On the day when all secrets shall be searched out,

And he shall have no other might or helper.

I swear by the heaven which accomplisheth its cycle,

And by the earth which openeth her bosom,

That this Koran is a discriminating discourse,

And that it is not frivolous.

They plot a plot against thee,

And I will plot a plot against them.

Deal calmly therefore with the infidels; leave them awhile alone.

SURA XCI.-THE SUN [XXIII.]

Mecca.-15 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

By the sun and his noonday brightness!

By the Moon when she followeth him!

By the Day when it revealeth his glory!

By the Night when it enshroudeth him!

By the Heaven and Him who built it!

By the Earth and Him who spread it forth!

By a Soul and Him who balanced it,

And breathed into it its wickedness and its piety,

Blessed now is he who hath kept it pure,

And undone is he who hath corrupted it!

Themoud1 in his impiety rejected the message of the Lord,

When the greatest wretch among them rushed up:-

Said the Apostle of God to them,-"The Camel of God! let her drink.”

But they treated him as an impostor and hamstrung her.

So their Lord destroyed them for their crime, and visited all alike: 

Nor feared he the issue.

_______________________

1 See Sura vii. 33, for the story of Themoud.

SURA LXXX.-HE FROWNED [XXIV.]

Mecca.-42 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

He frowned, and he turned his back,1

Because the blind man came to him!

But what assured thee that he would not be cleansed by the Faith,

Or be warned, and the warning profit him?

As to him who is wealthy-

To him thou wast all attention: 

Yet is it not thy concern if he be not cleansed:2

But as to him who cometh to thee in earnest,

And full of fears-

Him dost thou neglect.

Nay! but it (the Koran) is a warning;

(And whoso is willing beareth it in mind)

Written on honoured pages,

Exalted, purified,

By the hands of Scribes, honoured, righteous.

Cursed be man!  What hath made him unbelieving?

Of what thing did God create him?

Out of moist germs.3

He created him and fashioned him,

Then made him an easy passage from the womb,

Then causeth him to die and burieth him;

Then, when he pleaseth, will raise him again to life.