| | Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar rendition of Surah Children of Israel, The Israelites(al-Isra`)
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| 17:1 | | Glory be to Him Who caused His servant to set forth night from the Masjid al-Haram to the Masjid al-Aqsa around which We blessed so that We cause him to see Our signs. Truly, He, He is The Hearing, The Seeing. |
| 17:2 | | And We gave Moses the Book and made it a guidance for the Children of Israel: Take not to yourselves a Trustee other than Me. |
| 17:3 | | O offspring of whomever We carried with Noah: Truly, he had been a grateful servant. |
| 17:4 | | And We decreed for the Children of Israel in the Book: Certainly, you will make corruption in and on the earth two times. And, certainly, you will exalt yourselves in a great self-exaltation. |
| 17:5 | | So when the promise drew near for the first of the two, We raised up against you servants of Ours imbued with severe might. They ransacked in the midst of your abodes. And the promise had been one that is accomplished. |
| 17:6 | | Again, We returned to you a turn of luck over them and We furnished you relief with children and wealth and made you more in soldiery: |
| 17:7 | | If you did good, you would be doing good for yourselves. And if you did evil, then, it is against yourselves. Then, when the last promise drew near, We sent your enemies; they raise anger on your faces and they enter the place of prostration just as they entered it the first time, to shatter all that they ascended to with a shattering. |
| 17:8 | | Perhaps your Lord will have mercy on you. But if you reverted, We will revert.• And We made hell a jail for the ones who are ungrateful. |
| 17:9 | | Truly, this, the Quran, guides to what is upright and gives good tidings to the ones who believe, those who are as the ones in accord with morality, that they will have a great compensation. |
| 17:10 | | And as for those who believe not in the world to come, We made ready for them a painful punishment. |
| 17:11 | | And the human being calls to worse as much as he supplicates for good. And the human being had been hasty. |
| 17:12 | | We made the nighttime and the daytime as two signs. Then, We blotted out the sign of nighttime and We made the sign of daytime for one who perceives that you be looking for grace from your Lord and that you know the number of years and the reckoning. And We explained everything distinctly, with a decisive explanation. |
| 17:13 | | For every human being We fastened his omen to his neck and We will bring out for him on the Day of Resurrection a book in which he will meet that which unfolded. |
| 17:14 | | Recite thy book! This day thy soul sufficed thee as thy reckoner against thee. |
| 17:15 | | Whoever was truly guided is truly guided only for his own soul. And whoever went astray, then, only goes astray against it. And no burdened soul bears the heavy load of another, nor would We have been ones who punish until We raised up a Messenger. |
| 17:16 | | And when We wanted to cause a town to perish, We commanded ones who are given ease, but they disobeyed therein. So the saying was realized against it. Then, We destroyed it with utter destruction. |
| 17:17 | | How many generations have We caused to perish after Noah? And thy Lord sufficed as Aware, Seeing the impieties of His servants. |
| 17:18 | | Whoever had been wanting that which hastens away, We quicken it for him, whatever We will to whomever We want. Again, We assigned hell for him. He will roast in it, one who is condemned, one who is rejected. |
| 17:19 | | And whoever wanted the world to come and endeavored for it, endeavoring, while he is one who believes, then, those, their endeavoring had been appreciated. |
| 17:20 | | To each We furnish relief, these and these, with the gift of thy Lord. And this gift of thy Lord has not been that which is confined. |
| 17:21 | | Look on how We gave advantage to some of them over some others. And, certainly, the world to come will be greater in degrees and greater in excellence. |
| 17:22 | | Assign not another god with God for, then, thou wilt be put as one who is condemned, one who is damned. |
| 17:23 | | And thy Lord decreed that you worship none but Him! And kindness to the ones who are one’s parents. If they reach old age with thee—one of them or both of them—then, thou wilt not say to them a word of disrespect nor scold them, but say a generous saying to them. |
| 17:24 | | And make thyself low to them, the wing of the sense of humility through mercy. And say: O my Lord! Have mercy on them even as they raised me when I was small. |
| 17:25 | | Your Lord is greater in knowledge of what is within yourselves. If you be ones in accord with morality, truly, He is Forgiving to those who had been penitent. |
