IZQ

020

Ta Ha

By the Name

God

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

Ta Ha

We did not send down
this Reading to you
to make you unhappy

but only as a Reminder
for those who have fear

a revealing
from Hu

Hu created the earth
and the high heavens

the Fount-of-All-Mercy

seated upon the Throne

to Hu belongs
all that is
in the heavens
and the earth

and all that is
between them

and all that is
underground

though you speak
out loud
Hu knows your secrets

and what is
even more hidden

God

there is no god
except Hu

to Hu belong
the Most Beautiful Names

has the story of
Moses
reached you?

when he saw a fire
and said to his family

"Wait here
I see a fire
perhaps I will bring you
a blazing branch from it

or I will find guidance
at the fire"

when he came to it
a voice cried out

"Moses

I am your Liege

take off your shoes

you are in
the holy valley
Tuwa

I have chosen you

so listen to
what is revealed
to you

truly I am God
there is no god but Me

so serve Me

and make Sala
to remember Me

the Hour is coming
but I have hidden it

so that every soul
may be rewarded
for its efforts

do not let anyone
bar you from this

when they do not
believe in it
and only follow
their own desires

or you will be
destroyed

what is that
in your right hand
Moses?"

he said

"It is my staff

I lean upon it

and with it
I beat down leaves
to feed my sheep

and I also find
other uses for it"

said Hu

"Throw it down
Moses"

and he threw it down

and suddenly
it was a snake
slithering

said Hu

"Take it
and do not be afraid

We will return it
to the way it was

now put your hand
under your armpit

and it will come out
pure white
and yet unharmed

that is another Sign

in this way
We will show you

some of
Our greatest Signs

go to Pharaoh

for he has gone
beyond all bounds"

he said

"Liege
lift up my heart

and make my task
easy for me

loosen the knot
upon my tongue

so they may
understand my words

give me a helper
from my family

Aaron
my brother

strengthen me
by him

and join him with me
in my task

so we shall
glorify You

and remember You
much

surely You see
into us"

said Hu

"Your request
is granted
Moses

another time
We favoured you
already

when We revealed
what was revealed
to your mother

'Put him in a chest
and place it in
the river

and let the river
cast him up
on to the shore

where an enemy
of Mine and his
will take him'

and I showered you
with love from Me

so you should be
raised and trained
under My watchful eye

and when your sister
went out and said

'Shall I point you towards
someone who will
take care of him?'

and We returned you
to your mother
so she might be glad
and not feel sorrow

then you killed a man

and We rescued you
from trouble

and We tested you
with many trials

you stayed many years
with the people of Midian

then you came here

Moses

at this decided time

I have chosen you
to serve Me

so go
you and your brother
with My Signs

and do not forget
to remember Me

go to Pharaoh

for he has gone
beyond all bounds

but speak gently to him

so he has the chance
to remember

or perhaps to fear"

they said

"Our Liege

we are afraid
that he might
do us great harm

or go beyond all bounds"

said Hu

"Do not be afraid

surely I will be with you
hearing and seeing

so go to him
both of you
and say

'We are Messengers
of your Liege

so send
the Tribe of Israel
away with us

and do not punish them

we have brought you
a Sign from your Liege

and peace be upon those
who follow the guidance

it has been revealed to us

that punishment will fall
on those who call this lies

and turn their backs'"

he said

"Moses
who is your Liege?"

he said

"Our Liege is
Hu gave everything
its creation

then guided it"

he said

"What about those of
our families
from long before us?"

he said

"The knowledge of them
is with my Liege
in a Book

my Liege
does not get things wrong
and does not forget"

Hu has made the earth
to be a cradle for you

and threaded pathways
through it for you

and sent down water
out of heaven

and with it brings out
all kinds of different plants

so eat
and pasture your cattle

surely in that are Signs
for people who think

from it
We created you

and to it
We will return you

and from it
We will bring you out
a second time

so We showed him
all of Our Signs

but he called them lies
and refused them

he said

"Moses

have you come
to drive us
out of our lands
by your magic?

we will surely show you
magic equal to it

so set a time
for us and you to meet

and we will not
fail to be there
nor will you

at a place
that we agree"

he said

"Your meeting time
will be on the feast day

let the people
be gathered
by mid-day"

so Pharaoh went away
and put together
his schemes

and after that
came back again

and Moses said to them

"Beware

do not make up
a lie against God

in case Hu destroys you
with punishment

whoever makes up lies
has always failed"

and they argued
amongst themselves
with regard to
the matter

and had a
secret conference

saying

"These two men
are sorcerers

and want to
drive you out
of your land
by their sorcery

and abolish
your most excellent
way of life

so decide on a plan

and arrive together
in force

and whoever gets
the upper hand today
will surely prosper"

they said

"Moses

either you throw
or we will throw first"

he said

"No

you throw"

and all at once

by their magic

it seemed to him
their ropes and staffs
were slithering about

and Moses imagined
fear
inside him

We
said to him

"Do not fear

you will have
the upper hand

throw down
what is in
your right hand

and it will swallow
what they
have made happen

what they
have made happen
is only the magic
of a sorcerer

and sorcerers
do not prosper
wherever they go"

and the sorcerers
threw themselves down
in Sajda

saying

"We believe in the Liege
of Aaron and Moses"

he said

"Have you
believed in him
before I gave you
permission?

he is your chief
the one who
taught you magic

I will cut off
your hands and feet
on opposite sides

then I will crucify you
on the trunks
of palm trees

then you shall know
for sure
which of us
is more terrible
in punishment

and which is
longer lasting"

they said

"We will never prefer you
over the Clear Signs
that have come to us

not over Hu
that brought us
into being

decide whatever
you want to decide

you can only decide
things to do with
this present life

we believe in
our Liege

so Hu may forgive us
for our mistakes

and the sorcery
which you
forced us to do

God is better
and longer lasting"

whoever
comes to their Liege
a sinner

for them
Hell is waiting

in which
they will neither
die nor live

and whoever
comes to their Liege
who believes

and has done
good deeds

they will have
the highest ranks

Gardens of Eden
beneath which
rivers flow

to live there forever

that is the reward
for those who
purify themselves

and so
We revealed to Moses

"Go with My servants
by night

and strike for them
a dry path in the sea

have no fear
of being overtaken

and do not be
afraid"

and Pharaoh followed them
with his troops

but they were overcome
by the sea

overwhelmed

Pharaoh
had led his people
in the wrong way

he was not
a guide for them

Tribe of Israel

We rescued you
from your enemy

and made an
appointment
with you
on the right side
of the Mount

and sent down for you
manna and quails

so eat of the good things
that We have
provided for you

but do not go
to excess in it

or My anger
will come down on you

and whoever
My anger lands on
is hurled to ruin

yet I am
Ever-Forgiving
to whoever
feels sorrow

and believes
and does good deeds

and in the end
is guided

"What hurried you

so far away
from your people

Moses?"

he said

"They are following
in my tracks

I have hurried
Liege
only to try
to please You"

said Hu

"We have tempted
your people
since you left them

the Samaritan
has led them
into error"

then Moses returned
to his people

very angry
and full of sorrow

saying

"My people

did your Liege
not make you
a handsome promise?

was what was promised
too long a wait for you?

or did you want
anger
to come down on you
from your Liege?

so you broke
your promise to me?"

they said

"We did not break
our promise to you
on purpose

but we were weighed down
with heavy loads
of the people's jewellery
and ornaments

and we threw them
into the fire
because that is what
the Samaritan did"

then
he brought out for them
a Calf

a physical thing
that made a sound

and they said

"This is your god
and the god of Moses

but he has forgotten"

what?

did they not see

that thing
could not speak
in reply to them

and had no power
to hurt them
or profit them?

yet Aaron had
said to them
before

"My people
you have been tempted
by this thing

no more

surely your Liege is
the Fount-of-All-Mercy

so follow me
and obey my orders"

they said

"We will not stop
clinging to it
until Moses
returns to us"

he said

"Aaron

what stopped you
when you saw them
going the wrong way

so you did not
follow after me?

did you disobey
my order?"

he said

"Son of my mother

do not take me
by the beard
or by the hair

I was afraid
that you would say

'You have divided
the Tribe of Israel

and you have not
followed my word'"

he said

"And you
Samaritan

what was
your business?"

