# Sura  38 - Sad

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

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> SURA XXXVIII (38) - SAD       (Mecca - 88 Verses)                (LIX - 124)  
>  
>        In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
>  
> 38:1   Sad.  By the Koran full of warning!  In sooth the Infidels are absorbed
> in pride, in contention with thee.
>  
>        How many generations have we destroyed before them!  And they cried for
> mercy but no time was it of escape!
>  
>        And they marvel that a warner from among themselves hath come to them;
> and the Infidels say, "This is a sorcerer, a liar:
>  
>        Maketh he the gods to be but one god?  A strange thing forsooth is
> this!"
>  
>        And their chiefs took themselves off.  "Go, said they, and cleave
> steadfastly to your gods.  Ye see the thing aimed at.
>  
>        We heard not of this in the previous creed.  It is but an imposture:
>  
>        To him alone of us all hath a book of warning been sent down?"  Yes!
> they are in doubt as to my warnings, for they have not yet tasted my vengeance.
>  
>        Are the treasures of the mercy of thy Lord, the Mighty, the bounteous,
> in their hands?
>  
>        Is the kingdom of the heavens and of the earth and of all that is
> between them theirs?  Then let them mount up by cords!
>  
> 38:10  Any army of the confederates shall here be routed.
>  
>        Before them the people of Noah and Ad and Pharaoh the impaler treated
> their prophets as impostors;
>  
>        And Themoud, and the people of Lot, and the dwellers in the forest:
> these were the confederates.
>  
>        Nought did they all but charge the apostles with falsehood:  Just,
> therefore, the retribution.
>  
>        And these (Meccans) await but one single trumpet blast - There shall be
> no delaying it -
>  
>        Yet they dare to say, "O our Lord! hasten our lot to us, before the day
> of reckoning."
>  
>        Put thou up with what they say: and remember our servant David, a man
> strong of hand, one who turned him to Us in penitence;
>  
>        We constrained the mountains to join with him in lauds at even and at
> sunrise;
>  
>        And the birds which flocked to him, and would all return to him oft;
>  
>        And we stablished his kingdom: and wisdom, and skill to pronounce clear
> decisions, did we bestow on him.
>  
> 38-20  Hath the story of the two pleaders reached thee, O Muhammad, when they
> mounted the walls of his closet?
>  
>        When they entered in upon David, and he was frightened at them, they
> said, "Be not afraid; we are two opposing parties: one of us hath wronged the
> other.  Judge therefore with truth between us, and be not unjust, but guide us
> to the right way.
>  
>        Now this my brother had ninety and nine ewes, and I had but a single
> ewe; and he said, make me her keeper.  And he over-persuaded me in the
> dispute."
>  
>        He said, "Certainly he hath wronged thee in asking for thine ewe to add
> her to his own ewes: and truly many associates do one another wrong - except
> those who believe and do the things that are right; and few indeed are they!"
> And David perceived that we had tried him; so he asked pardon of his Lord, and
> fell down and bowed himself and repented.
>  
>        So we forgave him that his sin; and truly he shall have a high rank with
> Us, and an excellent retreat in Paradise.
>  
>        O David! verily we have made thee our vicegerent upon earth.  Judge
> therefore between men with truth, and follow not thy passions, lest they cause
> thee to err from the way of God.  For they who err from the way of God shall
> meet with a grievous chastisement, for that they have forgotten the day of
> reckoning.
>  
>        We have not created the heaven and the earth and what is between them
> for nought.  That is the thought of infidels; but woe to the infidels because
> of the fire!
>  
>        Shall we treat those who believe and do the things that are right like
> those who propagate evil on earth?  Shall we treat the God-fearing like the
> impious?
>  
>        A blessed Book have we sent down to thee, that men may meditate its
> verses, and that those endued with understanding may bear it in mind.
>  
>        And Solomon gave we unto David.  An excellent servant, for he loved to
> turn him Godward.
>  
> 38:30  Remember when at eventide the prancing chargers were displayed before
> him,
>  
>        And he said, "Truly I have loved the love of earthly goods above the
> remembrance of my Lord, till the sun hath been hidden by the veil of darkness.
>  
>        Bring them back to me,"  And he began to sever the legs and necks.
>  
>        We also made trial of Solomon, and placed a phantom on his throne:
> whereupon he returned to Us (in penitence).
>  
>        He said, O my Lord! pardon me, and give me a dominion that may not be to
> any one beside me, for thou art the liberal giver.
