Think not that God
Doth not heed the deeds
Of those who do wrong.
He but giveth them respite
Against a Day when
The eyes will fixedly stare
In horror,—
And there came to them
An Apostle from among themselves,
But they falsely rejected him;
So the Wrath seized them
Even in the midst
Of their iniquities.
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!"
We send down (stage by stage)
In the Qur-ān that which
Is a healing and a mercy
To those who believe:
To the unjust it causes
Nothing but loss after loss.
See they not that God,
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.
Say, "The Truth is
From your Lord":
Let him who will,
Believe, and let him
Who will, reject (it):
For the wrong-doers We
Have prepared a Fire
Whose (smoke and flames),
Like the walls and roof
Of a tent, will hem
Them in: if they implore
Relief they will be granted
Water like melted brass,
That will scald their faces.
How dreadful the drink!
How uncomfortable a couch
To recline on!
Behold! We said
To the angels, "Bow down
To Adam": they bowed down
Except Iblīs. He was
One of the Jinns, and he
Broke the Command
Of his Lord.
Will ye then take him
And his progeny as protectors
Rather than Me? And they
Are enemies to you!
Evil would be the exchange
For the wrong-doers!
And remember Ẓun-nūn,
When he departed in wrath:
He imagined that We
Had no power over him!
But he cried through the depths
Of darkness, "There is
No god but Thou:
Glory to Thee: I was
Indeed wrong!"
Then will the True Promise
Draw nigh (of fulfilment):
Then behold! the eyes
Of the Unbelievers will
Fixedly stare in horror: "Ah!
Woe to us! we were indeed
Heedless of this; nay, we
Truly did wrong!"
That He may make
The suggestions thrown in
By Satan, but a trial
For those in whose hearts
Is a disease and who are
Hardened of heart: verily
The wrong-doers are in a schism
Far (from the Truth):
Yet they worship, besides God,
Things for which no authority
Has been sent down to them,
And of which they have
(Really) no knowledge:
For those that do wrong
There is no helper.