23. Al-Mu’minun/The Believers

I/We begin by the Blessed Name of Allah

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

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a. Indeed, The Believers will succeed.

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a. The Believers are those who humble themselves in their Salat/Prayers,

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a. and those who avoid frivolous talk and behavior,

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a. and those who regularly pay out the Zakat/annual charity,

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a. and those who guard their chastity -

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except from their spouses or from those whom their right hands possess -
for then, indeed, they are free from blame.

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a. But whoever seeks beyond that limit, those - they are the transgressors,

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a. and those who faithfully keep their trusts, pledges, contracts, and promises,

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a. and those who guard their Salat/Prayers from worldly distractions.

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a. It is they - they are the inheritors -

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who will inherit the Paradise of Firdaws,
they will live therein forever!

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And, indeed, WE created the human being out of the essence of clay.

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Thereafter, WE made him as a mingled drop in a secure repository of the female’s womb.

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And, then, WE made an embryo/clot from the drop,
and then WE made a lump from the embryo/clot,
and, then, WE made bones from the chewed-up lump,
and, then, WE clothed the bones with flesh and muscles.
And, then, out of that tiny drop, WE structured him into yet another creation.
So Exalted is Allah - the Best Creator of all creators!

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a. And, then, after all this and having lived a life, you are certainly going to die.

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a. Thereafter, you are certainly going to be resurrected to a new dimension of existence
during the Time of Resurrection.

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And indeed above you, WE created seven-layered tracts - cosmic systems or orbits - generally referred to as seven heavens,
and WE are never unmindful of any aspect of their creation.

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And WE send down rain water from the sky-clouds, in a measured amount,
then WE settle it on the earth,
and, of course, WE are Capable of taking it away, as well.

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Then by means of this water, WE produce for you orchards of date-palms, and grapevines,
and many other fruits for you of which you consume.

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And with the same rain water, WE also produce a type of olive tree - that grows from and in the lands around Mount Sinai -
yielding oil and seasoning for your food for all who eat and relish.

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And indeed in the livestock too is a lesson for you.
For instance, WE give you to drink that milk which is from within their bellies,
and in them are numerous benefits to you,
and from them, you eat some of their flesh as well.

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a. And also ride upon them just as you do on the boats and ships, cars and buses.

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And indeed WE assigned Noah to his people.
And he said to them:
O ‘My People!
Submit in worship to Allah - The One and Only God.

You have no entity worthy of worship other than HIM.
Will you not then be mindful of HIM?’

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But the notables of his people - who disbelieved - said among themselves and to each other:
‘He is no more than a human being just like yourselves.
He only seeks dominance over you.
If Allah had really wanted to convey a Message to us, HE could surely have assigned angels rather than him.
Moreover, we never heard anything like this from our forefathers long before.’

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‘He is a person who is possessed by madness.
so put up with him for a while,’ and see whether he will recover.

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Noah lost all hope to make his people incline toward his Message, so he complained:
O ‘My Rabb - The Lord!
Help me by destroying them for they have belied me and denied me.’

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Noah’s plea was heard and responded.
So WE revealed on to him, saying:
‘Build the Ark under OUR Eyes and with OUR Inspiration of specifications.
So when OUR Command comes, and the oven water boils up to the surface,
take on board a pair of two - male and female – of every species of bird and domestic animal,
as well as your family - except for those against whom the Word of Punishment has
already been passed.
And do not plead with ME for those or some of your family members who have been wrongdoers.
They are definitely going to be drowned.’

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So when you get boarded on the Ark – you and those who are with you - then say:
‘All Praise and Gratitude is to Allah, WHO has saved us from the people who were wicked.’

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And also pray:
O ‘My Rabb - The Lord!
Make me land with a blessed landing -
in peace and safety and with blessings from You,
as YOU are the Best of those who bring us to safe landing.’

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Surely, in this narrative are Signs.
Indeed, WE have always been putting people to the test.

