| | Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar rendition of Surah The Bee(an-Nahl)
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| 16:1 | | Approached the command of God? Seek not to hasten it. Glory be to Him and exalted is He above partners they ascribe with God. |
| 16:2 | | He sends down the angels with the Spirit of His command on whom He wills of His servants to warn that there is no god but I, so be Godfearing of Me. |
| 16:3 | | He created the heavens and the earth with The Truth. Exalted is He above partners they ascribe. |
| 16:4 | | He created the human being from seminal fluid. That is when he is a clear adversary. |
| 16:5 | | And He created the flocks, for you in which there is warmth and profits and of them you eat |
| 16:6 | | and in them is a beauty for you when you give them rest and when you drive forth flocks to pasture. |
| 16:7 | | And they carry your lading to a land, being that which reaches you not but under adverse circumstances to yourselves. Truly, your Lord is Gentle, Compassionate. |
| 16:8 | | And He creates horses, mules and donkeys for you to ride and as an adornment. And He creates what you know not. |
| 16:9 | | And with God is showing of the way yet some of them are ones who swerve. If He willed, He would have guided you one and all. |
| 16:10 | | It is He Who caused water to descend from heaven for you to drink from it and from it, trees wherein you pasture your herds. |
| 16:11 | | He caused crops to develop for you with it, and the olives and the date palms and the grapevines, and all kinds of fruits. Truly, in that is a sign for a folk who reflect. |
| 16:12 | | And He caused to be subservient to you the nighttime and the daytime and the sun and the moon, and the stars, ones caused to be subservient by His command. Truly, in that are signs for a folk who are reasonable. |
| 16:13 | | And whatever He made numerous for you in and on the earth of hues, ones that are at variance, truly, in that is a sign for a folk who recollect. |
| 16:14 | | And He it is Who caused the sea to be subservient to you so that you eat from it succulent flesh and pull out of it glitter to wear and thou seest the boats, ones that plow through the waves, that you be looking for His grace and so that perhaps you will give thanks. |
| 16:15 | | And He cast on to the earth firm mountains so that it not vibrate with you and rivers and roads so that perhaps you will be truly guided |
| 16:16 | | and landmarks. And they are truly guided by the stars. |
| 16:17 | | Is, then, He Who creates as he who creates not? Will you not, then, recollect? |
| 16:18 | | And if you try to number the divine blessing of God, you will not be able to count it. Truly, God is Forgiving, Compassionate. |
| 16:19 | | And God knows what you keep secret and what you speak openly. |
| 16:20 | | And those whom you call to other than God, they created not anything but they are themselves created. |
| 16:21 | | They are lifeless, not living. And they are not aware when they will be raised up. |
| 16:22 | | Your God is One God. But for those who believe not in the world to come, their hearts are ones that know not and they are ones who grow arrogant. |
| 16:23 | | Without a doubt God knows what they keep secret and what they speak openly. Truly, He loves not the ones who grow arrogant. |
| 16:24 | | And when it is said to them: What is that your Lord caused to descend, they would say: Fables of the ancient ones! |
| 16:25 | | They will carry their own heavy loads, that which is complete, on the Day of Resurrection, and of the heavy loads of whomever they cause to go astray without knowledge. How evil is what they will bear! |
| 16:26 | | Surely, those who were before them planned, then, God approached their structures from the foundations and the roof fell down upon them from above and the punishment approached them from where they are not aware. |
| 16:27 | | Again, on the Day of Resurrection He will cover them with shame and will say: Where are My ascribed associates with whom you had been making a breach with them? Those who were given the knowledge will say: Truly, degradation this Day and evil upon the ones who are ungrateful. |
| 16:28 | | Those whom the angels call to themselves while they are ones who are unjust to themselves. Then, they will give a proposal of surrender: We had not been doing any evil. Yea! Truly, God is Knowing of what you had been doing. |
| 16:29 | | So enter the doors of hell—ones who will dwell in it forever; and, certainly, it will be a miserable place of lodging. It is for the ones who increase in pride! |
