017 : The Night Journey
17:1
Glory to (Allah) Who did take His servant for a Journey by night
from the Sacred Mosque to the farthest Mosque, whose precincts We did
bless,- in order that We might show him some of Our Signs: for He is the
One Who heareth and seeth (all things).
17:2
We gave Moses the Book, and made it a Guide to the Children of
Israel, (commanding): "Take not other than Me as Disposer of (your)
affairs."
17:3
O ye that are sprung from those whom We carried (in the Ark)
with Noah! Verily he was a devotee most grateful.
17:4
And We gave (Clear) Warning to the Children of Israel in the
Book, that twice would they do mischief on the earth and be elated with
mighty arrogance (and twice would they be punished)!
17:5
When the first of the warnings came to pass, We sent against
you Our servants given to terrible warfare: They entered the very inmost
parts of your homes; and it was a warning (completely) fulfilled.
17:6
Then did We grant you the Return as against them: We gave you
increase in resources and sons, and made you the more numerous in
man-power.
17:7
If ye did well, ye did well for yourselves; if ye did evil,
(ye did it) against yourselves. So when the second of the warnings came to
pass, (We permitted your enemies) to disfigure your faces, and to enter
your Temple as they had entered it before, and to visit with destruction
all that fell into their power.
17:8
It may be that your Lord may (yet) show Mercy unto you; but if
ye revert (to your sins), We shall revert (to Our punishments): And we have
made Hell a prison for those who reject (all Faith).
17:9
Verily this Qur'an doth guide to that which is most right (or
stable), and giveth the Glad Tidings to the Believers who work deeds of
righteousness, that they shall have a magnificent reward;
17:10
And to those who believe not in the Hereafter, (it announceth)
that We have prepared for them a Penalty Grievous (indeed).
17:11
The prayer that man should make for good, he maketh for evil;
for man is given to hasty (deeds).
17:12
We have made the Night and the Day as two (of Our) Signs: the
Sign of the Night have We obscured, while the Sign of the Day We have made
to enlighten you; that ye may seek bounty from your Lord, and that ye may
know the number and count of the years: all things have We explained in
detail.
17:13
Every man's fate We have fastened on his own neck: On the Day
of Judgment We shall bring out for him a scroll, which he will see spread
open.
17:14
(It will be said to him:) "Read thine (own) record: Sufficient
is thy soul this day to make out an account against thee."
17:15
Who receiveth guidance, receiveth it for his own benefit: who
goeth astray doth so to his own loss: No bearer of burdens can bear the
burden of another: nor would We visit with Our Wrath until We had sent an
messenger (to give warning).
17:16
When We decide to destroy a population, We (first) send a
definite order to those among them who are given the good things of this
life and yet transgress; so that the word is proved true against them: then
(it is) We destroy them utterly.
17:17
How many generations have We destroyed after Noah? and enough
is thy Lord to note and see the sins of His servants.
17:18
If any do wish for the transitory things (of this life), We
readily grant them - such things as We will, to such person as We will: in
the end have We provided Hell for them: they will burn therein, disgraced
and rejected.
17:19
Those who do wish for the (things of) the Hereafter, and
strive therefor with all due striving, and have Faith,- they are the ones
whose striving is acceptable (to Allah).
17:20
Of the bounties of thy Lord We bestow freely on all- These as
well as those: The bounties of thy Lord are not closed (to anyone).
17:21
See how We have bestowed more on some than on others; but
verily the Hereafter is more in rank and gradation and more in excellence.
17:22
Take not with Allah another object of worship; or thou (O man!)
wilt sit in disgrace and destitution.
17:23
Thy Lord hath decreed that ye worship none but Him, and that
ye be kind to parents. Whether one or both of them attain old age in thy
life, say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, but address them
in terms of honour.
17:24
And, out of kindness, lower to them the wing of humility, and
say: "My Lord! bestow on them thy Mercy even as they cherished me in
childhood."
17:25
Your Lord knoweth best what is in your hearts: If ye do deeds
of righteousness, verily He is Most Forgiving to those who turn to Him
again and again (in true penitence).
17:26
And render to the kindred their due rights, as (also) to those
in want, and to the wayfarer: But squander not (your wealth) in the manner
of a spendthrift.
17:27
Verily spendthrifts are brothers of the Evil Ones; and the
Evil One is to his Lord (himself) ungrateful.