| 17:26 | | And give to the possessor of kinship his right and to the needy and to the traveler of the way. And spend not extravagantly an extravagant spending. |
| 17:27 | | Truly, the ones who spend extravagantly had been brothers/sisters of the satans and Satan had been ungrateful to his Lord. |
| 17:28 | | And if thou hast turned aside from them, looking for mercy from thy Lord for which thou hast hoped, then, say to them a saying softly. |
| 17:29 | | And make not thy hand be one that is restricted to thy neck as a miser nor extend it to its utmost expansion as a prodigal so that thou wilt sit as one who is reproached, one who is denuded. |
| 17:30 | | Truly, thy Lord extends the provision for whom He wills and He tightens for whom He wills. Truly, He, He had been Aware, Seeing of His servants. |
| 17:31 | | And kill not your children dreading want. We will provide for them and for you. Truly, the killing of them had been a grave inequity. |
| 17:32 | | And come not near committing adultery. Truly, it had been a great indecency! How evil a way! |
| 17:33 | | And kill not a soul that God forbade, but rightfully. And whoever was slain as one who is treated unjustly, surely, We assigned for his protector, authority, but he should not exceed all bounds in killing. Truly, he would be one who is helped by the Law. |
| 17:34 | | And come not near the property of the orphan, but with what is fairer until he reaches the coming of age. And live up to the compact. Truly, the compact had been that which will be asked about. |
| 17:35 | | And live up to the full measure when you wanted to measure. And weigh with a scale, one that is straight. That is best and fairer in interpretation. |
| 17:36 | | And follow up not of what there is not for thee knowledge of it. Truly, having the ability to hear and sight and mind, each of those will have been that which is asked. |
| 17:37 | | And walk not on the earth exultantly. Truly, thou wilt never make a hole in the earth and wilt never reach the mountains in height. |
| 17:38 | | All of that had been bad deeds, ones that are disliked by thy Lord. |
| 17:39 | | That is of what thy Lord revealed to thee of wisdom. So make not up with God another god that thou wouldst be cast down into hell as one who is reproached, as one who is rejected. |
| 17:40 | | Selected your Lord for you sons and taken for Himself females from among the angels? Truly, you, you say a serious saying! |
| 17:41 | | And, certainly, We diversified in this, the Quran, that they recollect. And it increases them only in aversion. |
| 17:42 | | Say: If there had been gods along with Him as they say, then, they would, certainly, be looking for a way to the Possessor of the Throne. |
| 17:43 | | Glory be to Him! And exalted is He above what they say, greatly exalted. |
| 17:44 | | The seven heavens glorify Him and the earth and whatever is in and on them. There is not a thing but it glorifies His praise, except you understand not their glorification. Truly, He had been Forbearing, Forgiving. |
| 17:45 | | And when thou hadst recited the Quran, We made between thee and between those who believe not in the world to come a partition obstructing their vision. |
| 17:46 | | And We laid sheaths on their hearts so that they not understand it and heaviness in their ears. And when thou hadst remembered thy Lord in the Quran that He is One, they turned their backs in aversion. |
| 17:47 | | We are greater in knowledge of what they listen for when they listen to thee. And when they conspire secretly, when the ones who are unjust say: You follow but a bewitched man. |
| 17:48 | | Look on how they propounded parables for thee. So they went astray and they are not able to be on a way. |
| 17:49 | | And they say: When we had been bones and broken bits will we be ones who are raised up in a new creation? |
| 17:50 | | Say: Should you be rocks or iron, |
| 17:51 | | or any creation that is more troublesome in your breasts to raise up? Then, they will say: Who will cause us to return? Say: He Who originated you the first time. Then, they will nod their heads at thee and say: When will it be? Say: Perhaps it is near. |
| 17:52 | | It will be a Day when He will call to you and you will respond to Him with His praise and you will think that you lingered in expectation but a little. |
| 17:53 | | And say to My servants they should say what is fairer. Truly, Satan sows enmity among them. Truly, Satan had been to the human being, a clear enemy. |
| 17:54 | | Your Lord is greater in knowledge of you. If He wills, He will have mercy on you. And if He wills, He will punish you. And We sent thee not as a trustee over them. |
| 17:55 | | And thy Lord is greater in knowledge of whoever are in the heavens and in and on the earth. And, certainly, We gave advantage to some of the Prophets over others. And to David We gave Psalms. |
| 17:56 | | Say: Call to those whom you claimed other than Him. Then, they are neither in control to remove harm from you nor revise it. |
