IZQ

017

The
Night
Journey

By the Name

God

the Fount-of-All-Mercy
the Ever-Merciful

glory be to Hu

Hu took
Hu's servant
on a journey by night

from the Holy Mosque
to the further mosque

whose surroundings
We have blessed

to show him
some of
Our Signs

Hu is
the All-Hearing
the All-Seeing

and We gave Moses
the Book

and made it a guide
for the Tribe of Israel

do not take anyone
other than Me
to protect you

the families
that came from those
We carried with Noah

he was a thankful servant

and We declared
for the Tribe of Israel
in the Book

"You shall
spread sickness
in the earth
twice

and you will
raise yourselves
to a great height"

so when the first
of these times
came round
as promised

We sent against you
servants of Ours
with great force

and they tore apart
your houses

and the promise
came to pass

then once again
We gave you back
the upper hand

and We gave you relief
with more wealth
and children

and We made you
greater in number

if you do good
you are doing good
to yourselves

and if you do evil
the same applies

then when
the next promise
came to pass
they left you shame-faced

and entered the Temple
as they did the first time
to completely destroy
what they had conquered

perhaps your Liege
will have mercy on you

but if you do
the same again
so will We

and We have made
Hell
a prison for
the ungrateful

surely this Reading
guides to
the most upright Way

and gives good news
to those who believe
and who do good deeds
that they will have
a great reward

and those who
do not believe
in the Afterlife

We have prepared for them
a painful punishment

humans
pray for evil
just as they
pray for good

humans
tend to be
hasty

We made
the night and the day
as two Signs

then We blotted out
the Sign of the night
and made
the Sign of the day
for seeing

so you may look for
favour
from your Liege

and so you may know
the number of years
and the reckoning

and We have shown
the difference
between all things
quite clearly

and for all humans
We have fixed
their destiny
about their neck

and on the Day of Rising
We will bring out
a Book for them
which they will find
spread wide open

"Read your Book

today your soul is enough
to be the reckoner
against you"

whoever is guided
is guided only
for their own soul

and whoever takes
the wrong way
only goes against it

and no soul
with its own burden
carries the load
of another

and We never punish
until We send
a Messenger

when We decide
to destroy a city

We command
those who live there
at their ease

but when they still
act wickedly in it

then the Word comes true
and We destroy it
completely

how many generations
have We destroyed
after Noah

your Liege is enough
to be aware
and see the bad deeds
of Hu's servants

whoever longs for
this quickly passing world

for them We hurry along
whatever We will
to whoever We wish

then We make for them
Hellfire
in which they will roast
disgraced and rejected

and whoever longs for
the world to come
and does their best for it

being a believer

those will find
their efforts are
received with thanks

We help each one
these and those
from the gift of your Liege

and the gift of your Liege
has no limit

see how We favour
some of them
over others

surely
the world to come
has higher ranks
and greater favours

do not set up
another god
alongside God

or you will sit
disgraced
and rejected

your Liege has commanded
that you shall not serve
anyone but Hu

and to be good to parents
whether one or both of them
reaches old age with you

do not say to them
a word of impatience

and do not be
harsh with them

but speak to them
with gentleness
and generosity

and lower to them
the wing of humility
out of mercy

and say

"My Liege
have mercy on them
as they raised me up
when I was little"

your Liege
knows very well
what is in your hearts
if you are good

and Hu is
Most-Forgiving
to those
who are sorry

and give your relatives
their rights

and the needy
and the traveller

and do not spend wastefully

those who spend wastefully
are siblings of the Satans

and Satan is
ungrateful to
its Liege

but if you turn
away from them

and look for mercy
that you hope for
from your Liege

then speak to them
with gentle words

and do not keep your hand
chained to your neck
tight-fisted

nor spread it out
so open-handed
that you end up
sitting blamed
with nothing left

surely your Liege
spreads out
and holds back
what Hu provides
to whoever Hu wills

surely Hu is aware of
and sees Hu's servants

and do not
kill your children
for fear of being poor

We will provide
for them as well as you

killing them
is a great wrong

and do not
go near to adultery

surely it is shameful
and an evil way

and do not
kill any soul
God has forbidden
except with
the right to do so

whoever is killed
without justice
We have given
their next of kin
this authority

but do not go too far
in taking life

they shall be helped

and do not touch
the property of orphans
except in a fair way

until they come of age

and keep your promises

surely you will be asked
about such promises

and fill up the measure
when you measure

and weigh with
level scales

that is better
and fairer in the end

and do not chase after
that of which
you have no knowledge

hearing
sight
and hearts
will all be questioned

and do not
strut arrogantly
about the earth

surely you will never
tear the earth open
or reach the height
of mountains

the evil
in all of that
is hateful
in the sight
of your Liege

that is from the wisdom
your Liege has shown to you

do not set up
another god with God

or you will be thrown
into Hellfire
blamed and rejected

has your Liege
chosen sons for you
and taken the Angels
for Hu as females

surely that is
a terrible thing
you are saying

We have made things clear
in this Reading
so they might remember

but it has only turned them
further away

say

"If there had been
other gods with Hu
as they say

they would surely
have tried to find
a way to reach
Hu of the Throne"

