حم
Hā. Mīm. (1)
وَالْكِتَابِ الْمُبِينِ
CONSIDER this divine writ, clear in itself and clearly showing the truth: (2)
إِنَّا جَعَلْنَاهُ قُرْآنًا عَرَبِيًّا لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ
behold, We have caused it to be a discourse in the Arabic tongue, so that you might encompass it with your reason. (3)
وَإِنَّهُ فِي أُمِّ الْكِتَابِ لَدَيْنَا لَعَلِيٌّ حَكِيمٌ
And, verily, [originating as it does] in the source, with Us, of all revelation, it is indeed sublime, full of wisdom. (4)
أَفَنَضْرِبُ عَنْكُمُ الذِّكْرَ صَفْحًا أَنْ كُنْتُمْ قَوْمًا مُسْرِفِينَ
[O YOU who deny the truth!] Should We, perchance, withdraw this reminder from you altogether, seeing that you are people bent on wasting your own selves? (5)
وَكَمْ أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ نَبِيٍّ فِي الْأَوَّلِينَ
And how many a prophet did We send to people of olden times! (6)
وَمَا يَأْتِيهِمْ مِنْ نَبِيٍّ إِلَّا كَانُوا بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِئُونَ
But never yet came a prophet to them without their deriding him – (7)
فَأَهْلَكْنَا أَشَدَّ مِنْهُمْ بَطْشًا وَمَضَىٰ مَثَلُ الْأَوَّلِينَ
and so, [in the end,] We destroyed them [even though they were] of greater might than these: and the [very] image of those people of old became a thing of the past. (8)
وَلَئِنْ سَأَلْتَهُمْ مَنْ خَلَقَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ لَيَقُولُنَّ خَلَقَهُنَّ الْعَزِيزُ الْعَلِيمُ
Yet thus it is [with most people]: if thou ask them, "Who is it that has created the heavens and the earth?" – they will surely answer, "The Almighty, the All-Knowing has created them." (9)
الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الْأَرْضَ مَهْدًا وَجَعَلَ لَكُمْ فِيهَا سُبُلًا لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ
He it is who has made the earth a cradle for you, and has provided for you ways [of livelihood] thereon, so that you might follow the right path. (10)
وَالَّذِي نَزَّلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً بِقَدَرٍ فَأَنْشَرْنَا بِهِ بَلْدَةً مَيْتًا كَذَٰلِكَ تُخْرَجُونَ
And He it is who sends down, again and again, waters from the sky in due measure: and [as] We raise therewith dead land to life, even thus will you be brought forth [from the dead]. (11)
وَالَّذِي خَلَقَ الْأَزْوَاجَ كُلَّهَا وَجَعَلَ لَكُمْ مِنَ الْفُلْكِ وَالْأَنْعَامِ مَا تَرْكَبُونَ
And He it is who has created all opposites. And He [it is who] has provided for you all those ships and animals whereon you ride, (12)
لِتَسْتَوُوا عَلَىٰ ظُهُورِهِ ثُمَّ تَذْكُرُوا نِعْمَةَ رَبِّكُمْ إِذَا اسْتَوَيْتُمْ عَلَيْهِ وَتَقُولُوا سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي سَخَّرَ لَنَا هَٰذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لَهُ مُقْرِنِينَ
in order that you might gain mastery over them, and that, whenever you have mastered them, you might remember your Sustainer's blessings and say: "Limitless in His glory is He who has made [all] this subservient to our use – since [but for Him,] we would not have been able to attain to it. (13)
وَإِنَّا إِلَىٰ رَبِّنَا لَمُنْقَلِبُونَ
Hence, verily, it is unto our Sustainer that we must always turn." (14)
وَجَعَلُوا لَهُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ جُزْءًا إِنَّ الْإِنْسَانَ لَكَفُورٌ مُبِينٌ
AND YET, they attribute to Him offspring from among some of the beings created by Him! Verily, most obviously bereft of all gratitude is man! (15)
- - and so, [in the end,] We destroyed them [even though they were] of greater might than these:6 and the [very] image of those people of old became a thing of the past.
- 6 I.e., than the people addressed in verse 5 above.
- So We destroyed (them)- stronger in power than these;- and (thus) has passed on4609 the Parable of the peoples of old.
- 4609 The result of rebellion was destruction. And the pagan Makkan generation contemporary with the Prophet are reminded that the peoples of old who were destroyed were, many of them, more powerful than they, and that they, in disobeying Allah's Law, were inviting the same fate for themselves. The events of the past have become Parables for the present and the future.
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So We destroyed (them)- stronger in power than these;- and (thus) has passed on the Parable of the peoples of old.
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
Then We destroyed men mightier than these in prowess; and the example of the men of old hath gone (before them).
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
Then We destroyed those who were stronger than these in prowess, and the case of the ancients has gone before,
— M. Habib Shakir -
Then We destroyed men stronger (in power) than these, and the example of the ancients has passed away (before them).
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
Wherefore We destroyed peoples mightier than these in prowess; and there hath gone forth the example of the ancients.
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
so We destroyed those who were mightier in courage than they. And the example of the ancients has passed away.
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
Then We destroyed the strongest in valour among them, and the example of the ancients has already passed.
— Ayub Khan -
And We destroyed those who were mightier in power than these, and the example of the earlier peoples has gone before.
— Sher Ali -
and so, [in the end,] We destroyed them [even though they were] of greater might than these: and the [very] image of those people of old became a thing of the past.
— Muhammad Asad -
so We destroyed men stronger in valour than they, and the example of the ancients passed away.
— Arthur Arberry -
We utterly destroyed them although they were greater in might than these. The examples of ancient peoples have gone before.{{6}}
— Abu'l Ala Maududi