The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

a
This was the pre-Islamic opinion. One poet boasted that he was inspired by a male,
rather than a female, shaytan.
b
Mecca or Ta
 if, the two main cities of the region.
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reserves the next life for those who take heed of Him. 
36We assign an
evil one as a comrade for whoever turns away from the revelations of
the Lord of Mercy: 
37evil ones bar people from the right path, even
though they may think they are well guided. 
38When such a person
comes to Us, he will say [to his comrade], ‘If only you had been as far
away from me as east is from west. What an evil comrade!’
39[It will
be said to them], ‘You have done wrong. Having partners in punish-
ment will not console you today.’
40Can you [Prophet] make the deaf hear? Or guide either the blind
or those who are in gross error? 
41Either We shall take you away and
punish them –
– indeed We will –
–
42or We shall let you witness the
punishment We threatened them with; We have full power over
them.
43Hold fast to what has been revealed to you–– you truly are on
the right path –
–
44for it is a reminder
a
for you and your people: you
will all be questioned. 
45Ask the prophets We sent before you: ‘Did
We ever appoint any gods to be worshipped besides the Lord of
Mercy?’
46We sent Moses to Pharaoh and his courtiers and he said, ‘I am
truly a messenger from the Lord of the Worlds,’
47but when he
presented Our signs to them, they laughed, 
48even though each sign
We showed them was greater than the previous one. We in
flicted
torment on them so that they might return to the right path. 
49They
said, ‘Sorcerer, call on your Lord for us, by virtue of His pledge to
you: we shall certainly accept guidance,’
50but as soon as We relieved
their torment they broke their word. 
51Pharaoh proclaimed to his
people, ‘My people, is the Kingdom of Egypt not mine? And these
rivers that 
flow at my feet, are they not mine? Do you not see? 52Am I
not better than this contemptible wretch who can scarcely express
himself ? 
53Why has he not been given any gold bracelets? Why have
no angels come to accompany him?’
54In this way he moved his
people to accept and they obeyed him –
– they were perverse people.
55When they provoked Us, We punished and drowned them all:
56We made them a lesson and an example for later people.
57When the son of Mary is cited as an example, your people
[Prophet] laugh and jeer, 
58saying, ‘Are our gods
b
better or him?’–
–
a
Dhikr can mean ‘renown’ or ‘reminder’:
b
The angels, whom they worshipped as the daughters of God and superior to Jesus,
whom they considered to be a god worshipped by Christians as the Son of God.
The Qur
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they cite him only to challenge you: they are a contentious people –
–
59but he is only a servant We favoured and made an example for the
Children of Israel: 
60if it had been Our will, We could have made
you angels,
a
succeeding one another on earth.
61This [Quran] gives knowledge of the Hour:
b
do not doubt it.
Follow Me for this is the right path; 
62do not let Satan hinder you,
for he is your sworn enemy. 
63When Jesus came with clear signs
he said, ‘I have brought you wisdom; I have come to clear up some
of your di
fferences for you. Be mindful of God and obey me: 64God
is my Lord and your Lord. Serve Him: this is the straight path.’
65Yet still the different factions among them disagreed–– woe to the
evildoers: they will su
ffer the torment of a grievous day!–– 66what are
they waiting for but the Hour, which will come upon them suddenly
and take them unawares? 
67On that Day, friends will become each
other’s enemies. Not so the righteous –
–
68‘My servants, there is no
fear for you today, nor shall you grieve’ ––
69those who believed in
Our revelations and devoted themselves to Us. 
70‘Enter Paradise, you
and your spouses: you will be 
filled with joy.’ 71Dishes and goblets of
gold will be passed around them with all that their souls desire and
their eyes delight in. ‘There you will remain: 
72this is the Garden you
are given as your own, because of what you used to do, 
73and there is
abundant fruit in it for you to eat.’
74But the evildoers will remain in
Hell’s punishment, 
75from which there is no relief: they will remain
in utter despair. 
76We never wronged them; they were the ones who
did wrong. 
77They will cry, ‘Malik,
c
if only your Lord would 
finish
us o
ff,’ but he will answer, ‘No! You are here to stay.’ 78We have
brought you the Truth but most of you despise it.
79Have these disbelievers thought up some scheme? We too have
been scheming. 
80Do they think We cannot hear their secret talk and
their private counsel? Yes we can: Our messengers are at their sides,
recording everything.
81Say [Prophet], ‘If the Lord of Mercy [truly] had offspring I
would be the 
first to worship [them],