The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

a
The Day of Judgement.
b
Or ‘We sent you [Prophet] only as a mercy to all people’.
c
See note to verse 
4.
The Qur
an
21: 101
208

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22. THE PILGRIMAGE
A Medinan sura that gets its title from the reference to the sacred rite of the
pilgrimage 
first enacted by Abraham (verse 27). This theme is introduced by the
condemnation of those who bar the believers from access to the Sacred Mosque
and is followed by permission to 
fight when attacked. The sura begins with the
Day of Judgement and castigates those who worship useless idols, describing
them later as powerless to create even a 
fly. The sura ends by urging the
Muslims to persevere in following the faith of Abraham.
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy
1People, be mindful of your Lord, for the earthquake of the Last
Hour will be a mighty thing: 
2on the Day you see it, every nursing
mother will think no more of her baby, every pregnant female will
miscarry, you will think people are drunk when they are not, so
severe will be God’s torment. 
3Yet still there are some who, with no
knowledge, argue about God, who follow every devilish rebel 
4fated
to lead astray those who take his side, and guide them to the su
ffering
of the blazing 
flame.
5People, [remember,] if you doubt the Resurrection, that We
created you from dust, then a drop of 
fluid, then a clinging form,
then a lump of 
flesh, both shaped and unshaped: We mean to make
Our power clear to you. Whatever We choose We cause to remain in
the womb for an appointed time, then We bring you forth as infants
and then you grow and reach maturity. Some die young and some
are left to live on to such an age that they forget all they once knew.
You sometimes see the earth lifeless, yet when We send down water it
stirs and swells and produces every kind of joyous growth: 
6this is
because God is the Truth; He brings the dead back to life; He has
power over everything.
7There is no doubt that the Last Hour is bound to come, nor that
God will raise the dead from their graves, 
8yet still there are some
who, with no knowledge or guidance or any book of enlightenment,
argue about God, 
9turning scornfully aside to lead others away from
God’s path. Disgrace in this world awaits such a person and, on the
Day of Resurrection, We shall make him taste the su
ffering of the

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Fire. 
10[It will be said], ‘This is for what you have stored up with
your own hands: God is never unjust to His creatures.’
11There are also some who serve God with unsteady faith: if
something good comes their way, they are satis
fied, but if they
are tested, they revert to their old ways, losing both this world
and the next –
– that is the clearest loss.
12 Instead of God, they call
upon what can neither harm nor help them –
– that is straying far
away –
–
13or invoke one whose harm is closer than his help: an
evil master and an evil companion. 
14But God will admit those
who believe and do good deeds to Gardens graced with 
flowing
streams. God does whatever He wishes. 
15Anyone who thinks that
God will not support him in this world and the next should stretch
a rope up to the sky, climb all the way up it,
a
and see whether
this strategy removes the cause of his anger. 
16In this way, We send
the Qur
an down as clear messages, and God guides whoever He
will.
17As for the believers, those who follow the Jewish faith, the
Sabians,
b
the Christians, the Magians,
c
and the idolaters, God will
judge between them on the Day of Resurrection; God witnesses all
things. 
18Do you not realize [Prophet] that everything in the heavens
and earth submits
d
to God: the sun, the moon, the stars, the moun-
tains, the trees, and the animals? So do many human beings, though
for many others punishment is well deserved. Anyone disgraced by
God will have no one to honour him: God does whatever He will.
19These two kinds of people disagree about their Lord. Garments of
fire will be tailored for those who disbelieve; scalding water will be
poured over their heads, 
20melting their insides as well as their skins;
21there will be iron crooks to restrain them; 22whenever, in their
anguish, they try to escape, they will be pushed back in and told,
‘Taste the su
ffering of the Fire.’ 23But God will admit those who
believe and do good deeds to Gardens graced with 
flowing streams;
there they will be adorned with golden bracelets and pearls; there
they will have silken garments. 
24They were guided to good speech
and to the path of the One Worthy of all Praise.
a
See also 
6: 35. Another interpretation of this verse is ‘stretch a rope up to the ceiling
and hang himself ’.
b
See note to 
2: 62.
c
Followers of an ancient Persian and Median religion, based on monotheism,
identi
fied with Zoroastrians.
d
Literally, prostrates.
The Qur
an
22: 10
210

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25As for the disbelievers, who bar others from God’s path and
from the Sacred Mosque –
– which We made for all people, residents
and visitors alike –
– and who try to violate it with wrongdoing, We
shall make them taste a painful punishment. 
26We showed Abraham
the site of the House, saying, ‘Do not assign partners to Me. Purify
My House for those who circle around it, those who stand to
pray, and those who bow and prostrate themselves. 
27Proclaim the
Pilgrimage to all people. They will come to you on foot and on every
kind of swift mount, emerging from every deep mountain pass 
28to
attain bene
fits and celebrate God’s name, on specified days, over the
livestock He has provided for them –
– feed yourselves and the poor
and unfortunate –
–
29so let the pilgrims perform their acts of cleans-
ing, ful
fil their vows, and circle around the Ancient House.’ 30All this
[is ordained by God]: anyone who honours the sacred ordinances of
God will have good rewards from his Lord.
Livestock have been made lawful to you, except for what has been
explicitly forbidden. Shun the 
filth of idolatrous beliefs and practices
and shun false utterances.
a
31Devote yourselves to God and assign
Him no partners, for the person who does so is like someone who has
been hurled down from the skies and snatched up by the birds or
flung to a distant place by the wind. 32All this [is ordained by God]:
those who honour God’s rites show the piety of their hearts. 
33Live-
stock are useful to you until the set time. Then their place of sacri
fice
is near the Ancient House: 
34We appointed acts of devotion for every
community, for them to celebrate God’s name over the livestock He
provided for them: your God is One, so devote yourselves to Him.
[Prophet], give good news to the humble 
35whose hearts fill with awe
whenever God is mentioned, who endure whatever happens to them
with patience, who keep up the prayer, who give to others out of Our
provision to them.
36We have made camels
b