Unbelievers

Those before them also denied, and how terrible was My response.

Do they not see the birds above them, spreading and folding their wings? None holds them up except the Most Merciful. He sees all things.

Who is it that can be your army to help you besides the Most Merciful? The disbelievers are only deluded.

Who is it that can provide for you if He withholds His provision? Yet they persist in arrogance and aversion.

Is one who walks facedown more rightly guided, or one who walks upright on a straight path?

Say, “He is the One who brought you into being, gave you hearing, sight, and hearts. Yet you are rarely grateful.”

Say, “He is the One who scattered you across the earth, and to Him you will be gathered.”

They say, “When will this promise be fulfilled, if you are truthful?”

Say, “Knowledge of it is with Allah alone. I am only a clear warner.”

But when they see it drawing near, the faces of those who disbelieved will be stricken with despair, and it will be said, “This is what you were calling for.”

Or do they say, “He is a poet, we await some misfortune to befall him”?

Is it their minds that urge them to this, or are they a people gone astray?

Were they created from nothing? Or are they their own creators?

Or did they create the heavens and the earth? No, they are not certain.

Or do they possess the treasuries of your Lord? Or are they in control?

Or do they have a ladder to climb up and listen? Then let their listener bring a clear proof.

Or do you ask them for a payment, so they are burdened by debt?

Or do they have knowledge of the unseen, which they write down?

Or do they intend a scheme? But those who disbelieve are themselves ensnared.

Even if they saw pieces of the sky falling, they would say, “Clouds heaped up!”

Woe to every slanderer and mocker

Who hoards wealth and counts it

Thinking his wealth will make him immortal.

No! He will be thrown into the Crusher.

And what will make you understand the Crusher?

The fire of Allah, blazing fiercely

That engulfs hearts.

It will be sealed upon them

In towering columns.

Indeed, humanity is in loss

As for those who disbelieve and obstruct others from Allah’s path and from the Sacred Mosque, which We made for all people, whether resident or visitor, and who seek to violate it with wrongdoing.

Those who disbelieve and block others from Allah’s path, He renders their deeds void.

The disbelievers are the true wrongdoers.

That is because the disbelievers follow falsehood, while the believers follow the truth from their Lord. Thus does Allah lay out comparisons for people.

Whoever disbelieves, his disbelief is against him.

Say to those who do not believe, “Act as you will, and we will act as well.”

He is the One who made you successors on earth. So, whoever disbelieves, their disbelief is against themselves. The disbelief of the disbelievers only increases their Lord’s wrath.

But the wrongdoers will have no helpers.

If they gain the upper hand over you, they will be your enemies, reaching out with hands and tongues to harm you. They wish you would disbelieve.

They did not value Allah as He deserves when they said, “Allah has sent nothing down to any human.” Say, “Who then sent down the Book that Moses brought, a light and guidance for people? You display it while concealing much of it. You were taught what neither you nor your forefathers knew.” Say, “Allah sent it down.” Then leave them to their empty arguments.

The disbelievers say, “When we have become dust, and our ancestors too, will we really be brought out?”

Their messengers said, “Is there any doubt about Allah, the Creator of the heavens and the earth? He calls you to forgive your sins and grant you respite until a set time.” But they said, “You are only humans like us, trying to turn us away from what our ancestors worshiped. Bring us clear proof.”

And when it is said to them, 'Follow what Allah has revealed,' they reply, 'We will follow what we found our forefathers doing,' even though their forefathers understood nothing and were not guided.

O believers! Do not take your fathers and brothers as allies if they prefer disbelief over faith. Whoever does so has truly strayed.

Whoever disbelieves, his disbelief is against him. And whoever does good, they are preparing for themselves

So that He may reward those who believe and do good from His bounty. He does not love the disbelievers.

Had We willed, We could have sent a warner to every city.

He and his forces see you from where you cannot see them.

When they commit shameful acts, they say, “We found our forefathers doing this, and Allah commanded us to do so.” Say, “Allah does not command immorality. Do you say about Allah what you do not know?”

He said, “Even if I bring you better guidance than what you found your forefathers following?” They said, “We reject what you are sent with.”

So do not doubt what they worship. They follow the traditions of their ancestors, and We will give them their share without reduction.

