The Troops

[LXXX.]

MECCA.—75 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

THE Book¹ sent down from God, the Mighty, the Wise!

We have sent down the Book to thee with the truth: serve thou God then, and be sincere in thy worship:

Is not a sincere worship due to God?

But they who take others beside him as lords saying, “We serve them only that they may bring us near to God”—God will judge between them and the faithful, concerning that wherein they are at variance.

Verily God will not guide him who is a liar, an infidel.

Had God desired to have had a son, he had surely chosen what he pleased out of his own creation. But praise be to Him! He is God, the One, the Almighty.

For truth² hath he created the Heavens and the Earth: It is of Him that the night returneth upon the day and that the day returneth upon the night: and He controlleth the sun and the moon so that each speedeth to an appointed goal. Is He not the Mighty, the Gracious?

He created you all of one man, from whom He afterwards formed his wife; and of cattle He hath sent down to you four pairs.³ In the wombs of your mothers did He create you by creation upon creation in triple darkness. It is He who is God your Lord: the kingdom is His: There is no God but He. How then are ye so turned aside from Him?

Suppose ye render him no thanks! yet forsooth is God rich without you: but He is not pleased with thanklessness in His servants: yet if ye be thankful He will be pleased with you. The soul burdened with its own works shall not be burdened with the burden of another: hereafter shall ye return to your Lord, and he will tell you of all your works,

For he knoweth the very secrets of your breasts.

When some trouble toucheth a man, he turneth to his Lord and calleth on him: yet no sooner hath He enriched him with his favour than he forgetteth Him on whom he before had called, and setteth up peers with God, that he may beguile others from His way. SAY: Enjoy thou thyself yet a little in thine ingratitude! but thou shalt surely be one of the inmates of the fire.

Shall he who observeth the hours of the night, prostrate or standing in devotion, heedful of the life to come, and hoping for the mercy of his Lord …? SAY: Shall they who have knowledge and they who have it not, be treated alike? In sooth, men of understanding only will take the warning.

SAY: O my believing servants, fear your Lord. For those who do good in this world there is good: and broad is God’s earth⁴—verily those who endure with patience shall be repaid: their reward shall not be by measure.

SAY: I am bidden to serve God with a sincere worship: and I am bidden to be the first of those who surrender themselves to him (Muslims).

SAY: Verily I fear if I rebel against my Lord the punishment of a great day.

SAY: God will I serve, presenting him with a sincere worship: