7:1  Alif. Lãm. Mĩm. Sãd.

7:2  A timeless book sent down unto you. So, let no impediment be in your bosom from it. [It is sent down] so you may warn by it. And [it is sent down as] a reminder for the believers.

7:3  Follow [O believers] what has been sent down upon you from your Rabb and follow not protectors other than HIM. Seldom do you remember.

7:4  How many a settlement have WE terminated, when in consequence [of their heedlessness] OUR might bore on them at night or while they were nappers at day?

7:5  And when OUR might bore down upon them, their entreaty was nothing else except that they said, “Surely, we were wrongdoers.”

7:6  [Follow], for WE shall surely question the ones to whom messages were sent, and WE shall surely question the Messengers.

7:7  Then WE shall certainly recount to them with knowledge. And WE are not ever absent.

7:8  The weighing [of the substance of what was sent ahead] on that day will be the truth. So, those whose scales are heavy— they are the successful ones.

7:9  And those whose scales are light— those are the ones who squandered their souls because of their persistent injustice to OUR signs.

7:10  WE have empowered you on earth and have provided for your livelihoods therein. Seldom do you give thanks.

7:11  WE did create you all, then shaped you [outwardly and inwardly], then WE said to the angels, “Prostrate to Adam.” Whereupon they all prostrated except Ib'līs. He was not to be of those who prostrated.

7:12  HE said, “What stopped you that you did not prostrate when I commanded you?” He said, “I am better than him. YOU created me of fire, and YOU created him of clay.”

7:13  HE said, “Step down from it as it is not to be for you to be in it, harboring arrogance. Therefore get out! You are of the ones who debase [themselves].

7:14  He said, “Give me respite until the day they are raised.”

7:15  HE said, “Surely, you are of those given respite.”

7:16  He said, “Because YOU entrapped me, I shall surely be lurking for them along the straight path of YOURS.

7:17  “Then I shall come upon them relentlessly— [openly] in front of them, and [insidiously] from behind them, and from their right and from their left and YOU will not find most of them grateful [to YOU].”

7:18  HE said, “Get out of it, disgraced, and banished. Whoever follows you from among them— I shall most certainly fill up Jahannam with you, all together.”

7:19  “O Adam, take the Garden for a serene home, you and your mate; eat from where you will and do not come near this tree, lest you both be of the wrongdoers.”

7:20  So then [per his mission], Satan whispered to them both so he could expose them to what was hidden from them of their nakedness. And he said, “Your Rabb has not forbidden you from this tree, except for your becoming angels, or becoming of the immortals.”

7:21  And he pledged himself to them both, “I indeed am definitely one of the well-wishers unto you both.”

7:22  Thus, he led on the two of them in delusion. So, when they both tasted the tree, their nakedness became apparent to them, and they both began impulsively affixing upon themselves some leaves of the garden. And their Rabb called out to them both, “Did I not forbid both of you from this tree and I told you both, ‘Hearken, Satan is a blatant enemy to you two’?”

7:23  Said the two, “Our Rabb, we have done wrong to ourselves and if YOU do not forgive us, and do not show us mercy, we will most certainly be of those who lost it all.”

7:24  HE said, “Step down, some of you in enmity unto others. And in the land there shall be a lodgment for you, and a provision through to a time.

7:25  HE said, “In it you will live and in it you will die and from it you will be taken out.”

7:26  “O children of Adam, WE have sent down upon you clothing to cover your naked bodies, and as attire. And the clothing of God-consciousness—that is best.” That is from the signs of Allah to enable them to remember.

7:27  O children of Adam do not let Satan tempt you, in the manner he took out your parents from the Garden, stripping them of their clothing [of God consciousness] to show them both their naked bodies. Surely, he [Satan] and his clan see you, from where you cannot see them. And WE have made the satanic entities allies to those who do not believe.

7:28  When they commit an indecency, they say, “We found our forefathers set upon it,” and “Allah bid us to it.” Say, “Surely, Allah does not bid indecency. Do you say, attributing to Allah, what you do not know?”

7:29  Say, “My Rabb has commanded with fairness. And [HE has said], ‘Set your faces aright, at every place [and instance] of worship and invoke HIM, as ones devoted sincerely to HIM in Faith. Just as HE has initiated you— just so you are returning.”

7:30  A group HE has guided, and another group deserved the error that befell them. It is they who took the satanic entities as their allies, instead of Allah, figuring that it is was they who were the rightly guided ones.

