Quran — Page 531

and Our ordaining [a thing and its coming into being] is but one [act], like the twinkling of an eye.

Thus, indeed, did We destroy people like you [in the past]: who, then, is willing to take it to heart?

[They were truly guilty] because all [the evil] that they ever did had been [revealed to them as such] in the [ancient] books of [divine] wisdom;

and everything [that man does], be it small or great, is recorded [with God].

[Hence, too,] behold, the God-conscious will find themselves in [a paradise of] gardens and running waters,

in a seat of truth, in the presence of a Sovereign who determines all things.

THE MOST GRACIOUS

has imparted this Qur’an [unto man].

He has created man:

He has imparted unto him articulate thought and speech.

[At His behest] the sun and the moon run their appointed courses;

[before Him] prostrate them­selves the stars and the trees.

And the skies has He raised high, and has devised [for all things] a measure,

so that you [too, O men,] might never transgress the measure [of what is right]:

weigh, therefore, [your deeds] with equity, and cut not the measure short!

And the earth has He spread out for all living beings,

with fruit thereon, and palm trees with sheathed clusters [of dates],

and grain growing tall on its stalks, and sweet-smelling plants.

Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?

He has created man out of sounding clay, like pottery,

whereas the invisible beings He has created out of a confusing flame of fire.

Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow?