The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

a
50Say, ‘If I go astray, that is my loss, and if I
a
The Arabic expression la yubdi
 wa-la yu id is an idiom meaning ‘powerless’. See
Zamakhshari, Asas al-Balagha.
Sheba
275
34: 50

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am rightly guided, it is through what my Lord has revealed to me.
He is all hearing, and ever near.’
51[Prophet], if you could only see their terror!
a
There will be no
escape when they are seized from a nearby place; 
52they will say,
‘Now we believe in it,’
b
but how can they reach it from such a distant
place –
–
53they denied it all in the past, and threw conjecture
c
from a
far-o
ff place–– when a barrier has been placed between them and
what they desire,
d
just as was done with their kind before? They
were deep in doubt and suspicion.
a
On the Day of Resurrection.
b
The Truth.
c
About God and the Hereafter.
d
To be allowed to go back to the world and believe and do good deeds, cf. 
35: 37.
The Qur
an
34: 51
276

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35. THE CREATOR
A Meccan sura that a
ffirms God’s power and Creation and contrasts this with
the powerlessness and uselessness of the ‘partners’ set up by the idolaters. The
sura warns the idolaters of their punishment and comforts the Prophet through
mention of previous messengers who were also rejected as liars. The great
rewards that await believers are described.
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy
1Praise be to God, Creator of the heavens and earth, who made
angels messengers with two, three, four [pairs of] wings. He adds to
creation as He will: God has power over everything. 
2No one can
withhold the blessing God opens up for people, nor can anyone but
Him release whatever He withholds: He is the Almighty, the All
Wise. 
3People, remember God’s grace towards you. Is there any
creator other than God to give you sustenance from the heavens and
earth? There is no god but Him. How can you be so deluded?
4If they call you a liar [Prophet], many messengers before you
were also called liars: it is to God that all things will be returned.
5People! God’s promise is true, so do not let the present life deceive
you. Do not let the Deceiver deceive you about God: 
6Satan is your
enemy –– so treat him as an enemy –– and invites his followers only to
enter the blazing 
fire. 7Those who disbelieve will be punished
severely; those who believe and do good deeds will be forgiven, and
richly rewarded. 
8What about those whose evil deeds are made
alluring to them so that they think they are good? God leaves who-
ever He will to stray and guides whoever He will. [Prophet], do not
waste your soul away with regret for them: God knows exactly what
they do.
9It is God who sends forth the winds; they raise up the clouds; We
drive them to a dead land and with them revive the earth after
its death: such will be the Resurrection. 
10If anyone desires power,
all power belongs to God; good words rise up to Him and He lifts
up the righteous deed, but a severe torment awaits those who plot
evil and their plotting will come to nothing. 
11It is God who created
you from dust and later from a drop of 
fluid; then He made you into

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two sexes; no female conceives or gives birth without His knowledge;
no person grows old or has his life cut short, except in accordance
with a Record: all this is easy for God.
12The two bodies of water are not alike–– one is palatable, sweet,
and pleasant to drink, the other salty and bitter –
– yet from each you
eat fresh 
fish and extract ornaments to wear, and in each you see the
ships ploughing their course so that you may seek God’s bounty and
be grateful. 
13He makes the night merge into the day and the day
into the night; He has subjected the sun and the moon –
– each runs
for an appointed term. Such is God your Lord: all control belongs to
Him. Those you invoke beside Him do not even control the skin of a
date stone; 
14if you call them they cannot hear you; if they could
hear, they could not answer you; on the Day of Resurrection they
will disown your idolatry. None can inform you [Prophet] like the
One who is all aware.
15People, it is you who stand in need of God–– God needs nothing
and is worthy of all praise –
–
16if He wills, He can do away with you
and bring in a new creation, 
17that is not difficult for God. 18No
burdened soul will bear the burden of another: even if a heavily laden
soul should cry for help, none of its load will be carried, not even by a
close relative. But you [Prophet] can only warn those who fear their
Lord, though they cannot see Him, and keep up the prayer –
–
whoever puri
fies himself does so for his own benefit–– everything
returns to God. 
19The blind and the seeing are not alike, 20nor are
darkness and light; 
21shade and heat are not alike, 22nor are the living
and the dead. God makes anyone He wills hear [His message]: you
cannot make those in their graves hear. 
23You are only here to warn
them –
–
24We have sent you with the Truth as a bearer of good news
and warning –
– every community has been sent a warner. 
25If they
call you a liar, their predecessors did the same: messengers came to
them with clear signs, scriptures, and enlightening revelation 
26and
afterwards I seized the disbelievers –
– how terrible My punishment
was!
27Have you [Prophet] not considered how God sends water down
from the sky and that We produce with it fruits of varied colours;
that there are in the mountains layers of white and red of various
hues, and jet black; 
28that there are various colours among human
beings, wild animals, and livestock too? It is those of His servants
who have knowledge who stand in true awe of God. God is almighty,