6. Surah Al-An'am

Praise belongs to God who created the heavens and the earth and made darkness and the light! Then those who ignore warning ascribe equals to their Lord.

He it is that created you from clay; then He decreed a term — and a stated term is with Him; then do you doubt.

And He is God in the heavens and in the earth; He knows your inward and your outward; and He knows what you earn.

And there comes to them no proof among the proofs of their Lord but they turn away therefrom:

So have they denied the truth when it came to them; and there will come to them a report of that whereat they mocked.

Have they not considered how many a generation We destroyed before them? We established them in the earth as We have not established you, and We sent the sky upon them in abundant rains and made the rivers flow beneath them; then We destroyed them for their transgressions, and produced after them another generation.

And had We sent down upon thee a Writ upon parchment, then they had touched it with their hands, those who ignore warning would have said: “This is only obvious sorcery.”

And they say: “Oh, that an angel had but been sent down upon him!” But had We sent down an angel, the matter would have been concluded; then would they not have been reprieved.

And had We made him an angel, We would have made him a man, and covered them in what they do cover.

And messengers were mocked before thee; then there surrounded those who derided them that whereat they mocked.

Say thou: “Travel in the earth, then see how was the final outcome of the deniers.”

Say thou: “To whom belongs what is in the heavens and the earth?” Say thou: “To God.” He has prescribed upon Himself mercy; (He will bring you all together to the Day of Resurrection whereof there is no doubt; those who have lost their souls: they do not believe.

And to Him belongs what rests in the night and the day; and He is the Hearing, the Knowing.

Say thou: “Is it other than God I am to take as ally — the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, and who feeds but is not fed?” Say thou: “I have been commanded to be first among those who submit”; and: “Be thou not among the idolaters.”

Say thou: “I fear, if I should oppose my Lord, the punishment of a tremendous day.”)

From whom it is averted, that day, He will have had mercy upon him; and that is the clear achievement.

And if God touches thee with affliction, then is there no remover thereof save He; and if He touches thee with good, then is He over all things powerful.

And He is the Conqueror over His servants; and He is the Wise, the Aware.

Say thou: “What thing is greatest in witness?” Say thou: “God is witness between me and you; and this Qur’an has been revealed to me that I might warn you thereby, and whom it reaches. Do you bear witness that there are other gods with God?” Say thou: “I bear not witness.” Say thou: “He is but One God, and I am quit of that to which you ascribe a partnership.”

Those to whom We gave the Writ recognise it as they recognise their sons. Those who lose their souls, they do not believe.

And who is more unjust than he who invents a lie about God, or denies His proofs? The wrongdoers are not successful.

And the day We gather them all together, then will We say to those who ascribe a partnership: “Where are your partners that you claimed?”

Then will their means of denial be but that they will say: “By God! Our Lord, we were not idolaters!”

See thou how they will lie against themselves; and strayed from them will be what they invented.

And among them are some who listen to thee, but We have placed upon their hearts coverings lest they should understand it, and in their ears deafness; and if they see every proof, they will not believe in it. When they have come to thee, they argue against thee, those who ignore warning, saying: “This is only legends of the former peoples.”

And they forbid it, and are far from it; and they destroy not save themselves, but they perceive not.

And if thou couldst see when they are set before the Fire: — then they will say: “Would that we were sent back! Then would we not deny the proofs of our Lord, but be among the believers.”

The truth is, what they concealed before will be clear to them; and if they were sent back, they would return to what they were forbidden; and they are liars.

And they say: “There is only our life in the World, and we will not be raised.”

And if thou couldst see when they are set before their Lord: — He will say: “Is then this not the truth?” They will say: “Verily, by our Lord!” He will say: “Then taste the punishment for what you denied!”

They have lost who deny the meeting with God; when the Hour has come upon them unexpectedly, they will say: “O our regret over what we neglected concerning it!” And they will bear their burdens upon their backs; in truth, evil is what they will bear.

And the life of this world is only play and diversion; and the abode of the Hereafter is better for those of prudent fear. Will you then not use reason!

We know that it grieves thee what they say; and they deny not thee, but the wrongdoers reject the proofs of God.

And messengers were denied before thee; but they were patient over that wherein they were denied and hindered until Our help came to them. And there is none to change the words of God; and there has already come to thee some of the report of the emissaries.

And if their evasion be hard for thee: if thou art able to seek a tunnel in the earth or a stairway in the sky to bring to them a proof. And had God willed, He would have gathered them together to the guidance; so be thou not of the ignorant.

There respond only those who hear; and the dead, God raises them — then to Him will they be returned.