17:28
And even if thou hast to turn away from them in pursuit of the
Mercy from thy Lord which thou dost expect, yet speak to them a word of
easy kindness.
17:29
Make not thy hand tied (like a niggard's) to thy neck, nor
stretch it forth to its utmost reach, so that thou become blameworthy and
destitute.
17:30
Verily thy Lord doth provide sustenance in abundance for whom
He pleaseth, and He provideth in a just measure. For He doth know and
regard all His servants.
17:31
Kill not your children for fear of want: We shall provide
sustenance for them as well as for you. Verily the killing of them is a
great sin.
17:32
Nor come nigh to adultery: for it is a shameful (deed) and an
evil, opening the road (to other evils).
17:33
Nor take life - which Allah has made sacred - except for just
cause. And if anyone is slain wrongfully, we have given his heir authority
(to demand qisas or to forgive): but let him not exceed bounds in the
matter of taking life; for he is helped (by the Law).
17:34
Come not nigh to the orphan's property except to improve it,
until he attains the age of full strength; and fulfil (every) engagement,
for (every) engagement will be enquired into (on the Day of Reckoning).
17:35
Give full measure when ye measure, and weigh with a balance
that is straight: that is the most fitting and the most advantageous in the
final determination.
17:36
And pursue not that of which thou hast no knowledge; for every
act of hearing, or of seeing or of (feeling in) the heart will be enquired
into (on the Day of Reckoning).
17:37
Nor walk on the earth with insolence: for thou canst not rend
the earth asunder, nor reach the mountains in height.
17:38
Of all such things the evil is hateful in the sight of thy
Lord.
17:39
These are among the (precepts of) wisdom, which thy Lord has
revealed to thee. Take not, with Allah, another object of worship, lest thou
shouldst be thrown into Hell, blameworthy and rejected.
17:40
Has then your Lord (O Pagans!) preferred for you sons, and
taken for Himself daughters among the angels? Truly ye utter a most
dreadful saying!
17:41
We have explained (things) in various (ways) in this Qur'an,
in order that they may receive admonition, but it only increases their
flight (from the Truth)!
17:42
Say: If there had been (other) gods with Him, as they say,-
behold, they would certainly have sought out a way to the Lord of the
Throne!
17:43
Glory to Him! He is high above all that they say!- Exalted and
Great (beyond measure)!
17:44
The seven heavens and the earth, and all beings therein,
declare His glory: there is not a thing but celebrates His praise; And yet
ye understand not how they declare His glory! Verily He is Oft-Forbear,
Most Forgiving!
17:45
When thou dost recite the Qur'an, We put, between thee and
those who believe not in the Hereafter, a veil invisible:
17:46
And We put coverings over their hearts (and minds) lest they
should understand the Qur'an, and deafness into their ears: when thou dost
commemorate thy Lord and Him alone in the Qur'an, they turn on their backs,
fleeing (from the Truth).
17:47
We know best why it is they listen, when they listen to thee;
and when they meet in private conference, behold, the wicked say, "Ye
follow none other than a man bewitched!"
17:48
See what similes they strike for thee: but they have gone
astray, and never can they find a way.
17:49
They say: "What! when we are reduced to bones and dust, should
we really be raised up (to be) a new creation?"
17:50
Say: "(Nay!) be ye stones or iron,
17:51
"Or created matter which, in your minds, is hardest (to be
raised up),- (Yet shall ye be raised up)!" then will they say: "Who will
cause us to return?" Say: "He who created you first!" Then will they wag
their heads towards thee, and say, "When will that be?" Say, "May be it
will be quite soon!
17:52
"It will be on a Day when He will call you, and ye will answer
(His call) with (words of) His praise, and ye will think that ye tarried
but a little while!"
17:53
Say to My servants that they should (only) say those things
that are best: for Satan doth sow dissensions among them: For Satan is to
man an avowed enemy.
17:54
It is your Lord that knoweth you best: If He please, He
granteth you mercy, or if He please, punishment: We have not sent thee to
be a disposer of their affairs for them.
17:55
And it is your Lord that knoweth best all beings that are in
the heavens and on earth: We did bestow on some prophets more (and other)
gifts than on others: and We gave to David (the gift of) the Psalms.
17:56
Say: "Call on those - besides Him - whom ye fancy: they have
neither the power to remove your troubles from you nor to change them."
17:57
Those whom they call upon do desire (for themselves) means of
access to their Lord, - even those who are nearest: they hope for His Mercy
and fear His Wrath: for the Wrath of thy Lord is something to take heed
of.
