The Holy Qur'an (Maulana Muhammad Ali)/20. Ta Ha

20. Ta Ha
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.

O man, 

We have not revealed the Qur'an to thee that thou mayest be unsuccessful; 

But it is a reminder to him who fears: 

A revelation from Him Who created the earth and the high heavens. 

The Beneficent is established on the Throne of Power. 

To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth and whatever is between them and whatever is beneath the soil. 

And if thou utter the saying aloud, surely He knows the secret, and what is yet more hidden. 

Allah there is no God but He. His are the most beautiful names. 

<section begin="20:9"/>And has the story of Moses come to thee? <section end="20:9"/>

<section begin="20:10"/>When he saw a fire, he said to his people: Stay, I see a fire; haply I may bring to you therefrom a live coal or find guidance at the fire. <section end="20:10"/>

<section begin="20:11"/>So when he came to it, a voice came: O Moses, <section end="20:11"/>

<section begin="20:12"/>Surely I am thy Lord, so take off thy shoes; surely thou art in the sacred valley Tuwa. <section end="20:12"/>

<section begin="20:13"/>And I have chosen thee so listen to what is revealed: <section end="20:13"/>

<section begin="20:14"/>Surely I am Allah, there is no God but I, so serve Me, and keep up prayer for My remembrance, <section end="20:14"/>

<section begin="20:15"/>Surely the Hour is coming -- I am about to make it manifest -- so that every soul may be rewarded as it strives. <section end="20:15"/>

<section begin="20:16"/>So let not him, who believes not in it and follows his low desire, turn thee away from it, lest thou perish. <section end="20:16"/>

<section begin="20:17"/>And what is this in thy right hand, O Moses? <section end="20:17"/>

<section begin="20:18"/>He said: This is my staff I lean on it, and I beat the leaves with it for my sheep, and I have other uses for it. <section end="20:18"/>

<section begin="20:19"/>He said: Cast it down, O Moses. <section end="20:19"/>

<section begin="20:20"/>So he cast it down, and lo! it was a serpent, gliding. <section end="20:20"/>

<section begin="20:21"/>He said: Seize it and fear not. We shall return it to its former state. <section end="20:21"/>

<section begin="20:22"/>And press thy hand to thy side, it will come out white without evil -- another sign: <section end="20:22"/>

<section begin="20:23"/>That We may show thee of Our greater signs. <section end="20:23"/>

<section begin="20:24"/>Go to Pharaoh, surely he has exceeded the limits. <section end="20:24"/>

<section begin="20:25"/>He said: My Lord, expand my breast for me: <section end="20:25"/>

<section begin="20:26"/>And ease my affair for me: <section end="20:26"/>

<section begin="20:27"/>And loose the knot from my tongue, <section end="20:27"/>

<section begin="20:28"/>(That) they may understand my word. <section end="20:28"/>

<section begin="20:29"/>And give to me an aider from my family: <section end="20:29"/>

<section begin="20:30"/>Aaron, my brother; <section end="20:30"/>

<section begin="20:31"/>Add to my strength by him, <section end="20:31"/>

<section begin="20:32"/>And make him share my task -- <section end="20:32"/>

<section begin="20:33"/>So that we may glorify Thee much, <section end="20:33"/>

<section begin="20:34"/>And much remember Thee. <section end="20:34"/>

<section begin="20:35"/>Surely, Thou art ever Seeing us. <section end="20:35"/>

<section begin="20:36"/>He said: Thou art indeed granted thy petition, O Moses. <section end="20:36"/>

<section begin="20:37"/>And indeed We bestowed on thee a favour at another time, <section end="20:37"/>

<section begin="20:38"/>When We revealed to thy mother that which was revealed: <section end="20:38"/>

<section begin="20:39"/>Put him into a chest, then cast it into the river, the river will cast it upon the shore -- there an enemy to Me and an enemy to him shall take him up. And I shed on thee love from Me; and that thou mayest be brought up before My eyes. <section end="20:39"/>

<section begin="20:40"/>When thy sister went and said: Shall I direct you to one who will take charge of him? So We brought thee back to thy mother that her eye might be cooled and she should not grieve. And thou didst kill a man, then We delivered thee from grief, and tried thee with (many) trials. Then thou didst stay for years among the people of Midian. Then thou camest hither as ordained, O Moses. <section end="20:40"/>

<section begin="20:41"/>And I have chosen thee for Myself. <section end="20:41"/>

<section begin="20:42"/>Go thou and thy brother with My messages and be not remiss in remembering Me. <section end="20:42"/>

<section begin="20:43"/>Go both of you to Pharaoh, surely he is inordinate; <section end="20:43"/>

<section begin="20:44"/>Then speak to him a gentle word, haply he may mind or fear. <section end="20:44"/>

