The Qur'an Sura XXXIX — THE TROOPS
1THE Book sent down from God, the Mighty, the Wise!
2We have sent down the Book to thee with the truth: serve thou God then, and be sincere in thy worship:
3Is not a sincere worship due to God?
4But they who take others beside him as lords saying, "We serve them only that they may bring us near to God"–God will judge between them and the faithful, concerning that wherein they are at variance.
5Verily God will not guide him who is a liar, an infidel.
6Had God desired to have had a son, he had surely chosen what he pleased out of his own creation. But praise be to Him! He is God, the One, the Almighty.
7For truth hath he created the Heavens and the Earth: It is of Him that the night returneth upon the day and that the day returneth upon the night: and He controlleth the sun and the moon so that each speedeth to an appointed goal. Is He not the Mighty, the Gracious?
8He created you all of one man, from whom He afterwards formed his wife; and of cattle He hath sent down to you four pairs. In the wombs of your mothers did He create you by creation upon creation in triple darkness. It is He who is God your Lord: the kingdom is His: There is no God but He. How then are ye so turned aside from Him?
9Suppose ye render him no thanks! yet forsooth is God rich without you: but He is not pleased with thanklessness in His servants: yet if ye be thankful He will be pleased with you. The soul burdened with its own works shall not be burdened with the burden of another: hereafter shall ye return to your Lord, and he will tell you of all your works,
10For he knoweth the very secrets of your breasts.
11When some trouble toucheth a man, he turneth to his Lord and calleth on him: yet no sooner hath He enriched him with his favour than he forgetteth Him on whom he before had called, and setteth up peers with God, that he may beguile others from His way. SAY: Enjoy thou thyself yet a little in thine ingratitude! but thou shalt surely be one of the inmates of the fire.
12Shall he who observeth the hours of the night, prostrate or standing in devotion, heedful of the life to come, and hoping for the mercy of his Lord . . .? SAY: Shall they who have knowledge and they who have it not, be treated alike? In sooth, men of understanding only will take the warning.
13SAY: O my believing servants, fear your Lord. For those who do good in this world there is good: and broad is God's earth–verily those who endure with patience shall be repaid: their reward shall not be by measure.
14SAY: I am bidden to serve God with a sincere worship: and I am bidden to be the first of those who surrender themselves to him (Muslims).
15SAY: Verily I fear if I rebel against my Lord the punishment of a great day.
16SAY: God will I serve, presenting him with a sincere worship:
17And serve ye what ye choose beside Him. SAY: The losers truly will they be who shall lose their own souls and their families on the day of resurrection: Is not this the clear ruin?
18Canopies of fire shall be over them, and floors of fire beneath them. With this doth God alarm his servants: Fear ye me, then, O my servants!
19But good tidings are there for those who shun the worship of Thagout and are turned to God. Cheer then with good tidings those my servants who hearken to my word and follow its excellence. These are they whom God guideth, and these are men of insight.
20Him then on whom the sentence of punishment hath justly lighted–him who is doomed to the fire canst thou rescue?
21But for those who fear their Lord are storied pavilions beneath which shall the rivers flow: it is the promise of God, and God will not fail in his promise.
22Seest thou not that God sendeth down water from heaven, and guideth it along so as to form springs in the earth–then bringeth forth by it corn of varied sorts–then causeth he it to wither, and thou seest it become yellow–then crumbleth it away? Lo! herein is teaching for men of insight.
23Shall he then whose breast God hath opened to Islam, and who hath light from his Lord . . .? But woe to those whose hearts are hardened against the remembrance of God! They plainly err.
24The best of recitals hath God sent down a book in unison with itself, and teaching by iteration. The very skins of those who fear their Lord do creep at it! Then do their skins and their hearts soften at the remembrance of their Lord! This is God's guidance: by it will He guide whom He pleaseth; and, whom God shall mislead, no guide shall there be for him.
25Shall he who shall have nought but his own face to shelter him with from the torment of the punishment on the day of the resurrection . . .? Aye, to the evil doers it shall be said, "Taste what ye have earned."
26They who were before them said it was a lie; but a punishment came upon them whence they looked not for it:
27And God made them taste humiliation in this present life: but greater surely will be the punishment of the life to come. Did they but know it!
28Now have we set before man in this Koran every kind of parable for their warning:
29An Arabic Koran, free from tortuous wording, to the intent that they may fear God.
30God setteth forth the comparison of a man with associates at variance among themselves, and of a man devoted wholly to a man. Are these to be held alike? No, praise be to God! But the greater part of them understand not.
31Thou truly shall die, O Muhammad, and they too shall die:
32Then, at the day of resurrection, ye shall wrangle with one another in the presence of your Lord.
33And who acteth more unjustly than he who lieth of God, and treateth the truth when it cometh to him as a lie? Is there not a dwelling-place in Hell for the infidels?
34But he who bringeth the truth, and he who believeth it to be the truth: these are the God-fearing.
35Whatever they shall desire, awaiteth them with their Lord! This is the reward of the righteous;
36That God may do away the guilt of their worst actions, and for their best actions render them their reward.
37Is not God all-sufficient for his servant? Yet would they scare thee by their idols. But no guide shall there be for him whom God misleadeth:
38And he whom God guideth shall have none to mislead him. Is not God, all- mighty, able to revenge?