| 16:30 | | And when it was said to those who were Godfearing: What is it that your Lord caused to descend? They will say: Good or for those who did good in the present, there is benevolence. And the abode of the world to come is better. And how excellent will be the abode of the ones who are Godfearing! |
| 16:31 | | Gardens of Eden which they will enter beneath which rivers run. They have in them all that they will. Thus, God gives recompense to the ones who are Godfearing. |
| 16:32 | | Those whom the angels call to themselves while they are ones who are good. They say to them: Peace be unto you! Enter the Garden because of what you had been doing. |
| 16:33 | | Look they not on but that the angels approach them or the command of thy Lord approach? Thus, accomplished those before them. And God did not wrong them. Rather, they had been doing wrong to themselves. |
| 16:34 | | Then, their evil deeds lit on them for what their hands did. And surrounded them is what they had been ridiculing. |
| 16:35 | | And those who ascribed partners with God said: If God willed neither would we have worshiped other than Him anything, we nor our fathers, nor would we have held sacred anything other than what He forbade. Thus, accomplished those who were before them. Then, what is upon the Messengers, but the delivering of the clear message? |
| 16:36 | | And, certainly, We raised up in every community a Messenger saying that: Worship God and avoid false deities. Then, of them were some whom God guided and of them were some upon whom their fallacy was realized. So journey through the earth; then, look on how had been the Ultimate End of the ones who deny. |
| 16:37 | | If thou be eager for their guidance, then, truly, God will not guide whom He causes to go astray. And they will have no ones who help. |
| 16:38 | | And they swore by God their most earnest oaths: God will not raise up him who dies. Yea! It is a promised obligation upon Him—except most of humanity knows not— |
| 16:39 | | in order to make manifest for them about what they are at variance in it and so that those who were ungrateful know that they had been ones who lie. |
| 16:40 | | Our saying to a thing when We wanted it is that We say to it: Be! Then, it is! |
| 16:41 | | As for those who emigrated for God after they were wronged, We will, certainly, have a place of settlement for them with benevolence in the present. And the compensation of the world to come will be greater, if they had been knowing. |
| 16:42 | | Those who endured patiently, they put their trust in their Lord. |
| 16:43 | | And We sent not before thee but men to whom We reveal revelation. So ask the People of Remembrance if you had not been knowing. |
| 16:44 | | With the clear portents and the ancient scrolls, We caused to descend the Remembrance to thee that thou wilt make manifest to humanity what was sent down to them and so that perhaps they will reflect. |
| 16:45 | | Were those who planned evil deeds safe that God will not cause the earth to swallow them or that the punishment will not approach them from where they are not aware? |
| 16:46 | | Or that He take them in their going to and fro where they will not be ones who frustrate Him? |
| 16:47 | | Or that He take them, destroying them little by little? Truly, thy Lord is Gentle, Compassionate. |
| 16:48 | | Consider they not that whatever things God created casts its shadow to the right and to the left, ones who prostrate themselves to God. And they are ones in a state of lowliness? |
| 16:49 | | And to God prostrates whatever is in the heavens and all that is in and on the earth of moving creatures and the angels and they grow not arrogant. |
| 16:50 | | They fear their Lord above them and accomplish what they are commanded.‡ |
| 16:51 | | And God said: Take not two gods to yourselves. Truly, He is One God. Then, have reverence for Me. |
| 16:52 | | And to Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth and His is the way of life, that which is forever. Are you Godfearing of other than God? |
| 16:53 | | And whatever you have of divine blessing is from God. After that when harm afflicted you, you make entreaties to Him. |
| 16:54 | | Again, when He removed the harm from you, that is when a group of people among you ascribe partners with their Lord. |
| 16:55 | | They are ungrateful for what We gave them. So let them take joy. They will know. |
| 16:56 | | And they assign to what they know not a share from what We provided them. By God! You will, certainly, be asked about what you had been devising. |
