’s signs and so be of the losers.

Truly those against whom your Lord’s Word, of chastisement, is justified, [against whom] it is due, will not believe,

though every sign come to them, until they see the painful chastisement, at which time it [their belief] will be of no use to them.

If only there had been one town — meaning its inhabitants — that believed, before chastisement befell it, and profited by its belief — except for the people of Jonah: when they believed, after seeing a portent of the chastisement, for they did not wait [to believe] until it came to pass, We removed from upon them the chastisement of degradation in the life of this world and We gave them comfort for a while, until the conclusion of their terms [of life].

And if your Lord willed, all who are in the earth would have believed together. Would you then compel people, to do what God did not will that they do, until they are believers? No!

And it is not for any soul to believe save by the permission of God, by His will, and He causes abomination, chastisement, to fall upon those who have no understanding, [those who do not] reflect upon God’s signs.

Say, to the disbelievers of Mecca: ‘Behold what is in the heavens and in the earth!’, of signs indicating God’s Oneness, exalted be He. But signs and warners (nudhur is the plural of nadhīr, that is, messengers) do not avail a folk who will not believe, according to God’s knowledge, in other words, these [signs and warners] will not benefit them.

What do they await, when they deny you, but the like of the days of those who passed away before them?, of communities, that is, the like of chastisements that befell them. Say: ‘Then await, this: I shall indeed be with you among the waiting’.

Then We shall deliver (nunajjī: the imperfect tense is [being used] to narrate a past situation) Our messengers and the believers, from the chastisement. In like manner, to [that] deliverance, it is incumbent upon Us to deliver the believers, the Prophet (s) and his Companions, when [the time comes for] chastising the idolaters.

Say: ‘O people, that is, O people of Mecca, if you are in doubt of my religion, [and] whether it is true, then [know that] I do not worship those whom you worship besides God, that is, [worshipping] other than Him — namely, idols — for you have doubts concerning God; but I worship God Who will take you to Him, [Who] will seize your souls, and I have been commanded to be of the believers.

And, it has been said to me: “Set your purpose for religion, as a hanīf, inclining towards it, and do not be of the idolaters;

and do not call upon, [do not] worship, besides God, that which can neither profit you, should you worship it, nor hurt you, should you not worship it; for if you do, this, hypothetically speaking, then you will surely be of the evildoers.

And if God afflicts you, smites you, with some hurt, such as impoverishment or illness, there is none who can remove it save Him; and if He desires good for you, there is none who can repel His bounty, that [bounty] which He has intended for you. He strikes with it, that is, with [such] good, whomever He will of His servants.” He is the Forgiving, the Merciful’.

Say: ‘O people, that is, people of Mecca, the Truth has come to you from your Lord. So whoever is guided, is guided only for the sake of his own soul, since the reward of his being guided will be his, and whoever errs, errs only against it, since the evil consequence of his erring shall befall [only] it [his soul]. And I am not a guardian over you’, that I might then compel you to [accept] guidance.

And follow what is revealed to you, from your Lord, and endure [patiently], the Call and their hurting [you], until God give judgement, concerning them, by giving His command, and He is the Best of Judges, the fairest of them: he [the Prophet] endured patiently until God judged that the idolaters be fought and that the People of the Scripture pay the jizya-tax.