39And if thou ask them who hath created the Heavens and the Earth, they will surely answer, God. SAY: Think ye, then, that they on whom ye call beside God, if God choose to afflict me, could remove his affliction? or if he choose to show me mercy, could they withhold His mercy? SAY: God sufficeth me: in Him let the trusting trust.
40SAY: O my people, act your part as best ye can, I too will act mine; and in the end ye shall know
41On whom shall light a punishment that shall shame him, and on whom a lasting punishment shall fall.
42Assuredly we have sent down the Book to thee for man and for the ends of truth. Whoso shall be guided by it–it will be for his own advantage, and whoso shall err, shall only err to his own loss. But not to thy keeping are they entrusted.
43God taketh souls unto Himself at death; and during their sleep those who do not die: and he retaineth those on which he hath passed a decree of death, but sendeth the others back till a time that is fixed. Herein are signs for the reflecting.
44Have they taken aught beside God as intercessors? SAY: What! though they have no power over anything, neither do they understand?
45SAY: Intercession is wholly with God: His the kingdom of the Heavens and of the Earth! To him shall ye be brought back hereafter!
46But when the One God is named, the hearts of those who believe not in the life to come, shrivel up: but when the deities who are adored beside Him are named, lo! they are filled with joy.
47SAY: O God, creator of the Heaven and of the Earth, who knowest the hidden and the manifest, thou shalt judge between thy servants as to the subject of their disputes.
48If the wicked possessed all that is in the earth and as much again therewith, verily they would ransom themselves with it from the pain of the punishment on the day of the resurrection; and there shall appear to them, from God, things they had never reckoned on:
49And their own ill deeds shall be clearly perceived by them, and that fire at which they mocked shall encircle them on every side.
50When trouble befalleth a man he crieth to Us; afterwards, when we have vouchsafed favour to him, he saith, "God knew that I deserved it." Nay, it is a trial. But the greater part of them knew it not.
51The same said those who flourished before them; but their deeds profited them not.
52And their own ill deeds recoiled upon them. And whoso among these (Meccans) shall do wrong, on them likewise their own misdeeds shall light, neither shall they invalidate God.
53Know they not that God giveth supplies with open hand, and that He is sparing to whom He will? Of a truth herein are signs to those who believe.
54SAY: O my servants who have transgressed to your own hurt, despair not of God's mercy, for all sins doth God forgive. Gracious, Merciful is He!
55And return ye to your Lord, and to Him resign yourselves, ere the punishment come on you, for then ye shall not be helped:
56And follow that most excellent thing which hath been sent down to you from your Lord, ere the punishment come on you suddenly, and when ye look not for it:
57So that a soul say, "Oh misery! for my failures in duty towards God! and verily I was of those who scoffed:"
58Or say, "Had God guided me, I had surely been of those who feared Him:"
59Or say, when it seeth the punishment, "Could I but return, then I would be of the righteous."
60Nay! my signs had already come to thee, and thou didst treat them as untruths, and wast arrogant, and becamest of those who believed not.
61And on the resurrection day, thou shalt see those who have lied of God, with their faces black. Is there not an abode in Hell for the arrogant?
62But God shall rescue those who fear him into their safe retreat: no ill shall touch them, neither shall they be put to grief.
63God is the creator of all things, and of all things is He the guardian! His the keys of the Heavens and of the Earth! and–who believe not in the signs of God–these! they shall perish!
64SAY: What! do ye then bid me worship other than God, O ye ignorant ones?
65But now hath it been revealed to thee and to those who flourished before thee,–"Verily, if thou join partners with God, vain shall be all thy work, and thyself shalt be of those who perish.
66Nay, rather worship God! and be of those who render thanks."
67But they have not deemed of God as is His due; for on the resurrection day the whole Earth shall be but his handful, and in his right hand shall the Heavens be folded together. Praise be to Him! and high be He uplifted above the partners they join with Him!
68And there shall be a blast on the trumpet, and all who are in the Heavens and all who are in the Earth shall expire, save those whom God shall vouchsafe to live. Then shall there be another blast on it, and lo! arising they shall gaze around them:
69And the earth shall shine with the light of her Lord, and the Book shall be set, and the prophets shall be brought up, and the witnesses; and judgment shall be given between them with equity; and none shall be wronged:
70And every soul shall receive as it shall have wrought, for well knoweth He men's actions.
71And by TROOPS shall the unbelievers be driven towards Hell, until when they reach it, its gates shall be opened, and its keepers shall say to them, "Came not apostles from among yourselves to you, reciting to you the signs of your Lord, and warning you of the meeting with Him on this your day?" They shall say, "Yes." But just is the sentence of punishment on the unbelievers.
72It shall be said to them, "Enter ye the gates of Hell, therein to dwell for ever;" and wretched the abode of the arrogant!
73But those who feared their Lord shall be driven on by troops to Paradise, until when they reach it, its gates shall be opened, and its keepers shall say to them, "All hail! virtuous have ye been: enter then in, to abide herein for ever."
74And they shall say, "Praise be to God, who hath made good to us His promise, and hath given to us the earth as our heritage, that we may dwell in Paradise wherever we please!" And goodly is the reward of those who travailed virtuously.
75And thou shalt see the Angels circling around the Throne with praises of their Lord: and judgment shall be pronounced between them with equity: and it shall be said, "Glory be to God the Lord of the Worlds."
Suras are in the standard order; verse divisions follow Rodwell's 1861 edition and do not always match the standard ayah numbering.