<section begin="20:45"/>They said: Our Lord, we fear lest he hasten to do evil to us or be inordinate. <section end="20:45"/>

<section begin="20:46"/>He said: Fear not, surely I am with you -- I do hear and see. <section end="20:46"/>

<section begin="20:47"/>So go you to him and say: Surely we are two messengers of thy Lord; so send forth the Children of Israel with us; and torment them not. Indeed we have brought to thee a message from thy Lord, and peace to him who follows the guidance. <section end="20:47"/>

<section begin="20:48"/>It has indeed been revealed to us that punishment will overtake him who rejects and turns away. <section end="20:48"/>

<section begin="20:49"/>(Pharaoh) said: Who is your Lord, O Moses? <section end="20:49"/>

<section begin="20:50"/>He said: Our Lord is He Who gives to everything its creation, then guides (it). <section end="20:50"/>

<section begin="20:51"/>He said: What then is the state of the former generations? <section end="20:51"/>

<section begin="20:52"/>He said: The knowledge thereof is with my Lord in a book; my Lord neither errs nor forgets -- <section end="20:52"/>

<section begin="20:53"/>Who made the earth for you an expanse and made for you therein paths and sent down water from the clouds. Then thereby We bring forth pairs of various herbs. <section end="20:53"/>

<section begin="20:54"/>Eat and pasture your cattle. Surely there are signs in this for men of understanding. <section end="20:54"/>

<section begin="20:55"/>From it We created you, and into it We shall return you, and from it raise you a second time. <section end="20:55"/>

<section begin="20:56"/>And truly We showed him all Our signs but he rejected and refused. <section end="20:56"/>

<section begin="20:57"/>Said he: Hast thou come to us to turn us out of our land by thy enchantment, O Moses? <section end="20:57"/>

<section begin="20:58"/>We too can bring to thee enchantment like it, so make an appointment between us and thee, which we break not, (neither) we nor thou, (in) a central place. <section end="20:58"/>

<section begin="20:59"/>(Moses) said: Your appointment is the day of the Festival, and let the people be gathered in the early forenoon. <section end="20:59"/>

<section begin="20:60"/>So Pharaoh went back and settled his plan, then came. <section end="20:60"/>

<section begin="20:61"/>Moses said to them: Woe to you! Forge not a lie against Allah, lest He destroy you by punishment, and he fails indeed who forges (a lie). <section end="20:61"/>

<section begin="20:62"/>So they disputed one with another about their affair and kept the discourse secret. <section end="20:62"/>

<section begin="20:63"/>They said: These are surely two enchanters who would drive you out from your land by their enchantment, and destroy your excellent institutions. <section end="20:63"/>

<section begin="20:64"/>So settle your plan, then come in ranks, and he will succeed indeed this day who is uppermost. <section end="20:64"/>

<section begin="20:65"/>They said: O Moses, wilt thou cast, or shall we be the first to cast down? <section end="20:65"/>

<section begin="20:66"/>He said: Nay! Cast you down. Then lo! their cords and their rods it appeared to him by their enchantment as if they ran. <section end="20:66"/>

<section begin="20:67"/>So Moses conceived fear in his mind. <section end="20:67"/>

<section begin="20:68"/>We said: Fear not, surely thou art the uppermost. <section end="20:68"/>

<section begin="20:69"/>And cast down what is in thy right hand -- it will eat up what they have wrought. What they have wrought is only the trick of an enchanter, and the enchanter succeeds not wheresoever he comes from. <section end="20:69"/>

<section begin="20:70"/>So the enchanters fell down prostrate, saying: We believe in the Lord of Aaron and Moses. <section end="20:70"/>

<section begin="20:71"/>(Pharaoh) said: You believe in him before I give you leave! Surely he is your chief who taught you enchantment. So I shall cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides and I shall crucify you on the trunks of palm-trees, and you shall certainly know which of us can give the severer and the more abiding chastisement. <section end="20:71"/>

<section begin="20:72"/>They said: We cannot prefer thee to what has come to us of clear arguments and to Him Who made us, so decide as thou wilt decide. Thou canst only decide about this world's life. <section end="20:72"/>

<section begin="20:73"/>Surely we believe in our Lord that He may forgive us our faults and the magic to which thou didst compel us. And Allah is Best and ever Abiding. <section end="20:73"/>

<section begin="20:74"/>Whoso comes guilty to his Lord, for him is surely hell. He will neither die therein, nor live. <section end="20:74"/>

<section begin="20:75"/>And whoso comes to Him a believer, having done good deeds, for them are high ranks -- <section end="20:75"/>

<section begin="20:76"/>Gardens of perpetuity, wherein flow rivers, to abide therein. And such is the reward of him who purifies himself. <section end="20:76"/>

<section begin="20:77"/>And certainly We revealed to Moses: Travel by night with My servants, then strike for them a dry path in the sea, not fearing to overtaken, nor being afraid. <section end="20:77"/>

<section begin="20:78"/>So Pharaoh followed them with his armies, then there covered them of the sea that which covered them. <section end="20:78"/>

<section begin="20:79"/>And Pharaoh led his people astray and he guided not aright. <section end="20:79"/>

<section begin="20:80"/>O Children of Israel, We truly delivered you from your enemy, and made a covenant with you on the blessed side of the mountain, and sent to you the manna and the quails. <section end="20:80"/>

<section begin="20:81"/>Eat of the good things We have provided for you, and be not inordinate in respect thereof, lest My wrath come upon you; and he on whom My wrath comes, he perishes indeed. <section end="20:81"/>

<section begin="20:82"/>And surely I am Forgiving toward him who repents and believes and does good, then walks aright. <section end="20:82"/>

<section begin="20:83"/>And what made thee hasten from thy people, O Moses? <section end="20:83"/>

<section begin="20:84"/>He said: They are here on my track, and I hastened on to Thee, my Lord, that Thou mightest be pleased. <section end="20:84"/>

<section begin="20:85"/>He said: Surely We have tried thy people in thy absence, and the Samiri has led them astray. <section end="20:85"/>

<section begin="20:86"/>So Moses returned to his people angry, sorrowing. He said: O my people, did not your Lord promise you a goodly promise? Did the promised time, then, seem long to you, or did you wish that displeasure from your Lord should come upon you, so that you broke (your) promise to me? <section end="20:86"/>

<section begin="20:87"/>They said: We broke not the promise to thee of our own accord, but we were made to bear the burdens of the ornaments uf the people, then we cast them away, and thus did the Samiri suggest <section end="20:87"/>

<section begin="20:88"/>Then he brought forth for them a calf, a body, which had a hollow sound, so they said: This is your god and the god of Moses but he forgot. <section end="20:88"/>

<section begin="20:89"/>Could they not see that it returned no reply to them, nor controlled any harm or benefit for them? <section end="20:89"/>

<section begin="20:90"/>And Aaron indeed had said to them before: O my people, you are only tried by it, and surely your Lord is the Beneficent God, so follow me and obey my order. <section end="20:90"/>

<section begin="20:91"/>They said We shall not cease to keep to its worship until Moses returns to us. <section end="20:91"/>

<section begin="20:92"/>(Moses) said: O Aaron, what prevented thee, when thou sawest them going astray, <section end="20:92"/>

<section begin="20:93"/>That thou didst not follow me? Hast thou, then, disobeyed my order? <section end="20:93"/>

<section begin="20:94"/>He said: O son of my mother, seize me not by my beard, nor by my head. Surely I was afraid lest thou shouldst say Thou hast caused division among the Children of Israel and not waited for my word. <section end="20:94"/>

<section begin="20:95"/>(Moses) said: What was thy object, O Samiri? <section end="20:95"/>

<section begin="20:96"/>He said: I perceived what they perceived not, so I took a handful from the footprints of the messenger then I cast it away. Thus did my soul embellish (it) to me. <section end="20:96"/>

<section begin="20:97"/>He said: Begone then! It is for thee in this life to say, Touch (me) not. And for thee is a promise which shall not fail. And look at thy god to whose worship thou hast kept. We will certainly burn it, then we will scatter it in the sea. <section end="20:97"/>

<section begin="20:98"/>Your Lord is only Allah, there is no God but He. He comprehends all things in (His) knowledge. <section end="20:98"/>

<section begin="20:99"/>Thus relate We to thee of the news of what has gone before. And indeed We have given thee a Reminder from Ourselves. <section end="20:99"/>

<section begin="20:100"/>Whoever turns away from it, he will surely bear a burden on the day of Resurrection, <section end="20:100"/>

<section begin="20:101"/>Abiding therein. And evil will be their burden on the day of Resurrection - <section end="20:101"/>

<section begin="20:102"/>The day when the trumpet is blown; and We shall gather the guilty, blue-eyed, on that day, <section end="20:102"/>

<section begin="20:103"/>Consulting together secretly: You tarried but ten (days). <section end="20:103"/>

<section begin="20:104"/>We know best what they say when the fairest of them in course would say: You tarried but a day. <section end="20:104"/>

<section begin="20:105"/>And they ask thee about the mountains. Say: My Lord will scatter them, as scattered dust, <section end="20:105"/>

<section begin="20:106"/>Then leave it a plain, smooth, level, <section end="20:106"/>

<section begin="20:107"/>Wherein thou seest no crookedness nor unevenness. <section end="20:107"/>