7:31  O children of Adam be particular with your adornment at every place [and instance] of worship. And do eat and drink but do not be prodigal. Of certain, Allah does not love the prodigal.

7:32  Say, “Who has forbidden the adornments of Allah which HE brings forth for HIS free-willed servants and the pristine things of sustenance.” Say, “These, on the Day of Resurrection, are exclusively for those who embraced Faith in this earthly life.” Thus, do WE frame the messages for a people who know.

7:33  Say, “My Rabb has only forbidden the immoralities— whatever is outwardly manifested of them, and whatever is inwardly held— and the sinful deed, and the rebelliousness without the just right, and your association with Allah that for which HE has sent down no authorization, and that you attribute to Allah what you do not know.”

7:34  For every community, is a term. Thereafter, when the [end] of their term comes, they will not be able to delay a moment, nor advance it.

7:35  O children of Adam, when the Messengers from your midst do come to you relating MY messages to you, then those who [as a result] gain consciousness of ME and make amends— no fear is to be upon them, nor will they grieve.

7:36  While the ones who deny OUR signs and wax arrogant in the face of them— they are the reapers of the fire, abiders therein.

7:37  For, who does more wrong than one who invents a lie against Allah or denies HIS signs? Such as them— their allotted share from the Writ will [continue to] get to them until OUR Messengers come to collect them: They asked, “Where are those whom you invoked besides Allah?” They said, “They have forsaken us.” And they bore witness against their own selves that they were deniers of the Truth.

7:38  HE said, “Step into the fire amongst multitudes of Jinn and humans who passed away before you.” Every time a multitude came in, it cursed its own fellows, until they all had filed therein. Said the last of them about the first of them, “Our Rabb, these people here misguided us, so give them double punishment of the fire.” HE said, “For each is double but you do not realize.”

7:39  Said the first ones to the last ones, “You are not any better off than us. Therefore, partake the punishment on account of what you were earning.”

7:40  Behold, those who deny OUR signs and wax arrogant in the face of them, the gates of Heavens are not to be opened for them, and they are not to enter the garden until the twisted rope can pass through the eye of the needle. Such is the consequence WE assign to the flouters of divine guidance.

7:41  A bedding for them, and covers above them, from Jahannam. That is how WE requite the wrongdoers.

7:42  Whereas the ones who have embraced Faith and have done the right deeds — WE do not task a soul except by its capacity— they are the deserving beneficiaries of the Garden, abiders therein.

7:43  And WE will have purged any malice within their bosoms, streams flowing subservient to them. And they said, “Praise is for Allah, WHO guided us to this here. It was not for us to attain guidance, had Allah not guided us. The Messengers of our Rabb did indeed come with the Truth. It was said from afar to them: “That Garden—you have been given to inherit is on account of what you were doing.”

7:44  The beneficiaries of the Garden called out to the reapers of the Fire: “We have already found to be real what was promised to us by our Rabb. So then, did you find real that which was promised [to you] by your Rabb?” They said, “Yes.” Whereupon an announcer between them announced: “The denunciation of Allah bears down on the wrongdoers.”

7:45  [The wrongdoers are] the ones who hinder others from the path of Allah, seeking to make it twisted, while being disbelievers in the Hereafter.

7:46  And between the two [i.e., the beneficiaries of the Garden and the reapers of the Fire] is a barrier, while on the vantages are men who discern all by their marks. They called out to the residents of Paradise: “Peace be upon you!” They have not entered it, but they earnestly hope.

7:47  And when their sights were turned to a view of the reapers of the Fire, they said, “Our Rabb, place us not with the wrongdoing people”

7:48  The people on the vantages called out to the men— [whose failings] they discerned by their marks, and said, “What did your amassments gain you, and what for were you being arrogantly defiant?

7:49  Are these the ones [in the Garden] the ones you [now in the fire] had [heretofore] sworn, Allah was not to deliver mercy to?” [It was said to the people on the vantage], “Enter the Garden. No fear is to be upon you, and you are not to grieve.”

7:50  The reapers of the Fire called out to the beneficiaries of the Garden: “Pour some water upon us, or any of what Allah has provided for your sustenance.” They responded, “Allah has forbidden them both to the disbelievers.”

7:51  They are the ones who took their religion as a triviality, and an earthly contest, and earthly life deluded them. So, this day WE are to ignore them just as they ignored the meeting of this day of theirs, and [for] all that they were contending in OUR verses.

7:52  WE have indeed brought a scripture to them, which WE made actionable through knowledge, as guidance and mercy for a people wo believe.

7:53  Are they expecting anything except its factual realization? On the day, its realization comes, those who were remiss of it before will say, “The Messengers of our Rabb did bring us the Truth. So then, can we have any intercessors who could intercede on our behalf? Or could we be returned so that we may do differently than what we were doing?” They did lose their souls and whatever they had invented had forsaken them.

7:54  Your Rabb is Allah. HE WHO created the heavens and the earth in six [heavenly] days; beyond that HE set HIS attributes to reign over all manifestation. HE draws the night over the day— HE summons it with paced consistency. The sun and the moon and the stars are dutifully bound by HIS command. Is it not that the creation [you see] and the command [which caused it all] belong to HIM? Allah is the Source of all blessings, the Rabb of all realms.

7:55  Call upon your Rabb in humility and in inner depths. Of certain, HE does not love the transgressors.

7:56  Do not sow discord in the land after it has been set aright. Call upon HIM in fear and hope. Of certain, the mercy of Allah is forever near to those who do good in devotion to God.

7:57  HE is the one WHO sends the winds as a herald of HIS impending mercy. When after the heavily laden clouds have fused, WE drive [a mass] to a dead land and send down the water [marked for it] and with it bring forth all the fruits. Thus, WE will raise the dead. [These signs are] to enable you to be mindful.

7:58  Pristine land yields its profuse crop by the permission of its Rabb, and the [land] which is polluted hardly bears. Thus, do WE offer for their taking, the signs, for a people who give thanks.

7:59  WE did send Noah to his people. So [per his mission], he warned, “O my people worship Allah. There is no deity for you other than HIM. Surely, I fear the punishment upon you of a transcendent day.”

7:60  Said the influential ones of his people, “We in fact see you to be in obvious error.”

7:61  He said, “O my people, there is no error associated with me. On the contrary, I am a Messenger from the Rabb of all Realms.

7:62  I am delivering to you the messages of my Rabb, and I bring to you good counsel, and I know from Allah what you know not.

7:63  Or do you deem it strange that a reminder has come to you from your Rabb through a man from among you, so HE may warn you, in order that you may become God-conscious, and be enabled to receive mercy?”

7:64  Notwithstanding, they denied him. So, WE saved him and those with him in the vessel, and WE drowned those who denied OUR signs. Surely, they were a blind people.

7:65  And to Aad [God sent] their brother, Hud. He said, “O my people worship Allah. You have no deity besides HIM. Will you therefore not be conscious of HIM?

7:66  Said the influential ones of his people, who had disbelieved, “We for a fact see that you are into [advocating] foolishness and, we do indeed think that you are of the liars.

7:67  He said, “O my people no foolishness besets me, but I am in fact, a messenger from the Rabb of all Realms.

7:68  I am delivering to you the messages of my Rabb, and I am a trustworthy advisor unto you.

7:69  Or do you deem it strange that a reminder has come to you from your Rabb through a man from among you, that HE may warn you? Remember when HE made you stewards after the people of Noah, and increased you amply in your stature. Do then remember the providences of Allah to enable you to attain success.”

7:70  They said, “Have you come to us to make us worship Allah, [alone, for] HIS ONENESS, and to have us walk away from what our forefathers worshipped? If that be so, then bring on upon us what you promise us, if you are of those who speak the Truth.”

7:71  He said, “A blight and indignation from your Rabb has already beset you. Are you being unyielding with me through [holding on to mere] names— names assigned to [non-existent deities] by you and your forefathers? Allah has not sent down any warrant regarding them! So then, bide. I too, along with you, am amongst the biders.”

7:72  So, WE saved him and the ones with him, with mercy from US— and WE cut the root of the ones who denied OUR signs. And they were not to be believers.

7:73  And unto Thamūd [God sent] their brother Salih: He said, “O my people worship Allah. You have no god other than HIM. Telling evidence has now come to you from your Rabb. This she-camel of Allah is a sign for you. Leave her to be so she may feed in the land of Allah, and do not touch her in harm—lest you are seized by a painful chastisement.

7:74  And remember when HE made you successors after Aad, and settled you in the land. You took to making castles on the plains and hewing mountains for homes. So, remember the providences of Allah and do not act wickedly on the earth, spreading discord.

7:75  The influential ones of his people—the ones who waxed arrogant, asked those who were deemed powerless—the ones among them who had believed, “Do you actually know if Salih is carrying a message from his Rabb?” They replied, “We do fully believe in the message sent with him.”