| 16:57 | | And they assign daughters to God! Glory be to Him! And for themselves, that for which they lust. |
| 16:58 | | And when any of them was given good tidings of a female, his face stayed one that is clouded over and he chokes. |
| 16:59 | | He is secluded from the folk because of the dire tidings he was given. Will he hold it back with humiliation or will he trample it in the earth dust? Truly, how evil is the judgment they give! |
| 16:60 | | For those who believe not in the world to come there is the reprehensible evil description while the loftiest description belongs to God. And He is The Almighty, The Wise. |
| 16:61 | | And if God were to take humanity to task for their injustice, He would not leave on it a moving creature. Rather, He postpones them for a term, that is determined. And when their term drew near, neither will they delay it an hour, nor press it forward. |
| 16:62 | | And they assign to God what they dislike. Their tongues allege the lie that the fairer things will be theirs. Without a doubt, for them is the fire, and they will be ones made to hasten to it. |
| 16:63 | | By God! We, certainly, sent Messengers to communities before thee. Satan made their actions appear pleasing to them. So he is their protector on this Day and theirs will be a painful punishment. |
| 16:64 | | And We caused the Book to descend to thee, but that thou wilt make manifest to them those things in which they were at variance in it and as a guidance and a mercy for a folk who believe. |
| 16:65 | | And God caused water to descend from heaven and from it gave life to the earth after its death. Truly, in this is a sign for a folk who hear. |
| 16:66 | | And, truly, for you in the flocks is a lesson. We satiate you from what is in their bellies—between waste and blood—exclusively milk, that which is delicious to the ones who drink. |
| 16:67 | | From fruits of the date palm trees and grapevines you take to yourselves of it what obscures the mind and fairer provisions. Truly, in it is a sign for a folk who be reasonable. |
| 16:68 | | And thy Lord revealed to thee the bee: Take to thyself houses from the mountains and in the trees and in what they construct. |
| 16:69 | | Again, eat of all the fruits and insert thyself submissively into the ways of thy Lord. Drink goes forth from their bellies in hues, ones that are at variance, wherein is healing for humanity. Truly, in this is, certainly, a sign for a folk who reflect. |
| 16:70 | | And God created you. Again, He calls you to Himself. And of you there are some who are returned to the most wretched of lifetimes so that he knows nothing after having knowledge of something. Truly, God is Knowing, Powerful. |
| 16:71 | | God gave advantage to some of you over some others in provision. But those who were given advantage are not ones who give over their provision to what their right hands possessed so that they are equal in it. Why negate they the divine blessing of God? |
| 16:72 | | And God assigned to you spouses (f) of your own kind and has assigned you from your spouses (f), children and grandchildren and provided you with what is good. Believe they, then, in falsehood and are ungrateful for the divine blessing of God? |
| 16:73 | | They worship other than God what has no sway, no power to provide for them anything from the heavens and the earth, nor are they able to do so. |
| 16:74 | | So propound not parables for God. Truly, God Knows and you know not. |
| 16:75 | | God propounded a parable of a chattel servant who has no power over anything and one to whom We provided from Us a fairer provision. And he spends from it secretly and openly publishing it. Are they on the same level? The Praise belongs to God. Nay! Most of them know not! |
| 16:76 | | And God propounded a parable of two men, one of them unwilling to speak. He has no power over anything and he is a heavy burden to his defender. Whichever way he turns his face, he brings no good. Is he on the same level as the one who commands justice and he who is on a straight path? |
| 16:77 | | And to God belongs the unseen of the heavens and the earth. And the command of the Hour is not but the twinkling of an eye to one’s sight or it is nearer. Truly, God is Powerful over everything. |
| 16:78 | | And God brought you out from the wombs of your mothers and you know nothing. And He assigned to you the ability to hear and sight and mind so that perhaps you will give thanks. |