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Then, after them, WE raised another generation.

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In time, WE assigned among them a Messenger from among themselves - to convey the Message - saying:
‘Submit in worship to Allah!
You have no entity of worship other than HIM.
Will you then not be reverent to Allah?’

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But the notables of his people, those:
who disbelieved, and
belied the truth of the Meeting in the Hereafter, and
to whom WE had granted ease and plenty in the life of this world -
they said:
‘He is no more than a human being just like yourselves.
He eats of the same food what you eat, and drinks of the same drinks what you drink.’

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‘And if you were to obey a mere human being like yourselves,
then you would truly be the losers.’

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‘How can he promise you that, after you have died and become mere dust and dry bones,
you will be resurrected’ from the graves to a new dimension of existence?

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How far-fetched, how far-fetched from likelihood -
these are such things that you are being promised!

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There is nothing like the Hereafter -
but it is only our present life of this world!
We die, and we live - and so life continues.
And we are never going to be resurrected’ in a new dimension of existence.

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‘He is nothing but a mere human being, fabricating falsehood against Allah.
And we are never going to believe him.’

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Eventually, he pleaded:
O ‘My Rabb - The Lord!
Help me by destroying them for they are belying me.’

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HE responded:
‘In a short while - they are definitely going to be regretful’ for what they have been saying.

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Then the dreadful blast seized them, justifiably!
and so WE swept them away like scum.
And so away with the wicked people!

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a. Then, after them, WE raised other generations.

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a. No community/generation can advance its appointed time, nor can they delay its time.

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Thereafter, WE assigned OUR Messengers successively, one after the other, till the Last Messenger Muhammad ibn Abdallah arrived.
And every time their Messenger came to a community, they invariably denied and belied him.
So WE made some of them live the consequence of their deeds and caused them to follow one another in destruction, and made them mere historical accounts.
And so away with a people who do not believe!

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Then - after all those Messengers - WE assigned Moses and his elder brother Aaron,
with OUR Miraculous Signs and a Clear Authority -

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to Pharaoh and his courtiers.
But they responded with arrogance and conceit.
And they were quite a haughty people too.

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So they also said the same thing:
‘Are we to believe two human beings just like ourselves, especially when their own people are our slaves?’

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So they also belied both of them,
and thus became of those who were ultimately destroyed.

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a. After their destruction, WE granted Moses the Book of Torah, so that they - Descendants of Jacob - may be guided aright.

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And as WE had exalted Moses, so did WE make the Son of Mary - Jesus - and his mother
- Mary - a great Sign, too.
And WE sheltered both of them on a high ground – a place to settle with flowing rivers/
streams.

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O The Messengers!
Tell MY servants to eat of the good things permitted under the Divine Law and practice righteousness with persistence.
Indeed, I am Well-Aware of whatever you do.

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O The Faithful!
This community of yours is definitely one single community,

and I am your One and Only Rabb - The Lord!
So be obedient to ME!

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However, they cut their affairs between themselves over the Scriptures,
each sect and sub-sect proudly rejoicing over what was with them.

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a. So leave them in their confusion - for a while when they would realize their sinful error.

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a. Do they reckon that by consistently providing them with wealth and children,

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WE are accelerating the provision of what they consider all kinds of favors to them?
No!
In fact, they are oblivious to what is going on.

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a. Truly, as for those who live in awe for fear of their Rabb - The Lord,

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a. and those who believe in the Messages of their Rabb - The Lord,

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a. and those who never ascribe anything to their Rabb - The Lord,

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and those who give away in the Cause of Allah whatever they have to give away with
their hearts filled with awe,
knowing that they are definitely going to return to their Rabb - The Lord.

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It is they who are quick in doing goodness,
and it is also they who are foremost in them and doing whatever is pleasing to their Rabb
- The Lord.

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And WE never burden anyone with religious injunctions and obligations beyond one’s capacity to comply,
and with US is a Record for everyone’s deeds which speaks the truth about what everyone is doing,
and they will never be treated unfairly.