7:76  Said the ones who had waxed arrogant, “We surely disbelieve in what you have come to believe.”

7:77  So, in insolent violence against the command of their Rabb, they hamstrung the she-camel and said, “O Salih, bring upon us what you forewarn us of— if you are of the Messengers.”

7:78  So, the quake seized them, and in its wake, they lay face down in their homes.

7:79  And so, he turned away from them. And he said, “O my people I did indeed deliver to you my Rabb’s message and I sought to counsel you, but you do not love the ones who give earnest counsel.”

7:80  And [God had sent] Lot when he said to his people, “Do you commit the indecency in which no one in all realms has outdone you?”

7:81  You sexually couple with men instead of women. Nay! You are a reckless people.

7:82  Their answer was none other than that they responded: “Force them out of your settlement. Surely, they are mortals pursuing immaculacy.”

7:83  So, WE saved him and his household, except his wife who was of the laggards.

7:84  And WE heaped a rain upon them. So, observe how was the end-fate of the flouters of divine guidance.

7:85  And unto Madyan [God sent] their brother Shuaib: He said, “O my people worship Allah. You do not have a god other than HIM. Telling evidence has come to you from your Rabb. So, give in full measure and equal weight, and do not deprive people of things which are theirs, and do not spread discord on the land after it has been set aright. That is better for you, if you are believers.

7:86  Do not post yourselves by every wayside threatening and hindering from the path of Allah, such as one who has come to believe in HIM, and [do not] seek to distort it. Remember when you were a few and [from the few] HE made you many. Do consider the end-fate of the corrupt.

7:87  And if there be a party from among you who have believed in the message I have been sent with, and a party which has not believed in it—persevere until Allah judges between us [all]. HE is the best of the judges.”

7:88  Said the influential ones, the ones of his people who waxed arrogant, “We shall indeed expel you O Shuaib and those who believe with you from our settlement, or you fall back to our creed.” He said, “Even if we were averse?

7:89  We will have forged a lie against Allah, if we relapse back into your creed, after Allah has delivered us from it. It is not for us that we relapse back into it, except that Allah, our Rabb, wills it. Our Rabb contains all things in knowledge. Upon Allah we rely. Our Rabb, break open [the impasse] between us and our people with the truth. You are the best of all to provide breakthroughs.”

7:90  Said the influential ones from among those of his people who disbelieved. “Hearken! If you follow Shuaib, you for sure in that case, will be squanderers for certain.”

7:91  So, the quake seized them, so next, they lay face down in their homes,

7:92  the ones who denied Shuaib— as if they had never prospered in there. The ones who denied Shuaib were the losers.

7:93  Thereupon he turned away from them and said, “I did indeed deliver the messages from my Rabb to you, and I sought to counsel you. So how am I to mourn over a disbelieving people.

7:94  WE sent not a prophet through a town, except WE seized its residents with the tribulation and adversity [measured out for them], to enable them to prayerfully beseech.

7:95  Then WE effected change—the boon [they sought] in place of [each of their] plight— until they had effaced [the struggles of the past], and they said, “Our forefathers were also grazed by the [cycles of] hardship and ease. WE then seized them, with suddenness, while they were unawares.

7:96  If it were that the inhabitants of the settlements had believed, and had been conscious of God, WE would have opened upon them the blessings from the sky and the land. But they lived the lie, and WE seized them on account of what they were earning.

7:97  So then, have the inhabitants of the settlements acquired security against [an instrument of] OUR might coming to them at night while they are asleep?

7:98  Or have the inhabitants of the settlements acquired security against [an instrument of] OUR might coming to them in broad daylight while they are busy in worldly contests?

7:99  Have they then acquired security against Allah’s [humanly indeterminable] devising? Demonstrably, no one feels secure from the Allah’s devising except the people heading to ruin.

7:100  Does it not instruct those who have inherited the land from its [former] inhabitants that had WE willed, WE would have afflicted them for their trespasses and sealed their hearts, so they would not hear?

7:101  Those settlements—WE narrate to you of their accounts. Their Messengers did come to them with telling proofs —no way were they going to believe in what they had repudiated from the outset. Thus, Allah sets an imprint upon the hearts of the disbelievers.

7:102  WE did not find any commitment in most of them [to their covenant with God], and WE did find that most of them were persistently iniquitous.

7:103  Then after them, WE sent forth Moses with OUR signs to Pharaoh and his notables— they were unjust about them. Observe then how was the end-fate of the spreaders of discord:

7:104  Moses had said, “O Pharaoh! Verily! I am a messenger from the Rabb of all realms.

