Quran — Page 456

And We bestowed upon him new offspring, doubling their number as an act of grace from Us, and as a reminder unto all who are endowed with insight.

[And finally We told him:] “Now take in thy hand a small bunch of grass, and strike therewith, and thou wilt not break thine oath!” for, verily, We found him full of patience in adversity: how excellent a servant [of Ours], who, behold, would always turn unto Us!

AND CALL to mind Our servants Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, [all of them] endowed with inner strength and vision:

for, verily, We purified them by means of a thought most pure: the remembrance of the life to come.

And, behold, in Our sight they were indeed among the elect, the truly good!

And call to mind Ishmael and Elisha, and every one who [like them] has pledged himself [unto Us]: for, each of them was of the truly good!

LET [all] this be a reminder [to those who believe in God] - for, verily, the most beauteous of all goals awaits the God-conscious:

gardens of perpetual bliss, with gates wide-open to them,

wherein they will recline, [and] wherein they may [freely] call for many a fruit and drink,

having beside them well-matched mates of modest gaze.”

This is what you are promised for the Day of Reckoning:

this, verily, shall be Our provision [for you], with no end to it!

All this [for the righteous]: but, verily, the most evil of all goals awaits those who are wont to transgress the bounds of what is right:

hell will they have to endure - and how vile a resting-place!

This, [then, for them -] so let them taste it: burning despair and ice-cold darkness

and, coupled with it, further [suffering] of a similar nature.

[And they will say to one another: “Do you see] this crowd of people who rushed headlong [into sin] with you? No welcome to them! Verily, they [too] shall have to endure the fire!”

[And] they [who had been seduced] will exclaim: “Nay, but it is you! No welcome to you! It is you who have prepared this for us: and how vile a state to abide in!”

[And] they will pray: “O our Sustainer! Who­ever has prepared this for us, double Thou his suffering in the fire!”