glory be to Hu

Hu is raised up
to a great height

well above
what they say

the seven heavens
and the earth
and whoever is in them
praise Hu

there is nothing
that does not
sing Hu's praise

but you
do not understand
the way they praise

surely Hu is
the Gentle
Most-Forgiving

when you recite
the Reading

We put between you
and those who
do not believe
in the world to come

a veil to block their view

and We covered up
their hearts
in case they should
understand it

and put heaviness
in their ears

and when you mention
your only Liege
in the Reading
they turn their backs
and run away

We know well
the way they listen
when they listen to you

and when they
plot secretly together

when those who are unjust
say

"You are only following
a man who is bewitched"

look how they make
likenesses for you

and take
the wrong way

and cannot find a way

they say

"When we are bones
and broken pieces

will we really be
raised up again
in a new creation?"

say

"Be rock or iron

or some created thing
that you think is
harder to give life"

then they will say

"Who will bring us back?"

say

"Hu that created you
the first time"

then they will
shake their heads at you
and they will say

"When will that be?"

say

"It may well be
that time is very near

on the day
when Hu will call you
and you will answer
praising Hu

and you will think
that you have waited
only a short time"

and say to My servants
that they only speak
words that are better

for Satan stirs up
trouble between them

and Satan is always
an enemy to humans

your Liege knows you
very well

if Hu wills
Hu has mercy on you

or if Hu wills
Hu punishes you

We did not send you
to be their guardian

and your Liege knows
very well
all who are in
the heavens and the earth

and We have favoured
some Newsbearers
over others

and We gave to David
Psalms

say

"Call on those
you made claims for
apart from Hu

they have no power
to take away harm from you

or change anything"

those they call upon
are themselves
trying to find
the way to come close
to their Liege

even those
who are closest to Hu

they hope for Hu's mercy
and fear Hu's punishment

for the punishment
of your Liege
is truly something
to be afraid of

there is no city
We will not destroy
before the Day of Rising

or We shall punish it
with a terrible punishment

this is written
in the Book

nothing kept Us
from sending Signs
except that
the people of old
called them lies

and We gave
Thamood
the she-camel
in clear view

but they treated her
cruelly

and We do not
send the Signs
except to frighten

and We have told you
that your Liege
surrounds humankind
with knowledge

and We only made
the vision We showed you

to be a trial
for humankind

and the accursed tree
in the Reading

and We frighten them

but it does not
make them grow
except in
great insolence

and when We said
to the Angels

"Make Sajda
to Adam"

they made Sajda

except Iblis

it said

"Shall I make Sajda
to one You have made
of clay?"

it said

"You see this creature
You have honoured
above me

if You give me
stay of punishment
until the Day of Rising
I will surely take control
of all that come after them

except for a few"

Hu said

"Go

and as for those
who follow you
surely Hellfire
will be your reward

a plentiful reward

and stir up
any of them you can
with your voice

and rally against them
your horse
and foot soldiers

and share with them
in their wealth
and their children

and give them a promise

the promises of Satan
are nothing but delusion

surely you will have
no authority
over my servants"

