# Sura  11 - Houd

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-18 — 1 clipping.*

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> SURA XI - HOUD  (11)      (MECCA - 85 VERSES)                (LXXV - 215)
>  
>        In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
>  
>        Elif. Lam. Ra.  A book whose verses are stablished in wisdom and then
> set forth with clearness - from the Wise, the All-informed -
>  
>        That ye worship none other than God - Verily I come to you from Him
> charged with warnings, announcements;
>  
>        And that ye seek pardon of your Lord, and then be turned unto Him!
> Goodly enjoyments will He give you to enjoy until a destined time, and His
> favours will He bestow on every one who deserves his favours.  But if ye turn
> away, then verily I fear for you the chastisement of the great day.
>  
>        Unto God shall ye return, and over all things is he Potent.
>  
>        Do they not doubly fold up their breasts, that they may hide themselves
> from Him?
>  
>        But when they enshroud themselves in their garments, doth He not know
> alike what they conceal and what they shew?
>  
>        For He knoweth the very inmost of their breast.
>  
>        There is no moving thing on earth whose nourishment dependeth not on
> god; he knoweth its haunts and final resting place:  all is in the clear Book.
>  
>        And He it is who hath made the Heavens and the Earth in six days:  His
> throne had stood ere this upon the waters, that He might make proof which of
> you would excel in works.
>  
> 11:10  And if thou say, "After death ye shall surely be raised again," the
> infidels will certainly explain, "This is nothing but pure sorcery."
>  
>        And if we defer their chastisement to some definite time, they will
> exclaim, "What keepeth it back?"  What! will it not come upon them on a day
> when there shall be none to avert it from them?  And that at which they scoffed
> shall enclose them in on every side.
>  
>        And if we cause man to taste our mercy, and then deprive him of it,
> verily, he is despairing, ungrateful.
>  
>        And if after trouble hath befallen him we cause him to taste our favour,
> he will surely exclaim, "The evils are passed away from me."  Verily, he is
> joyous, boastful.
>  
>        Except those who endure with patience and do the things that are right:
> these doth pardon await and a great reward.
>  
>        Perhaps thou wilt suppress a part of what hath been revealed to thee,
> and wilt be distressed at heart lest they say, "If a treasure be not sent down
> to him, or an angel come with him...." But thou art only a warner, and God hath
> all things in his charge.
>  
>        If they shall say, "The Koran is his own device," Say:  Then bring ten
> Suras like it of your devising, and call whom ye can to your aid beside God, if
> ye are men of truth.
>  
>        But if they answer you not, then know that it hath been sent down to you
> in the wisdom of God only, and that there is no God but He.  Are ye then
> Muslims?
>  
>        Those who choose this present life and its braveries, we will recompense
> for their works therein:  they shall having nothing less therein than their
> deserts.
>  
>        These are they for whom there is nothing in the next world but the Fire:
> all that they have wrought in this life shall come to nought, and vain shall be
> all their doings.
>  
> 11:20  With such can they be compared who rest upon clear proofs from their
> Lord?  to whom a witness from him reciteth the Koran, and who is preceded by
> the Book of Moses, a guide and mercy?  These have faith in it:  but the
> partisans of idolatry, who believe not in it, are menaced with the fire!  Have
> thou no doubts about that Book, for it is the very truth from thy Lord.  But
> most men will not believe.
>  
>        Who is guilty of a greater injustice than he who inventeth a lie
> concerning God?  They shall be set before their Lord, and the witnesses shall
> say, "These are they who made their Lord a liar."  Shall not the malison of God
> be on these unjust doers,
>  
>        Who pervert others from the way of God, and seek to make it crooked, and
> believe not in a life to come?  God's power on earth they shall not weaken; and
> beside God they have no protector!  Doubled shall be their punishment!  They
> were not able to hearken, and they could not see.
>  
>        These are they who have lost their own souls, and the deities of their
> own devising have vanished form them:
>  
>        There is no doubt but that in the next world they shall be the lost one.