And they say: “Oh, that a proof had but been sent down upon him from his Lord!” Say thou: “God is able to send down a proof.” But most of them know not:

And there is no creature in the earth, nor bird flying on its wings save they are communities the likes of you — We have not neglected anything in the Writ — then to their Lord will they be gathered.

And those who deny Our proofs are deaf and dumb, in darkness. Whom God wills, He leads him astray; and whom He wills, He sets him on a straight path.

Say thou: “Have you considered: if the punishment of God comes upon you, or the Hour comes upon you, will you call to other than God, if you be truthful?”

The truth is, to Him will you call; and He will remove that for which you call to Him if He wills; and you will forget that to which you ascribe a partnership.

And We have sent to communities before thee; then We took them with affliction and adversity, that they might humble themselves.

Oh, that when Our disaster came upon them they had but humbled themselves! But their hearts hardened, and the satan made fair to them what they were doing.

So when they forgot that whereof they had been reminded, We opened upon them the gates of all things; when they had exulted in what they were given, We took them suddenly; and then were they in despair,

And cut off was the root of the people who did wrong; and praise belongs to God, the Lord of All Creation!

Say thou: “Have you considered: if God takes away your hearing and your sight and seals your hearts, who is the god save God who will restore it to you?” See thou how We expound the proofs; then they turn away.

Say thou: “Have you considered: if the punishment of God come to you unexpectedly or with warning, will there be destroyed save the wrongdoing people?”

And We send the emissaries only as bearers of glad tidings and warners; then whoso believes and makes right: no fear will be upon them, nor will they grieve.

And those who deny Our proofs: the punishment will touch them because they were perfidious.

Say thou: “I say not to you: ‘I possess the treasuries of God,’ or: ‘I know the Unseen,’ nor do I say to you: ‘I am an angel.’ I follow only what is revealed to me.” Say thou: “Are the blind and the seeing equal?” Will you then not take thought!

And warn thou thereby those who fear that they will be gathered to their Lord, — they have no ally or intercessor besides Him — that they might be in prudent fear.

And drive thou not away those who call to their Lord morning and evening, seeking His face — not upon thee is anything of their account, and nothing of thy account is upon them — for thou shouldst drive them away, and be of the wrongdoers.

And thus We subjected some of them to means of denial by others: that they might say: “Are these they whom God has favoured among us?” Does then God not best know the grateful?

And when there come to thee those who believe in Our proofs, say thou: “Peace be upon you! Your Lord has prescribed for Himself mercy, that whoso of you does evil through ignorance, then turns in repentance after that and makes right: He is forgiving and merciful.”

And thus We set out and detail the proofs; and that the path of the lawbreakers might be made manifest:

Say thou: “I have been forbidden to serve those to whom you call besides God.” Say thou: “I do not follow your vain desires, else had I gone astray, and would not be of the guided.”

Say thou: “I am upon clear evidence from my Lord, and you have denied it. I have not that which you seek to hasten; judgment is but for God. He relates the truth, and He is the best to decide.”

Say thou: “Had I what you seek to hasten, the matter would have been concluded between me and you; and God best knows the wrongdoers.”

And with Him are the keys of the Unseen; and none knows them but He. And He knows what is in the land and the sea; and not a leaf falls but He knows it; nor is there a grain in the darknesses of the earth, and nothing moist or dry, but is in a clear writ.

And He it is that takes you at night, and knows what you earned by day; then He raises you up therein that there be fulfilled a stated term; then to Him will be your return; then will He inform you of what you did.

And He is the Conqueror over His servants; and He sends guardians over you. When death has come to one of you, Our messengers take him, and they fail not;

Then are they sent back to God their true protector. In truth, His is the judgment, and He is the swiftest of account-takers.

Say thou: “Who delivers you from the darknesses of the land and the sea? You call to Him humbly and in secret: ‘If He delivers us from this, we will be among the grateful.’”

Say thou: “God delivers you from it and from every distress; then you ascribe a partnership.”

Say thou: “He is the one able to send punishment upon you from above you or from beneath your feet, or to confound you through sects and let some of you taste the might of others.” See thou how We expound the proofs, that they might understand,

But thy people have denied it when it is the truth. Say thou: “I am not a guardian over you.”

Every report has a dwelling-place; and you will come to know.

And when thou seest those who discourse vainly concerning Our proofs, turn thou away from them until they discourse vainly concerning a subject other than it; and if the satan cause thee to forget, then sit thou not ­after the reminder with the wrongdoing people.

And not upon those of prudent fear is any account for them in anything but a reminder, that they might be in prudent fear.

