14. Ibrahim/Prophet Abraham

I/We begin by the Blessed Name of Allah

The Immensely Merciful to all, The Infinitely Compassionate to everyone.

14:01
Alif. Lam. Ra’.
This is the Divine Book - The Qur’an - WE have sent it down upon you - O The Prophet-
so that you may lead people out of the darkness into the light by the Permission of their Rabb - The Lord,
onto the Path of the Almighty, the All-Praised ….

14:02
…. Allah, to WHOM belongs whatever is within the celestial realm and whatever is within the terrestrial world.
Are you going to reject it?
Do not forget that for those who reject it, there is a doom of a terrible punishment.

14:03
Those who love the life of this world more than the life of the Hereafter,
and obstruct the Path of Allah, seeking to make it appear crooked and faulty-
they are far straying from the truth.

14:04
And WE never assigned any Messenger to a community with a message except in the language and idiom of his people, so that he could make the Message clear to them.
But despite this Allah lets go astray whoever wills to go astray, and HE guides whoever wills to be guided.
And HE is the Almighty, the All-Wise.

14:05
And, indeed, WE assigned Moses with OUR Miraculous Signs to Pharaoh, instructing:
‘Lead your people – Descendants of Jacob - out of the darkness into the light, and
remind them of Allah’s Days.
Truly in that are messages for every steadfast in adversity and grateful’ person.

14:06
And recall when Moses said to his people:
‘Remember Allah’s favors upon you when HE salvaged you from Pharaoh’s people,
as they were
afflicting on you dreadful suffering, and

slaughtering your new-born sons, and
letting live your daughters/women.
And in that was indeed an awful trial and great calamity from your Rabb - The Lord.

14:07
And remember too when your Rabb - The Lord proclaimed:
‘If you remain grateful for MY Favors I shall certainly give you even more,
but if you become ungrateful, then MY Punishment will indeed be intensely terrible.’

14:08
And Moses said:
‘Even if you were ever to disbelieve -
you and whoever is on the earth altogether,
for Allah is truly free of all needs, All-Sufficient, All-Praised.

14:09
Have the accounts of those communities of disbelievers who lived before you not come to you -
the People of Noah, and
the tribes of `Ad and Thamud, and
those who came after them?
No one knows about them now but Allah.
Their Messengers came to them with clear evidence of the Truth.
However, they put their hands up over their mouths and said:
‘We definitely disbelieve what you are assigned with, and
we are certainly in serious doubt about the truthfulness of what you are calling us to.’

14:10
Their Messengers would ask:
‘Do you have any doubt about the existence and singularity of Allah, The Lord Creator of
the celestial realm and the terrestrial world without precedence?
HE is calling you to Faith, so that HE may forgive you for some of your past impieties and
sins,
and grant you respite for an appointed time’ by not destroying you for your sins.
They would always answer:
‘You are merely a human being like us.
Do you intend turning us away from what our forefathers worshiped?
Bring us, then, a clear proof of authority’ demonstrating your truthfulness.

14:11
Their Messengers would say:
‘Indeed - we are merely human beings like you.
But Allah confers HIS Grace on whoever HE Wills from amongst HIS servants by way of assigning the Prophethood.
And it is not within our power to bring you any proof of authority by way of a miracle
except by Allah’s Permission.
And in Allah let the believers trust.

14:12
And why should we not trust in Allah when HE has guided us to our ways of truth?
And, therefore, we are going to endure patiently whatever abuse you may subject us to.
And so let those who trust should trust in Allah.’

14:13
Then those who had disbelieved would tell their Messengers:
‘Revert to our traditions and our creed or else we are going to drive you out of our land.’
Thereupon their Rabb - The Lord revealed on to them - their Messengers:
‘WE shall definitely destroy the evildoers,’

14:14
and certainly, WE will make you inhabit the land after them.
This is MY Promise for whoever stands in awe of ME and whoever stands in awe of MY Warnings.’