>  
>        So we subjected the wind to him; it ran softly at his bidding,
> whithersoever he directed it:
>  
>        And the Satans - every builder and diver -
>  
>        And others bound in chains:
>  
>        "This," said we, "is our gift: be bounteous then, or withhold thy
> favours; no account shalt thou render."
>  
>        And his rank also is high with Us, and an excellent retreat.
>  
> 38:40  And remember our servant Job when he cried to his Lord, "Verily, Satan
> hath laid on me disease and pain."
>  
>        "Stamp," said we, "with thy foot.  This is to wash with; cool, and to
> drink."
>  
>        And we gave him back his family, and as many more with them in our
> mercy; for a monition to men of judgment.
>  
>        And we said, "Take in thine hand a rod, and strike with it, nor break
> thine oath."  Verily, we found him patient!
>  
>        How excellent a servant, one who turned to Us was he!
>  
>        And remember our servants Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, men of might and
> vision.
>  
>        With this cleansing did we cleanse them - the remembrance of the abode
> of Paradise.
>  
>        And verily, they were, in our sight, of the elect and of the good.
>  
>        And remember Ishmael and Elisha and Dhoulkefl, for all these were of the
> just.
>  
>        This is a monition: and verily, the pious shall have a goodly retreat:
>  
> 38:50  Gardens of Eden, whose portals shall stand open to them:
>  
>        Therein reclining, they shall there call for many a fruit and drink:
>  
>        And with them shall be virgins of their own age, with modest retiring
> glances:
>  
>        "This is what ye were promised at the day of reckoning."
>  
>        "Yes! this is our provision:  it shall never fail."
>  
>        Even so.  But for the evil doers is a wretched home -
>  
>        Hell - wherein they shall be burned: how wretched a bed!
>  
>        Even so.  Let them then taste it - boiling water and gore,
>  
>        And other things of kindred sort!
>  
>        To their leaders it shall be said, "This company shall be thrown in
> headlong with you.  No greetings shall await them, for they shall be burned in
> the fire."
>  
> 38:60  They shall say:  "But ye, too! there shall ble no welcome for you.  It
> was ye who prepared this for us, and wretched is the abode!"
>  
>        They will say: "O our Lord! increase twofold in the fire, the punishment
> of him who hath brought this upon us."
>  
>        And they will say: "Why see we not the men whom we numbered among the
> wicked -
>  
>        Whom we used to treat with scorn?  Have they escaped our eyes?:"
>  
>        Verily this is truth - the wrangling together of the people of the fire.
>  
>        Say:  I am but a warner; and there is no God but God the One, the
> Almighty!
>  
>        Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth, and of all that is between them,
> the Potent, the Forgiving!
>  
>        Say:  this is a weighty message,
>  
>        From which ye turn aside!
>  
>        Yet had I no knowledge of what passed among the celestial chiefs when
> they disputed,
>  
> 38:70  - Verily, it hath been revealed to me only because I am a public
> preacher -
>  
>        When thy Lord said to the angels, "I am about to make man of clay,
>  
>        And when I have formed him and breathed my spirit into him, then
> worshipping fall down before him."
>  
>        And the angels prostrated themselves, all of them with one accord,
>  
>        Save Eblis.  He swelled with pride, and became an unbeliever.
>  
>        "O Eblis," said God, "what hindereth thee from prostrating thyself
> before him whom my hands have made?
>  
>        Is it that thou are puffed up with pride? or art thou a being of lofty
> merit?"
>  
>        He said, "I am more excellent than he; me hast thou created of fire: of
> clay hast thou created him."
>  
>        He said:  "Begone then hence: thou art accursed,
>  
>        And lo! my ban shall be on thee till the day of the reckoning."
>  
> 38:80  He said:  "O my Lord! respite me till the day of Resurrection."
>  
>        He said, "One then of the respited shalt thou be,
>  
>        Till the day of the time appointed."
>  
>        He said:  "I swear by thy might then that all of them will I seduce,
>  
>        Save thy sincere servants among them."
>  
>        He said:  "It is truth, and the truth I speak.  From thee will I surely
> fill Hell, and with such of them as shall follow thee, one and all.
>  
>        Say:  I ask no wage of you for this, nor am I one who intermeddleth.
>  
>        Of a truth the Koran is no other than a warning to all creatures.
>  
>        And after a time shall ye surely know its message.
>
> — *Sura  38 - Sad*