O our Lord! verily I have settled some of my offspring in an unfruitful valley, nigh to thy holy house;4 O our Lord, that they may strictly observe prayer! Make thou therefore the hearts of men to yearn toward them, and supply them with fruits that they may be thankful. O our Lord! thou truly knowest what we hide and what we bring to light; nought on earth or in heaven is hidden from God. Praise be to God who hath given me, in my old age, Ismael and Isaac! My Lord is the hearer of prayer. Lord! grant that I and my posterity may observe prayer. O our Lord! and grant this my petition. O our Lord! forgive me and my parents and the faithful, on the day wherein account shall be taken." Think thou not that God is regardless of the deeds of the wicked. He only respiteth them to the day on which all eyes shall stare up with terror: They hasten forward in fear; their heads upraised in supplication; their looks riveted; and their hearts a blank. Warn men therefore of the day when the punishment shall overtake them, And when the evil doers shall say, "O our Lord! respite us yet a little while:5 To thy call will we make answer; thine Apostles will we follow." "Did ye not once swear that no change should befal you? Yet ye dwelt in the dwellings of those6 who were the authors of their undoing7 and it was made plain to you how we had dealt with them; and we held them up to you as examples. They plotted their plots: but God could master their plots, even though their plots had been so powerful as to move the mountains." Think not then that God will fail his promise to his Apostles: aye! God is mighty, and Vengeance is His. On the day when the Earth shall be changed into another Earth, and the Heavens also, men shall come forth unto God, the Only, the Victorious. And thou shalt see the wicked on that day linked together in chains– Their garments of pitch, and fire shall enwrap their faces that God may reward every soul as it deserveth; verily God is prompt to reckon. This is a message for mankind, that they may thereby be warned: and that they may know that there is but one God; and that men of understanding may ponder it. _______________________ 1 See Sura [lxxxiv.] x. 5. 2 Lit. I truly renounce your having associated me (with God) heretofore. 3 The preaching and the profession of Islam. Comp. Ps. i. 3, 4. 4 The Caaba. 5 Lit. to a term near at hand. 6 Of the anciently destroyed cities of Themoud, Ad, etc. 7 Lit. were unjust to their own souls. SURA XII.–JOSEPH, PEACE BE ON HIM [LXXVII.] MECCA.–III Verses In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful ELIF. LAM. RA.1 These are signs of the clear Book. An Arabic Koran have we sent it down, that ye might understand it. In revealing to thee this Koran,2 one of the most beautiful of narratives will we narrate to thee, of which thou hast hitherto been regardless.