And leave thou those who take their doctrine as play and diversion, and whom the life of this world has deluded; and remind thou with it lest a soul be given up to destruction for what it earned; it has not, besides God, ally or intercessor. And though it offer in compensation every equivalence, it will not be accepted from it: those are they who are given up to destruction for what they earned; they have scalding water and a painful punishment for what they denied.

Say thou: “Shall we call, rather than to God, to what neither profits us nor harms us, and be turned back on our heels after God has guided us? — like one whom the satans seduce in the earth, lost in confusion, he having companions inviting him to guidance: ‘Come thou to us!’” Say thou: “The guidance of God, that is guidance; and we have been commanded to submit to the Lord of All Creation”;

And: “Uphold the duty, and be in prudent fear of Him”; and He it is to whom you will be gathered.

And He it is that created the heavens and the earth in truth. And the day He says: “Be thou,” then it is. His word is the truth. And to Him belongs the dominion the day the Trumpet is blown — the Knower of the Unseen and the Seen — and He is the Wise, the Aware.

And when Abraham said to his father Āzar: “Takest thou idols as gods? I see thee and thy people in manifest error.”

And thus We showed Abraham the kingdom of the heavens and the earth; and that he might be of those who are certain.

Then when the night covered him, he saw a star. He said: “This is my Lord.” Then when it set he said: “I love not those that set.”

Then when he saw the moon rising he said: “This is my Lord.” Then when it set he said: “If my Lord guide me not, I will be of the people who stray.”

Then when he saw the sun rising he said: “This is my Lord; this is greater!” Then when it set he said: “O my people: I am quit of that to which you ascribe a partnership.

“I have turned my face towards Him who created the heavens and the earth, inclining to truth; and I am not of the idolaters.”

And his people disputed with him. He said: “Dispute you with me concerning God, when He has guided me? And I fear not that to which you ascribe a partnership, save that my Lord should will anything. My Lord encompasses all things in knowledge. Will you then not take heed!

“And how should I fear that to which you ascribe a partnership when you fear not that you ascribe a partnership with God to that for which He has not sent down upon you authority? Then which of the two factions is worthier of security, if you know?

“Those who heed warning and clothe not their faith in injustice: those have security, and they are guided.”

And that is Our argument We gave to Abraham against his people. We raise in degree whom We will; thy Lord is wise and knowing.

And We gave him Isaac and Jacob; each We guided; and Noah did We guide before; and of his progeny David and Solomon and Job and Joseph and Moses and Aaron; and thus We reward the doers of good;

And Zachariah and John and Jesus and Elijah; each was among the righteous;

And Ishmael and Elisha and Jonah and Lot; and each did We prefer above all mankind;

And some of their fathers and their progeny and their brethren; and We chose them and guided them to a straight path:

That is the guidance of God wherewith He guides whom He wills of His servants; and had they ascribed a partnership, vain for them would have been what they did.

Those are they to whom We gave the Writ and judgment and prophethood; so if these deny them, We have already entrusted them to people who do not deny them.

Those are they whom God has guided; so follow thou their guidance. Say thou: “I ask of you for it no reward; it is only a reminder to all mankind.”

And they measured God not with the measure due Him when they said: “God has not sent down upon a mortal anything.” Say thou: “Who sent down the Writ which Moses brought as a light and guidance for men?” (You make it into parchments which you show; and you conceal much; and you were taught what you knew not, you and your fathers.) Say thou: “God”; then leave thou them playing in their vain discourses.

And this is a Writ We have sent down, one blessed, confirming what was before it, and that thou warn the mother of cities and those around her; and those who believe in the Hereafter believe in it, and they preserve their duty.

And who is more unjust than he who invents a lie about God, or says: “It has been revealed to me,” when nothing has been revealed to him, and who says: “I will send down the like of what God sent down”? And if thou couldst see when the wrongdoers are in the throes of death and the angels stretching out their hands: “Bring forth your souls; this day are you rewarded with the punishment of humiliation because you ascribed to God other than the truth, and waxed proud at His proofs!”.

“And now have you come to Us alone, as We created you the first time; and you have left all that We conferred upon you behind your backs; and We see not with you your intercessors which you claimed were among you as partners; it is cut off between you, and strayed from you is what you claimed.”

God splits the seed and the kernel; He brings forth the living from the dead and is the bringer-forth of the dead from the living. That is God, — how then are you deluded? —

The cleaver of daybreak; and He has appointed the night as rest, and the sun and the moon for reckoning. That is the determination of the Exalted in Might, the Knowing.

