27 Sūrat an Naml ~ the Ant
In the name of God the Compassionate the Merciful 0
Ṭa Seen 1
These are the signs of the recitation and a clear book,
A guidance and good news for the faithful, 2
Those who establish the prayer and who give zakāh. 3
And they are sure in the afterlife.
Surely, for those who believe not in the hereafter, 4
We have made their deeds seem pleasing to them,
So they stray.
Those are the ones 5
For whom there is a foul punishment,
And in the hereafter they are the greatest losers.
And indeed, 6
You surely receive the recitation from the presence of knowing wisdom.
Once, Moses said to his family: 7
Indeed I perceive a fire.
From it I will bring you some information,
Or I will bring you a flaming torch so you can warm yourselves.
So when he came to it, he received a call, saying: 8
Blessed is he who is in the fire and whoever is around it.
And glory to God, the Lord of the worlds.
O Moses, truly, I am Allāh, the Almighty, the Wise. 9
And throw down your staff. 10
But when he saw it undulating as if it were a serpent,
He turned in retreat and did not look back.
O Moses, fear not. Surely no messengers fear in My presence.
But whoever wrongs then substitutes good after evil, 11
Then indeed, I am forgiving, merciful.
And enter your hand in your breast. 12
It comes out white without harm,
Among nine signs to Pharaoh and his people.
Surely, they are a deviant people.
But when Our signs came to them visibly, 13
They said: This is obvious sorcery.
And they denied them in injustice and arrogance, 14
Though they themselves were certain of them.
So see how was the end of the corrupters.
And certainly We gave David and Solomon knowledge, 15
And they said: Praise be to God,
The One Who has favored us over many of His faithful servants.
And Solomon inherited David. 16
And he said: O humanity, we have been taught the speech of the birds,
And we have been given from everything.
Indeed, this surely is manifest grace.
And gathered for Solomon were his armies of the jinn and the men 17
and the birds, and they were lined up.
Until when they came to the valley of the ants, 18
An ant said: O you ants, enter your dwellings,
Lest Solomon and his armies crush you unaware.
So [Solomon] smiled, laughing at her speech, and said: 19
My Lord, endow me that I am grateful for Your favors,
Which You have bestowed on me and on my parents,
And that I do virtuous deeds pleasing to You,
And admit me by Your mercy among Your virtuous slaves.
And then he surveyed the birds and said: 20
Why do I not see the hoopoe, or is he among the absent?
I will surely punish him with a severe punishment, 21
Or I will surely slaughter him, unless he brings me a clear authority.
So he stayed not long, and [the bird] said: 22
I have comprehended what you have not comprehended,
And I have come from Sheba with certain information.
Indeed, I found a woman ruling them, 23
And she has been given of everything,
And for her is a great throne.
And I found her and her people prostrating to the sun instead of God. 24
And the shayṭān has beautified their deeds to them,
And diverted them from the way,
So they are not guided.
And so they do not prostrate to God, the One 25
Who brings forth the hidden in the heavens and the earth,
And knows what you conceal and what you reveal.
God, there is no god but He, Lord of the great throne. 26
[Solomon] said: We shall see whether you are truthful, 27
Or you are of the liars.
Go with this letter of mine and offer it to them.
Then turn away from them and see what [answer] they return. 28
She said: O you chiefs, indeed, a noble letter is offered to me. 29
Surely from Solomon, and indeed it is: 30
In the name of God the Compassionate the Merciful,
That you not raise yourselves against me, 31
And you come to me in surrender.
She said: O you chiefs, Advise me in my affair. 32
I am not a decider of any matter until you testify to me.
They said: We are possessors of power and possessors of great might, 33
And the command is to you.
So consider what you command.
She said: Indeed kings, when they enter a town, they ruin it, 34
And they make the honorable of its people lowest.
And thus they do.
But indeed, I am sending to them a gift. 35
And see with what the messengers return.
So when they came to Solomon, he said: 36
Will you increase me in wealth?
But what God has given me is better that what He has given you.
No, you delight in your gift.
Return to them. 37
Surely we will come to them with forces they cannot resist.
And surely we will expell them from there humiliated,
And they will be servile.
He said: O you chiefs, which of you will bring me her throne before, 38
That they come to me surrendered?
Said an ‘ifreet of the jinn: That’s my task. 39
I will bring it to you before you stand up in your place.
And indeed, for it I am surely strong, trustworthy.
Said one who had knowledge of the book: 40
I will bring it to you in the blink of an eye.
Then when he saw it resting before him, he said:
This is from the grace of my Rabb,
To test whether I am grateful or I am ungrateful.
And whoever is grateful, then surely he is only grateful for his own soul,
And whoever is ungrateful,
Then truly my Rabb is free from want, generous.
Disguise her throne to her. 41
We will see whether she is guided or is of those who are not guided.
So when she came, it was said: 42
Is your throne like this?
She said: It is like it, and we were given the knowledge before it,
And we have become muslims.
And what she worshipped besides God had diverted her. 43
Indeed, she was from an unfaithful people.
It was said to her: Enter the palace. 44
Then when she saw it she thought it was a reflecting pool,
And she uncovered her legs.
He said: Indeed, it is a palace glazed with crystal.
She said: My Lord, surely I have wronged myself,
And I submit with Solomon to God, the Lord of the worlds.
