Quran — Page 537

Behold, it is a truly noble discourse,

[conveyed unto man] in a well-guarded divine writ

which none but the pure [of heart] can touch:

a revelation from the Sustainer of all the worlds!

Would you, now, look down with disdain on a tiding like this,

and make it your daily bread [as it were] to call the truth a lie?

Why, then, when [the last breath] comes up to the throat [of a dying man],

the while you are [helplessly] looking on -

and while We are closer to him than you, although you see [Us] not -:

why, then, if [you think that] you are not truly dependent [on Us],

can you not cause that [ebbing life] to return - if what you claim is true?

[ALL OF YOU are destined to die.] Now if one happens to be of those who are drawn close unto God,

happiness [awaits him in the life to come], and inner fulfillment, and a garden of bliss.

And if one happens to be of those who have attained to righteousness,

[he, too, will be wel­comed into paradise with the words,] “Peace be unto thee [that art] of those who have attained to right­eousness!”

But if one happens to be of those who are wont to call the truth a lie, and [thus] go astray,

a welcome of burning despair [awaits him in the life to come,]

and the heat of a blazing fire!

Verily, this is indeed the truth of truths!

Extol, then, the limitless glory of thy Sus­tainer’s mighty name!

ALL THAT IS in the heavens and on earth extols God’s limitless glory: for He alone is almighty, truly wise!

His is the dominion over the heavens and the earth; He grants life and deals death; and He has the power to will anything.

He is the First and the Last, and the Outward as well as the Inward: and He has full knowledge of everything.