7:105  Rightfully bound to say, in attribution to Allah, nothing except the Truth: I have come to you, with telling evidence from your Rabb. So [heed it] and send the children of Israel with me.”

7:106  He said, “If you have come with a sign then bring it forth, if you be of the truthful.”

7:107  So, then he threw forth his staff— there and then, it was a serpent, in plain view.

7:108  And he pulled out his hand— right then and there, it was radiant for [all] the onlookers [to see].

7:109  Said the notables of the people of Pharaoh, “Surely, this man is a learned sorcerer.

7:110  He desires to bring you out from your land.” Pharaoh asked, “So, what do you recommend?”

7:111  They said, “Hold him back along with his brother, and dispatch recruiters into the cities

7:112  to bring to you, every learned sorcerer.”

7:113  And the sorcerers came to Pharaoh and said, “There surely is a reward for us if we be the victors.”

7:114  He said, “Yes. And you shall be among those granted proximity [to me].”

7:115  They said, “O Moses. [No matter] whether you present [first], or we be the [first] presenters.”

7:116  He said, “Present.” So, when they presented, they bewitched the eyes of the people and stirred their fear. They had come with a great sorcery.

7:117  And WE revealed unto Moses: “Throw down your staff in view— it will promptly swallow whatever they have conjured.”

7:118  Thus, the Truth was instantiated, and it rendered false whatever they had implemented.

7:119  Thus, were they defeated there, and they retreated, humbled.

7:120  And the sorcerers were [moved to] drop down, in prostration.

7:121  Said, they, “We believe in the Rabb of all Realms—

7:122  The Rabb of Moses and Aaron.”

7:123  Said Pharaoh, “You have believed in HIM, even before I gave you permission! A sure scheme this is— one you planned in the wider community— so you may extract its residents from it. So now you shall soon come to know.”

7:124  I shall sever your hands and your feet on opposite sides, and then I shall crucify you all together.”

7:125  They said, “Verily, unto our Rabb are we heading back.

7:126  You seek revenge from us for no reason except for our having believed in the signs of our Rabb, after they reached us. Our Rabb, pour out perseverance upon us and collect us [unto YOU] as muslims [i.e., ones surrendered to God].”

7:127  Said the notables amongst Pharaoh’s people, “Are you going to leave Moses and his people free to spread discord on the land, and to forsake you and your gods?” He said, “We shall slay their sons, and we will keep their women alive. Surely, we are ones with irresistible power over them.”

7:128  Said Moses to his people, “Seek assistance through Allah and persevere. Surely, the Land belongs to Allah, HE gives it as inheritance to whosoever of HIS devotees HE wills. And the final sequel belongs to the God-conscious.

7:129  They said, “We were harmed before your coming to us, and after your coming to us.” He said, “It may well be that your Rabb will destroy your enemies and put you in charge as vicegerents on the land, then bring to light how you behave.”

7:130  WE indeed did take to task the ilk of Pharaoh with seasons, and dearth of produce, so they would mindfully heed.

7:131  So then, when [through the seasons] the boon came upon them, they said, “This is [deservedly] for us,” and if a setback befell them, they attributed it as an ill-omen from Moses and those with him. Without question! Their fortune is only with Allah but most of them know not.

7:132  And they said, “No matter what sign you may bring to us to bewitch us thereby—we shall not believe in you.”

7:133  Consequently, WE sent upon them the flood, and the locusts, and the lice, and the frogs, and blood— categorical signs. Yet they arrogantly defied, and they were a people in deliberate defiance [of divine signs].

7:134  Whenever the pestilence took effect over them, they said, “O Moses pray to your Rabb for us, by the covenant HE has made with you. If you do remove this pestilence from us, we shall certainly believe in you, and we shall certainly send the children of Israel with you.”

7:135  Then, when WE removed the pestilence through to a term—they who survived the term would promptly break their commitment.

7:136  So, WE took retribution from them— WE drowned them in the sea, because they denied OUR signs and were disregardful of them.

7:137  And WE made the people, the ones deemed weak, inherit the eastern parts of the land, and its western parts, which WE had blessed. And the words of your Rabb reached fulfillment with the best perfection for the children of Israel, because they had persevered. And WE wrecked what Pharaoh and his people were producing. along with all that they were erecting.

