40GhāfirForgiverسُورَةُ غافر

Ḥā-Mīm [Ḥ-M].

[Such alphabetical letters constitute] the Scripture delivered from Allah, the Grand, the All-Knowing,

The forgiver of sins, the acceptor of repentance, severe in punishment, limitless in His provisions. There is no deity/authority except He; all roads end with Him.

Only those who are in denial [of Allah’s practical power and abundant authority] will argue concerning Allah’s demonstrations [of such power and authority], so do not be impressed by how outgoingly they shuttle to and fro [commercial journeys to Yemen and al-Shām, cultural engagements throughout the Arabian Peninsula, etc].

Before them, the people of Nūḥ, as well as the coconspirators who came after them, took issue [with Allah and His prophet]; and each of those nations meant to do damage to their apostle — to take him in! And they argued fallaciously [against his message] in an effort to disprove truth and justice: but then, I took them to task — and how fearsome was My retribution!

In such a manner your Sustainer’s sentence came due upon those denying [Allah’s power and authority]: they, indeed, are the cohorts of the Fire.

All those who bear [the responsibilities of] the throne [seat of Allah’s power] as well as all those in its vicinity praise the glory of their Sustainer and are committed to Him and ask forgiveness for the committed muslims, “O our Sustainer! You accommodate everything out of Your mercy and knowledge, so forgive those who repent and follow Your [assigned] course and spare them the torment of the depths of the Fire.

“O our Sustainer! Privilege them to enter residential Paradise, which You promised them, as well as those who are virtuous from among their ancestors, their spouses, and their offspring — for, indeed, You are the Grand, the All-Wise —

“And protect them from doing evil deeds: for whomever You protect from evil deeds on that Day You will have graced him — and that is the greatest achievement.”

Verily, those who have been in denial [of Allah’s impartial power and unbiased authority] will be publicly alerted [on the Day of Judgement], “Indeed, Allah’s loathing of you [as you can now see] is greater than your loathing of yourselves, for when you were implored to faith-commitment you chose denial [of His preponderant power and overwhelming authority].”

[Whereupon] they will answer, “O our Sustainer! You caused us to experience death twice and You caused us to have life twice and so we confess to our sins; accordingly is there a way out [for us]?”

[And so, they will be told], “You reached [this end] because whenever Allah alone was evoked you rejected Him, but when divinity/ authority was ascribed to others you became believers. [Now] judgement [among you] belongs to the Most-High, the Most Immense.”

It is He who shows you His illustrations [of evenhanded power and unprejudiced authority] and sends down for you sustenance from the sky — but only those who are on their way back to Allah [in a conscious way] are able to perceive this.

So call upon Allah with sincere devotion to Him alone even if the kāfirs hate it.

High in rank is He, His is the throne [of Authority], by His own command does He inspire with revelation whomever He wills of His subjects so as to warn [all human beings of the arrival] of the Day when they will meet [Him] —

The Day when they will come into view, nothing of them being concealed from Allah. [Thereupon, all the assembled will be asked], “To whom does dominion [and power] belong on this Day?” [To which the answer will be], “To Allah, the One, the Conqueror [of all].”

Today, each person will be compensated for whatever he acquired [of good or bad deeds]: there shall be no injustice today. Verily, Allah is quick to reckon.

And so, warn them [the deniers of Allah] of the Looming Day when the hearts [of people] will shudder [out of fear]: persons of injustice will have neither [the patronage of] an intimate friend nor [of] an authoritative mediator,

[Seeing that] He is aware of eyes concealing treachery and [aware of] whatever the chests may hide.

And Allah will judge in accordance with truth and justice, whereas those who appeal to other [gods and authorities] do not [and cannot] judge in any [impartial] way: for, verily Allah alone is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.

Have they [the deniers of Allah] not travelled throughout the world so that they may catch onto the way things turned out with those [nations] who preceded them? Those [nations] were more powerful than they are and of more bearing [in world affairs]: yet Allah resolutely seized [even them] because of their wrongdoings, and they had no one to guard them from Allah —

All this [happened] because their [God-sent] apostles came to them with clear evidence [of Allah’s power and authority], and in spite of that, they denied [His appropriate power and objective authority]: [and] so Allah took them to task, for, indeed, He is Mighty, severe in punishment.