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No!
But their hearts are lost in confusion about this Message of the Qur’an.
And apart from that - breach of unity - they have deeds other than that, which they continue doing -

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- until when finally WE Seize their wealthy and their leaders who are lost in the pursuit of pleasures with the punishment,

that is when they will suddenly start crying for help/mercy in belated supplication.

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But they will be told:
‘Stop crying out today/now for mercy!
You are certainly not going to get any help/mercy from US!

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Every time MY Messages were recited to you,
then every time you used to turn on your heels in aversion,

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- being too arrogant to give heed to it – the Prophet and the Qur’an,
and viciously talking nonsense about them in your nightly conversations.

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Have they, then, not tried to understand this Word of Allah in the Qur’an?
Or has something now come to them that did not come to their forefathers long before?

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Or is it that they do not recognize their Messenger Muhammad, whom they have known for forty years as trustworthy and truthful?
And so is it the reason that they deny and belie him?

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Or do they allege that he – Muhammad ibn Abdallah - is possessed with madness?
No!
In fact, he has brought them the Truth - the Qur’an,
while most of them detest the Truth.

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And if the Truth - the Qur’an – conformed to their whims,
then the celestial realm and the terrestrial world and everyone within them would indeed have gone to ruin and every existence thereon would have perished.
In fact, with this - the Qur’an - WE have brought them their reminder - the Qur’an -
yet, heedlessly, they keep opposing and turning away from this reminder.

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Or, do they think that you - O The Prophet – are asking them for some kind of a payment
for advocacy?
No!
In fact, your Rabb - The Lord’s payment is by far the best,
for HE is the Best Provider of all providers.

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a. And, surely, you - O The Prophet – are calling them on to a Straight Path for their own good,

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but those who do not believe in the Hereafter are certainly wandering off the Straight
Path.

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And even if WE had mercy on them,
and relieved them of their miseries they have in this life,
they would still recklessly persist in their transgression, wandering in blindness.

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In fact, WE seized them with a punishment so that they could learn a lesson,
yet they neither submitted themselves to their Rabb - The Lord,
nor they humbled themselves to HIM for relief.

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Their transgression will continue even until WE open wide to them the gate of terrible punishment,
and, then, they are going to be plunged in utter despair.

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And it is HE WHO blessed you with perceptive faculties of the hearing and the eyesight and the hearts/understanding,
yet little you are grateful to HIM!

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And it is also HE WHO created you and then multiplied you and scattered you throughout the earth,
and in the end, you are all going to be gathered back to HIM.

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And it is HE WHO gives life as well as death,
and to HIM belongs the alternation of the nighttime and the daytime.
Will you still not understand?

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But no!
Instead of understanding, they utter similar words of denial that the former disbelievers
used to utter.

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They say:
‘Once you have died and become mere dust and dry bones,
then are we actually going to be resurrected to a new dimension of existence?’

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In fact, we had been promised this - we and our forefathers - long before.
This is nothing but only tales of the past.’

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Ask them:
‘To whom belongs the terrestrial world and whatever is within it?
Tell me if you know.’

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They will say:
‘It is Allah’s!’

Yet they overlook this fact when they address their worship, reverence, and obedience to entities and objects other than HIM.
Then ask them:
‘Will you still not reflect?’

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Then ask them:
‘Who is the Rabb - The Lord of the seven-layered tracts - cosmic systems or orbits - generally referred to as seven heavens,
and the Rabb - The Lord of the Throne of Almightiness?’

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They will say:
‘Allah!’
Then say to them:
‘Will you still not be reverent to HIM?’

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Then ask them:
‘In WHOSE hand is the Sovereignty of everything - every existence, and
WHO protects every existence, yet WHO is not in need of any protection -
tell me if you know?’

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They will say:
‘Allah!’
Then ask them:
‘So how can you be so misled?

