They will challenge thee to hasten the punishment: but had there not been a season fixed for it, that punishment had already come upon them. But it shall overtake them suddenly when they look not for it. They will challenge thee to hasten the punishment: but verily Hell shall be round about the infidels. One day the punishment shall wrap them round, both from above them and from beneath their feet; and God will say, "Taste ye your own doings." O my servants who have believed! Vast truly is my Earth:14 me, therefore! yea worship me. Every soul shall taste of death. Then to us shall ye return. But those who shall have believed and wrought righteousness will we lodge in gardens with palaces, beneath which the rivers flow. For ever shall they abide therein. How goodly the reward of those who labour, Who patiently endure, and put their trust in their Lord! How many animals are there which provide not15 their own food! God feedeth them and you. He Heareth, Knoweth all things. If thou ask them who hath created the Heavens and the Earth, and hath imposed laws on the sun and on the moon, they will certainly say, "God." How then can they devise lies? God lavisheth supplies on such of his servants as He pleaseth or giveth to them by measure. God knoweth all things. If thou ask them who sendeth rain from heaven, and by it quickeneth the earth, after it hath been dead, they will certainly answer, "God." SAY: Praise be to God! Yet most of them do not understand. This present life is no other than a pastime and a disport: but truly the future mansion is life indeed! Would that they knew this! Lo! when they embark on shipboard, they call upon God, vowing him sincere worship, but when He bringeth them safe to land, behold they join partners with Him. In our revelation they believe not, yet take their fill of good things. But in the end they shall know their folly. Do they not see that we have established a safe precinct16 while all around them men are being spoiled? Will they then believe in vain idols, and not own the goodness of God? But who acteth more wrongly than he who deviseth a lie against God, or calls the truth when it hath come to him, a lie? Is there not an abode for the infidels in Hell? And whoso maketh efforts for us, in our ways will we guide them: for God is assuredly with those who do righteous deeds. _______________________ 1 See Sura lxviii. p. 32. The first ten verses of this Sura were revealed at Medina, after the battles of Bedr and Ohod. Nöld. p. 115. 2 Deities for whose worship thou canst shew no authority. Comp. Tr. Jebhamoth, fol. 6. If a father saith to his son, "Defile thyself," or saith, "Make not restitution," shall he obey him? It is said (Lev. xix. 3), Let every man reverence his father and mother, but keep my Sabbaths all of you: ye are all bound to honour me. Thus also Midr. Jalkut, 604. Comp. next Sura, v. 13.