And, sure enough, We sent Mūsā with Our demonstrations [of power and authority] and distinct evidence of Our dominance

To Pharaoh and Hāmān and Qārūn — but they [simply] rejoined, “He [Mūsā] is an illusionist, a liar!”

So when he [Mūsā] came to them with truth and justice issuing from Us, they [Pharaoh, Hāmān, and Qārūn] said, “Kill the sons of those who have committed themselves [to Allah] by following him [Mūsā], but keep their women alive!” — all the same, the plot of God-deniers goes nowhere but off course.

And Pharaoh said, “Leave it up to me; I will have Mūsā killed — and [when that happens] let him summon his [so-called] Sustainer! Behold, I fear that he [Mūsā] might cause you [the people] to change your civic-religion, or he may be liable to exacerbate corruption in the land!”

But Mūsā said, “I, certainly, have sought protection and sanctuary with my Sustainer and [who is] your Sustainer [too] from every [and any] arrogant [ruler and tyrant] who does not affirm [the coming of] the Day of Accountability!”

And [as it happened] a divinely committed gentleman from the members of Pharaoh’s inner circle, who had [up until this moment] self-censored his commitment [to Allah], said, “Are you going to kill a person just because he says, ‘My Sustainer is Allah,’ while, indeed, he has come to you with well-defined evidence from your Sustainer? Now if he is a liar, his lies are his burden, but if he is truthful then you will endure some of what he confirms [will happen]: for, indeed, Allah does not guide whoever is extravagant, a liar.

“O my people! In our time [and generation] you are predominant [and ascendant] in the world! But who will come to our protection against Allah’s hard-hitting encounter if it comes our way?” Pharaoh replied, “I want you to see things the way I see them; and I do not guide you except onto a course of uprightness!”

Thereupon, he who committed himself [to Allah] said, “O my people! I fear for you the like [consequences] of what befell alliances [of God-deniers] in past centuries —

“The like of those systemic developments [that afflicted] the people of Nūḥ, and ‘Ād, and Thamūd, and those who came after them. And Allah does not intend injustice for His attendants.

“And, O my people! I truly fear for you that Day of [Accountability when you will be] requesting [one another for assistance and crying out in distress] —

“The Day when you will turn your backs and flee [from the dock of accountability to the fire of punishment], having no one to safeguard you to the exclusion of Allah: for whoever is misguided [in the world by contravening Allah’s social laws] will have no one as his guide.

“And be certain about the fact that Yūsuf had come to you aforetime with unblemished evidence but you were still incredulous about what he presented to you [of Allah’s power illustrations] — to the extent that when he died, you said, ‘Never will Allah send any apostle after him [Yūsuf].’ In such a manner [and with such an attitude of God-denial] does Allah lead on whoever is extravagant and distrustful [of Allah’s messages] —

“Those who squabble about Allah’s examples [of power and authority] without receiving any binding evidence for that: a grand intrigue from the perspective of Allah and from the perspective of the committed muslims. It is in such a manner that Allah seals off the heart of every arrogant and tyrannical person.”

But Pharaoh said, “O Hāmān [the supreme architect]! Build me a high tower so that I may reach the causes [of all this fuss about heavenly authority, and avail the means to understand them] —

“The causes [and origins] of the heavens, and thereby have access to the deity of Mūsā: for, certainly, I regard him to be a liar!” In such a way, Pharaoh’s despicable doings appeared to him to be progressive, and [because of his self-initiated scheming] he was blocked from the direction [to Allah]: and the scheming of Pharaoh amounted to nothing but ruin.

Still, he who was committed to Allah said, “O my people! Follow me and I will guide you unto the path of prudence!

“O my people! This worldly life is nothing but a short-lived pleasure, and, without doubt, the final life [in the hereafter] is the abode of [eternal] settlement.