17:58
There is not a population but We shall destroy it before the
Day of Judgment or punish it with a dreadful Penalty: that is written in
the (eternal) Record.
17:59
And We refrain from sending the signs, only because the men of
former generations treated them as false: We sent the she-camel to the
Thamud to open their eyes, but they treated her wrongfully: We only send
the Signs by way of terror (and warning from evil).
17:60
Behold! We told thee that thy Lord doth encompass mankind
round about: We granted the vision which We showed thee, but as a trial for
men,- as also the Cursed Tree (mentioned) in the Qur'an: We put terror
(and warning) into them, but it only increases their inordinate
transgression!
17:61
Behold! We said to the angels: "Bow down unto Adam": They
bowed down except Iblis: He said, "Shall I bow down to one whom Thou didst
create from clay?"
17:62
He said: "Seest Thou? this is the one whom Thou hast honoured
above me! If Thou wilt but respite me to the Day of Judgment, I will surely
bring his descendants under my sway - all but a few!"
17:63
(Allah) said: "Go thy way; if any of them follow thee, verily
Hell will be the recompense of you (all)- an ample recompense.
17:64
"Lead to destruction those whom thou canst among them, with
thy (seductive) voice; make assaults on them with thy cavalry and thy
infantry; mutually share with them wealth and children; and make promises
to them." But Satan promises them nothing but deceit.
17:65
"As for My servants, no authority shalt thou have over them:"
Enough is thy Lord for a Disposer of affairs.
17:66
Your Lord is He That maketh the Ship go smoothly for you
through the sea, in order that ye may seek of his Bounty. For he is unto
you most Merciful.
17:67
When distress seizes you at sea, those that ye call upon -
besides Himself - leave you in the lurch! but when He brings you back safe
to land, ye turn away (from Him). Most ungrateful is man!
17:68
Do ye then feel secure that He will not cause you to be
swallowed up beneath the earth when ye are on land, or that He will not
send against you a violent tornado (with showers of stones) so that ye
shall find no one to carry out your affairs for you?
17:69
Or do ye feel secure that He will not send you back a second
time to sea and send against you a heavy gale to drown you because of your
ingratitude, so that ye find no helper. Therein against Us?
17:70
We have honoured the sons of Adam; provided them with
transport on land and sea; given them for sustenance things good and pure;
and conferred on them special favours, above a great part of our creation.
17:71
One day We shall call together all human beings with their
(respective) Imams: those who are given their record in their right hand
will read it (with pleasure), and they will not be dealt with unjustly in
the least.
17:72
But those who were blind in this world, will be blind in the
hereafter, and most astray from the Path.
17:73
And their purpose was to tempt thee away from that which We
had revealed unto thee, to substitute in our name something quite
different; (in that case), behold! they would certainly have made thee
(their) friend!
17:74
And had We not given thee strength, thou wouldst nearly have
inclined to them a little.
17:75
In that case We should have made thee taste an equal portion
(of punishment) in this life, and an equal portion in death: and moreover
thou wouldst have found none to help thee against Us!
17:76
Their purpose was to scare thee off the land, in order to
expel thee; but in that case they would not have stayed (therein) after
thee, except for a little while.
17:77
(This was Our) way with the messengers We sent before thee: thou
wilt find no change in Our ways.
17:78
Establish regular prayers - at the sun's decline till the
darkness of the night, and the morning prayer and reading: for the prayer
and reading in the morning carry their testimony.
17:79
And pray in the small watches of the morning: (it would be) an
additional prayer (or spiritual profit) for thee: soon will thy Lord raise
thee to a Station of Praise and Glory!
17:80
Say: "O my Lord! Let my entry be by the Gate of Truth and
Honour, and likewise my exit by the Gate of Truth and Honour; and grant me
from Thy Presence an authority to aid (me)."
17:81
And say: "Truth has (now) arrived, and Falsehood perished: for
Falsehood is (by its nature) bound to perish."
17:82
We send down (stage by stage) in the Qur'an that which is a
healing and a mercy to those who believe: to the unjust it causes nothing
but loss after loss.
17:83
Yet when We bestow Our favours on man, he turns away and
becomes remote on his side (instead of coming to Us), and when evil seizes
him he gives himself up to despair!
17:84
Say: "Everyone acts according to his own disposition: But your
Lord knows best who it is that is best guided on the Way."
