Quran — Page 573

"'Yet [it is true] that among us are such as have surrendered themselves to God - just as there are among us such as have abandoned themselves to wrongdoing. Now as for those who surrender themselves to Him - it is they that have attained to consciousness of what is right;

but as for those who abandon themselves to wrongdoing - they are indeed but fuel for [the fires of] hell!’"

[KNOW,] THEN, that if they [who have heard Our call] keep firmly to the [right] path, We shall certainly shower them with blessings abundant,

so as to test them by this means: for he who shall turn away from the remembrance of his Sustainer, him will He cause to undergo suffering most grievous.

And [know] that all worship is due to God [alone]: hence, do not invoke anyone side by side with God!

Yet [thus it is] that whenever a servant of God stands up in prayer to Him, they [who are bent on denying the truth] would gladly overwhelm him with their crowds.

Say: "I invoke my Sustainer alone, for I do not ascribe divinity to anyone beside Him."

Say: "Verily, it is not in my power to cause you harm or to endow you with consciousness of what is right."

Say: "Verily, no one could ever protect me from God, nor could I ever find a place to hide from Him

if I should fail to convey [to the world whatever illumination comes to me] from God and His messages." Now as for him who rebels against God and His Apostle - verily, the fire of hell awaits him, therein to abide beyond the count of time.

[Let them, then, wait] until the time when they behold that [doom] of which they were forewarned: for then they will come to understand which [kind of man] is more helpless and counts for less!

Say: "I do not know whether that [doom] of which you were forewarned is near, or whether my Sustainer has set for it a distant term."

He [alone] knows that which is beyond the reach of a created being's perception, and to none does He disclose aught of the mysteries of His Own unfathomable knowledge,

unless it be to an apostle whom He has been pleased to elect [there for]: and then He sends forth [the forces of heaven] to watch over him in whatever lies open before him and in what is beyond his ken –

so as to make manifest that it is indeed [but] their Sustainer's messages that these [apostles] deliver: for it is He who encompasses [with His knowledge] all that they have [to say], just as He takes count, one by one, of everything [that exists].