14:1  Alif. Lãm. RA. A timeless Book, WE sent it down t to you, so you may bring humankind out of the layers of darkness into the Light, by leave of their Rabb, toward the path of the Almighty, of the One worthy of all praise,

14:2  of Allah, the One unto whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. And woe unto the disbelievers from a severe punishment—

14:3  The ones who prefer the earthly life over the Hereafter, while they hinder others from the path of Allah and desire crookedness to it. Such have strayed afar.

14:4  WE did not send any messenger except with the spoken language of his people, so that he would convey plainly to them. Then, HE [justly] sets astray whom HE wills, and HE [mercifully] guides whom HE wills. HE is the Almighty, the all-wise.

14:5  WE did indeed send Moses with OUR signs: “Bring your people out from layers of darkness into the Light and remind them of the Days of Allah.” In that are definite signs for each gratefully committed one.

14:6  And [remind] when Moses said to his people, “Be mindful of the blessing of Allah upon you, when HE delivered you from the ilk of Pharaoh, who were imposing on you the worst of sufferings, while they were slaughtering your sons while keeping your women alive. And in that was a tremendous trial from your Rabb.

14:7  And when your Rabb expressly announced, ‘If you are grateful, I will most certainly give you increasingly more, and if you are ungrateful, surely my chastisement is indeed severe.’”

14:8  And Moses said, “If you disbelieve, you and whoever else on the earth, all together— no matter then, Allah is ever self-sufficient and without need, ever praised.

14:9  Has not the news come to you of the ones before you: the people of Noah and Aad and Thamūd and the ones after them? None knows them except Allah. There came to them their messengers with telling proofs. But they turned down their [i.e., the messengers’ extended] hands through their mouths, and said, “We have disbelieved in what you have been sent with, and we categorically are in doubtful distrust of what you invite us to.”

14:10  Said their messengers. “Is there uncertainty about Allah, the Originator of the heavens and the earth, inviting you in order to forgive you of your trespasses, and grant you time until a defined term?” Said they, “You are no more than a mortal like us, intent on hindering us from what our fathers worshipped. So then, come to us with evident authority.”

14:11  Said to them their messengers: “We are nothing except mortals like you, but it is Allah—HE confers favor upon whomever of HIS devotees HE wills. And it is not ever for us that we come with authority, except by the leave of Allah. And on Allah then, let the believers place their trust.

14:12  And what cause do we have that we rely not upon Allah. HE has already guided us on our paths. And we will most surely persevere against any suffering you may cause us. And on Allah then, let the trusting, place their trust.”

14:13  And the ones who had disbelieved said to their messengers, “We will most certainly drive you out of our land, or you revert fully to our creed. Thereafter their Rabb revealed to them, “WE shall indeed destroy the wrongdoers.

14:14  And WE will most certainly settle you in the land after them. That is for whoever fears MY station and fears MY forewarning.”

14:15  They sought a breakthrough, and every stubborn tyrant was disappointed.

14:16  Beyond him is Jahannam, and he will be slaked with festering water,

14:17  gulping at it yet scarcely swallowing it. Death will approach him from all angles, while not is he ever dead, and in his tow is an unyielding punishment.

14:18  The example of the ones who disbelieved in their Rabb: Their deeds are like ashes upon which the wind unleashes its fury on a stormy day. They have no control over anything which they had earned. That is the far-gone error.

14:19  Have you not seen that Allah has created the heavens and the earth in [expression of the] Truth? If HE so wills, HE can remove you and bring a new creation.

14:20  And that is not in any way mighty on Allah.

14:21  And they all emerged for Allah: Thereupon the dependent ones said to those who had claimed superiority, “We were your followers, so now are you the ones to fend away from us any bit of Allah’s punishment?” They said, “If Allah had guided us, we would have surely guided you. It is the same for us whether we are anxious or patient. There is not any escape for us.”

14:22  When the matter was decided, Satan said, “Surely, Allah promised you a promise of the Reality. I promised you, then left you to yourself. It was not for me to have any authority over you, except that I called you, and you purposefully responded to me. Hence do not blame me but blame yourselves. I am not your rescuer in any way, nor are you my rescuer anywise. I believed not in whatever you had partnered me with heretofore. Indeed, for the wrongdoers is an agonizing punishment.”

14:23  Those who had embraced Faith and did the right deeds, were admitted in gardens, subservient to which rivers flow, abiders therein by the permission of their Rabb. Their greeting therein: “Peace.”