7:138  And WE gave passage to the Children of Israel across the sea, and then they came upon a people obsessing with the idols with them. They said, “O Moses materialize a god for us, like the gods they have. He said, “Verily, you are an ignorant people.

7:139  Indeed, these people— worthy of demolishment is what they are into, and false is what they practice.”

7:140  He said, “Should I seek a god for you other than Allah? Whereas HE has graced you over all realms?”

7:141  And [remember O children of Israel] when WE delivered you from the ilk of Pharaoh, who were subjecting you to the worst of torments, killing your sons while keeping your women alive. And in that was a tremendous trial from your Rabb.

7:142  WE appointed thirty nights for Moses and WE completed them with another ten. So, he fulfilled in forty nights the tryst of his Rabb. Moses had said to his brother Aaron, “Be my deputy to my people and set things right and do not follow the path of the ones who spread discord.”

7:143  And [at the chosen moment] when Moses came to OUR tryst, his Rabb spoke directly to him. [Moses] said, “My Rabb, show me [THYSELF], so I may set my sight upon YOU. HE said, “You never can see ME, but look at the mountain. If it can remain lodged in its place, then you will see ME. When HIS Rabb made HIS presence bear upon the mountain, HE rendered it level with the ground, and Moses collapsed in a swoon. Then when he regained his senses, he said, “YOURS is all glory and might. I turn to YOU repentant, and I am the first of the believers.

7:144  HE said, “O Moses, I have chosen you over all people with MY messages, and with MY spoken words [unto you]. So, take what I have given you, and be of the grateful.”

7:145  WE wrote for him in the tablets good counsel about all matters, and with categorical clarity about all things. So [it was said], “Take hold of them with firmness and bid your people to seize its highest teaching. [Following that], I will show you the abode of the iniquitous.”

7:146  I will alienate from MY signs those who behave arrogantly on earth without right. And even if they see every sign, they will not believe in it. And if they see a path of integrity, they will not take it as a way. And if they see a path of falsehood, they will take it as a way. That is because they denied OUR signs and were ever disregardful of them.

7:147  The ones who denied OUR signs and the meeting of the Hereafter, their deeds have miscarried. Are they recompensed except for what they were doing?

7:148  In his absence, the people of Moses took to [worshipping] an embodied calf [made] from their ornaments, which had a mooing property. Did they not see that it did not speak to them, nor guide them to a way? They took to it, and they were wrongdoers.

7:149  And when all was lost to them, and they realized that they had done wrong, they said, “Now if our Rabb does not show mercy to us and forgive us, we will surely be of those who lost it all.

7:150  And then when Moses returned to his people, angry and sorrowful, he said, “How wickedly you have stood in for me, after me. Do you set a time limit on the command of your Rabb?” He threw down the tablet [in front of them] and grabbed his brother by his head, pulling him toward himself. [His brother] said, “O son of my mother, the people did indeed deem me weak and were about to kill me. So, do not you let the rivals rejoice over me and do not place me with the wrongdoing people.”

7:151  Said [Moses], “My Rabb, forgive me and my brother and admit us into YOUR mercy. YOU are most merciful of the merciful.”

7:152  “Verily, those who took to the calf, an indignation from their Rabb and humiliation in this earthly life shall catch up with them.” Thus, do WE requite the fabricators [of lies].

7:153  Whereas those who had committed misdeeds and then repented thereafter and embraced Faith— indeed, following that, your Rabb is surely forgiving, ever merciful.

7:154  And when Moses’ anger subsided, he took up the tablets. And in their inscriptions were guidance and mercy for those who reserve their reverence [solely] for their Rabb.

7:155  Moses selected seventy men from his people for OUR tryst. But when the quake seized them, he said, “My Rabb, if YOU had so willed, YOU would have terminated them and me before. Why would you destroy us because of what the foolish amongst us did? This was nothing but a trial from YOU, by which YOU let fall into error whomever YOU will, and YOU guide whomever YOU will. YOU are our Protector, so forgive us and have mercy upon us. YOU are the best of the forgivers.

7:156  And decree for us goodness in this world and in the Hereafter. We have aligned ourselves unto YOU.” HE said, “I afflict with MY punishment whom I will, and MY mercy has contained all things. So, I shall decree it for those who are conscious of ME, give Zakat, and those who believe in OUR signs.

7:157  The ones who follow the Messenger, the unlettered Prophet, the one they find in the record with them in the Torah and the Injīl— he commands them with the right and fair, and forbids them the immoral, and makes lawful for them the pristine, and makes unlawful for them the foul and impure, and gives them relief from their burdens and the yokes which were on them. Therefore, those who have believed in him, honored him, and helped him, and followed the light which has been sent down with him— they are the spiritually successful ones.