“Whoever does something bad shall be requited the same [as his bad deed], whereas whoever does something good, be he male or female, in honoring his commitment [to Allah] — all these will enter Paradise wherein they will be provided for beyond all calculations.

“And, O my people, how is it that I summon you to salvation, the while you allure me to the Fire?

“You entice me to deny Allah [His powerful power and authoritative authority] and to set up equivalents to Him, about whom I have no knowledge, the while I invite you to [the company of] the Grand, the Ever-Forgiving!

“In fact what you are persuading me to adhere to has no right to be heard in this world or in the final life [after death]: for, most assuredly, unto Allah is our return and [be advised] that extravagant people are the occupants of the Fire.

“And you will [as time goes by] become conscious of what I am telling you [now]; but [as for me] I entrust my status quo to Allah — for, certainly, Allah is very watchful over [His devout] subjects.”

As a result Allah spared him the quandaries of whatever they connived, whereas the worst suffering would be in store to surround Pharaoh’s camaraderie [of officials]:

The fire [of Hell], which they will be exposed to morning and evening. And once the Final Hour is in progress [it will be said], “Insert the camaraderie of Pharaoh into the severest infliction [of Hell]!”

And bear in mind their mutual argumentation as they [who in life favored temporal power and authority over Allah’s] are in the Fire! Those who were disempowered [in the world] will say to those who were arrogant [due to their power in the world], “Verily, we were your followers: so are you able to relieve us of [our share of] the Fire?”

Those who were arrogant [in their worldly life] will reply, “Indeed, all of us [now] are in it [Hell]; certainly, Allah has passed His judgement among His subjects.”

And those in the Fire will say to the keepers of Hell, “Call upon your Sustainer to reduce our torment by [even as much as] a day!”

They [the keepers of Hell] will counter, “Was it not [true] that your messengers [sent by Allah] were approaching you with evident facts [concerning this whole affair]?” They [who are in the Fire] will answer, “Of course [they did].” [And the keepers of Hell] will respond, “So, plead [as you wish]!” — for the plea of God-deniers leads but nowhere.

We will of a certainty come to the aid of Our apostles and those who are committed [to Us] in the life of the world as well as on the Day when all the witnesses will take a stand —

The Day when no excuse shall be of any value for those who are oppressors, seeing that theirs shall be condemnation and theirs shall be a deplorable dwelling.

And We, in fact, granted Mūsā [the direction of] guidance and We bequeathed to the Children of Israel the divine writ [that was revealed to Mūsā]

As a [means of] guidance and a memory aid for those of core knowledge:

So be patient — as, indeed, Allah’s promise [of victory] is authentic — and ask to have your lapse [unintentional slips of human nature] forgiven, and extol the distinctive glory of your Sustainer at the end and beginning of the day.

Indeed, as for those who argue about Allah’s displays [of His power presence and authority dignity] without having any prevailing authorization [for that, from on high], in their chests is nothing but arrogance, which they will never be able to assuage: therefore, seek refuge with Allah — for, verily He is the Continuously Hearing, the Continuously Seeing!

[It is to be understood] that the creation of the heavens and the earth is much more imposing than the creation of people but most people do not [contemplate this disparity so as to] realize [its import].

But [then], the sightless and the visionary are not the same; and [similarly] neither can those who commit [to Allah] and do what is right and righteous, and those who do what is wrong and wrongful [be the same]: seldom is it that you are mindful of this.

Definitely the [Final] Hour is approaching — no doubt about it — but most people do not dedicate [themselves to this fact].

And your Sustainer says, “Call upon Me and I will respond to you. Verily, those who are as arrogant as to eschew conforming to Me will enter Hell, degraded!”

It is Allah who made nighttime for you [as a time] to settle down, slow down, and calm down, and the day illumined [for you to see and perceive]. Indeed, Allah surges with bounties upon people — but most people are not thankful.

Such is Allah, your Sustainer, the Creator of everything; there is no deity/authority except Him. So how come you find a way to perjure yourselves?

In such a manner did those who denied self-evident truth perjure themselves.

