# Sura  27 - The Ant

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

---

> SURA XXVII (27) - THE ANT     (Mecca - 95 Verses)              (LXVIII - 174)  
>  
>        In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
>  
>        Ta. Sad.  These are the signs (verses) of the Koran and of the lucid
> Book;
>  
>        Guidance and glad tidings to the believers who observe prayer and pay
> the stated alms, and believe firmly - do they - in the life to come.
>  
>        As to those who believe not in the life to come, we have made their own
> doings fair seeming to them, and they are bewildered therein.
>  
>        These are they whom the woe of chastisement awaiteth; and in the next
> life they shall suffer - yes shall they - greatest loss;
>  
>        But thou hast certainly received the Koran from the Wise, the Knowing.
>  
>        Bear in mind when Moses said to his family, "I have perceived a fire;
>  
>        I will bring you tidings from it, or will bring you a blazing brand,
> that ye may warm you."
>  
>        And when he came to it, he was called to, "Blessed, He who is in the
> fire, and He who is about it; and glory be to God, the Lord of the worlds!
>  
>        O Moses! verily, I am God, the Mighty, the Wise!
>  
> 27:10  Throw down now thy staff."  And when he saw that it moved itself as
> though it were a serpent, he retreated backward and returned not.  "O Moses,
> fear not; for the Sent Ones fear not in my presence,
>  
>        Save he who having done amiss shall afterwards exchange the evil for
> good; for I am Forgiving, Merciful.
>  
>        Put now thy hand into thy bosom:  it shall come forth white, yet free
> from hurt:  one of the nine signs to Pharaoh and his people; for a perverse
> people are they."
>  
>        And when our signs were wrought in their very sight, they said, "This is
> plain magic."
>  
>        And though in their souls they knew them to be true, yet in their
> wickedness and pride they denied them.  But see what was the end of the corrupt
> doers!
>  
>        And of old we gave knowledge to David and Solomon:  and they said,
> "Praise be to God, who hath made us to excel many of his believing servants!"
>  
>        And in knowledge Solomon was David's heir.  And he said, "O men, we have
> been taught the speech of birds, and are endued with everything.  This is
> indeed a clear boon from God."
>  
>        And to Solomon were gathered his hosts of Djinn and men and birds, and
> they were marched on in bands,
>  
>        Till they reached the Valley of Ants.  Said an ant, "O ye ants, enter
> your dwellings, lest Solomon and his army crush you and know it not."
>  
>        Then smiled Solomon, laughing at her words, and he said, "Stir me up, O
> Lord, to be thankful for thy favour which thou hast shewed upon me and upon my
> parents, and to do righteousness that shall be well pleasing to thee, and bring
> me in, by thy mercy, among thy servants the righteous."
>  
> 27:20  And he reviewed the birds, and said, "How is it that I see not the
> lapwing?  Is it one of the absent?
>  
>        Surely, with a severe chastisement will I chastise it, or I will
> certainly slaughter it, unless it bring me a clear excuse."
>  
>        Nor tarried it long ere it came and said, "I have gained the knowledge
> that thou knowest not, and with sure tidings have I come to thee from Saba:
>  
>        I found a woman reigning over them, gifted with everything, and she hath
> a splendid throne;
>  
>        And I found her and her people worshipping the sun instead of God; and
> Satan hath made their works fair seeming to them, so that he hath turned them
> from the Way:  wherefore they are not guided,
>  
>        To the worship of God, who bringeth to light the secret things of heaven
> and earth, and knoweth what men conceal and what they manifest:
>  
>        God! there is no god but He! the lord of the glorious throne!"
>  
>        He said, "We shall see whether thou hast spoken truth, or whether thou
> art of them that lie.
>  
>        Go with this my letter and throw it down to them:  then turn away from
> them and await their answer."
>  
>        She said, "O my nobles! an honourable letter hath been thrown down to
> me:
>  
> 27:30  It is from Solomon; and it is this:  'In the name of God, the
> Compassionate, the Merciful!
>  
>        Set not up yourselves against me, but come to me submitting (Muslims).'"
>  
>        She said, "O my nobles, advise me in mine affair:  I decide it not
> without your concurrence."