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In fact, WE have brought them the Truth - the Qur’an,
yet they are belying it.

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Allah has never taken to HIMSELF a son,
nor has there ever been any other entity of worship with HIM.
Otherwise, every entity would have appropriated his own creation,
and, in the process, some of them would have tried to become superior to others, thereby causing terrible chaos in the universe.
All Glory be to Allah - WHO is far above what they allege against HIM!

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HE is the Knower of all that is beyond human perception,
as well as all that can be apparently seen and visualized by human senses.
Exalted be HE - far above what they ascribe as a partner to HIM.

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Say:
O ‘My Rabb - The Lord!
If only YOU could show me, in my lifetime, the fulfillment of punishment which they - the disbelievers - have been promised,

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then, O My Rabb - The Lord,
do not place me among the people who are wrongdoing.’

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a. And, of course, WE are Able to show you the punishment what WE Promised them.

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Regardless of what the disbelievers may say or do,
Ward off their evil with something better.
WE are Well-Aware of that they allege against US.

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And say:
O ‘My Rabb - The Lord!
I seek YOUR protection against the incitements of Satan.

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a. and I also seek YOUR protection, O My Rabb - The Lord, from them ever coming near me.’

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The disbelievers will keep doing their malicious maneuvers until when death descends upon any of them, then he cries out:
O ‘My Rabb - The Lord!
Send me back to the world so as to have a second chance to do what I should have done
in the first place ….

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…. so that I may practice righteousness among others I neglected to do.’
However, a voice sounds in response:
‘Never!’
It is just a word he continues to utter in despair.
A dimensional barrier will be raised behind them which will continue until the Time when they are to be resurrected in another dimension of existence.

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Then, when the Trumpet will be sounded and the process of Resurrection will commence,
there will be no ties of kinship among them at that Time,
and they will not even be asking about one another in terms of earthly relations.

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Scales will be set up and whose weight of deeds, speech, and dealings of righteousness is heavy in the scales,
those – they will be the successful;

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but whose weight of deeds, speech, and dealings of righteousness is light in the scales,
those – they will have lost everything, including their souls.
They are going to remain in the Hell forever.

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a. The Fire will scorch their faces - distorting them horribly and painfully.

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They will be asked:
‘Were MY Messages not repeatedly recited to you, and
were you not repeatedly belying them?’

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They will submit:
O ‘Our Rabb - The Lord!
Our wretchedness prevailed over us, and
we were definitely a misguided people.’

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O ‘Our Rabb The Lord!
Take us out of this suffering!
Then if we ever return to the same sinful ways after this, then we will really be wrongdoers’ and liable to punishment.

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Divine Command will sound:
‘Remain despised where you are!
And do not plead to ME anymore!’

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Indeed, there was a group of MY servants saying:
O ‘Our Rabb - The Lord!
We believe.
So forgive us, and, have mercy upon us,
for YOU alone are the Best Merciful of all who are merciful.’

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But you used to take them in ridicule so often and to the point that made you forget MY Remembrance -
while you were laughing at and making fun of them.

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Now - today I have rewarded them for their patient endurance,
it is they - they are the successful!’

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HE will ask the doomed:
‘How many years did you remain on the earth?’

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They will submit:
‘We remained there for a day or for a part of a day,
but ask those who keep track’ of time.

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HE will say:
‘You remained there only for a short while if only you knew!

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So did you think that WE created you in vain and without any purpose,
and, that you will not be returned to US for judgment and awards?’

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So Exalted be Allah - the True Sovereign!
There is no entity of worship except HIM - Rabb - The Lord of the Glorious Throne.

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And whoever calls on any other entity of worship besides Allah - for which he has no evidence,
then he will be questioned for that by his Rabb - The Lord.
Surely, such disbelievers will never be successful.

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And make a plea:
O ‘My Rabb - The Lord!
Forgive us and have mercy on us -
for YOU alone are the Best Merciful of all merciful.’