38:1  Saad. By the Quran, endowed with the Remembrance.

38:2  But nay, the ones who have disbelieved are mired in self-conceit and schism.

38:3  How many a generation before them have WE destroyed? For [when their destruction was upon them] they called out— when it was no longer the time of evasion.

38:4  And they have deemed it strange that a warner from amongst them has come to them. And the disbelievers have said, “This is a lying wizard.

38:5  Has he made all gods as One God? Surely, this is definitely an absurdly strange thing.”

38:6  The notables among them went about [saying]: “Keep on going and stay steadfast upon your gods. This is surely a thing wishfully framed.

38:7  We have not heard of this in the last creed. This here is nothing but a concocted lie.

38:8  Has the Remembrance been sent to him, out of all of us?” Nay! They are [actually] in doubt about MY reminder. Rather, they have not yet tasted MY punishment.

38:9  Or do they have the treasuries of mercy of your Rabb— the Almighty, the Bestower of all gifts.

38:10  Or does it belong to them— the dominion of the heavens and earth, and of all between the two? Then let them ascend through all the means.

38:11  What is there is a defeat-bound force of the cobbled coalition [of prophet-deniers].

38:12  Before them, the people of Noah had denied the Truth, and Aad, and Pharaoh the owner of anchor blocks,

38:13  and the Thamūd, and the people of Lot, and the dwellers of the thicket. Such are the cobbled coalition.

38:14  Each of them did nothing but denied the Messengers. Therefore, fully due was MY requital.

38:15  These here will notice nothing but a single call— there is no preparatory time for it.

38:16  Whereas they have said, “Our Rabb, hasten for us our lot before the Day of Reckoning.”

38:17  Persevere against what they say and remember OUR devotee David, endowed with strength. He was one always resorting [to God].

38:18  WE made the mountains comply with him, extolling the limitless glory [of their Rabb] at eventide and sunrise.

38:19  And the birds gathered in assembly—all resorting to HIM.

38:20  WE bolstered his dominion and gave him [his] wisdom and the decisiveness of persuasive speech.

38:21  Has the litigant’s account come to you, when they scaled the sanctum?

38:22  When they entered upon David, he was startled by them. They said, “Fear not— two litigants, “One of us has transgressed against the other. So, judge between us by the right of justice and go not to the extreme and guide us towards the proper confines of the Path.

38:23  This here is my brother. He has ninety-nine ewes, and I have a single ewe. So, he said, “Give me charge of her and he overcame me through persuasive speech.”

38:24  He said, “He has done wrong to you through the ask of your ewe alongside his ewes. Verily, many of the ones who comingle belongings, transgress against one another, except the ones who have embraced Faith and have done the right deeds— and few are they. And David did sense that WE had all but tested him. So, he sought forgiveness from his Rabb and dropped on his knees and turned to God in repentance. ۩

38:25  So, WE forgave him for that. Verily, an assured nearness and homecoming’s best are with US for him.

38:26  “O David, WE have placed you as a vicegerent in the land. So, judge between all men in Truth and do not follow the false impulse, lest it leads you away from the way of Allah. Verily, those who stray from the way of Allah, for them is a severe punishment, because they had forgotten the Day of Reckoning.”

38:27  WE have not created the sky and that earth and what is between the two for naught. That is an assumption of those who disbelieve. So, woe from the fire awaits the ones who have disbelieved.

38:28  Or [if all is for naught] should WE value the ones who have embraced Faith and have done the right deeds like the spreaders of discord across the earth? Or should WE value the God-conscious like of the wicked?

38:29  Blessed Scripture, WE have revealed to you, so they may ponder its verses, and that seekers of the essence may mindfully reflect.

38:30  And WE gave to David the gift of Solomon— the excellent devotee [of God]. He was one always resorting [to God].

38:31  When during the sun’s setting the most impeccable prancing horses were paraded before him,

38:32  he said, “I have always loved the love of the intrinsically good [gifts of life] on account of my Rabb’s remembrance [inherent in them].” [They were paraded] until [the sun] hid itself, with its coverall [of all things].

38:33  “Hand them back to me,” [he would say] and then go about stroking their legs and necks.

38:34  And WE did test Solomon when WE imposed a body upon his seat. Thereafter he turned to God:

38:35  He said, “My Rabb, forgive me and grant me the gift of a rule, not proper for anyone after me. Verily, YOU are the Grantor of all grants.”