| 16:79 | | Consider you not the birds, the ones caused to be subservient in the firmament of the heavens? None holds them back but God. Truly, in this are the signs for a folk who believe. |
| 16:80 | | And God assigned for you your houses as places of comfort and rest and assigned for you the hides of flocks for your houses which you find light on the day of your departure and the day of your halting and of their wool and furs and hair— furnishing and enjoyment for a while. |
| 16:81 | | And God made for you shade out of what He created and made for you the mountains as a refuges in the time of need and has made for you tunics to protect you from the heat and tunics to protect you from your violence. Thus, He fulfills His divine blessing to you so that perhaps you will submit to God. |
| 16:82 | | Then, if they turned away, for thee is only the delivering of the clear message. |
| 16:83 | | They recognize the divine blessing of God. Again, they reject it and most of them are the ones who are ungrateful. |
| 16:84 | | On the Day We will raise up from every community a witness again, no permission will be given to those who are ungrateful nor will they ask to be favored. |
| 16:85 | | And when those who did wrong consider the punishment, then, it will not be lightened for them nor will they be given respite. |
| 16:86 | | And when those who ascribed partners saw their ascribed associates with God, they will say: Our Lord, these are our ascribed associates whom we had been calling to other than Thee. Then, they will cast their saying back to them: Truly, you are ones who lie! |
| 16:87 | | They will give a proposal to God on that day of surrender. Gone astray from them will be what they had been devising. |
| 16:88 | | Those who were ungrateful and barred from the way of God, We increased them in punishment above their punishment because they had been making corruption. |
| 16:89 | | On the Day We raise up in every community a witness against them from among themselves and We will bring thee about as a witness against these. And We sent down to thee the Book as an exposition that makes everything clear and as a guidance and as a mercy and as good tidings for the ones who submit to God. |
| 16:90 | | Truly, God commands justice and kindness and giving to one who is a possessor of kinship and He prohibits depravity and ones who are unlawful and insolent. He admonishes you so that perhaps you will recollect. |
| 16:91 | | And live up to the compact of God when you have made a contract. And break not the oaths after ratification. And, surely, you made God surety over you. Truly, God knows what you accomplish. |
| 16:92 | | And be not like she who would break what she spun after firming its fibers by taking to yourselves your oaths in mutual deceit among yourselves so that one community be one that is swelling more than another community. God tries you but by this. And He will make manifest to you on the Day of Resurrection about what you had been at variance in it. |
| 16:93 | | If God willed, He would have made you one community, but He causes to go astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills. And, certainly, you will be asked about what you had been doing. |
| 16:94 | | Take not your oaths to yourselves in mutual deceit among yourselves, that your footing should not backslide after standing firm and you experience the evil of having barred from the way of God. And for you will be a serious punishment. |
| 16:95 | | And exchange not the compact for a little price. Truly, what is with God is better for you if you had been knowing. |
| 16:96 | | Whatever is with you will come to an end. And whatever is with God is that which endures. And We will, certainly, give recompense to those who endured patiently their fairer compensation for what they had been doing. |
| 16:97 | | Whoever does as one in accord with morality, whether male or female, while being one who believes, We will give life—this good life. And We will give recompense to them—their compensation—for the fairer for what they had been doing. |
| 16:98 | | So when thou hadst recited the Quran, seek refuge with God from the accursed Satan. |
| 16:99 | | Truly, he is not an authority over those who believed and in their Lord they put their trust. |
| 16:100 | | His authority is only over those who turn away to him and they, those are ones who are polytheists. |
| 16:101 | | And when We substituted a sign in place of another sign—and God is greater in knowledge of what He sends down—they said: Thou art only one who devises! But most of them know not. |