he said

"I saw what they did not see

and I gathered up
a handful of dust
from the footsteps
of the Messenger
and threw it in

that is what
my inner self
told me to do"

he said

"Leave

in this life
you will have to call out

'Do not touch me'

and after that
a meeting waits for you
that you can not
fail to keep

see your god

the one you were
clinging to all day

we will surely burn it
and scatter its ashes
into the sea

your God is
the One God

there is no god if not Hu

Hu's knowledge
embraces everything"

and so We tell you
stories
of what has gone before

and We have given you
a Reminder
from Us

whoever
turns away from it
on the Day of Rising

will bear a heavy burden

living there forever

what an evil load
they will carry
on the Day of Rising

on the day that
the Trumpet is blown

on that day
We shall gather together
the wicked

their eyes staring blindly

whispering
one to another

"You only stayed there
for ten nights"

We know very well
what they will say

when those who are
more correct
will say

"You only stayed a day"

they will ask you
about the mountains

say

"My Liege
will scatter them
as dust

then Hu will leave them
as a level plain

in which you will see
no curve

no peaks or valleys"

on that day
they will follow Hu

Hu calls them

in Hu there is
no crookedness

voices will be hushed
before
the Fount-of-All-Mercy

so you hear
nothing but
a murmuring

on that day
cries for help
will be no use

except those to whom
the Fount-of-All-Mercy
gives permission

those whose speech
Hu approves

Hu knows
what is
before them
and behind them

but they
cannot understand Hu
with their knowledge

and faces
will be made humble

before
the Ever-Living
the Self-Existent

and whoever is
weighed down
with evil deeds
will have failed

but whoever
is a believer
and does good deeds

shall fear no wrong
and no injustice

in this way
We have sent it down
as an Arabic Reading

and We have set in it
various threats

so hopefully
they might be
Mindful of God

or they might be stirred
to remembering

so praise God on high
the true Monarch

and do not hurry
with the Reading

before what is
revealed to you
is finished

and say

"O my Liege
increase me in knowledge"

and We made
an agreement
with Adam before

but he forgot

and We found that
he had no constancy

and when We said
to the Angels

"Make Sajda to Adam"

they made Sajda

but Iblis refused

then We said

"Adam

surely this is an enemy
to you and your wife

so do not let it
drive you both
from the Garden

and make you unhappy

in it
you will not
go hungry
or naked

in it
you will not
be thirsty

or suffer from
the heat of the sun"

then Satan
whispered to him
saying

"Adam

shall I show you
the way to
the Tree of
Everlasting Life

and a realm
which will never
fade away?"

so the two of them
ate from it

and their shameful parts
were revealed to them

and they took to
stitching together
leaves of the Garden
to cover themselves

and Adam
disobeyed his Liege
and took
the wrong way

yet after that
his Liege chose him

and turned again
towards him

and guided him

said Hu

"Go down from it

both of you together

out of it

all of you becoming
enemies of each other

but if guidance comes to you
from Me

then whoever follows
My guidance
will not go
the wrong way

nor will they be
unhappy

but whoever turns away
from remembering Me

their lives will be
dark and narrow

and on the Day of Rising
We shall raise them
blind"

they will say

"O my Liege

why have you
raised me blind
when I wanted to see?

Hu will say

"Just as Our Signs
came to you
and you forgot them

so today
you are forgotten"

and so We repay
those who go
beyond all bounds

and do not believe
in the Signs of their Liege

and the punishment
of the world to come
is more terrible

and more long lasting

are they not guided
by how many generations
We destroyed before them

in whose living places
they now walk?

surely in that
are Signs for those
with understanding

and but for a word
that went before
from your Liege

and a fixed time

it would already
have happened

so be patient
in the face of
what they say

and glorify your Liege
with praise

before the rising of the sun
and before its setting

and during part of the night
give praise

and at the ends of the day

so that perhaps
you will find it
pleasing

and do not longingly
turn your eyes
towards what We have given
some of them to enjoy

the finery
of this present life

so We may test them by it

and what your Liege provides
is better for you
and lasts longer

and tell your family
to make Sala
and be constant in it

We do not ask you
to provide for Us

We provide for you

and the best result
is to be
Mindful of God

they say

"Why does he not
bring us a Sign
from his Liege?"

has there not
come to them
Clear Signs
of what was in
the earlier texts?

if We had destroyed them
with punishment
before this
they would have said

"Our Liege

why did You not send
a Messenger

so that we might have
followed Your Signs

before we were
humbled and disgraced?"

say

"Everyone is waiting

expecting

so wait

and you will surely know
who are the travellers
on the right path

and who is guided"

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