١Alif. Lam. Ra. THESE ARE MESSAGES of revelation -of a discourse clear in itself and clearly showing the truth.
٢And it will come to pass that those who are [now] bent on denying this truth will wish that they had surrendered themselves to God [in their life time].
٣Leave them alone; let them eat and enjoy themselves the while the hope [of vain delights] be guiles them: for in time they will come to know [the truth].
٤And never have We destroyed any community [for its wrongdoing] unless a divine writ had (previously] been made known to it;
٥[but remember that] no community can ever forestall [the end of] its term - and neither can they delay [it].
٦And yet, they [who deny the truth] say: "O thou unto whom this reminder has [allegedly] been bestowed from on high: verily, thou art mad!
٧Why dost thou not bring before us angels, if thou art a man of truth?
٨[Yet] We never send down angels otherwise than in accordance with the [demands of] truth; and [were the angels to appear now,] lo! they [who reject this divine writ] would have no further respite!
٩Behold, it is We Ourselves who have bestowed from on high, step by step, this reminder? and, behold, it is We who shall truly guard it [from all corruption].
١٠AND, INDEED, [O Prophet,] even before thy time did We send [Our apostles] unto communities of old -
١١and never yet came an apostle to them without their deriding him.
١٢Even so do We [now] cause this [scorn of Our message] to pervade the hearts of those who are lost in sin,
١٣who do not believe in it, although the way which those [evildoers] of olden times had to go has long been within their ken.
١٤Yet even had We opened to them a gateway to heaven and they had ascended, on and on, up to it,
١٥they would surely have said, "It is only our eyes that are spellbound! Nay, we have been bewitched!,