7:158  Say, “O humankind, I am the Messenger of Allah to all of you. HE to Whom belongs the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth. There is no deity except HIM. HE gives life, and HE gives death.” So, believe in Allah and HIS Messenger, the unlettered Prophet— the one who believes in Allah and HIS Words. Follow him so you may be rightly guided.

7:159  And among the people of Moses is a community who guide with the Truth and dispense justice through it.

7:160  WE split them into twelve tribes, as distinct communities. And when his people approached him for water, WE revealed unto Moses, “Tap the rock with your staff.” Thereupon, twelve springs gushed forth from it. All peoples came to know their water source. And WE made the cloud spread shade upon them and sent down upon them Manna and Salwa: “Eat from the pristine [and wholesome] things that Allah has provided for your sustenance.” And [when they went off Guidance], they did not wrong US, but they were doing wrong to their own souls.

7:161  And [remember] when it was said to them, “Reside in peace in this settlement, and eat from it whence you desire, and utter a petition of relief from the burden of your sins, and pass through the door, bowing. WE will forgive you your sins and WE shall boost the ones who do good in devotion to God.”

7:162  Then, the ones amongst them who did wrong, changed the words to other than what was stated to them. So, WE sent a pestilence upon them from the sky for doing wrong.

7:163  Ask them about the settlement which was in the vicinity of the sea when they violated the Sabbath: When their fish came to them leaping out of the water on their Sabbath day, and the day they were not on Sabbath, [the fish] did not come to them. Thus, we did try them with what they were iniquitously pursuing.

7:164  And when a community among them said, “Why do you preach to a people whom Allah is bound to destroy, or punish with a severe punishment?” They said, “A plea for pardon to your Rabb, and to give them the chance to be conscious of HIM.

7:165  Thus, when they [i.e., the wrongdoers] forgot what they had been reminded of, WE forgave those who sought to forbid the wrong and seized the wrongdoers with a dreadful punishment because they were iniquitous.

7:166  So, when they became insolently defiant of what they were forbidden from, WE said to them, “Be apes, irredeemably feeble [of resolve].”

7:167  And [mention] when your Rabb let it be known that HE would set upon them, through to the Day of Resurrection, such who would impose on them the worst of torments. Behold your Rabb is indeed swift of requital, and HE is indeed forgiving, ever merciful.

7:168  WE split them into communities in the land; some among them were righteous and some less than that. WE tested them with blessings and misfortunes, so to enable them to return [to God-consciousness].

7:169  Then successors who inherited the timeless Book, succeeded them, seizing the incidental opportunity of this lower life, saying, “We shall be forgiven [for it],” whereas if another similar incidental opportunity comes their way, they latch on to it. Has the covenant of the timeless Book not taken hold upon them, that they speak about Allah nothing but the Truth. And they have studied what is in the timeless Book! And the home of the Hereafter is better for those who are God-Conscious? Will you then not think it through?

7:170  Those who latch on to the timeless Book and make Prayer [their] anchor— very surely, WE do not diminish the reward of the reformers.

7:171  And [there was a time] when WE suspended the mountain above them as though it were an awning, and they thought it would fall upon them, [WE said to them], “Seize what WE have given you with strength, and remember what is in it, to enable you to be God-Conscious.”

7:172  And [there was that moment of witnessing the Truth] when your Rabb took from the children of Adam, their progeny from their posterity, and made them testify upon their souls, “Am I not your Rabb?” They said, “Yes absolutely, we bear witness”—lest you say on the Day of Resurrection, “We were oblivious of this.”

7:173  Or lest you say, “Our forefathers worshipped false gods before, and we were merely their descendants after them. Will you then destroy us for what was done by the purveyors of falsehood?”

7:174  Thus, do WE distinctly frame the signs, so they may return [to their primordial covenant with God].

7:175  Bring to bear upon them the lesson of one to whom WE gave OUR signs but who thereafter let go of them. As a result, Satan, pursued him— and then he became one of the entrappers.

7:176  If WE had willed, WE would have elevated him through [the signs], but he gravitated toward the world and followed his whims. His example is the example of the dog: if you impose on him, he pants, or if you keep your distance passing him, he pants. Such is the example of a people who deny OUR signs. So then, relate the narration to enable them to reflect.

7:177  How wretched an example of the people who denied OUR signs. And they were wronging their own souls.

