ص وَالْقُرْآنِ ذِي الذِّكْرِ

Sād. CONSIDER this Qur'ān, endowed with all that one ought to remember! (1)

بَلِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فِي عِزَّةٍ وَشِقَاقٍ

But nay – they who are bent on denying the truth are lost in [false] pride, and [hence] deeply in the wrong. (2)

كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ مِنْ قَرْنٍ فَنَادَوْا وَلَاتَ حِينَ مَنَاصٍ

How many a generation have We destroyed before their time [for this very sin]! And [how] they called [unto Us] when it was too late to escape! (3)

وَعَجِبُوا أَنْ جَاءَهُمْ مُنْذِرٌ مِنْهُمْ وَقَالَ الْكَافِرُونَ هَٰذَا سَاحِرٌ كَذَّابٌ

Now these [people] deem it strange that a warner should have come unto them from their own midst – and [so] the deniers of the truth are saying: "A [mere] spellbinder is he, a liar! (4)

أَجَعَلَ الْآلِهَةَ إِلَٰهًا وَاحِدًا إِنَّ هَٰذَا لَشَيْءٌ عُجَابٌ

Does he claim that all the deities are [but] one God? Verily, a most strange thing is this!" (5)

وَانْطَلَقَ الْمَلَأُ مِنْهُمْ أَنِ امْشُوا وَاصْبِرُوا عَلَىٰ آلِهَتِكُمْ إِنَّ هَٰذَا لَشَيْءٌ يُرَادُ

And their leaders launch forth [thus]: "Go ahead, and hold steadfastly onto your deities: this, behold, is the only thing to do! (6)

أَأُنْزِلَ عَلَيْهِ الذِّكْرُ مِنْ بَيْنِنَا بَلْ هُمْ فِي شَكٍّ مِنْ ذِكْرِي بَلْ لَمَّا يَذُوقُوا عَذَابِ

What! Upon him alone from among all of us should a [divine] reminder have been bestowed from on high?" Nay, but it is My Own reminder that they distrust! Nay, they have not yet tasted the suffering which I do impose! (8)

أَمْ عِنْدَهُمْ خَزَائِنُ رَحْمَةِ رَبِّكَ الْعَزِيزِ الْوَهَّابِ

Or do they [think that they] own the treasures of thy Sustainer's grace – [the grace] of the Almighty, the Giver of Gifts? (9)

أَمْ لَهُمْ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا فَلْيَرْتَقُوا فِي الْأَسْبَابِ

Or [that] the dominion over the heavens and the earth and all that is between them is theirs? Why, then, let them try to ascend [to God-like power] by all [conceivable] means! (10)

جُنْدٌ مَا هُنَالِكَ مَهْزُومٌ مِنَ الْأَحْزَابِ

[But] there it is: any and all human beings, however [strongly] leagued together, are bound to suffer defeat [whenever they refuse to accept the truth]. (11)

كَذَّبَتْ قَبْلَهُمْ قَوْمُ نُوحٍ وَعَادٌ وَفِرْعَوْنُ ذُو الْأَوْتَادِ

To the truth gave the lie aforetime Noah's people, and [the tribe of] 'ād, and Pharaoh of the [many] tent-poles, (12)

وَثَمُودُ وَقَوْمُ لُوطٍ وَأَصْحَابُ الْأَيْكَةِ أُولَٰئِكَ الْأَحْزَابُ

and [the tribe of] Thamūd, and the people of Lot, and the dwellers of the wooded dales [of Madyan]: they all were leagued together, [as it were, in their unbelief:] (13)

إِنْ كُلٌّ إِلَّا كَذَّبَ الرُّسُلَ فَحَقَّ عِقَابِ

not one [was there] but gave the lie to the apostles – and thereupon My retribution fell due. (14)