O the pity of men! No apostle cometh to them but they laugh him to scorn. Do they not consider how many generations we have destroyed before them? Verily they shall not return to them, But gathered together before us shall they all be arraigned. And a sign for them is the dead earth which we quicken and bring thereforth grain, and they eat of it; And we make therein gardens of palm-trees and vines, and cause springs to gush forth therein; That they may eat of its fruits, and of the labour of their hands: and will they not be thankful? Extolled be the glory of Him who hath created all sorts of what the earth beareth, and of men’s selves, and of that they know not of! And a sign for them is the night. We draw away the day from it, and lo! they are in darkness; And the sun hasteneth to her resting-place.--This is the ordinance of the Mighty, the Wise!-- And for the moon we have decreed his mansions, till he is wasted to the likeness of a withered palm-branch. It is not meet that the sun should overtake the moon, nor the night outstrip the day; but each doth swim in its sphere. And it is a sign for them that we carry their offspring in the burthened ship; And that we create for them the like of it to ride on; And if we please, we drown them, and there is no succour for them, nor are they delivered, Save in our mercy, and for a transient joy. And when it is said to them, “Fear what is before you and what is behind you; haply ye may obtain mercy:” Thou bringest not one sign of the signs of their Lord but they turn away from it! And when it is said to them, “Give alms of what God hath bestowed on you,” they who disbelieve say to those who believe, “Shall we feed him whom God can feed if He pleases? verily ye are only in manifest error.” And they say “When will this threat come to pass, if ye be speakers of truth?” They await but a single blast; it shall smite them whilst they are wrangling, And they shall not be able to make their wills, and unto their families they shall not return. And the trumpet shall be blown, and behold they shall hasten out of the graves to their Lord: Saying, “Oh, woe is us! who hath roused us from our sleeping-place? This is what the Merciful threatened; and the apostles spake truth.” There shall be but one blast, and, lo! all are arraigned before us; And on that day no soul shall be wronged at all, nor shall ye be recompensed save for what ye have wrought. Verily on that day the people of Paradise shall, be happy in their pursuits, They and their wives reclining on couches in the shade; They have fruit there and whatsoever they demand: “Peace” is their greeting from a merciful Lord.