>  
>        They said, "We are endued with strength and are endued with mighty
> valour.  - But to command is thine:  See therefore what thou wilt command us."
>  
>        She said, "Kings when they enter a city spoil it, and abase the
> mightiest of its people:  and in like manner will these also do.
>  
>        But I will send to them with a gift, and await what my envoys bring
> back."
>  
>        And when the messenger came to Solomon, he said, "Aid ye me with riches?
> But what God hath given to me is better than what he hath given you:  yet ye
> glory in your gifts:
>  
>        Return to them:  for we will surely come to them with forces which they
> cannot withstand, and we will drive them from their land humbled and
> contemptible."
>  
>        Said he, "O nobles, which of you will bring me her throne before they
> come to me, submitting?:  (Muslims)."
>  
>        And Efreet of the Djinn said:  "I will bring it thee ere thou risest
> from thy place:  I have power for this and am trust."
>  
> 27:40   And one who had the knowledge of Scripture said, "I will bring it to
> thee in the twinkling of an eye." And when he saw it set before him, he said,
> 'This is of the favour of my Lord, to try me whether I will be thankful or
> unthankful.  And he who is thankful is thankful to his own behoof; and as for
> him who is unthankful - truly my Lord is self-sufficient, bounteous!"
>  
>        Said he, "Make her throne so that she know it  not:  we shall see
> whether she hath or hath not guidance."
>  
>        And when she came he said, "is thy throne like this?"  She said, "As
> though it were the same."  "And we," said he, "have had knowledge given us
> before her, and have been Muslims."{
>  
>        But the gods she had worshipped instead of God had led her astray:  for
> she was of a people who believe not.
>  
>        It was said to her, "Enter the Palace:" and when she saw it, she thought
> it a lake of water, and bared her legs.  He said, "It is a palace paved with
> glass."
>  
>        She said, "O my Lord!  I have sinner against my own soul, and I resign
> myself, with Solomon, to God the Lord of the Worlds."
>  
>        And of old we sent to Themoud their brother Saleh, with "Serve ye God:"
> but lo! they became two sets of disputants wrangling with each other.
>  
>        He said, "O my people, why, if ye ask not pardon of God that ye may find
> mercy, hasten ye on evil rather than good?"
>  
>        They said, "We augur ill concerning thee and those who are with thee."
> He said, "The ills of which ye augur depend on God.  But ye a a people on your
> trial."
>  
>        And there were in the city nine persons who committed excesses in the
> land and did not that which is right.
>  
> 27:50  They said, "Swear ye to one another by God that we will surely fall on
> him and on his family by night:  then will we say to the avenger of blood, we
> witnessed not the destruction of his family:  and verily we speak the truth."
>  
>        And they devised a device, and we devised a device, and they were not
> aware  of it -
>  
>        And see what the was the end of their device!  We destroyed them and
> their whole people:
>  
>        And for their sin these their houses are empty ruins:  Verily in this is
> a sign to those who understand;
>  
>        And we delivered those who believed and feared.
>  
>        And Lot, when he said to his people, "What! proceed ye to such
> filthiness with your eyes open?
>  
>        What! come ye with lust unto men rather than to women?  Surely ye are an
> ignorant people."
>  
>        And the answer of his people was but to say, "Cast out the family of Lot
> from your city:  they, forsooth, are men to purity!"
>  
>        So we rescued him and his family:  but as for his wife, we decreed her
> to be of them that lingered:
>  
>        And we rained a rain upon them, and fatal was the rain to those who had
> had their warning.
>  
> 27:60  Say:  Praise be to God and peace by on His servants whom He hath
> chosen!  Is God the more worthy or the gods they join with Him?
>  
>        Is not He who hath made the Heavens and the Earth, and hath sent down
> rain to you from Heaven, by which we cause the luxuriant groves to spring up?
> It is not in your power to cause its trees to spring up!  What!  A god with
> God?  Yet they find equals for Him!
>  
>         Is not He, who hath set the earth so firm, and hath made rivers in its
> midst, and hath placed mountains upon it, and put a barrier between the two
> seas?  What! a god with God?  Yet the greater part of them have no knowledge!