>  
>        But they who shall have believed and done the things that are right, and
> humbled them before their Lord, shall be the inmates of Paradise; therein
> shall they abide for ever.
>  
>        These two sorts of persons resemble the blind and deaf, and the seeing
> and the hearing:  shall these be compared as alike?  Ah! do ye not comprehend?
>  
>        We sent Noah of old unto his people: - "Verily I come to you a plain
> admonisher,
>  
>        That ye worship none but God.  Verily I fear for you the punishment of a
> grievous day."
>  
>        Then said the chiefs of his people who believed not, "We see in thee but
> a man like ourselves; and we see not who have followed thee except our meanest
> ones of hasty judgment, nor see we any excellence in you above ourselves:  nay,
> we deem you liars."
>  
> 11:30  He said:  "O my people! how think you?  If I am upon a clear revelation
> from my Lord, who hath bestowed on me mercy from Himself to which ye are blind,
> can we force it on you, if ye are averse from it?
>  
>        And, O my people!  I ask you not for riches:  my reward is of God alone:
> and I will not drive away those who believe that they shall meet their Lord: -
> but I see that ye are an ignorant people.
>  
>        And, O my people! were I to drive them away, who shall help me against
> God?  Will ye not therefore consider?
>  
>        And I tell you not that with me are the treasurers of God:  nor do I
> say, 'I know the things unseen;' nor do I say, 'I am an angel;' nor do I say of
> those whom you eye with scorn, No good thing will God bestow on them: - God
> best knoweth what is in their minds - for then should I be one of those who act
> unjustly."
>  
>        They said, "O Noah! already hast thou disputed with us, and multiplied
> disputes with us:  Bring then upon us what thou hast threatened, if thou be of
> those who speak truth."
>  
>        He said, "God will bring it on you at His sole pleasure, and it is not
> you who can weaken him;
>  
>        Nor, if God desire to mislead you, shall my counsel profit you, though I
> fain would counsel you aright.  He is your Lord, and unto Him shall ye be
> brought back.
>  
>        Do they say, "This Koran is of his own devising?"  Say:  On me be my own
> guilt, if I have devised it, but I am clear of that whereof ye are guilty.
>  
>        And it was revealed unto Noah.  Verily, none of thy people shall
> believed, save they who have believed already; therefore be not thou grieved at
> their doings.
>  
>        But build the Ark under our eye and after our revelation:  and plead not
> with me for the evil doers, for they are to be drowned.
>  
> 11:40  So he built the Ark; and whenever the chiefs of his people passed by
> they laughed him to scorn:  said he, "Though ye laugh at us, we truly shall
> laugh at you, even as ye laugh at us; and in the end ye shall know
>  
>        On whom a punishment shall come that shall shame him, and on whom shall
> light a lasting punishment."
>  
>        Thus was it until our sentence came to pass, and the earth's surface
> boiled up.  We said, "Carry into it one pair of every kind, and thy family,
> except him on whom sentence hath before been passed, and those who have
> believed."  But there believed not with him except a few.
>  
>        And he said, "Embark ye therein.  In the name of God be its course and
> its riding at anchor!  Truly my Lord is right Gracious, Merciful."
>  
>        And the Ark moved on with them amid waves like mountains:  and Noah
> called to his son - for he was apart - "Embark with us, O my child!  and be not
> with the unbelievers."
>  
>        He said, "I will betake me to a mountain that shall secure me from the
> water."  He said, "None shall be secure this day from the decree of God, save
> him on whom He shall have mercy."  And a wave passed between them, and he was
> among the drowned.
>  
>        And it was said, "O Earth! swallow up thy water;" and "cease, O Heaven!"
> And the water abated, and the decree was fulfilled, and the Ark rested upon
> Al-Djoudi; and it was said, "Avaunt! ye tribe of the wicked!"
>  
>        And Noah called on his Lord and said, "O Lord! verily my son is of my
> family:  and thy promise is true, and thou art the most just of judges."
>  
>        He said, "O Noah! verily, he is not of thy family:  in this thou actest
> not aright.  Ask not of me that whereof thou knowest nought:  I warn thee that
> thou become not of the ignorant.
>  
>        He said, "To thee verily, O my Lord, do I repair lest I ask that of thee
> wherein I have no knowledge:   unless thou forgive me and be merciful to me I
> shall be one of the lost.
>  
> 11:50  It was said to him, "O Noah! debark with peace from Us, and with
> blessings on thee and on peoples to be born from those who are with thee; but
> as for other and unbelieving peoples, we will give them their good things in
> this world, but hereafter shall a grievous punishment light on them from us.
>  
>        This is one of the secret Histories:  we reveal it unto thee:  neither
> thou nor thy people knew it ere this:  be patient thou:  verily, there is a
> prosperous issue to the God-fearing.
>  
>        And unto Ad we sent their Brother Houd.  He said, "O my people, worship
> God.  You have no God beside Him.  Ye only devise a lie.
>  
>        O my people!  I ask of you no recompense for this:  my recompense is
> with Him only who hath made me.  Will ye not then understand?
>  
>        O my people!  ask pardon of your Lord; then be turned unto Him:  He will
> send down the heavens upon you with copious rains;
>  
>        And with strength on strength will He increase you:L  only turn  not
> back with deeds of evil."
>  
>        They said, "O Houd, thou hast  not brought us proofs of thy mission:  we
> will not abandon our gods at thy word, and we believe thee not.
>  
>        We can only say that some of our gods have smitten thee with evil." Said
> he, "Now take I God to witness, do ye also witness, that I am clear of your
> joining other gods
>  
>        To God.  Conspire then against me all of you, and delay me not.
>  
>        For I trust in God, my Lord and yours.  No single beast is there which
> he holdeth not by its forelock.  Right, truly, is the way in which my Lord
> goeth.
>  
> 11:60  But if ye turn back, I have already declared to you my message.  And my
> Lord will put another people in your place, nor shall ye at all hurt Him;
> verily, my Lord keepeth watch over all things."
>  
>        And when our doom came to be inflicted, we rescued Houd and those who
> had like faith with Him, by our special mercy:  we rescued them from the
> rigorous chastisement.
>  
>        These men of Ad gainsaid the signs of their Lord, and rebelled against
> his messengers, and followed the bidding of every proud contumacious person.
>  
>        Followed therefore were they in this world by a curse; and in the day of
> Resurrection it shall be said to them, "What! Did not Ad disbelieve their
> Lord?"  Was not Ad, the people of Houd, cast far away?
>  
>        And unto Themoud we sent their Brother Saleh: - "O my people! said he,
> worship God:  you have no other god then Him.  He hath raised you up out of the
> earth, and hath given you to dwell therein.  Ask pardon of him then, and be
> turned unto him; for thy Lord is nigh, ready to answer."
>  
>        They said, "O Saleh! our hopes were fixed on thee till now:  forbiddest
> thou us to worship what our fathers worshipped/  Truly we misdoubt the faith to
> which thou callest us, as suspicious."
>  
>        He said, "O my people!  what think ye?  If I have a revelation from my
> Lord to support me, and if He hath shewed his mercy on me, who could protect me
> from God if I rebel against him?  Ye would only confer on me increase of ruin.
>  
>        O my people!  this is the she-Camel of God, and sign unto you.  Let her
> go at large and feed in God's earth, and do her no harm, lest a speedy
> punishment overtake you."
>  
>        Yet they hamstrung her:  then said he, "Yet three days more enjoy
> yourselves in your dwellings:  this menace will not prove untrue."
>  
>        And when our sentence came to pass, we rescued Saleh and those who had a
> like faith with him, by our mercy, from ignominy on that day.  Verily, thy Lord
> is the Strong, the Mighty!
>  
> 11:70  And a violent tempest overtook the wicked, and they were found in the
> morning prostrate in their dwellings,
>  
>        As though they had never abode in them.  What!  Did not Themoud
> disbelieve his Lord?  Was not Themoud utterly cast off?
>  
>        And our messengers came formerly to Abraham with glad tidings.  "Peace,"
> said they.  He said, "Peace," and he tarried not, but brought a roasted calf.