7:178  He whom Allah guides— he is the rightly guided one and those HE leaves astray— they are the ones who have squandered it all.

7:179  And already have WE seeded many of Jinn and men for Jahannam. They have hearts—not by them do they grasp, and they have eyes— not through them do they see, and they have ears – not by them do they hear. They are like the cattle herd. Nay [despite their faculties], they are even more lost. They are the heedless.

7:180  Allah’s are the most beautiful Attributes, invoke HIM by them and leave alone those who induct mistruths into HIS attributes. WE shall requite them for what they were doing.

7:181  And among those WE have created is a community, which guides by the Truth and lives justly through it.

7:182  While those who deny OUR signs, WE shall encroach on them gradually, from where they will not know.

7:183  And I have given them leeway. Behold! MY plan is ever firm and complete.

7:184  Do they not reflect that nothing about their fellowman [i.e., Muhammadﷺ] is anywise insane? He is but a plain and open warner!

7:185  Have they not probed the dominion of the heavens and the earth and into anything which Allah has created, and [considered] that perhaps their appointed term has drawn nearer? So [with evident transitions all around them], which happening after it will they believe?

7:186  HE who Allah lets go astray— there is not any guide for him. HE leaves them in their uncontained transgression, blindly adrift.

7:187  They ask you about the hour, “When is its mooring?” Say, “Its knowledge is only with my Rabb. None but HE shall bare it at its time. It has imparted its gravity through the heavens and the earth; it shall not come unto you except suddenly. They ask you as if you were an usher assigned to it. Say, “The knowledge thereof is only with Allah,” but most of humankind do not know.

7:188  Say, “I own neither a benefit nor a harm for myself, except what Allah has willed. If I were to have knowledge of the unseeable realm, I would have indeed sought an increase of [just] the good, and the bad would not have touched me. I am not except a warner and conveyor [of divine tidings] to a people who believe.

7:189  HE is WHO created you from a single soul, and made its mate from it, so he may turn to her for wholeness. So when he mates with her, she has borne a light load— and then carried along with it. Then when she has grown heavy, they both call out to Allah, their Rabb: If YOU grant us a wholesome child, we shall most surely be among the grateful.

7:190  And when in time HE has given them a wholesome child, they attribute partners to HIM in that which HE bestowed upon them both. Exalted is Allah, far beyond any partners they attribute.

7:191  Do they set up as partners with HIM that which has created nothing— while they themselves are created!

7:192  And they [whom they set up as partners] cannot muster the ability to provide any help for them, nor can they help themselves.

7:193  If you [believers] call them to the Guidance, they will not follow you. It is the same for you— whether you call them or whether you stay silent.

7:194  The ones you [polytheists] call upon besides Allah are mere created entities, the like of you. So then do call them and then do let them respond to you, if you are to be truthful.

7:195  Have they feet by which they walk, or have they hands by which they grasp, or have they eyes by which they see, or have they ears by which they hear? Say, “Call unto your partner-gods, then plot against me and do not give me respite.

7:196  Allah is my protector, WHO has sent down the timeless Book. And HE protects the righteous.

7:197  And those who you call besides HIM— they cannot muster the ability to come to your help, and neither can they help themselves.”

7:198  If you [believers] call them to Guidance, they do not hear. And you see them looking at you, while they do not see.

7:199  Take to pardoning and command with the right and fair and avoid the ignorant ones.

7:200  And if a goading from Satan nags at you, seek refuge in Allah. Indeed, HE is all-hearing, all-knowing.

7:201  Behold! Those who are God-conscious— when a pestering impulse from Satan rubs off on them, they immerse themselves in the remembrance of God and gain insight.

7:202  Whereas their [ignorant] brethren nudge them further into the fallacious. Thereafter they do not curtail.

7:203  When you do not bring them a sign, they say, “Why have you not elected it?” Say, “I follow only what has been revealed unto me by my Rabb. This [Quran] bears insights from your Rabb, and guidance and mercy for a people who believe.”

7:204  And when the Quran is recited, listen deeply to it, and give ear, to enable you to receive mercy.

7:205  And remember your Rabb deep in your soul, humbly and in fear, [even] while it is less than through the vocalization of the Words— during the day’s unfolding and the day’s folding and be not of the ones who live obliviously.

7:206  Behold! Those who are in the presence of your Rabb, do not proudly turn away from HIS worship, and they contemplate HIS glory with inner surrender, and unto HIM they prostrate. ۩