Al-Qasas 28:64–88

And it shall be said, ‘Call [now] to your associates!’, namely, the idols you alleged to be partners of God. So they will call to them, but they will not answer them, their call, and they, the former, will see, they will sight, the chastisement: [they will wish] if only they had been guided!, in this world, they would not have seen it in the Hereafter.

And, mention, the day when He will call to them and say, ‘What response did you give to those [messengers] who were sent?’, to you.

The tidings, the news of deliverance contained in the response, will be obscured to them on that day, in other words, they will not find any statement that might contain [hope of] deliverance for them; so they will not question one other, about this, and will fall silent.

But as for him who repents, of idolatry, and believes, in the affirmation of God’s Oneness, and acts righteously, he observes the duties [of religion], maybe he will be among the successful, those delivered according to God’s promise.

And your Lord creates whatever He will and chooses, whatever He will. They, the idolaters, do not have the choice, the right to choose anything. Glory be to God and exalted be He above what they associate, [above] their idolatry.

And your Lord knows what their breasts conceal, [what] their hearts keep secret of disbelief and otherwise, and what they proclaim, by their tongues of such things.

And He is God; there is no god except Him. To Him belongs [all] praise in the former, namely, the life of this world, and in the latter, Paradise. And to Him belongs the judgement, the decree effective in [the case of] all things, and to Him you will be returned, through resurrection.

Say, to the people of Mecca: ‘Have you considered, in other words, inform Me: if God were to make the night everlasting over you until the Day of Resurrection, what god other than God, as you [are wont to] claim, could bring you light?, daylight [hours] during which you could earn [a living]. Will you not then listen?’, to this in a way so as to understand it and so repent of your idolatry.

Say, to them: ‘Have you considered, if God were to make the day everlasting over you until the Day of Resurrection, what god other than God, as you [are wont to] claim, could bring you night wherein you rest?, from [any] weariness. Will you not then see?, the error you are upon when you ascribe partners [to God], and so repent of it.

And of His mercy, exalted be He, He has made for you night and day, that you may rest therein, in the night, and that you may seek, in the day, of His bounty, to earn [your livelihood], that perhaps you might give thanks’, for the grace [of God] during both of these [times].

And, mention, the day when He will call to them and say, ‘Where [now] are My associates those whom you used to claim?’ — this is mentioned again in order to expound upon it:

And We shall draw, bring forth, from every community a witness, and this will be their prophet, who will bear witness against what they say, and We shall say, to them: ‘Produce your evidence’, for [the justification of] the idolatry which you asserted. Then they will know that the right, to divineness, is God’s — none share it with Him. And that which they used to invent, in this world, of His having an associate, exalted be He [high] above such [associations], will fail them.

Indeed Korah belonged to the people of Moses — [being] his paternal and maternal cousin, and he had believed in him [in Moses] — but he became insolent towards them, through [his] disdain, haughtiness and great wealth. For We had given him so many treasures that [the number of] their keys would verily have burdened a group of strong men, in other words, they would have been too heavy for such [men] (the bā’ of [bi’l-‘usbati, ‘a group’] is to render transitive [the intransitive] verb); the number of such [men required] is estimated to be 70, 40 or 10; other estimates are also given. Mention, when his people, the believers among the Children of Israel, said to him, ‘Do not be exultant, in [your] great wealth, an exultation of insolence; truly God does not love the exultant, in such [things];

but seek, in that which God has given you, of wealth, the Abode of the Hereafter, by expending it in obedience to God, and do not forget your share of this world, that is, [do not forget] to strive in it for the sake of the Hereafter; and be good, to people, by [giving] voluntary alms, just as God has been good to you. And do not seek to cause corruption in the earth, by committing acts of disobedience. Surely God does not love the agents of corruption’, meaning that He will punish them.

He said, ‘In fact I have been given it, that is, [this] wealth, because of knowledge I possess’, in other words, in return for it — he was the most knowledgeable of the Children of Israel in the Torah, after Moses and Aaron. God, exalted be He, says: Does he not know that God had already destroyed before him generations, communities, of men stronger than him in might and greater in the amassing?, of wealth; in other words, he does know this. And God destroys them, and the guilty will not be questioned about their sins, because of God’s knowledge of these [sins], and so they will be admitted into the Fire without a reckoning.

So he, Korah, emerged before his people in his finery, with his large retinue [all of them] in procession dressed in gold and silk garments and mounted on adorned horses and mules. Those who desired the life of this world said, ‘O (yā is for drawing attention) would that we had the like of what Korah has been given, this world. Truly he enjoys great fortune’, abundant [fortune] in it.

But those to whom knowledge had been given, [knowledge] of what God had promised in the Hereafter, said, to them: ‘Woe to you! (waylakum, is an expression of reprimand) God’s reward, of Paradise in the Hereafter, is better for him who believes and acts righteously, than what Korah has been given in this world; and none will obtain it, namely, the Paradise that is given as a reward, except those who are steadfast’, in [their adherence to] obedience and [refrain] from disobedience.

So We caused the earth to swallow him, Korah, and his dwelling, and he had no host to help him besides God, that is, other than Him, to protect him from destruction, nor was he of those who can rescue themselves, from it.

And those who had longed to be in his place the day before, that is, only recently, were saying, ‘Alas! God expands provision for whomever He will of His servants and straitens [it], He restricts it for whomever He will (way-ka’anna: way is a noun of action, with the sense of ‘How astonished I am’, while the kāf functions as a [causative] lām, ‘because’). Had God not been gracious to us, He would have made us to be swallowed too’ (read active la-khasafa, or passive la-khusifa). Lo! indeed those who are ungrateful, for God’s grace, such as Korah, never prosper.

That is the Abode of the Hereafter, namely, Paradise, which We shall grant to those who do not desire to be haughty in the earth, through insolence, nor [to cause] corruption, by committing acts of disobedience. And the, praiseworthy, sequel will be for those who fear, God’s punishment, by performing deeds of obedience.

Whoever brings a good deed shall have better than it, as a reward, because of it, and this will be the like of it tenfold; while whoever brings an evil deed, those who commit evil deeds shall only be requited, the requital, for what they used to do, in other words, [only] the like of it.

Indeed He Who has prescribed for you the Qur’ān, [He Who] has revealed it, will surely restore you to a place of return, to Mecca — he had yearned for it. Say: ‘My Lord knows best him who brings guidance and him who is in manifest error’ — this was revealed in order to refute what the Meccan disbelievers had said to him: ‘Indeed, you are error’. In other words [God is saying that] he [the Prophet] is the one who has brought guidance, while they are the ones in error.

And you never expected that the Scripture, the Qur’ān, would be conferred on you; but it was, conferred on you, as a mercy from your Lord. So never be a supporter of the disbelievers, in that religion of theirs to which they summon you.

And never let them bar you (yasuddunnaka is actually yasuddūnannaka, but the nūn of the indicative [ending] has been omitted because of the apocopating particle [lā], as has the wāw of the [third person plural] subject of the verb because of its coming together with an unvocalised nūn) from God’s signs after they have been revealed to you, in other words, do not consult with them in such [matters], and summon, people, to your Lord, by affirming His Oneness and worshipping Him, and never be of the idolaters, by supporting them (lā takūnanna: the apocopating particle does not affect the [ending of the] verb here because of its invariability).

And do not call on, [do not] worship, another god with God; there is no god except Him. Everything will perish except His Countenance, except Him. His is the judgement, the effective decree, and to Him you will be brought back, by being raised from the grave.