Quran — Page 396

VERILY, [O believer,] He who has laid down this Qur’an in plain terms, making it binding on thee, will assuredly bring thee back [from death] to a life renewed. Say [unto those who reject the truth]: My Sus­tainer knows best, as to who is right-guided and who is obviously lost in error!”

Now [as for thyself, O believer,] thou couldst never foresee that this divine writ would [one day] be offered to thee: but [it did come to thee] by thy Sustainer’s grace. Hence, never uphold those who deny the truth [of divine guidance],

and never let them turn thee away from God’s messages after they have been bestowed upon thee from on high: instead summon [all men] to thy Sustainer. And never be of those who ascribe divinity to aught but Him,

and never call upon any other deity side by side with God. There is no deity save Him. Everything is bound to perish, save His [eternal] self. With Him rests all judgment; and unto Him shall you all be brought back.

Alif. Lam. Mim.

DO MEN THINK that on their [mere] saying, “We have attained to faith”, they will be left to themselves, and will not be put to a test?

Yea, indeed, We did test those who lived before them; and so, [too, shall be tested the people now living: and] most certainly will God mark out those who prove themselves true, and most certainly will He mark out those who are lying.

Or do they think - they who do evil deeds [while claiming to have attained to faith] - that they can escape Us? Bad, indeed, is their judgment!

Whoever looks forward [with hope and awe] to meeting God [on Resurrection Day, let him be ready for it]: for, behold, the end set by God [for every­one’s life] is bound to come - and He alone is all-hearing, all-knowing!

Hence, whoever strives hard [in God’s cause] does so only for his own good: for, verily, God does not stand in need of anything in all the worlds!