>  
>        And when he saw that their hands touched it not, he misliked them, and
> grew fearful of them.  They said, "Fear not," for we are sent to the people of
> Lot."
>  
>        His wife was standing by and laughed; and we announced Isaac to her; and
> after Isaac, Jacob.
>  
>        She said, "Ah, woe is me! shall I bear a son when I am old, and when
> this my husband is an old man?  This truly would be a marvellous thing."
>  
>        They said, "Marvellest thou at the command of God?  God's mercy and
> blessing be upon you, O people of this house; praise and glory are His due!"
>  
>        And when Abraham's fear had passed away, and these glad tidings had
> reached him, he pleaded with us for the people of Lot.  Verily, Abraham was
> right kind, pitiful, relenting.
>  
>        "O Abraham! desist from this; for already hath the command of thy God
> gone forth; as for them, a punishment not to be averted is coming on them."
>  
>        And when our messengers came to Lot, he was grieved for them; and he was
> too weak to protect them, and he said, "This is a day of difficulty."
>  
> 11:80  And his people came rushing on towards him, for aforetime had they
> wrought this wickedness.  He said, "O my people!  these my daughters will be
> purer for you:  fear God, and put me not to shame in my guests. Is there no
> rightminded man among you?"
>  
>        They said, "Thou knowest now that we need not thy daughters; and thou
> well knowest what we require."
>  
>        He said, "Would that I had strength to resist you, or that I could find
> refuge with some powerful chieftain."
>  
>        The Angels said, "O Lot!  verily, we are the messengers of thy Lord:
> they shall not touch tee:  depart with thy family in the dead of night, and let
> not one of you turn back:  as for thy wife, on her shall light what shall light
> on them.  Verily, that with which they are threatened is for the morning.  Is
> not the morning near?"
>  
>        And when our decree came to be executed we turned those cities upside
> down, and we rained down upon them blocks of claystone one after another,
> marked by thy Lord himself.  Nor are they far distant from the wicked Meccans.
>  
>        And we sent to Madian their brother Shoaib.  He said, "O my people!
> worship God:  no other God have you than He:  give not short weight and
> measure:  I see indeed that ye revel in good things; but I fear for you the
> punishment of the all-encompassing day.
>  
>        O my people! give weight and measure with fairness; purloin not other
> men's goods; and perpetrate not injustice on the earth with corrupt practices:
>  
>        A residue, the gift of God, will be best for you if ye are believers:
>  
>        But I am not a guardian over you."
>  
>        They said to him, "O Shoaib!  is it thy prayers which enjoin that we
> should leave what our fathers worshipped, or that we should not do with our
> substance as pleaseth us?  Thou forsooth art the mild, the right director!"
>  
> 11:90  He said, "O my people! How think ye?  If I have a clear revelation from
> my Lord, and if from Himself He hath supplied me with goodly supplies, and if I
> will not follow you in that which I myself forbid you, do I seek aught but your
> amendment so far as in me lieth?  My sole help is in God.  In Him do I trust,
> and to Him do I turn me.
>  
>        O my people! let not your opposition to me draw down upon you the like
> of that which befel the people of Noah, or the people of Houd, or the people of
> Saleh:  and the abodes of the people of Lot are not far distant from you!
>  
>        Seek pardon of your Lord and be turned unto Him:  verily, my Lord is
> Merciful, Loving.
>  
>        They said, "O Shoaib! we understand not much of what thou sayest, and we
> clearly see that thou art powerless among us:L  were it not for thy family we
> would have surely stoned thee, nor couldest thou have prevailed against us."
>  
>        He said, "O my people! think ye more highly of my family than of God?
> Cast ye Him behind your back, with neglect?  Verily, my Lord is round about
> your actions.
>  
>        And, O my people! act with what power ye can for my hurt:  I verily will
> act:  and ye shall know
>  
>        On whom shall light a punishment that shall disgrace him, and who is the
> liar.  Await ye; verily I will await with you."
