١Ha. Mim.
٢CONSIDER this divine writ, clear in itself and clearly showing the truth!
٣Behold, from on high have We bestowed it on a blessed night: for, verily, We have always been warning [man].
٤On that [night] was made clear, in wisdom, the distinction between all things [good and evil]
٥at a behest from Ourselves: for, verily, We have always been sending [Our messages of guidance]
٦in pursuance of thy Sustainer’s grace [unto man]. Verily, He alone is all-hearing, all-knowing,
٧the Sustainer of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them - if you could but grasp it with inner certainty!
٨There is no deity save Him: He grants life and deals death: He is your Sustainer as well as the Sustainer of your forebears of old.
٩Nay, but they [who lack inner certainty] are but Dying with their doubts.
١٠WAIT, THEN, for the Day when the skies shall bring forth a pall of smoke which will make obvious [the approach of the Last Hour],
١١enveloping all mankind, [and causing the sinners to exclaim:] “Grievous is this suffering!
١٢O our Sustainer, relieve us of suffering, for, verily, we [now] believe [in Thee]!”
١٣[But] how shall this remembrance avail them [at the Last Hour], seeing that an apostle had previously come unto them, clearly expounding the truth,
١٤whereupon they turned their backs on him and said, “Taught [by others] is he, a madman”?
١٥[Still,] behold, We shall postpone this suffering for a little while, although you are bound to revert [to your evil ways: but]
١٦on the Day when We shall seize [all sinners] with a most mighty onslaught, We shall, verily, inflict Our retribution [on you as well]!
١٧AND, INDEED, [long] before their time did We try Pharaoh’s people [in the same way]: for there came unto them a noble apostle, [who said:]
١٨“Give in unto me, O God’s bondmen! Verily, I am an apostle [sent] unto you, worthy of trust!