And He it is that made for you the stars, that you might be guided thereby in the darknesses of the land and the sea; We have set out and detailed the proofs for people who know.

And He it is that produced you from one soul, then a dwelling-place and a repository. And We have set out and detailed the proofs for people who understand.

And He it is that sends down from the sky water; and We bring forth thereby the growth of all things; and We bring forth from it greenery, bringing forth from it grain heaped up; and from the date-palm, from its spathes, bunches of dates within reach; and gardens of grapevines and olives and pomegranates, similar yet different. Look upon the fruit thereof when it bears fruit and it ripens: in that are proofs for people who believe.

And they make for God partners of the domini, when He created them; and they ascribe to Him sons and daughters without knowledge. Glory be to Him! And exalted is He above what they describe!

The Originator of the Heavens and the Earth: how could He have a son when He has no companion, and He created all things? And He knows all things.

That is God, your Lord; there is no god save He, the creator of all things, so serve Him; and He is guardian over all things.

Vision comprehends Him not, but He comprehends vision; He is the Subtle, the Aware.

Means of insight have come to you from your Lord; and whoso sees, it is for his soul; and whoso is blind, it is against it; and: “I am not a custodian over you.”

And thus We expound the proofs: both that they might say: “Thou hast studied,” and that We might make it plain for people who know.

Follow thou what has been revealed to thee from thy Lord — “There is no god save He”; — and turn thou away from the idolaters.

And had God willed, they would not have ascribed a partnership; and We have not made thee a custodian over them; and thou art not a guardian over them.

And revile not those to whom they call besides God lest they revile God in enmity without knowledge. Thus, to every community have We made fair their doings; then to their Lord is their return, and He will inform them of what they did.

And they swore by God their strongest oaths that if a proof came to them they would believe in it. Say thou: “The proofs are only with God.” And what will make you perceive that, if one comes, they will not believe?

And We will turn away their hearts and their eyes, even as they believed not in it the first time; and We will leave them wandering blindly in their inordinacy.

And were We to send down to them the angels, and the dead to speak to them, and We to gather everything to them before their very eyes, they would not believe save if God wills; but most of them are ignorant.

And thus have We appointed for every prophet an enemy — satans of servi and domini — instructing one another in the decoration of speech as delusion, (and had thy Lord willed, they would not have done it; so leave thou them and what they fabricate)

And that the hearts of those who believe not in the Hereafter might incline thereto, and be pleased therewith, and that they might commit what they are committing.

“Is it other than God I should seek as judge when He it is that sent down to you the Writ set out and detailed?” And those to whom We gave the Writ know that it is sent down from thy Lord with the truth; so be thou not of those who doubt.

And perfected is the word of thy Lord in truth and justice; there is none to change His words; and He is the Hearing, the Knowing.

And if thou obey most of those upon the earth, they will lead thee astray from the path of God; they follow only assumption, and they are only guessing.

Thy Lord: He best knows who strays from His path; and He best knows the guided.

So eat of that over which the name of God has been remembered, if you believe in His proofs.

And what is with you that you eat not of that over which the name of God has been remembered when He has set out and detailed to you what is forbidden you save that you be compelled thereto? And many lead astray by their vain desires, without knowledge; thy Lord: He best knows the transgressors.

And leave the outwardness of sin and the inwardness thereof; those who earn sin will be rewarded with what they committed.

And eat not of that over which the name of God has not been remembered; and it is perfidy. And the satans instruct their allies to dispute with you; and if you obey them, you are idolaters.

Is one who was dead ­and to whom We gave life and for whom We appointed a light wherein he walks among men like one in darkness from which he cannot come out? Thus is made fair to the false claimers of guidance what they do.

And thus have We appointed in every city its greatest lawbreakers, that they should scheme therein; and they scheme only against themselves, and they perceive not.

And when a proof comes to them, they say: “We will not believe until we be given the like of what was given the messengers of God.” God best knows where He places His message; there will befall those who are lawbreakers humiliation before God and severe punishment for what they schemed.

And whom God wills to guide, He expands his breast towards submission; and whom He wills to lead astray, He makes his breast constricted, distressed, as if he were ascending into the sky; thus does God appoint abomination for those who do not believe.

And this is the path of thy Lord, one straight; We have set out and detailed the proofs for people who take heed;

They have the Abode of Peace with their Lord, and He is their ally because of what they did.

And the day He gathers them all together: “O congregation of domini: you have desired many among the servi.” And their allies among the servi will say: “Our Lord: we benefited one another; but we have reached our term which Thou appointedst for us.” He will say: “The Fire is your dwelling, you abiding eternally therein!” save that God should will; thy Lord is wise and knowing.