Nor should you say, “Our ancestors associated others with Allah, and we are merely their descendants. Will You destroy us for what the misguided did?”

And when they’re told, “Give from what Allah has provided you,” the disbelievers say to the believers, “Should we feed those whom Allah could have fed if He wanted? You’re clearly misguided.”

Do they not see that Allah, who created the heavens and the earth, is capable of creating them anew? He has set a fixed time for them, beyond which there is no doubt. Yet the wrongdoers persist in denial.

Say, “If you possessed the treasures of my Lord’s mercy, you would withhold them out of fear of depletion. Man is ever stingy.”

So, what is the matter with those who disbelieve, rushing toward you in crowds

From the right and from the left, in groups?

Does each of them hope to enter a garden of bliss?

No indeed! We created them from what they know.

So, I swear by the Lord of the Easts and the Wests, We are fully capable

To replace them with better than them, and none can prevent Us.

If only you could see when they are seized with terror, with no escape, and taken from a place nearby.

And they will say, “We believe in it!” But how can they reach it from such a distant place?

They already disbelieved in it before, and they cast doubt from afar.

And a barrier will be placed between them and what they desire, as was done with their kind before. They were truly in disturbing doubt.

They swear by Allah that they are with you, but they are not. They are fearful.

If they could find refuge, a cave, or any hiding place, they would rush toward it in desperation.

Those with whom you made a treaty, but they repeatedly break it without fear.

If you encounter them in battle, deal with them decisively so that others may take warning.

If you fear betrayal from a people, then break the treaty with them openly.

But if they intend to betray you, they have already betrayed Allah before, and He has given you power over them.

Say, “Shall we tell you who will lose the most in their deeds?”

“Those whose efforts in this world are wasted while they think they are doing good.”

Those who believe in falsehood and deny Allah, they are the true losers.”

But whoever disbelieves after that, they are truly rebellious.

The disbelievers will continue to face calamities or have them descend near their homes until Allah’s promise is fulfilled, He never fails in His promise.

Those upon whom your Lord’s decree has been fulfilled will not believe

Had your Lord willed, all people on earth would have believed. Will you then force people to become believers?

"Yet, most people, even when you strive for their belief, will not accept faith."

Say, “Bring your witnesses who can testify that Allah forbade this.” If they testify, do not bear witness with them, nor follow the desires of those who reject Our signs, who do not believe in the Hereafter.

Yet the disbelievers persist in denial

While Allah surrounds them completely.

Showing ingratitude for what We have given them. So enjoy yourselves for a while, but soon you will know.

They assign a portion of what We have provided them to gods they do not understand. By Allah, you will be questioned about your fabrications.

and to themselves whatever they desire.

They recognize Allah’s favour, yet they deny it. Most of them are ungrateful.

Nothing prevented people from believing when guidance came to them, nor from seeking forgiveness, except that they awaited the fate of earlier nations or the arrival of punishment before them.

Nothing prevented people from believing when guidance came to them except their objection: “Has Allah sent a human as a messenger?”

Say, “Had angels walked the earth, We would have sent an angel as a messenger.”

Is not sincere faith owed to Allah alone? Yet some take guardians besides Him, saying, "We worship them only to draw closer to Allah." But Allah will judge between them regarding their differences.

Whoever Allah guides is truly guided, but whoever He leaves to stray will find no protector besides Him. On the Day of Judgment, We will gather them, dragging them on their faces, blind, dumb, and deaf. Their home is Hell, and its flames will grow fiercer.

"The Day you will turn away in retreat, with no protector against Allah.

“And yet, warnings came to them, striking with clarity

Warnings have come to them containing wisdom, but warnings do not benefit them.

Do not be like those who forgot Allah, so He made them forget themselves. They are the rebellious.

Yet those who deny the truth are lost in arrogance and discord.

When they are told, ‘Fear Allah,’ their arrogance drives them deeper into sin.

They will say, “Allah.” Say: “Then how are you so deluded?”

We have brought them the truth, but they are liars.

Thus, the deeds of the disbelievers are made appealing to them.

And so We placed leaders in every city who plotted against it. But they only scheme against themselves, though they do not realize it.

And warn them of the Day of Regret, when the matter will be settled, though they remain heedless and unbelieving.