And certainly We sent to Thamūd their brother Ṣāliḥ, [saying]: 45
Worship Allāh.
And suddenly they were two parties quarreling.
He said: O my people, why do you seek to hasten evil before the good? 46
Why do you not seek forgiveness from God,
So that you may receive mercy?
They said: We perceive an evil omen with you and with those with you. 47
He said: Your bad omen is with God.
No, you are a people being tested.
And there were nine family heads spreading corruption in the land, 48
And not reforming.
They said: Swear to each other by God, 49
Surely we will attack him and his family by night.
Then indeed, we will say to his heir:
We did not witness the destruction of his family,
And indeed, we surely are truthful.
And they planned a plan, 50
And We planned a plan,
While they did not perceive.
Then see how was the end of their plan, 51
That We destroyed them and their people altogether.
So these are their houses, desolate, because they wronged. 52
Indeed, in that is surely a sign for a people who know.
And We saved those who believed and were conscious of God. 53
And Lot, when he said to his people: 54
Do you commit abominations while you see?
Why do you approach men with desire instead of women?
No, you are an ignorant people. 55
Yet not was the answer of his people except that they said: 56
Drive out the family of Lot from your town.
Indeed, they are a people who stay pure.
So we saved him and his family, except his wife. 57
We ordained her among those who stayed behind.
And We rained upon them a rain, 58
So evil was the rain on those who were warned.
Say: All praise is to God, 59
And peace be upon His servants, those whom He has chosen.
Is God better, or what they ascribe?
Or Who has created the heavens and the earth, 60
And sent down for you water from the sky?
And by it We make gardens grow, ones of delight.
It is not for you that you make their trees grow.
Is there a god accompanying God?
No, they are a people ascribing equals.
Or Who made the earth a foundation, 61
And made in its midst rivers,
And made for it solid mountains,
And made between the two seas a barrier?
Is there a god accompanying God?
No, most of them do not know.
Or Who answers the distressed one when he calls Him? 62
And He removes the evil and makes you inheritors of the earth.
Is there a god accompanying God?
Little what you remember.
Or Who guides you in darknesses of the land and the sea? 63
And Who sends the winds as good news before His mercy?
Is there a god accompanying God?
Exalted is God, above what they ascribe.
Or Who originates the creation, 64
Then repeats it,
And Who provides you from the heavens and the earth?
Is there a god accompanying Allāh?
Say: Bring your proof if you are truthful.
Say: No one knows the unseen in the heavens and the earth except God, 65
Nor can they perceive when they will be raised.
No, their knowledge is overtaken in the hereafter. 66
No, about it they are in doubt.
No, about it they are blind.
And those who disbelieve say: 67
When we and our fathers become dust will we truly be brought out?
Certainly, we were promised this, we and our fathers before. 68
This is not but tales of the ancestors.
Say: Travel in the land and see how was the end of the criminals. 69
And do not grieve over them, 70
And do not be in distress from what they plot.
And they say: When is this promise, if you are truthful? 71
Say: It may be that it is close behind you, 72
Some of that which you seek to hasten.
And indeed, your Rabb is surely full of grace for mankind, 73
But most of them are not grateful.
And indeed, your Rabb surely knows what their breasts conceal, 74
And what they reveal.
And not anything is hidden in the heavens and the earth, 75
But is in a clear record.
Indeed, this Qur’ān relates to the children of Israel 76
Most of that about which they differ.
And indeed, it is surely a guidance and a mercy for the faithful. 77
Surely your Rabb judges between them by His wisdom. 78
And He is the Almighty, the Knowing.
So rely upon God. 79
Indeed, you are on the clear Truth.
Indeed you cannot make the dead hear, 80
Nor can you make the deaf hear the call when they turn, fleeing.
And you cannot guide the blind from their error. 81
Nor can you make hear except those who believe in Our signs,
So they are ones who surrender.
And when the word upon them is fulfilled, 82
We will bring forth for them a creature from the earth,
Telling them that the people were not certain of Our signs.
And the day We will gather from every nation 83
A crowd of those who deny Our signs,
And they will be set in rows,
Until, when they come, He will say: Did you deny My signs 84
While you did not comprehend them knowledgeably,
Or what you had done?
And the word will be fulfilled upon them because they wronged. 85
And they will not speak.
Do they not see that We have made the night so they may rest in it, 86
And the day giving visibility?
Indeed, in that surely there are signs for a believing people.
And the day the horn will be blown, 87
And whoever is in the heavens and whoever is in the earth
Will be terrified,
Except whom God wills.
And all will come to Him humbled.
And you see the mountains, thinking them immobile, 88
And they will pass the passing of the clouds,
The work of God Who perfected all things.
Indeed He is aware of what you do.
Whoever comes with the good, then for him will be better than it. 89
And they will be safe from the terror of that day.
And whoever comes with evil, 90
Their faces will be cast down in the fire.
Are you recompensed except for what you did?
I am only commanded that I worship the Lord of this land, 91
The One Who made it sacred.
And to Him belong all things.
And I am commanded that I be of the ones who surrender,
And that I recite the Qur’ān. 92
So whoever is guided,
Then he is guided only for himself,
And whoever strays, then say:
I am only of the warners.
And say: All praise is to God. 93
He will show you His signs,
And you will recognize them.
And your Rabb is not heedless of what you do.