Quran — Page 286

this is part of that knowledge of right and wrong with which thy Sustainer has inspired thee. Hence, do not set up any other deity side by side with God, lest thou be cast into hell, blamed [by thyself] and rejected [by Him]!

HAS, THEN, your Sustainer distinguished you by [giving you] sons, and taken unto Himself daughters in the guise of angels? Verily, you are uttering a dreadful saying!

And, indeed, many facets have We given [to Our message] in this Qur'an, so that they [who deny the truth] might take it to heart: but all this only increases their aversion.

Say: "If there were-as some people assert [other] deities side by side with Him, surely [even] they would have to strive to find a way unto Him who is enthroned on His almightiness?"

Limitless is He in His glory, and sublimely, immeasurably exalted above anything that men may say [about Him]

The seven heavens extol His limitless glory, and the earth, and all that they contain; and there is not a single thing but extols His limitless glory and praise: but you [O men] fail to grasp the manner of their glorifying Him! Verily, He is forbearing, much-forgiving!

But [thus it is:] whenever thou recitest the Qur'an, We place an invisible barrier between thee and those who will not believe in the life to come: -

for, over their hearts We have laid veils which prevent them from grasping its purport, and into their ears, deafness. And so, whenever thou dost mention, while reciting the Qur'an, thy Sustainer as the one and only Divine Being, they turn their backs [upon thee] in aversion.

We are fully aware of what they are listening for when they listen to thee: for when they are secluded among themselves, lo! these wrongdoers say [unto one another], "If you were to follow [Muhammad, you would follow] only a man bewitched!"

See to what they liken thee, [O Prophet simply] because they have gone astray and are now unable to find a way [to the truth]!

And [thus, too,] they say, "After we will have become bones and dust, shall we, forsooth, be raised from the dead in a new act of creation?"