And thus do We make the wrongdoers allies of one another by what they earned.

“O congregation of domini and servi: came there not to you messengers from among you, relating to you My proofs and warning you of the meeting of this day of yours?” They will say: “We bear witness against ourselves.” And the life of this world deluded them; and they will bear witness against themselves that they were false claimers of guidance.

That is because thy Lord would not destroy the cities in injustice, while their people were unaware.

And for all are degrees for what they did; and thy Lord is not unmindful of what they do.

And thy Lord is the Free from Need, the Possessor of Mercy. If He wills, He will remove you and appoint to succeed after you whom He wills, as He produced you from the progeny of other people.

That which you are promised is coming; and you cannot escape.

Say thou: “O my people: work according to your power — I am working; and you will come to know for whom is the final outcome of the Abode; the wrongdoers are not successful.”

And they make for God, of what He creates of tilth and cattle, a portion; they say: “This is for God,” — according to their claim — “and this is for our partners”. And what is for their partners, it does not reach God; and what is for God, it reaches their partners. Evil is what they judge.

And thus have their partners made fair to many among the idolaters the killing of their children, to bring them to ruin, and to obfuscate their doctrine for them. And had God willed, they would not have done it; so leave thou them and what they fabricate.

And they say: “These cattle and tilth are taboo; none is to eat them save whom we will,” — according to their claim — “and cattle whose backs are made unlawful,” and cattle over which they remember not the name of God, as an invention against Him; He will requite them for what they invented.

And they say: “What is in the bellies of these cattle is exclusively for our males and forbidden our wives; but if it be dead, then they are all partners therein.” He will requite them for their description; He is wise and knowing.

They have lost, those who have foolishly killed their children without knowledge, and made unlawful what God provided them, as an invention about God; they have gone astray and were not guided.

And He it is that produces gardens, trellised and untrellised, and the date-palms, and crops diverse in their food, and the olive and the pomegranate, similar yet different. Eat of the fruit thereof when it bears fruit, and render its due on the day of its harvest; and commit not excess, He loves not the committers of excess.

And of the cattle for burden and for skin: eat of what God has provided you, and follow not the footsteps of the satan; he is an open enemy to you.

“Eight pairs: of sheep two and of goats two––” Say thou: “Is it the two males He has forbidden or the two females? If what the wombs of the two females contain: inform me with knowledge, if you be truthful.”

“And of camels two and of oxen two––” Say thou: “Is it the two males He has forbidden or the two females? If what the wombs of the two females contain: — or if you were witnesses when God enjoined this upon you: — then who is more unjust than he who invents a lie about God, that he might lead people astray without knowledge? God guides not the wrongdoing people.”

Say thou: “I find not in what has been revealed to me what is unlawful to one who would eat it save it be carrion, or blood poured forth, or the flesh of swine — and it is an abomination — or perfidy dedicated to other than God”; but whoso is forced, neither desiring nor transgressing: thy Lord is forgiving and merciful.

And to those who hold to Judaism We made unlawful every animal with a claw; and of oxen and sheep We made unlawful to them the fat thereof save what their backs bear, or the entrails, or what is mixed with bone; that We rewarded them for their sectarian zealotry; and We are truthful.

And if they deny thee, say thou: “Your Lord is the Possessor of Mercy; but not repelled is His wrath from the lawbreaking people.”

Those who ascribe a partnership will say: “Had God willed, we would not have ascribed a partnership, nor would our fathers, nor would we have made anything unlawful.” Thus did those who were before them deny until they tasted Our might. Say thou: “Have you any knowledge to bring forth for us? You follow only assumption, and are only guessing.”

Say thou: “Then to God belongs the conclusive argument: had He willed, He would have guided you all together.”

Say thou: “Bring your witnesses who bear witness that God has made this unlawful.” Then if they bear witness, bear thou not witness with them; and follow thou not the vain desires of those who deny Our proofs and those who believe not in the Hereafter; and they ascribe equals to their Lord.

Say thou: “Come, I will recite what your Lord has made unlawful for you: that you ascribe a partnership with Him ­­to anything (while towards parents good conduct); and kill not your children out of poverty,” — We will provide for you and for them — “and approach not sexual immoralities, whether open or concealed; and kill not the soul which God has made unlawful save with justice; ­— that He enjoined upon you, that you might use reason.

“And approach not the property of the fatherless save with what is better before he reaches his maturity; and fulfil the measure and the balance with equity,” — We burden not any soul save to its capacity — “and when you speak, be just (though he be a relative); and the covenant of God fulfil; — that He commanded you, that you might take heed.”