| 17:57 | | Those are those to whom they call to, they are looking for an approach to their Lord—whoever is nearer—and they hope for His mercy and they fear His punishment. Truly, the punishment of thy Lord had been one to beware. |
| 17:58 | | And there is not a town but We will be ones who cause it to perish before the Day of Resurrection, or We will be ones who punish it with a severe punishment— that which had been inscribed in the Book. |
| 17:59 | | And nothing prevented Us from sending the signs, but that the ancient ones denied them. And We gave to Thamud the she-camel—the one who perceives—but they did wrong to her. And We send not the signs, but as a deterrence. |
| 17:60 | | And mention when We said to thee: Truly, thy Lord enclosed humanity. And We made not the dream that We caused thee to see, but as a test for humanity—and the tree—one that was cursed in the Quran. And We frighten them, but it only increases them in great defiance. |
| 17:61 | | And mention when We said to the angels: Prostrate yourselves to Adam! so they prostrated themselves, but Iblis. He said: Will I prostrate myself to one whom Thou hadst created from clay? |
| 17:62 | | He said: Hadst Thou considered this whom Thou hadst held in esteem above me? If Thou hadst postponed for me to the Day of Resurrection, I will, certainly, bring under full control his offspring, but a few. |
| 17:63 | | He said: Go thou! And whoever of them heeded thee, then, truly, hell will be your recompense, an ample recompense. |
| 17:64 | | And hound whom thou wert able to of them with thy voice and rally against them with thy horses and thy foot soldiers and share with them in their wealth and children and promise them. And Satan promises them nothing but delusion. |
| 17:65 | | Truly, My servants, over them there is no authority for thee. And thy Lord sufficed as a Trustee. |
| 17:66 | | Your Lord is He Who propels for you the boats on the sea so that you be looking for His grace. Truly, He had been Compassionate towards you. |
| 17:67 | | And when harm afflicted you upon the sea, whomever you call to besides Him went astray. But when He delivered you to dry land, you turned aside. And the human being had been ungrateful. |
| 17:68 | | Were you safe that He causes not the shore of dry land to swallow you up or send a sand storm against you? Again, you will find no trustee for you. |
| 17:69 | | Or were you safe that He will not cause you to return to it another time and send against you a hurricane of wind and drown you because you were ungrateful? Again, you will not find for yourselves an advocate against Us in it. |
| 17:70 | | And, certainly, We held the Children of Adam in esteem. And We carried them on dry land and on the sea and provided them with what is good. And We gave them advantage over many of whomever We created with excellence. |
| 17:71 | | On a Day when We will call to every clan with their leader, then, whoever was given his book in his right hand, those will recite their book and they will not be wronged in the least. |
| 17:72 | | And whoever had been unwilling to see here will be unseeing in the world to come and one who goes astray from the way. |
| 17:73 | | And, truly, they were about to persecute thee for what We revealed to thee so that thou wouldst devise against Us other than it. And, then, they would take thee to themselves as a friend. |
| 17:74 | | And if We made thee not firm, certainly, thou wast about to incline to them a little. |
| 17:75 | | And, then, We would have caused thee to experience a double of this life and a double after dying. Again, thou wouldst find for thyself no helper against Us. |
| 17:76 | | They were about to hound thee from the region that they drive thee out of it. Then, they would not linger in expectation behind thee but for a little while. |
| 17:77 | | This is, surely, a custom with whomever We sent before thee of Our Messengers. And thou wilt not find in Our custom any revision. |
| 17:78 | | Perform the formal prayer from the sinking sun until the darkening of the night and the recital at dawn. Truly, the dawn recital had been one that is witnessed. |
| 17:79 | | And keep vigil with it in the night as a work of supererogation for thee. Perhaps thy Lord will raise thee up to a station of one who is praised. |
| 17:80 | | And say: My Lord! Cause me to enter a gate in sincerity. And bring me out as one who is brought out in sincerity. And assign me from that which proceeds from Thy Presence a helping authority. |
| 17:81 | | And say: The Truth drew near and falsehood is vanishing! Truly, falsehood had been made to vanish away. |
| 17:82 | | We send down in the Quran what is a healing and a mercy for the ones who believe. And it increases not the ones who are unjust, but in a loss. |
| 17:83 | | And when We were gracious to the human being, he turned aside and withdrew aside. And when worse afflicted him, he had been hopeless. |
