Quran — Page 310

the Sustainer of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them! Worship, then, Him alone, and remain steadfast in His worship! Dost thou know any whose name is worthy to be mentioned side by side with His?"

WITH ALL THIS, man [often] says, "What! Once I am dead, shall I again be brought forth alive?"

But does man not bear in mind that We have created him aforetime out of nothing?

And so, by thy Sustainer, [on Judgment Day] We shall most certainly bring them forth together with the satanic forces [which impelled them in life] and then We shall most certainly gather them, on their knees, around hell;

and thereupon We shall, indeed, draw forth from every group [of sinners] the ones that had been most determined in their disdainful rebellion against the Most Gracious:

for, indeed, We know best as to which of them is most deserving of the fires of hell.

And every one of you will come within sight of it: this is, with thy Sustainer, a decree that must be fulfilled.

And once again: We shall save [from hell] those who have been conscious of Us; but We shall leave in it the evildoers, on their knees.

AS IT IS, whenever Our messages are conveyed to them in all their clarity, those who are bent on denying the truth are wont to say unto those who have attained to faith: "Which of the two kinds of man is in a stronger position and superior as a community?"

And yet, how many a generation have We destroyed before their time-[people] who surpassed them in material power and in outward show!

Say: "As for him who lives in error, may the Most Gracious lengthen the span of his life! [And let them say whatever they say until the time when they behold that [doom] of which they were forewarned-whether it be suffering [in this world] or [at the coming of] the Last Hour -: for then they will understand which [of the two kinds of man] was worse in station and weaker in resources!

And God endows those who avail themselves of [His] guidance with an ever-deeper consciousness of the right way; and good deeds, the fruit whereof endures forever, are, in thy Sustainer's sight, of far greater merit [than any worldly goods], and yield far better returns.