Such were the towns
Whose story We (thus)
Relate unto thee:
There came indeed to them
Their apostles with clear (Signs):
But they would not believe
What they had rejected before.
Thus doth God seal up
The hearts of those
Who reject Faith.
Those who behave arrogantly
On the earth in defiance
Of right—them will I
Turn away from My Signs:
Even if they see all the Signs,
They will not believe in them;
And if they see the way
Of right conduct, they will
Not adopt it as the Way;
But if they see the way
Of error, that is
The Way they will adopt.
For they have rejected
Our Signs, and failed
To take warning from them.
If it had been Our Will,
We should have elevated him
With Our Signs; but he
Inclined to the earth,
And followed his own vain desires.
His similitude is that
Of a dog: if you attack
Him, he lolls out his tongue,
Or if you leave him alone,
He (still) lolls out his tongue.
That is the similitude
Of those who reject Our Signs;
So relate the story;
Perchance they may reflect.
"(Deeds) after the manner
Of the People of Pharaoh
And those before them":
They treated as false the Signs
Of their Lord: so We
Destroyed them for their crimes,
And We drowned the People
Of Pharaoh: for they were all
Oppressors and wrong-doers.
So He hath put as a consequence
Hypocrisy into their hearts,
(To last) till the Day whereon
They shall meet Him: because
They broke their Covenant
With God, and because they
Lied (again and again).
And there were, among
The desert Arabs (also),
Men who made excuses
And came to claim exemption;
And those who were false
To God and His Apostle
(Merely) sat inactive.
Soon will a grievous penalty
Seize the Unbelievers
Among them.
Nay, they charge with falsehood
That whose knowledge they
Cannot compass, even before
The elucidation thereof"
Hath reached them: thus
Did those before them
Make charges of falsehood:
But see what was the end
Of those who did wrong!
One day He will
Gather them together:
(It will be) as if
They had tarried
But an hour of a day:
They will recognise each other:
Assuredly those will be lost
Who denied the meeting
With God and refused
To receive true guidance.
They rejected him,
But We delivered him,
And those with him,
In the Ark, and We made
Them inherit (the earth),
While We overwhelmed
In the Flood those
Who rejected Our Signs.
Then see what was the end
Of those who were warned
(But heeded not)!
Then after him We sent
(Many) apostles to their Peoples:
They brought them Clear Signs,
But they would not believe
What they had already rejected
Beforehand. Thus do We seal
The hearts of the transgressors.
Who doth more wrong
Than those who invent a lie
Against God? They will be
Turned back to the presence
Of their Lord, and the witnesses
Will say, "These are the ones
Who lied against their Lord!
Behold! the Curse of God
Is on those who do wrong!—