14:15
So they – the Messengers - prayed for and sought victory from their Rabb – The Lord.
And then every powerful and stubborn tyrant - disdaining obedience to Allah - was brought to nothing.

14:16
a. The Hell lies behind him, where he will be made to drink filthy fluid,

14:17
sipping it, little by little, and yet can hardly swallow it,
and death will come upon him from every direction,
yet he will not die - because he must taste his punishment in full,
for yet more severe suffering will lie ahead of him.

14:18
The likeness of those who disbelieve in their Rabb - The Lord
is the likeness of their good deeds that are like ashes which the wind blows away violently on a stormy day leaving no traces behind.
They will have no power over that which they earned in their life on earth,
and that is indeed the straying far from the truth.

14:19
Have you not observed that Allah created the celestial realm and the terrestrial world in truth - for a true purpose?
If HE ever so wills, HE could remove you and bring a new creation in your place.

14:20
a. And this is surely not difficult or a great matter for Allah.

14:21
And they will all rise from the dead and appear before Allah – all together,
then the weak will say to the influential - those who acted with arrogance:
‘Indeed, we were your followers, so can you relieve us now against Allah’s Punishment’ in any way?
They will respond:
‘If Allah had guided us to the way to be saved, we would indeed have guided you.
It is now all the same for us whether we grieve impatiently or endure patiently.
In any case, there is no escape for any of us now.’

14:22
And when everything will have been decided during the Time of Final Judgment,
the Satan will say:
‘Indeed, Allah promised you the True Promise,
whereas I too promised you, but did not keep it.
And I had no power over you except that I called you and you responded to me.
So do not blame me now.
You only have to blame yourselves.
So I can no more help you, nor can you help me.
I have already disclaimed your associating me with Allah’ in belief, Unity or Worship.
Indeed, the unjust/evildoers, for them is going to be a terrible punishment.

14:23
However, those who believed and practiced righteousness will be admitted to Paradise beneath which rivers/streams flow,
wherein to remain by their Rabb - The Lord’s Permission.
And their mutual greeting in it will be: ‘Peace!’

14:24
Have you not considered how Allah illustrates the example of good word?
It is like a good tree,
its root holding firm in the ground and its branches reaching out to the sky.

14:25
Yielding its fruits every season, time after time, by the Will of its Rabb - The Lord.
In this way, Allah sets out examples for a people so that they may reflect.

14:26
And on the other hand, the example of a bad word is like a bad tree -
uprooted from the ground soil, having no stability.

14:27
Allah will support and uphold those who believe through the good word - both in the life of this world and in the Hereafter;
but Allah will let the unjust/evildoers go astray.
And Allah does whatever HE Wills.

14:28
Have you not considered those who exchange Allah’s blessings for ingratitude,
and thus lead their people to the realm of ruin - the Hell?

14:29
The Hell - wherein they will enter to be scorched.
And what a miserable place to settle!

14:30
And yet they ascribe entities of worship to Allah to mislead people from HIS Path.
Tell them:
‘Enjoy yourselves now in this life.
But surely your destination is going to be the Fire!’

14:31
Tell MY servants who believe that they should:
establish Salat/Prayers, and
give in charity both in private and in public out of the provisions WE provide them,
before coming of the Time when there will neither be any bargaining, nor ransoming, nor
any befriending to bring any benefit.

14:32
Allah – it is HE WHO created the celestial realm and the terrestrial world without any precedence, and
HE sends down rain water from the sky clouds,
with which HE brings forth all sorts of fruitful vegetation for your sustenance.
And HE has harnessed for your service the ships sailing through the seas/oceans by HIS
Command,
and HE has also made rivers, canals, and water courses to be harnessed for your benefit.

14:33
And likewise, HE has made the sun and the moon subservient to you, both diligently
pursuing their courses without fail, and
HE has made the nighttime subservient to you as well as the daytime.