38:36  So, WE made the wind compliant to him, flowing by his bidding, to whichever bearing he targeted,

38:37  and the satanic entities, every builder and deep diver

38:38  and conjoined others in the bonds [of duty].

38:39  “This is OUR bestowal, so then confer favor [on others] or withhold, without reckoning.”

38:40  And indeed, an assured nearness and homecoming’s best are with US for him.

38:41  And remember OUR devotee Job, when he called out to his Rabb, “Satan has scuffed me with a conspicuous [malady] and a suffering.”

38:42  “Stomp with your foot. This here is a cool bath, and a drink.”

38:43  And WE granted him his household, and similar to them alongside— a mercy from US and a reminder for the seekers of the essence.

38:44  “Take in your hands a mixture and then treat with it. And do not break an oath.” Surely, WE found him to be persevering— an excellent devotee, always resorting to US.

38:45  Remember OUR devotees, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, people of devotional hands and clear perspectives.

38:46  WE purified them with pure essence— a mindfulness of the [Eternal] Home.

38:47  Of certain, in OUR sight they are of the chosen ones, the personification of goodness.

38:48  And remember Ishmael, Elisha, and Dhul-Kifl. Each among those who personify goodness.

38:49  This is a reminder. And for the God-conscious is assuredly homecoming’s best:

38:50  Gardens of Eden! Open are the gates for them.

38:51  Reclining in comfort therein, calling for [and served] therein with many a fruit and drink.

38:52  And ones attentively focused of gaze are with them, well-matched

38:53  This is what you are promised for the Day of Reckoning.

38:54  This here is very surely OUR sustenance for them. There is not any depletion to it.

38:55  This here [for the God-conscious], while for the unrestrained usurpers is indeed the homecoming’s worst:

38:56  Jahannam. They are to fuel it. So then, miserable is the resting place.

38:57  This here is a fluid bereft of mercy [ḥamīm], and a fluid of gloom [ghassāq]. So let them taste it.

38:58  And other of the type to complement.

38:59  This crowd rushing headlong with you— no welcoming greeting borne by them. They too are the fire’s fuel.

38:60  They said, “Nay! You are the ones—no welcoming greeting borne by you. You! You led for us the way to it— wretched is the lodgment.”

38:61  They said, “Our Rabb, whoever has led us to have this— add doubly to his punishment in the fire.”

38:62  And they said, “[This is] not for us! We do not see men we were counting to be of the wicked ones.

38:63  Did we take them non seriously or have the eyes missed them?”

38:64  That is an inevitable reality—contentiousness of the reapers of the fire, [with the believers here on earth and other disbelievers in the hereafter].

38:65  Say, “I am only a warner and there is not any god except Allah, the ONE, the Supreme Subduer.

38:66  Rabb of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between the two, the Almighty, the ever-forgiving supreme Forgiver.”

38:67  Say, “It [i.e., the Quran] is a transcendent message.

38:68  You are being dismissive of it.

38:69  It was not for me to have any knowledge about the highest [divine] agencies when they were being contentious—

38:70  To me has been revealed no more except that I am only an open warner.”

38:71  When your Rabb said to the angels, “It is I, Creator of a mortal from clay.

38:72  So then, when I give him even balance, and I breathe into him of MY spirit— register the moment for him in prostration.”

38:73  So, the angels prostrated, all of them in unison,

38:74  except Ib'līs. He arrogantly defied and became of the ones with a misplaced sense of self.

38:75  HE said, “O Ib'līs what stopped you from prostrating to what I created with MY two Hands. Have you turned arrogantly defiant or are you of the exalted ones?”

38:76  He said, “I am better than him. YOU created me from fire, and YOU created him from clay.”

38:77  HE said, “So then get out of it— hereon you are an outcast.

38:78  Surely, upon you is MY denunciation, through to the Day of Surrender and Reckoning.”

38:79  He said, “My Rabb, then grant me respite until the Day they are resurrected.”

38:80  HE said, “So [it is]; you are of those given respite,

38:81  through to the day of the defined moment.”

38:82  He said, “Then, I swear by YOUR might I most certainly will lure them— all together,

38:83  except YOUR devotees amongst them— the ones purified”

38:84  HE said, “So it is Real, and Reality is what I say:

38:85  I will surely fill Jahannam from you and such of them who follow you— all together.

38:86  Say, “I do not ask you any reward for it and I am not of the self-tasked.

38:87  Know that it is but a reminder for all realms

38:88  And you will surely realize [the truth of] its message when it is time.”