>  
>         Is not He the more worthy who answereth the oppressed when they cry to
> 
> him, and taketh off their ills, and maketh you to succeed your sires on the
> earth?  What! a god with God?  How few bear these things in mind!
>  
>        Is not He, who guideth you in the darkness of the land and of the sea,
> and who sendeth forth the winds as the forerunners of His mercy?  What!  a god
> with God?  Far from God be what ye join with Him!
>  
>        Is not He, who created a Being, then reneweth it, and who supplieth you
> out of the Heaven and the Earth?  What! a god with God?  Say:  Bring forth your
> proofs if you speak the truth.
>  
>        Say:  None either in the Heavens or in the Earth knoweth the unseen but
> God.  And they know not
>  
>        When they shall be raised.
>  
>        - Yet they have attained to a knowledge of the life to come: - yet are
> they in doubt about it: - yet are they blind about it!
>  
>        And the unbelievers say:  "When we and our fathers have been dead shall
> we be taken forth?
>  
> 27:70  Of old have we been promised this, we and our sires of old:  it is but
> fables of the ancients."
>  
>        Say:  Go ye through the land, and see what hath been the end of the
> wicked.
>  
>        And grieve not thou for them, nor be in distress at their devisings.
>  
>        And they say, "When will this promise be made good, if ye speak true?"
>  
>        Say:  Haply a part of what ye desire to be hastened may be close behind
> you.
>  
>        And truly thy Lord is full of goodness towards men:  But most of them
> are not thankful.
>  
>        And thy Lord knoweth well what their breasts enshroud, and what they
> bring to light,
>  
>        And there is no secret thing in the Heaven or on the Earth, but it is in
> the clear Book.
>  
>        Truly this Koran declareth to the children of Israel most things wherein
> they disagree:
>  
>        And it is certainly guidance and a mercy to the faithful.
>  
> 27:80  Verily, by his wisdom will thy Lord decide between them:  for He is the
> Mighty, the KNowing.
>  
>        Put thou then thy trust in God:  for thou hast clear truth on thy side.
>  
>        Thou shalt not make the dead to hear; neither shalt thou make the deaf
> to hear the call, when they turn away backward;
>  
>        Neither art thou the guide of the blind out of their errors:  none truly
> shalt thou make to hear but those who believe our signs:  and they are Muslims.
>  
>        When the doom shall be ready to light upon them, we will cause a monster
> to come forth to them out of the earth, and cry to them, "Verily men have not
> firmly believed our signs."
>  
>        And on that day shall be gathered out of eery nation a company of those
> who have gainsaid our signs, in separate bands;
>  
>        Till they come before God, who will say, "Treated ye my signs as
> impostures, although ye embraced them not in your knowledge? or what is it that
> ye were doing?
>  
>        And doom shall light upon them for their evil deeds, and nought shall
> they have to plead.
>  
>        See they not that we have ordained the night that they may rest in it,
> and the day with its gift of light?  Of a truth herein are signs to people who
> believe.
>  
>        On that day there shall be a blast on the trumpet, and all that are in
> the heavens, and all that are on the earth shall be terror-stricken, save him
> whom God pleaseth to deliver; and all shall come to him in humble guise.
>  
> 27:90  And thou shalt see the mountains, which thou thinkest so firm, pass
> away with the passing of a cloud!  'Tis the work of God, who ordereth all
> things!  of all that ye do is He well aware.
>  
>        To him who shall present himself with good works, shall be a reward
> beyond their desert, and they shall be secure from the terror on that day;
>  
>        And they who shall present themselves with evil shall be flung downward
> on their faces into the fire.  Shall ye be rewarded but as ye have wrought?
>  
>        Say:  Specially ma I commanded to worship the Lord of this land, which
> He hath sanctified.  All things are His:  and I am commanded to be one of those
> who surrender them to God (a Muslim)
>  
>        And to recite the Koran:  and whosoever is rightly guided, assuredly
> will be rightly guided to his own behoof.
>  
>        And as to him who erreth, say, I truly am a warner only.  And say,
> Praise be to God!  He will shew you His signs, and ye shall acknowledge them:
> and of what ye do, thy Lord is not regardless.
>
> — *Sura  27 - The Ant*