>  
>        And when our decree came to pass, we delivered Shoaib and his companions
> in faith, by our mercy:  And a violent tempest overtook the wicked, and in the
> morning they were found prostrate in their houses
>  
>        As if they had never dwelt in them.  Was not Madian swept off even as
> Themoud had been swept off?
>  
>        Of old sent we Moses, with our signs and with incontestable power to
> Pharaoh, and to his nobles - who followed the behests of Pharaoh, and,
> unrighteous were Pharaoh's bests.
>  
> 11:100 He shall head his people on the day of the Resurrection and cause them
> to descend into the fire:  and wretched the descent by which they shall
> descend!
>  
>        They were followed by a curse in this world; and in the day of the
> Resurrection, wretched the gift that shall be given them!
>  
>        Such, the histories of the cities which we relate to thee.  Some of them
> are standing, others mown down:
>  
>        We dealt not unfairly by them, but they dealt not fairly by themselves:
> and their gods on whom they called beside God availed them not at all when thy
> Lord's behest came to pass.  They did not increase their ruin.
>  
>        Such was thy Lord's grasp when he laid that grasp on the cities that had
> been wicked.  Verily his grasp is afflictive, terrible!
>  
>        Herein truly is a sign for him who feareth the punishment of the latter
> day.  That shall be a day unto which mankind shall be gathered together; that
> shall be a day witnessed by all creatures.
>  
>        No do we delay it, but until a time appointed.
>  
>        When that day shall come no one shall speak a word but by His leave, and
> some shall be miserable and others blessed.
>  
>        And as for those who shall be consigned to misery - their place the
> Fire!  therein shall they sigh and bemoan them -
>  
>        Therein shall they abide while the Heavens and the Earth shall last,
> unless thy Lord shall will it otherwise; verily thy Lord doth what He chooseth.
>  
> 11:110 And as for the blessed ones - their place the Garden! therein shall
> they abide while the Heavens and the Earth endure, with whatever imperishable
> boon thy Lord my please to add.
>  
>        Have thou no doubts therefore concerning that which they worship:  they
> worship but what their fathers worshipped before them:  we will surely assign
> them their portion with nothing lacking.
>  
>        Of old gave we Moses the Book, and they fell to variance about it.  If a
> decree of respite had not gone forth from thy Lord, there had surely been a
> decision between them.  Thy people also are in suspicious doubts about the
> Koran.
>  
>        And truly thy Lord will repay every one according to their works! for He
> is well aware of what they do.
>  
>        Go straight on then as thou hast been commanded, and he also who hath
> turned to God with thee, and let him transgress no more.  He beholdeth what ye
> do.
>  
>        Lean not on the evil doers lest the Fire lay hold on you.  Ye have no
> protector, save God, and ye shall not be helped against Him.
>  
>        And observe prayer at early morning, at the close of the day, and at the
> approach of night; for the good deeds drive away the evil deeds.  This is a
> warning for those who reflect:
>  
>        And persevere steadfastly, for verily God will not suffer the reward of
> the righteous to perish.
>  
>        Were the generations before you, endued with virtue, and who forbad
> corrupt
> doings on the earth, more than a few of those whom we delivered?  but the evil
> doers followed their selfish pleasures, and became transgressors.
>  
>        And thy Lord was not one who would destroy those cities unjustly, when
> its inhabitants were righteous.
>  
> 11:120 Had thy Lord pleased he would have made mankind of one religion:L  but
> those only to whom thy Lord hath granted his mercy will cease to differ.  And
> unto this hath He created them; for the word of thy Lord shall be fulfilled, "I
> will wholly fill hell with Djinn and men."
>  
>        And all that we have related to thee of the histories of these Apostles,
> is to confirm thy heart thereby.  By these hath the truth reached thee, and a
> monition and warning to those who believe.
>  
>        But say to those who believe not, "Act as ye may and can:  we will act
> our part:  and wait ye; we verily will wait."
>  
>        To God belong the secret things of the Heavens and of the Earth:  all
> things return to him:  worship him then and put thy trust in Him:  thy Lord is
> not regardless of your doings!
>
> — *Sura  11 - Houd*