The Qur'an Sura XXXVIII — SAD
1SAD. By the Koran full of warning! In sooth the Infidels are absorbed in pride, in contention with thee.
2How many generations have we destroyed before them! And they cried for mercy but no time was it of escape!
3And they marvel that a warner from among themselves hath come to them; and the Infidels say, "This is a sorcerer, a liar:
4Maketh he the gods to be but one god? A strange thing forsooth is this!"
5And their chiefs took themselves off. "Go, said they, and cleave steadfastly to your gods. Ye see the thing aimed at.
6We heard not of this in the previous creed. It is but an imposture:
7To him alone of us all hath a book of warning been sent down?" Yes! they are in doubt as to my warnings, for they have not yet tasted my vengeance.
8Are the treasures of the mercy of thy Lord, the Mighty, the bounteous, in their hands?
9Is the kingdom of the heavens and of the earth and of all that is between them theirs? Then let them mount up by cords!
10Any army of the confederates shall here be routed.
11Before them the people of Noah and Ad and Pharaoh the impaler treated their prophets as impostors;
12And Themoud, and the people of Lot, and the dwellers in the forest: these were the confederates.
13Nought did they all but charge the apostles with falsehood: Just, therefore, the retribution.
14And these (Meccans) await but one single trumpet blast–There shall be no delaying it–
15Yet they dare to say, "O our Lord! hasten our lot to us, before the day of reckoning."
16Put thou up with what they say: and remember our servant David, a man strong of hand, one who turned him to Us in penitence:
17We constrained the mountains to join with him in lauds at even and at sunrise;
18And the birds which flocked to him, and would all return to him oft;
19And we stablished his kingdom: and wisdom, and skill to pronounce clear decisions, did we bestow on him.
20Hath the story of the two pleaders reached thee, O Muhammad, when they mounted the walls of his closet?
21When they entered in upon David, and he was frightened at them, they said, "Be not afraid; we are two opposing parties: one of us hath wronged the other. Judge therefore with truth between us, and be not unjust, but guide us to the right way.
22Now this my brother had ninety and nine ewes, and I had but a single ewe; and he said, make me her keeper. And he over-persuaded me in the dispute."
23He said, "Certainly he hath wronged thee in asking for thine ewe to add her to his own ewes: and truly many associates do one another wrong–except those who believe and do the things that are right; and few indeed are they!" And David perceived that we had tried him; so he asked pardon of his Lord, and fell down and bowed himself and repented.
24So we forgave him that his sin; and truly he shall have a high rank with Us, and an excellent retreat in Paradise.
25O David! verily we have made thee our vicegerent upon earth. Judge therefore between men with truth, and follow not thy passions, lest they cause thee to err from the way of God. For they who err from the way of God shall meet with a grievous chastisement, for that they have forgotten the day of reckoning.
26We have not created the heaven and the earth and what is between them for nought. That is the thought of infidels; but woe to the infidels because of the fire!
27Shall we treat those who believe and do the things that are right like those who propagate evil on earth? Shall we treat the God-fearing like the impious?
28A blessed Book have we sent down to thee, that men may meditate its verses, and that those endued with understanding may bear it in mind.
29And Solomon gave we unto David. An excellent servant, for he loved to turn him Godward.
30Remember when at eventide the prancing chargers were displayed before him,
31And he said, "Truly I have loved the love of earthly goods above the remembrance of my Lord, till the sun hath been hidden by the veil of darkness.
32Bring them back to me." And he began to sever the legs and necks.
33We also made trial of Solomon, and placed a phantom on his throne: whereupon he returned to Us (in penitence).
34He said, O my Lord! pardon me, and give me a dominion that may not be to any one beside me, for thou art the liberal giver.
35So we subjected the wind to him; it ran softly at his bidding, whithersoever he directed it:
36And the Satans–every builder and diver–
37And others bound in chains:
38"This," said we, "is our gift: be bounteous then, or withhold thy favours; no account shalt thou render."
39And his rank also is high with Us, and an excellent retreat.
40And remember our servant Job when he cried to his Lord, "Verily, Satan hath laid on me disease and pain."
41"Stamp," said we, "with thy foot. This is to wash with; cool, and to drink."
42And we gave him back his family, and as many more with them in our mercy; and for a monition to men of judgment.
43And we said, "Take in thine hand a rod, and strike with it, nor break thine oath." Verily, we found him patient!
44How excellent a servant, one who turned to Us was he!
45And remember our servants Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, men of might and vision.
46With this cleansing did we cleanse them the remembrance of the abode of Paradise.
47And verily, they were, in our sight, of the elect and of the good.
48And remember Ishmael and Elisha and Dhoulkefl, for all these were of the just.
49This is a monition: and verily, the pious shall have a goodly retreat:
50Gardens of Eden, whose portals shall stand open to them:
51Therein reclining, they shall there call for many a fruit and drink:
52And with them shall be virgins of their own age, with modest retiring glances:
53"This is what ye were promised at the day of reckoning."
54"Yes! this is our provision: it shall never fail."
55Even so. But for the evil doers is a wretched home–
56Hell–wherein they shall be burned: how wretched a bed!
57Even so. Let them then taste it–boiling water and gore,
58And other things of kindred sort!
59To their leaders it shall be said, "This company shall be thrown in headlong with you. No greetings shall await them, for they shall be burned in the fire."
60They shall say: "But ye, too! there shall be no welcome for you. It was ye who prepared this for us, and wretched is the abode!"
61They will say: "O our Lord! increase twofold in the fire, the punishment of him who hath brought this upon us."
62And they will say: "Why see we not the men whom we numbered among the wicked–
63Whom we used to treat with scorn? Have they escaped our eyes?"
64Verily this is truth–the wrangling together of the people of the fire.
65SAY: I am but a warner; and there is no God but God the One, the Almighty!
66Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth, and of all that is between them, the Potent, the Forgiving!
67SAY: this is a weighty message,
68From which ye turn aside!
69Yet had I no knowledge of what passed among the celestial chiefs when they disputed,
70–Verily, it hath been revealed to me only because I am a public preacher–
71When thy Lord said to the angels, "I am about to make man of clay,
72And when I have formed him and breathed my spirit into him, then worshipping fall down before him."
73And the angels prostrated themselves, all of them with one accord,
74Save Eblis. He swelled with pride, and became an unbeliever.
75"O Eblis," said God, "what hindereth thee from prostrating thyself before him whom my hands have made?
76Is it that thou are puffed up with pride? or art thou a being of lofty merit?"
77He said: "I am more excellent than he; me hast thou created of fire: of clay hast thou created him."
78He said: "Begone then hence: thou art accursed,
79And lo! my ban shall be on thee till the day of the reckoning."
80He said: "O my Lord! respite me till the day of Resurrection."
81He said, "One then of the respited shalt thou be,
82Till the day of the time appointed."
83He said: "I swear by thy might then that all of them will I seduce,
84Save thy sincere servants among them."
85He said: "It is truth, and the truth I speak. From thee will I surely fill Hell, and with such of them as shall follow thee, one and all.
86Say: I ask no wage of you for this, nor am I one who intermeddleth.
87Of a truth the Koran is no other than a warning to all creatures.
88And after a time shall ye surely know its message.
Suras are in the standard order; verse divisions follow Rodwell's 1861 edition and do not always match the standard ayah numbering.