17:85
They ask thee concerning the Spirit (of inspiration). Say:
"The Spirit (cometh) by command of my Lord: of knowledge it is only a
little that is communicated to you, (O men!)"
17:86
If it were Our Will, We could take away that which We have
sent thee by inspiration:then wouldst thou find none to plead thy affair in
that matter as against Us,-
17:87
Except for Mercy from thy Lord: for his bounty is to thee
(indeed) great.
17:88
Say: "If the whole of mankind and Jinns were to gather
together to produce the like of this Qur'an, they could not produce the
like thereof, even if they backed up each other with help and support.
17:89
And We have explained to man, in this Qur'an, every kind of
similitude: yet the greater part of men refuse (to receive it) except with
ingratitude!
17:90
They say: "We shall not believe in thee, until thou cause a
spring to gush forth for us from the earth,
17:91
"Or (until) thou have a garden of date trees and vines, and
cause rivers to gush forth in their midst, carrying abundant water;
17:92
"Or thou cause the sky to fall in pieces, as thou sayest (will
happen), against us; or thou bring Allah and the angels before (us) face to
face:
17:93
"Or thou have a house adorned with gold, or thou mount a
ladder right into the skies. No, we shall not even believe in thy mounting
until thou send down to us a book that we could read." Say: "Glory to my
Lord! Am I aught but a man,- a messenger?"
17:94
What kept men back from belief when Guidance came to them, was
nothing but this: they said, "Has Allah sent a man (like us) to be (His)
Messenger?"
17:95
Say, "If there were settled, on earth, angels walking about in
peace and quiet, We should certainly have sent them down from the heavens
an angel for a messenger."
17:96
Say: "Enough is Allah for a witness between me and you: for He
is well acquainted with His servants, and He sees (all things).
17:97
It is he whom Allah guides, that is on true Guidance; but he
whom He leaves astray - for such wilt thou find no protector besides Him.
On the Day of Judgment We shall gather, them together, prone on their
faces, blind, dumb, and deaf: their abode will be Hell: every time it shows
abatement, We shall increase from them the fierceness of the Fire.
17:98
That is their recompense, because they rejected Our signs, and
said, "When we are reduced to bones and broken dust, should we really be
raised up (to be) a new Creation?"
17:99
See they not that Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth,
has power to create the like of them (anew)? Only He has decreed a term
appointed, of which there is no doubt. But the unjust refuse (to receive
it) except with ingratitude.
17:100
Say: "If ye had control of the Treasures of the Mercy of my
Lord, behold, ye would keep them back, for fear of spending them: for man
is (every) niggardly!"
17:101
To Moses We did give Nine Clear Signs: As the Children of
Israel: when he came to them, Pharaoh said to him: "O Moses! I consider
thee, indeed, to have been worked upon by sorcery!
17:102
Moses said, "Thou knowest well that these things have been
sent down by none but the Lord of the heavens and the earth as eye-opening
evidence: and I consider thee indeed, O Pharaoh, to be one doomed to
destruction!"
17:103
So he resolved to remove them from the face of the earth: but
We did drown him and all who were with him.
17:104
And We said thereafter to the Children of Israel, "Dwell
securely in the land (of promise)": but when the second of the warnings
came to pass, We gathered you together in a mingled crowd.
17:105
We sent down the (Qur'an) in Truth, and in Truth has it
descended: and We sent thee but to give Glad Tidings and to warn
(sinners).
17:106
(It is) a Qur'an which We have divided (into parts from time
to time), in order that thou mightest recite it to men at intervals: We
have revealed it by stages.
17:107
Say: "Whether ye believe in it or not, it is true that those
who were given knowledge beforehand, when it is recited to them, fall down
on their faces in humble prostration,
17:108
"And they say: 'Glory to our Lord! Truly has the promise of
our Lord been fulfilled!'"
17:109
They fall down on their faces in tears, and it increases their
(earnest) humility.
17:110
Say: "Call upon Allah, or call upon Rahman: by whatever name ye
call upon Him, (it is well): for to Him belong the Most Beautiful Names.
Neither speak thy Prayer aloud, nor speak it in a low tone, but seek a
middle course between."
17:111
Say: "Praise be to Allah, who begets no son, and has no partner
in (His) dominion: Nor (needs) He any to protect Him from humiliation: yea,
magnify Him for His greatness and glory!"
017 : The Night Journey
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