| 17:84 | | Say: Each does according to his same manner. And thy Lord is greater in knowledge of him who is better guided on the way. |
| 17:85 | | And they will ask thee about the spirit. Say: The spirit is of the command of my Lord. And you were not given the knowledge but a little. |
| 17:86 | | And if We willed, We would, certainly, take away what We revealed to thee. Again, thou wouldst not find for thee in that any trustee against Us, |
| 17:87 | | but a mercy from thy Lord. Truly, His grace had been great upon thee. |
| 17:88 | | Say: If humankind were gathered together and jinn to bring the like of this Quran, they would not approach the like of it even if some of them had been sustainers of some others. |
| 17:89 | | And, certainly, We diversified for humanity in this, the Quran, every kind of parable, but most of humanity refused all but disbelief. |
| 17:90 | | And they would say: We will never believe in thee until thou hast a fountain gush out of the earth for us. |
| 17:91 | | Or will there be a garden for thee of date palms and grapevines and Thou hast caused rivers to gush forth in its midst with a gushing forth? |
| 17:92 | | Or hast thou caused heaven to drop on us in pieces as thou hadst claimed? Or hast thou brought God and the angels as a warranty? |
| 17:93 | | Or is there a house of ornament for thee? Or hast thou ascended up into heaven? And we will not believe in thy ascension until thou hast sent down for us a Book that we recite. Say: Glory be to my Lord! Had I been but a mortal Messenger? |
| 17:94 | | And nothing prevented humanity from believing when the guidance drew near them, but that they said: Raised God up a mortal as a Messenger? |
| 17:95 | | Say: If there had been angels on earth walking around, ones who are at peace, then, We would certainly have sent down for them from heaven an angel as a Messenger. |
| 17:96 | | Say: God sufficed as a Witness between me and between you. Truly, He had been of His servants Aware, Seeing. |
| 17:97 | | And he whom God guides is one who is truly guided. And whomever He causes to go astray, thou wilt never find for them protectors other than Him. And We will assemble them on the Day of Resurrection on their faces, unseeing and unspeaking and unhearing. Their place of shelter will be hell. Whenever it declined, We will increase the blaze for them. |
| 17:98 | | That is their recompense because they were ungrateful for Our signs. And they said: When we had been bones and broken bits, will we be ones who are raised up as a new creation? |
| 17:99 | | Consider they not God Who created the heavens and the earth is One Who Has Power to create the like of them? And He assigned a term for them whereof there is no doubt in it, but the ones who are unjust refused all but disbelief. |
| 17:100 | | Say: If you possessed the treasures of the mercy of my Lord, then, you would hold back for dread of spending. And the human being had been ever stingy. |
| 17:101 | | And, certainly, We gave Moses nine signs, clear portents. Then, ask the Children of Israel when he drew near them. Then Pharaoh said to him: Truly, O Moses, I think that thou art one who is bewitched. |
| 17:102 | | He said: Certainly, thou knewest no one caused these to descend but the Lord of the heavens and the earth as clear evidence. And, truly, O Pharaoh, I think that thou be one who is accursed. |
| 17:103 | | So he wanted to hound them in the region, but We drowned him and those who were with him altogether. |
| 17:104 | | And We said to the Children of Israel after him: Inhabit the region. So when drew near the promise of the world to come, We will bring you about a mixed group. |
| 17:105 | | And We caused it to descend with The Truth. And it came down with the Truth. And We sent it not to thee, but as one who gives good tidings and as a warner. |
| 17:106 | | And it is a Recitation. We separated it in order that thou recitest it to humanity at intervals. And We sent it down a sending successively down. |
| 17:107 | | Say: Believe in it, or believe not. Truly, those who were given the knowledge before it, when it is recounted to them, they fall down on their visages, ones who prostrate. |
| 17:108 | | And they say: Glory be to our Lord! Truly, the promise of our Lord had been one that is accomplished. |
| 17:109 | | And they fall down on their visage weeping. And it increases them in humility.‡ |
| 17:110 | | Say: Call to God or call to the Merciful. By whatever you call Him, to Him are the Fairer Names. And be thou not loud in thy formal prayer nor speak in a low tone and look for a way between. |
| 17:111 | | And say: The Praise belongs to God Who takes not a son to Himself and there be no associates ascribed with Him in the dominion nor there be for Him need for a protector from humility. And magnify Him a magnification! |