your Liege
is enough for you
as a guardian

it is your Liege
Hu drives for you
the ships on the sea

so you can search
for Hu's bounty

Hu is indeed
Ever-Merciful
to you

and when
harm comes to you
upon the sea

those you call to
apart from Hu alone
go astray

but when Hu
delivers you to land
you turn away

humans
are ever ungrateful

do you feel secure
that Hu will not make
the shore swallow you up

or set loose against you
a storm of pebbles

then you will find
no-one to be
a guardian for you

or do you feel secure
that Hu will not send you
back into it a second time

and set loose against you
a hurricane of wind
and drown you
for being ungrateful

then you will find
no one
to defend you
against Us

We have honoured
the children of Adam

and carried them
on land and sea
and provided them
with good things

and favoured them greatly
over many We created

on the day
when We shall call
each person
with their record

and whoever is given
their Book
in their right hand
they shall read
their Book

and will not be wronged
by as much as
a single date thread

and whoever
does not see
in this world
will be blind
in the world to come

and even further
astray from the Way

indeed they were near to
tempting you away
from what
We revealed to you

with you inventing
against Us
another

and then
they would surely
have taken you
as a friend

and if We had not
made you stand firm

surely you were almost
leaning towards them
a very little

then We would have
let you taste
the double of life
and the double of death

and then
you would have found
no one to help you
against Us

they were very near
to frightening you
away from the land
to drive you out of it

but then they would
only have stayed
a short time after you

that was the Way
of those We sent as
Our Messengers
before you

and you will find
no change in Our ways

make Sala
at the sinking of the sun
to the darkening
of the night

and the reading of dawn

surely the reading of dawn
is witnessed

and as for the night
keep watch a part of it

an extra gift for you

it may be
that your Liege
will raise you up
to a level that is praised

and say

"My Liege

make me enter
with a truly honest entry

and make me exit
with a truly honest exit

and grant me from you
authority to help me"

and say

"Truth has come
and what is false
has vanished away

surely
what is false
is always
certain to vanish"

and We send down
from this Reading
what is
a healing and a mercy
to those who
believe

and for those
who are unjust
it increases nothing
except loss

and when We bless
humans
they turn away
and draw aside

but when evil
touches them
they lose all hope

say

"Everyone acts
according to
their own nature

but your Liege
knows very well
who is best guided
on the Way"

they will ask you
about the Spirit

say

"The Spirit
is from the order of
my Liege"

you have been given
nothing but
a little knowledge

if We willed
We could take away
what We have
revealed to you

then you would find no one
to guard you against Us

except by some mercy
from your Liege

surely
Hu's favour to you is great

say

"If humans and jinn
joined forces together
to produce something
like this Reading

they could never produce
anything like it
no matter how much
they helped each other"

We have indeed
set out for humankind
in this Reading
all kinds of
different examples

but most people
refuse everything
except refusing to believe

they say

"We will not believe you
until you make
a spring of water
gush from the earth for us

or until you own a garden
of palms and vines

and you make rivers
pour through it
in abundance

or until you make heaven
fall on us in pieces
as you say it might

or you bring
God and the Angels
as a guarantee

or until you own a house
decorated with gold

or until you go
up into heaven

and even then
we will not believe
you have gone up
until you bring down for us
a Book we may read"

say

"Glory be to my Liege
am I anything other than
a mortal Messenger?"

and nothing stopped people
from believing
when the guidance
came to them

except that they said

"Has God sent
a mortal being
as a Messenger?"

say

"If there had been Angels
on the earth

walking at peace

We would have
sent down to them
an Angel out of heaven
as Messenger"

say

"God is enough
to be a witness
between me and you

surely Hu
is aware of
and sees
Hu's servants"

whoever God guides
is truly guided

and whoever
Hu leads astray
you will not find any
protectors for them
apart from Hu

and We shall gather them
on the Day of Rising
upon their faces

blind dumb and deaf
their shelter will be
Hellfire

and whenever it grows less
We shall increase
the Blaze for them again

that is their reward
because they were
ungrateful for Our Signs

and said

"What
when we are bones
and broken bits

will we really be
raised up again
in a new creation?"

have they not seen that
God
Hu created
the heavens and the earth
is powerful enough
to create the like of them?

Hu has set for them
a fixed amount of time
no doubt about it

but those who do wrong
refuse all else
apart from
refusing to believe

say

"Even if you owned
the vast treasuries
of the mercy of my Liege

still you would hold back
afraid of spending it"

and humans
are always
mean and stingy

and We gave Moses
nine Clear Signs

ask the Tribe of Israel
when he came to them

and Pharaoh said to him

"Moses

I think you are bewitched"

he said

"Indeed you know
that no-one sent this down
except the Liege
of the heavens and earth

to be clear proofs

Pharaoh
I think you are rejected"

so he wanted
to frighten them
away from the land

and so We drowned him
and those with him
all together

and We said
to the Tribe of Israel
after that

"Live in the land

and when the promise
of the Afterlife
comes to pass
We will bring you
as a rabble"

with the truth
We have sent it down

and with the truth
it has come down

and We have not sent you
except to carry
good news
and a warning

and a Reading

which We have divided
for you to recite
to humankind
at intervals

and We have sent it down
one part after another

say

"Believe in it
or don't believe in it"

those who were given
knowledge before it
when it is recited to them
fall down on their faces
in Sajda

and say

"Glory be to our Liege

the promise of our Liege
is happening"

and they fall down
upon their faces
weeping

and it increases them
in humililty

say

"Call upon God
or call upon
the Fount-of-All-Mercy

whichever you call upon
to Hu belong
the Most Beautiful Names"

and do not be loud
in your Sala
or too quiet in it
but look for a way
between those

and say

"Grateful praise
belongs to God"

Hu has had no son
and Hu has
no partner
in the Realm

and does not need
a protector
from shaming

so shout out
Hu's greatness
repeatedly

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