Read the Quran
- Blessed is He in whose hand is the Kingdom: He has power over all things;
- He created death and life so that He might test you, and find out which of you is best in conduct. He is the Mighty, the Most Forgiving One.
- He created seven heavens one above the other in layers. You will not find any flaw in the creation of the Gracious One. Then look once again: can you see any flaw?
- Then look again and again. Your gaze will come back to you confused and exhausted.
- We have adorned the lowest heaven with lamps, and We have made them for driving away devils. For them We have prepared the punishment of the blazing Fire.
- Those who are bent on blaspheming against their Lord will have the punishment of Hell: an evil destination.
- When they are cast into it, they will hear its roaring as it boils up,
- as though bursting with rage. Each time a group is cast into it, its keepers will ask them, ‘Did no warner come to you?’
- They will say, ‘Of course, a warner did come to us, but we belied him and we said, “God has revealed nothing; you are in gross error”.’
- They will say, ‘If we had only listened or understood, we should not now be among the inmates of Hell,’
- and thus they will confess their sin; far from God’s mercy are the inmates of Hell.
- As for those who fear their Lord in the unseen will have forgiveness and a rich reward.
- Whether you speak in secret or aloud, He knows what is in every heart.
- How could He who created not know His own creation, when He alone is the Most Subtle in His wisdom and the All Aware?
- It is He who has made the earth subservient to you, so traverse its regions and eat its provisions. To Him you shall all be resurrected.
- Do you feel secure that He who is in heaven will not cause the earth to sink beneath you and then begin to quake?
- Do you feel secure that the One in heaven will not send against you a whirlwind to pelt you with stones, so that you will know how [true] My warning was?
- Those who went before them belied [the truth]: then how great was My rejection of them.
- Do they not see the birds above them spreading and closing their wings? None save the Merciful sustains them. Surely, He observes all things.
- Who is there to defend you like an army, besides the Lord of Mercy? Those who deny the truth are in deception.
- Who can provide for you, if He withholds His provision? Yet they obstinately persist in rebellion and avoidance of the truth.
- Is he who walks grovelling upon his face better guided, or he who walks upright upon a straight path?
- Say, ‘It is He who brought you into being, and made ears and eyes and hearts for you, yet you are seldom grateful.’
- Say, ‘It is He who has scattered you on the earth; and it is to Him that you shall all be gathered [on the Day of Resurrection].’
- They ask, ‘When will this promise be fulfilled, if you are truthful?’
- Say, ‘God alone has knowledge of that; and I am only a plain warner.’
- But when they see it drawing near, the faces of those who deny the truth will turn gloomy and they will be told, ‘This is what you were calling for.’
- Say, ‘Have you thought: if God destroys me and those who are with me, or treats us mercifully, then who will protect those who deny the truth from a painful chastisement?’
- Say, ‘He is the Most Gracious: we believe in Him and we put our trust in Him. You will soon come to know who is in evident error.’
- Say, ‘Have you considered if your water were to sink into the ground, who could then bring you flowing water?’
67:1-4
A study of the present world reveals a certain contradiction. The whole universe (except for human beings) is running quite perfectly and in the most well-organised manner. It has no defect in it anywhere. On the contrary, one finds many defects in human life. This is because the nature of man’s creation is different. Man in this world is living under testing conditions. A test essentially demands freedom of action. This freedom of action has given the opportunity to human beings to create disturbance and imbalance in the world. The transgression rampant in the human world is the price of human freedom. If such conditions did not exist, how could divine approval be given to those worthy persons who did not transgress, in spite of having opportunities to transgress and who abstained from arrogance in spite of having the power to be arrogant?
67:5-11
At various places in the Quran, the picture of hell has been drawn. Though this hell is not observable today by man, it can be seen indirectly and imagined through the meaningfulness of the universe. The fact is that if there were to be no reckoning of the evil people brought to account in the Hereafter, the entire meaningfulness of the universe would become inexplicable. The punishment of the Hereafter not being visible in the present world is precisely in accordance with God’s plan. It is the intention of God to select such persons as are convinced of His greatness and who obey Him without actually having seen Him. And the assessment of such people cannot be properly made unless the fate awaiting everybody in the Hereafter is kept out of their sight, so that whatever a man does here, he does out of free will and not under any compulsion.
67:12-14
Everything on earth is extremely well-balanced. It is this balance which has made the earth habitable for human beings. Should the slightest disturbance ever occur in this balance, man’s life would be destroyed. We should be grateful to God for the balanced world provided to us and seek His gracious help against any destructive conditions that may develop as a result of the world’s equilibrium being upset.
67:15-21
Birds flying in the air, the emergence of man’s sustenance from the soil and similar events are most wonderful. If one gives serious consideration to such things, one will become caught up in the realisation of God. But man is so forgetful that he indulges in arrogance in a world in which the natural phenomena visible all around him ought to teach him the lesson of obedience to God.
67:22-24
Man has been granted the powers of hearing, seeing and thinking. Some individuals are so constituted that whatever they hear they follow, whatever they see they accept at face value, and whatever comes into their minds they uncritically retain. This type of person is like an animal which goes ahead with its head down, toeing a fixed line. Quite another type of person is one who investigates whatever he hears, who tries to understand more accurately whatever he sees, and who discovers the Truth by coming out of his personal shell. This second type of person is one who straightens himself up and walks on a straight path—the qualities of hearing, observation and sensitivity have been given to man so that he may recognise the truth and not be as ignorant or unaware as a blind or deaf person.
67:25-30
When the addressee is not convinced by reasoning, the preacher repeats his utterances of firm faith and thus stirs his inner self into awakening. Even if there is the slightest sensitivity in a man, these last utterances are enough to make him feel the urge to reform himself. But one whose conscience has been completely blunted, can never be awakened by any device.
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