30al-RūmThe Byzantinesسُورَةُ الروم

Alif-Lām-Mīm [A-L-M].

The Byzantines [Romans] have been defeated,

In a land nearby [the Holy Land]; but it is they — after this, their defeat — who shall be victorious,

In [a matter of] a few years: [for] to Allah belongs the affair in times before and in times after [such military campaigns]. And on that day [of Byzantine victory] the muslims of commitment [too] will rejoice,

Because of a victory from Allah: [for] He supports whomever He wills and He is the Grand, the Very Merciful.

[That is] Allah’s promise; Allah does not contravene His promise, but most people do not know [the way His will works its way in human affairs]:

[What] they know is the superficiality of earthly life and [thus] they are oblivious — oblivious of the [profound] end life [in the eternal hereafter].

Have they not thought over and over about their own selves? Allah did not create the heavens and the earth and whatever is in between them except as a matter of truth and justice that [will last] for a predetermined time frame. And yet, verily, many people are in denunciation of meeting their Sustainer.

[Moreover] have they not trekked through the world so as to verify the outcome of those who preceded them? They [those previous nations and empires] were of much more severe power than them [the Prophet’s generation]; they utilized the earth [and its resources] more than them [the Arabian contemporaries of the Prophet] and they built [and developed it] more [than the Arabian mushriks]; and their [divinely assigned] messengers came to them [too] with clear evidence [of Allah’s supremacy and ascendency]. So [when they rejected Allah and His messengers, and thereafter perished] it was not Allah who wronged them; rather it was they who were doing wrong to themselves.

The aftermath of those who aggravated their crime was due to their contravention of Allah’s paradigms of power, and their mocking them.

[It is] Allah who initiates creation and then reinitiates it, and afterward you all will revert to Him.

And on the Day when the Final Hour arrives the criminals will be rendered speechless,

For they will have no one from their devised gods who will intercede for them as they would have already become [by then] deniers of the divinities/authorities [they had set up with Allah in the life on earth].

And on the Day when the Final Hour dawns [on everyone] — on that day everyone shall be scattered [and sorted out]:

[Hence] as for those who devoted themselves [to Allah’s sovereignty and supremacy] and did what was honest and honorable, they shall be in a garden of ecstasy;

But, as for those who were God-deniers and contravened Our signs of power and authority as well as the definitive final life, they are the ones to be in attendance in the affliction [that corresponds to their worldly subversion of Allah and His Messenger].

Therefore, Allah is to be exalted [like no one else] when you are in your evenings and when you are in your mornings,

And to Him is due praise in the heavens and on earth, and as the day dissipates and as the day reaches its apogee.

He [it is who] extracts what is alive out of what perishes, and He [it is who] extricates what is to perish out of what is living, and He [it is who] animates [planet] earth after its lifelessness: and in such a manner you [social beings] are brought forth [into life].

And among His [ability and competence] illustrations is [the fact] that He created you [social humans] out of soil — and then [by His will] you become dispersed [throughout the world].

And among His [capacity and facility] illustrations is [the fact] that He created for you out of your own selves [spousal] mates for you to snuggle down [to become less restless through your intimate relationship], and He engenders mutual love and grace between you: verily, in that there are [ability and control] illustrations for people who keep on thinking.

And among His illustrations [of command and capacity] is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the variety of your languages and colors: verily, in that there are [power and control] illustrations for those who are scholarly knowledgeable.

And among His illustrations [of dominance and resolve] is [the fact] that [the overwhelming majority of] you sleep during the night and [even so, you still have the ability to sleep during] daytime, and [the fact of] your ability to seek His bounties: verily, in that there are [power and determination] illustrations for people who listen in.

And among His illustrations [of authority and control] is [the fact] that He shows you lightening [from which you react] fearfully and hopefully and [the fact that] He brings down water from the skies, animating the earth back to life after it had been lifelessly out of order: verily, in that there are [power] illustrations for people who [think and] reason.

And among His illustrations [of power and dominance] is [the fact] that the heavens and the earth rise as per His command; therefore, when He calls you out [of the earth] into open [life], you, all of a sudden, are brought forth [into life].

For, to Him belongs everyone in the heavens and on earth; all of them are in His docile obedience.

And He it is who initiates creation, then afterward reinitiates it: and most undemanding is this for Him, since His is rank superiority [in whatever He does] in the heavens and on earth, and He [alone] is the Grand and the Enormously Wise.

He offers you a parable [out of the conditions] of your [the muhriks’] own selves: do you [who act like gods on earth] regard those from your dependent underclass to have a share of what We have made available to you? [If so], being that you and they are equally human do you fear them [as deities] in the way you fear each other? In such a manner do We parse Our illustrations [of power and potential] for people who [think and] reason.

Rather, those who do injustice to themselves follow their own whims void of any knowledge; who, then, can guide a person whom [subject to Allah’s social laws] Allah has misguided, and they [the misguided] will have no one to support them [when the time of reckoning arrives].

Thus, orient yourself [O Muhammad] to the dīn [system of God-ordained faith] independent [of earthly and selfish distractions], in accordance with Allah’s divine disposition that He infused into people [embedded in their human nature]. There can be no alteration of Allah’s way of creating, [therefore] this is the upright system of revealed faith even though most people are not aware [of this].

[You are] to return to Him [with contrition], and to avoid Him [His “power for justice”], and to institutionalize the ṣalāh, and to not be from among the mushriks,

[Or] from among those who fragmented [departed from] their dīn and became factions, each [one-sided] party being excited with what it has [of breakaway tenets].