<section begin="20:108"/>On that day they will follow the Inviter, in whom is no crookedness; and the voices are low before the Beneficent God, so that thou hearest naught but a soft sound. <section end="20:108"/>

<section begin="20:109"/>On that day no intercession avails except of him whom the Beneficent allows, and whose word He is pleased with. <section end="20:109"/>

<section begin="20:110"/>He knows what is before them and what is behind them, while they cannot comprehend it in knowledge. <section end="20:110"/>

<section begin="20:111"/>And faces shall be humbled before the Living, the Self-subsistent. And he who bears iniquity is indeed undone. <section end="20:111"/>

<section begin="20:112"/>And whoever does good works and he is a believer, he has no fear of injustice, nor of the withholding of his due. <section end="20:112"/>

<section begin="20:113"/>And thus have We sent it down an Arabic Qur'an, and have distinctly set forth therein of threats that they may guard against evil, or that it may be a reminder for them. <section end="20:113"/>

<section begin="20:114"/>Supremely exalted then is Allah, the King, the Truth. And make not haste with the Qur'an before its revelation is made complete to thee, and say: My Lord, increase me in knowledge. <section end="20:114"/>

<section begin="20:115"/>And certainly We gave a commandment to Adam before, but he forgot; and We found in him no resolve (to disobey). <section end="20:115"/>

<section begin="20:116"/>And when We said to the angels: Be submissive to Adam, they submitted except Iblis; he refused. <section end="20:116"/>

<section begin="20:117"/>We said: O Adam, this is an enemy to thee and to thy wife; so let him not drive you both out of the garden so that thou art unhappy. <section end="20:117"/>

<section begin="20:118"/>Surely it is granted to thee therein that thou art not hungry, nor naked, <section end="20:118"/>

<section begin="20:119"/>And that thou art not thirsty therein, nor exposed to the sun's heat. <section end="20:119"/>

<section begin="20:120"/>But the devil made an evil suggestion to him; he said: O Adam, shall I lead thee to the tree of immortality and a kingdom which decays not? <section end="20:120"/>

<section begin="20:121"/>So they both ate of it, then their evil inclinations became manifest to them, and they began to cover themselves with the leaves of the garden. And Adam disobeyed his Lord, and was disappointed. <section end="20:121"/>

<section begin="20:122"/>Then his Lord chose him, so He turned to him and guided (him). <section end="20:122"/>

<section begin="20:123"/>He said: Go forth herefrom both -- all (of you) one of you (is) enemy to another. So there will surely come to you guidance from Me; then whoever follows My guidance, he will not go astray nor be unhappy. <section end="20:123"/>

<section begin="20:124"/>And whoever turns away from My Reminder, for him is surely a straitened life, and We shall raise him up blind on the day of Resurrection. <section end="20:124"/>

<section begin="20:125"/>He will say: My Lord, why hast Thou raised me up blind, while I used to see? <section end="20:125"/>

<section begin="20:126"/>He will say: Thus did Our messages come to thee, but thou didst neglect them. And thus art thou forsaken this day. <section end="20:126"/>

<section begin="20:127"/>And thus do We recompense him who is extravagant and believes not in the messages of his Lord. And certainly the chastisement of the Hereafter is severer and mote lasting. <section end="20:127"/>

<section begin="20:128"/>Does it not manifest to them how many of the generations, in whose dwellings they go about, We destroyed before them? Surely there are signs in this for men of understanding. <section end="20:128"/>

<section begin="20:129"/>And had not a word gone forth from thy Lord, and a term been fixed, it would surely have overtaken them. <section end="20:129"/>

<section begin="20:130"/>So bear patiently what they say, and celebrate the praise of thy Lord before the rising of the sun and before its setting, and glorify (Him) during the hours of the night and parts of the day, that thou mayest be well pleased. <section end="20:130"/>

<section begin="20:131"/>And strain not thine eyes toward that with which We have provided different classes of them, (of) the splendour of this world's life, that We may thereby try them. And the sustenance of thy Lord is better and more abiding. <section end="20:131"/>

<section begin="20:132"/>And enjoin prayer on thy people, and steadily adhere to it. We ask not of thee a sustenance. We provide for thee. And the (good) end is for guarding against evil. <section end="20:132"/>

<section begin="20:133"/>And they say: Why does he not bring us a sign from his Lord? Has not there come to them a clear evidence of what is in the previous Books? <section end="20:133"/>

<section begin="20:134"/>And if We had destroyed them with chastisement before it, they would have said: Our Lord, why didst Thou not send to us a messenger, so that we might have followed Thy messages before we met disgrace and shame? <section end="20:134"/>

<section begin="20:135"/>Say: Every one (of us) is waiting, so wait. Soon you will come to know who is the follower of the even path and who goes aright. <section end="20:135"/>