| 16:102 | | Say: The hallowed Spirit sent it down from thy Lord with The Truth to make firm those who believed and as a guidance and good tidings to the ones who submit to God. |
| 16:103 | | And, certainly, We know that they say: It is only a mortal who teaches him. The tongue of him whom they hint at is non-Arab, while this is in a clear Arabic tongue. |
| 16:104 | | Truly, those who believe not in the signs of God, God will not guide them and for them is a painful punishment. |
| 16:105 | | Devising falsity is only by those who believe not in the signs of God. And those, they are the ones who lie. |
| 16:106 | | Whoever disbelieved in God after his belief—other than whoever was compelled to do it against his will while his heart is one that is at peace in belief—but whoever’s breast is expanded to disbelief, on them is the anger of God and for them is a serious punishment. |
| 16:107 | | That is because they embraced this present life instead of the world to come. And God guides not the folk, the ones who disbelieve, |
| 16:108 | | those are those who God set a seal upon their hearts and upon their ability to hear and their sight. And those, they are the ones who are heedless. |
| 16:109 | | Without a doubt they will be in the world to come, the ones who are losers. |
| 16:110 | | Again, truly, thy Lord, for those who emigrated after they were persecuted and, again, struggled and endured patiently. Truly, after that, thy Lord is Forgiving, Compassionate. |
| 16:111 | | On a Day every soul will approach, disputing for itself and for every soul, its account will be paid in full for what it did they will not be wronged. |
| 16:112 | | And God propounded a parable of a town—that which had been safe, one that is at peace, its provision approaches it freely from every place. Then, it was ungrateful for the divine blessings of God and so God caused it to experience extreme hunger and fear because of what they had been crafting. |
| 16:113 | | And, certainly, drew near them a Messenger from among them, but they denied him, so the punishment took them while they are ones who are unjust. |
| 16:114 | | So eat of what God provided you as lawful, what is good and give thanks for the divine blessing of God if it had been Him that you worship. |
| 16:115 | | He only forbade to you carrion and blood and flesh of swine and what was hallowed to other than God. But if one was compelled, without being one who is willfully disobedient, nor one who turns away, then, truly, God is Forgiving, Compassionate. |
| 16:116 | | And say not to what your lying tongues allege: This is lawful and this is unlawful so as to devise lies against God. Truly, those who devise against God lies will not prosper, |
| 16:117 | | but a little enjoyment and for them is a painful punishment. |
| 16:118 | | We forbade those who became Jews what We related to thee before and We did not wrong them, except they had been doing wrong to themselves. |
| 16:119 | | Again, truly, thy Lord—to those who did evil in ignorance, again, repented after that and made things right—truly, thy Lord after that is Forgiving, Compassionate. |
| 16:120 | | Abraham had been a community obedient to God—a monotheist—he is not among the ones who are polytheists. |
| 16:121 | | He was one who is thankful for His divine blessings. He elected him and guided him to a straight path. |
| 16:122 | | And We gave him in the present benevolence. And, truly, in the world to come he will be among the ones in accord with morality. |
| 16:123 | | Again, we revealed to thee that thou follow the creed of Abraham—a monotheist. And he had not been among the ones who are polytheists. |
| 16:124 | | Truly, the Sabbath was made for those who are at variance about it. Truly, thy Lord will give judgment between them on the Day of Resurrection about what they had been at variance in it. |
| 16:125 | | Call thou to the way of thy Lord with wisdom and fairer admonishment. And dispute with them in a way that is fairer. Truly, thy Lord is He Who is greater in knowledge of whoever went astray from His way. And He is greater in knowledge of the ones who are truly guided. |
| 16:126 | | And if you chastised, then, chastise with the like of that with which you were chastised. But if you endured patiently, certainly, it is better for the ones who remain steadfast. |
| 16:127 | | And have thou patience and thy patience is only from God. And feel not remorse over them, nor be thee troubled about what they plan. |
| 16:128 | | Truly, God is with those who were Godfearing and those, they are ones who are doers of good. |