14:34
And HE grants you of what you ask of HIM.
And were you to count Allah’s Favors and Blessings, you will never be able to enumerate
and take stock of them all.
Yet, still human being is unjust, ungrateful.

14:35
And remember when Abraham prayed to his Rabb – The Lord:
O ‘My Rabb - The Lord!
Make this city of Holy Makkah peaceful, safe and secure, and
keep me and my descendants away from the worship of idols.’

14:36
O ‘My Rabb - The Lord!
They – the idols and idol-worshipers - have indeed misled so many people.
But whoever follows me faithfully he is truly of me.
And whoever disobeys me -
YOU are truly All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate.’

14:37
O ‘Our Rabb - The Lord!
I have settled some of my descendants in the uncultivable valley of Makkah - in the wilderness without any vegetation or any other life support system -
by YOUR Sacred House, so that, O Our Rabb - The Lord, they may establish the Salat/
Prayers.
So make the hearts of some of YOUR people who visit them to yearn toward them,
and provide them with all sort of fruitful sustenance, so that they may be ever grateful.’

14:38
O ‘Our Rabb - The Lord!
YOU certainly know what we hide in our hearts and what we disclose:

for nothing can ever be hidden from Allah whether within the terrestrial world or within the celestial realm.’

14:39
‘All Praise and Gratitude is for Allah, WHO has granted me sons, Ishmael and Isaac, even
in my old age.
And, truly, my Rabb - The Lord is All-Listening to the supplications.’

14:40
‘O My Rabb - The Lord!
Make me steadfast in establishing the Salat/Prayers and also my descendants,
O Our Rabb - The Lord!
And accept my supplication.’

14:41
‘O Our Rabb - The Lord!
Forgive me, and my parents, and the believers,
at the Time when the process of accountability will take place.’

14:42
And never think for a moment that Allah is not aware of what the unjust/evildoers are doing.
HE is merely giving them a break - without punishment - till the Time when their eyes will
be fixed wide-open in horror and shock …..

14:43
…. when they will be running around
with their necks outstretched,
their heads raised up -
unable to blink their eyes from what they behold, and
their hearts in utter void and emptiness of any sense due of terror.

14:44
So warn people of the Time when this suffering will overcome them,
whereupon those who have done evil will say:
O ‘Our Rabb - The Lord!
Spare us even for a little while by returning us to the world,
so that we will diligently respond to YOUR Call and obediently follow the Messengers.’
However, it will be said in rebuke:
‘Did you not swear in the worldly life that you would not have to leave the world’ for the life in the Hereafter and suffer the same fate as other disobedient people before?

14:45
‘And you inhabited the ruins of the same dwellings of those before you who wronged themselves through disbelief-
and, moreover, it became perfectly clear to you how WE dealt with them by way of punishment,
and WE set out so many examples for you’ -
to enable you to grasp the truth and mend your ways, but you did not take heed.

14:46
They schemed their scheme against the Prophet, but their scheme was known to Allah,

even though their scheme was so precise and lethal that it could shake the mountains,
but finally, nothing worked before the Perfect Power of Allah.

14:47
So do not ever think that Allah is not going to keep up HIS Promise to HIS Messengers.
Indeed, Allah is Almighty, Master of Vengeance.

14:48
The Time will come when the terrestrial world will be transformed into something other than this terrestrial world,
and the celestial realm as well,
and when everyone will rise from the dead appear before Allah - the One, the All- Overwhelming.

14:49
a. And at that Time you will see the sinful tied to each other in shackles…..

14:50
…. wearing garments of black pitch and tar,
and their faces all scorched by fire.
That will be their fate!

14:51
So that Allah will award every one of what one has earned of good and evil in worldly life.
Surely, Allah is Swift at the reckoning.

14:52
This – The Qur’an - is a Proclamation for all people - all humanity.
So that they may be warned by it, and
they may know that HE is only One Allah.
And that those with understanding may reflect on its Message to understand that HE is Allah - The One and Only.