14:24  Have you not considered how Allah presented a similitude: A purely good word is like a purely wholesome tree; Its roots are firm, and its branches extend into the sky,

14:25  giving its harvest in every season by the permission of its Rabb. Allah unfolds the examples for humankind to enable them to mindfully contemplate.

14:26  The example of a foul word is like a malignant tree, uprooted from above the ground. There is not any lodgment for it.

14:27  Allah gives firm anchor to the ones who have embraced Faith by the firmly anchored Word, in the earthly life and in the Hereafter. And Allah leaves astray the unjust. Allah does what HE wills.

14:28  Have you looked at the ones who converted a blessing of Allah into ingratitude and shifted their people to the home of desolation?

14:29  They fuel Jahannam. And wretched is the lodgment.

14:30  They have set up peers with Allah to mislead away from HIS way. Say, “Indulge yourselves—your sure destination is the fire.”

14:31  Say to MY devotees, the ones who have believed, that they be anchored to Prayer and spend of that which WE have provided for them, secretly and publicly, ere that a day comes in which there is no bartering or befriending.

14:32  Allah is the One WHO created the heavens and the earth, and HE sent down water from the sky, and brought forth diverse produce as sustenance for you with it. And HE has made the vessels compliant to you, so they may sail in the sea by HIS command, and HE made the rivers compliant to you.

14:33  And HE put the sun and the moon in tireless service to you. And HE has put the night and day in service to you.

14:34  And HE has given you of all [of that]— you did not ask HIM. If you go on to quantify one blessing of Allah, you cannot reckon it. Of certain, man is categorically an unjust, ungrateful being.

14:35  And [remember] when Abraham said, “My Rabb, render this territory secure, and dissociate me and my children from worshipping idols.

14:36  My Rabb, they [i.e., idols or false gods] indeed have set many among people on the wrong path. So [for my complete dissociation from everything false], one who follows me— such a one is of me. And whoever disobeys me—YOU are One to forgive and show mercy.

14:37  Our Rabb, I have settled in an uncultivable valley by YOUR sacred house, some from my progeny, our Rabb, that they may keep up Prayer. Do then, cause some peoples’ hearts and minds to be drawn to them, and [our Rabb] sustain them from the many fruits, to enable them to be thankful.

14:38  Our Rabb, YOU do know what we hide and what we proclaim. And nothing in the land and in the sky becomes unknown to Allah.

14:39  Praise be to Allah Who gifted me with Ishmael and Isaac despite the grand old age. Surely, my Rabb is ever a hearer of Prayers.

14:40  My Rabb, make me a maintainer of Prayer, and from my progeny, our Rabb, and do accept my prayer.

14:41  Our Rabb, forgive me, and my parents, and the believers on a day the reckoning is set.”

14:42  Do not ever construe Allah to be oblivious of what the wrongdoers do. HE is only giving them respite until the day in which the eyes will be transfixed,

14:43  Rushing with necks craning, with the elevation of their heads, their [transfixed] glance not once reverting back to them, while their hearts and minds are empty.

14:44  Warn humankind of a day their punishment will come upon them, causing the ones who did wrong to plead, “Our Rabb, give us just a short respite—we will respond to YOUR call, and we will follow the Messenger.” [It will be asked of them], “Did you not aforetime swear that there was not any downfall for you?”

14:45  While you had dwelt in the dwellings of those who had wronged themselves, and plainly evident to you was how WE dealt with them; and WE laid out for you the many [instructive] examples?

14:46  They have already hatched their plot, and with Allah is [the knowledge and fate of] their plot. [Futile is their plotting], even if their plot be that the mountains would vanish from it.”

14:47  Do not for a moment construe that Allah is a contravener of HIS promise to HIS Messenger. Verily, Allah is Almighty, owner of retribution.

14:48  On the day, the earth is changed to other than the earth and the heavens too, and they will appear before Allah, the ONE, the Supreme Subduer—

14:49  You will see the flouters of divine guidance on that day, bound together in the chains [of their crimes],

14:50  their garments made of pitch and the fire wrapping their faces,

14:51  that Allah may give back to every soul what it had earned. Of certain, Allah is swift in reckoning.

14:52  This is a message for humankind, that they be warned with it and that they may know that HE is only ONE God, and that seekers of the essence, may mindfully contemplate.