And [it happens] that some people, when exposed to affliction, call upon their Sustainer in an eager manner [eager for His kind response]; but thereafter as soon as He offers them a taste of His grace, a portion of them begin to equate other [authority figures] with their Sustainer:

In such a manner they defy [and demean] whatever We offered them [in their time of need]. Thus, enjoy yourselves [for the limited time you have on earth] because in due time you will know [the truth of the matter].

In point of fact, have We ever bestowed upon them an earthly authority that verbalizes [and rationalizes] the particulars of their attribution of divinity/authority to others besides Allah?

And [truth be told], were We to offer people a taste of Our grace, they would become excited about it; but if a misfortune were to befall them because of what they did with their own hands, then they become despondent.

Can they not see [and figure out] that Allah extends His provisions to whomever He wills and [that] He [inoffensively] holds back [His provisions at times]? Verily, in that there are illustrations [of Allah’s effect] for people who commit themselves [and learn these lessons through divinely guided experience in life].

Therefore, give those who are relatives their due, and [give to] the disadvantaged, and the homeless: that is the best thing for those who seek the glory of Allah and it is they, they who are the successful ones.

And [know that] whatever usury you transact with people for an increase in your wealth, [be advised that] it does not increase in the sight of Allah; but whatever zakāh transaction you undertake [giving zakāh money] seeking the glory of Allah then [rest assured] they are the ones who will have [their wealth] multiplied.

It is Allah who created you and provided for you; then after that He makes you die and then brings you to life [again]: are any of your co-deities capable of doing any of that? Exalted and preeminent is He above all that they compare to Him.

Corruption has become apparent on land and sea due to what people have acquired with their means of power; [this happens] so that He may have them experience some of what they have done [to themselves] in the hope that they may return [to their proper relationship with Allah].

Say, “Go and travel throughout the world and see [for yourselves] the consequences of those who preceded you [in past centuries]: most of them were [for your information] mushriks.”

Hence, orient yourself in accordance with the upright dīn before a Day will arrive on which none will be able to counter Allah and reverse [the consequences of] that Day. After that all will part [and go their own way]:

Whoever denied Allah shall carry his burden of denial, and whoever did what is right and rightful, they are preparing their nest [in Paradise],

So that He might reward the firmly committed muslims who did what was right and rightful out of His bounties. He, definitely, dislikes those who reject Him.

And among His illustrations [of ability and capacity] is that He drives the winds as tokens of [climate] prosperity so that you may discern His mercy, and that ships [crafts] may navigate [the seas] as per His order [of His natural laws], and thay you may seek [more] out of His abundance, in the hope that you will be thankful.

And indeed, before you [O Muhammad], We did send messengers to their people who, then, presented them [their societies] with clear evidence [originating] from Us; [but when our messengers still encountered opposition] We retaliated against the criminals [who justified their crimes by ignoring Us] — for, due upon Us in accordance with truth and justice is [Our] support of the committed muslims.

[It is] Allah who drives the airstreams that lead to the stirring of clouds, which He unfurls in the atmosphere as He wants, scattering them [in the sky] so that you see precipitation [drizzle] emerging from within them: and as soon as He apportions it [the precipitation] to whomever He chooses of His subjects, they thereupon rejoice,

Though they were, before the advent of rainfall — only a short while earlier — void of any hope.

Thus, look at [and consider] the effects of Allah’s mercy: how He brings vitality to earth after it had been comatose. Certainly whoever can do that can bring life back to the dead — for He is able [and capable] of doing anything.

But, in truth, if We were to send a [destructive] wind that turns [their lands into terrains] drained of color [sallow], then they will carry on with their [former] God-denial after that [happens].

Along these lines, just as you [Muhammad] cannot make the dead hear you, you cannot make the deaf hear this call when they draw back and run away,

And you [Muhammad] cannot lead the visionless away from their divergence; you can only make those who are bonded to Our manifestations [of power and authority] listen to you — [and that is] because they are in compliance [with Us].

[It is] Allah who created you all from frailty; then He enhanced, after frailty, [a fitness of] strength, then He induced after [that state of] strength [a condition of] frailty and grey hair. He creates what He decides; and He is the Abundantly Knowledgeable, the Copiously Capable.

And on the Day when the Final Hour commences the criminals will swear they had stayed [in their worldly life] for no more than an hour: thus were they [in the habit of] deluding [and being deluded by themselves].

But those who were endowed with knowledge and commitment [to Allah] will say, “You lingered in [the ambiance of] Allah’s Book [without accepting its truth] until the Day of Resurrection: this, then, is the Day of Resurrection — but you remained [calculatingly] ignorant [of your prophets and scriptures].

And so, on that Day, the violators of justice will not benefit from their excuses and will not be allowed to make amends.

And we have coined for people in this Qur’an all kinds of analogies. Even so, however, were you [O Muhammad] to present them with an illustration [of Allah’s power and authority], the deniers of Allah’s power and authority will indisputably say, “You [Muhammad and his followers] are nothing but forgers [falsifiers].”

It is in that manner that Allah shuts down the hearts of those who are [purposely] ignorant [of Allah and His Prophet].

Therefore, be patient [O Muhammad]: verily, Allah’s promise [as relayed to you in this Qur’an] is true [and genuine]; so, never let people who are devoid of certainty think that they can dismiss you easily.