The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

A Medinan sura that highlights God’s wonders in this world, describes the end
of the world, and paints an evocative picture of the delights of Paradise. Hell is
brie
fly contrasted (verses 43–4) with the joys that await the righteous. The
sura is characterized by the refrain ‘Which, then, of your Lord’s blessings do
you both deny?’ which runs throughout. The sura divides mankind and jinn
into three classes: the disbelievers (verses 
41–5), the best of believers (verses
46–61), and the ordinary believers (verses 62–77).
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy
1It is the Lord of Mercy 2who taught the Quran.
a
3He created man
4and taught him to communicate.
b
5The sun and the moon follow their
calculated courses; 
6the plants and the trees submit
c
to His designs;
7He has raised up the sky. He has set the balance 8so that you may not
exceed in the balance: 
9weigh with justice and do not fall short in
the balance. 
10He set down the Earth for His creatures, 11with its fruits,
its palm trees with sheathed clusters, 
12its husked grain, its fragrant
plants. 
13Which, then, of your Lord’s blessings do you both
d
deny?
14He created mankind out of dried clay, like pottery, 15the jinn out
of smokeless 
fire. 16Which, then, of your Lord’s blessings do you
both deny?
17He is Lord of the two risings and Lord of the two settings.
e
18Which, then, of your Lord’s blessings do you both deny?
19He released the two bodies of [fresh and salt] water. They meet,
20yet there is a barrier between them they do not cross. 21Which,
then, of your Lord’s blessings do you both deny?
22Pearls come forth from them: large ones, and small, brilliant
ones.
f
23Which, then, of your Lord’s blessings do you both deny?
a
One interpretation is that qur
an here means ‘to read’, cf. 96: 1.
b
Bayan (communication) involves both expressing oneself and understanding what
has been expressed by others, including the Qur
an, which is called bayan and mubin.
c
Sajada means ‘to submit’ and consequently also ‘to bow down’ or ‘to prostrate
oneself ’.
d
Mankind and jinn.
e
This refers to the rising and setting of the sun and the moon, or, alternatively, their
furthest points of sunrise and sunset in summer and winter.
f
See Abdel Haleem, Understanding the Qur
an, 170–1.

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24His are the moving ships that float, high as mountains, on the
sea.
25Which, then, of your Lord’s blessings do you both deny?
26Everyone on earth perishes; 27all that remains is the Face
a
of
your Lord, full of majesty, bestowing honour. 
28Which, then, of your
Lord’s blessings do you both deny?
29Everyone in heaven and earth entreats Him; every day He is at
work.
b
30Which, then, of your Lord’s blessings do you both deny?
31We shall attend to you two huge armies
c
[of jinn and mankind].
32Which, then, of your Lord’s blessings do you both deny?
33Jinn and mankind, if you can pass beyond the regions of heaven
and earth, then do so: you will not pass without Our authority.
34Which, then, of your Lord’s blessings do you both deny?
35A flash of fire and smoke will be released upon you and no one
will come to your aid. 
36Which, then, of your Lord’s blessings do you
both deny?
37When the sky is torn apart and turns crimson, like red hide.
38Which, then, of your Lord’s blessings do you both deny?
39On that Day neither mankind nor jinn will be asked about
their sins. 
40Which, then, of your Lord’s blessings do you both
deny?
41The guilty will be known by their mark and will be seized
by their foreheads and their feet. 
42Which, then, of your Lord’s
blessings do you both deny?
43This is the Hell the guilty deny, 44but they will go round
between its 
flames and scalding water. 45Which, then, of your Lord’s
blessings do you both deny?
46For those who fear [the time when they will] stand before their
Lord there are two gardens. 
47Which, then, of your Lord’s blessings
do you both deny?
48With shading branches. 49Which, then, of your Lord’s blessings
do you both deny?
50With a pair of flowing springs. 51Which, then, of your Lord’s
blessings do you both deny?
52With every kind of fruit in pairs. 53Which, then, of your Lord’s
blessings do you both deny?