١CONSIDER this unfolding [of God’s message], as it comes down from on high!
٢This fellow-man of yours has not gone astray, nor is he deluded,
٣and neither does he speak out of his own desire:
٤that [which he conveys to you] is but [a divine] inspiration with which he is being inspired –
٥something that a very mighty one has imparted to him:
٦[an angel] endowed with surpassing power, who in time manifested himself in his true shape and nature,
٧appearing in the horizon’s loftiest part,
٨and then drew near, and came close,
٩until he was but two bow-lengths away, or even nearer.
١٠And thus did [God] reveal unto His servant whatever He deemed right to reveal.
١١The [servant’s] heart did not give the lie to what he saw:
١٢will you, then, contend with him as to what he saw?
١٣And, indeed, he saw him a second time
١٤by the lote-tree of the farthest limit,
١٥near unto the garden of promise.
١٦with the lote-tree veiled in a veil of nameless splendour….
١٧[And withal,] the eye did not waver, nor yet did it stray:
١٨truly did he see some of the most profound of his Sustainer’s symbols.
١٩HAVE YOU, then, ever considered [what you are worshipping in] Al-Lat and Al-Uzza,
٢٠as well as [in] Manat, the third and last [of this triad]?
٢١Why - for yourselves [you would choose only] male offspring, whereas to Him [you assign] female:
٢٢that, lo and behold, is an unfair division!
٢٣These [allegedly divine beings] are nothing but empty names which you have invented - you and your forefathers - [and] for which God has bestowed no warrant from on high. They [who worship them] follow nothing but surmise and their own wishful thinking - although right guidance has now indeed come unto them from their Sustainer.
٢٤Does man imagine that it is his due to have all that he might wish for,
٢٥despite the fact that [both] the life to come and this present [one] belong to God [alone]?
٢٦For, however many angels there be in the heavens, their intercession can be of no least avail [to anyone] - except after God has given leave [to intercede] for whomever He wills and with whom He is well-pleased.