It is Allah who made the earth a settling place for you and the sky a structure and He gave you your depictions [features] — and what a perfect [set of] depictions [features] — and He offered you wholesome sustenance: such is Allah, your Sustainer; exalted, then, is Allah, the Sustainer of all the worlds.

He is the Ever-Living, there is no deity/authority except Him: so call upon Him sincere in your dedication to Him. All thankful praise is due to Him, the Sustainer of all the worlds!

Say [O Muhammad], “Because I have received such a well-defined evidence from my Sustainer, I have been prohibited from complying with [all] those whom you call upon [for guidance and assistance] to the exclusion of Allah; and I was instructed to self-surrender to the Sustainer of all the worlds.”

It is He who created you out of dirt, then out of spermatozoa, then out of an embryo; and then He has you emerge as babies, so that [over the passage of time] you grow into your robust phase of life, and then [finally] you grow old — though some of you will expire before [reaching an advanced age]: and [all of this is ordained by Him] so that you attain a fixed life span [determined by Him], and so that you may apply your mind [to these developmental stages and what they ultimately mean].

He it is who brings [beings] into life, and takes [them] into death. So, when He determines something, He says to it “Be” and it becomes.

Have you not observed those who dispute Allah’s manifestations [of His supremacy and sovereignty] — and how they [therefore] distance themselves from Allah?

Those [are the ones] who contravene this divine Scripture and whatever We assign to Our apostles: [in time] they will come to know [the truth about this issue of which they ran afoul],

When [on the Day of Judgement] their necks will be shackled and they will be yanking chains [behind them],

In [or through] boiling liquid, finally [to end up] smoldering in the Fire.

And then they will be asked, “Where [now] are those to whom you ascribed divinity/ authority

“To the exclusion of Allah?” They will reply, “They have left us in the lurch; rather, in times past, we did not call upon anything [or anyone with real power]!” [Such a refutation of the truth] is the way Allah [His rule of justice] prompts these kāfirs to go astray:

And so, [they will be told], “This is the result of your pleasure-seeking on earth without reference to truth and justice and [the result] of your profligacies.

“Enter [now] through the gates of Hell, there to be forever — and how pathetic a place to stay for those who are arrogant.”

So be patient, for Allah’s promise is one of truth and justice [bound to come true]. And whether We most assuredly show you [in this world] some of what We assure them [by way of retribution] or whether We cause you to expire [and pass on before they suffer that punishment, know that] regardless, they [the mushriks and kāfirs] will return to Us.

And We, surely, sent forth apostles before you [O Muhammad] — some of them, We narrated their stories to you, and others, We did not narrate stories to you: however not one apostle came forth with a demonstration of Allah’s power and authority except with Allah’s permission. And when Allah’s decree comes to pass as a matter of truth and justice, and there and then, the invalidators [who tried to nullify Allah’s message] will have finally suffered a defeat.

It is Allah who gave you livestock [for assistance and utility]: on some you ride, and on some you dine;

And you derive other benefits from them [livestock]; and through them you fulfill other undisclosed necessities; and upon them, as on [seafaring] vessels, you are transported [on land and sea].

And [thus] He shows you His illustrations [of dominion and dominance]: so [what is it with you], what illustrations of His command and control do you dispute?

Have they [the deniers of Allah] not travelled throughout the world so that they may catch onto the way things turned out for those who preceded them? Those [predecessors] were more numerous and stronger in power and influence throughout the world than they, but whatever they gained [in terms of power, wealth, and skillfulness] was of no use to them —

For when their apostles came to them with strong evidence [of the truth from Allah], they were more happily impressed with what they had of knowledge and science: and so, they were eventually engulfed with the [divinely revealed] facts they had [earlier] mocked.

And when they [finally] saw Our awesome warlike power, they said, “We [now] are committed to Allah and no one else, and we deny [and reject] those we associated with Allah.”

But their accession to commitment after they had become cognizant of Our awesome warlike power was of no use to them [as it was too late] — [this is] Allah’s social law that has been applied to His subjects [throughout the course of time] — and so, finally, then and there, these kāfirs were at a loss.