# Sura  17 - The Night Journey

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-19 — 1 clipping.*

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> SURA XVII (17) - THE NIGHT JOURNEY - Mecca - 111 verses      (LXVII - 164)   
>  
>        In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
>  
>        Glory be to Him who carried his servant by night from the sacred temple
> of Mecca to the temple that is more remote, whose precinct we have blessed,
> that we might shew him of our signs!  for He is the Hearer, the Seer.
>  
>        And we gave the Book to Moses and ordained it for guidance to the
> children of Israel - "that ye take no other Guardian than me."
>  
>        Of posterity of those whom we bare with Noah!  He truly was a grateful
> servant!
>  
>        And we solemnly declared to the children of Israel in the Book, "Twice
> surely will ye enact crimes in the earth, and with great loftiness of pride
> will ye surely be uplifted."
>  
>        So when the menace for the first crime came to be inflicted, we sent
> against you our servants endued with terrible prowess; and they searched the
> inmost part of your abodes, and the menace was accomplished.
>  
>        Then we gave you the mastery over them in turn, and increased you in
> wealth and children, and made you a most numerous host.
>  
>        We said, "if ye do well, to your own behoof will ye do well:  and if ye
> do evil, against yourselves will ye do it.  And when the menace for the latter
> crime came to be inflicted, then we sent an enemy to sadden your faces, and to
> enter the temple as they entered it at first, and to destroy with utter
> destruction that which they had conquered.
>  
>        Haply your Lord will have mercy on you! but if ye return we will return:
> and we have appointed Hell - the prison of the infidels.
>  
>        Verily this Koran guideth to what is most upright; and it announceth to
> believers
>  
> 17:10  Who do the things that are right, that for them is a great reward;
>  
>        And that for those who believe not in the life to come, we have got
> ready a painful punishment.
>  
>        May prayeth for evil as he prayeth for good; for man is hasty.
>  
>        We have made the night and the day for two signs:  the sign of the night
> do we obscure, but the sign of the day cause we to shine forth, that ye may
> seek plenty from your Lord, and that ye may know the number of the years and
> the reckoning of time; and we have made everything distinct by distinctiveness.
>  
>        And every man's fate have we fastened about his neck:  and on the day of
> resurrection will we bring forth to him a book which shall be proffered to him
> wide open:
>  
>        - "Read thy Book:  there needeth none by thyself to make out an account
> against thee this day."
>  
>        For his own good only shall the guided yield to guidance, and to his own
> loss only shall the erring err; and the heavy laden shall not be laden with
> another's load.  We never punished until we had first sent an apostle:
>  
>        And when we willed to destroy a city, to its affluent ones did we
> address our bidding; but when they acted criminally therein, just was its doom,
> and we destroyed it with an utter destruction.
>  
>        And since Noah, how many nations have we exterminated!  And of the sins
> of his servants thy Lord is sufficiently informed, observant.
>  
>        Whoso chooseth this quickly passing life, quickly will we bestow therein
> that which we please - even on him we chose; afterward we will appoint hell for
> him, in which he shall burn - disgraced, outcast:
>  
> 17:20  But whoso chooseth the next life, and striveth after it as it should be
> striven for, being also a believer, - these! their striving shall be grateful
> to God:
>  
>        To all - both to these and those - will we prolong the gifts of thy
> Lord; for not to any shall the gifts of thy Lord be denied.
>  
>        See how we have caused some of them to excel others! but the next life
> shall be greater in its grades,, and greater in excellence.
>  
>        Set not up another god with God, lest thou sit thee down disgraced,
> helpless.
>  
>        Thy Lord hath ordained that ye worship none but him; and, kindness to
> your parents, whether one or both of them attain to old age with thee:  and say
> not to them, "Fie!" neither reproach them; but speak to them both with
> respectful speech;
>  
>        And defer humbly to them out of tenderness; and say, "Lord, have
> compassion on them both, even as they reared me when I was little."
>  
>        Your Lord well knoweth what is in your souls; he knoweth whether ye be
> righteous:
>  
>        And gracious is He to those who return to Him.
>  
>        And to him who is of kin render his due, and also to the poor and to the
> wayfarer; yet waste not wastefully.
>  
>        For the wasteful are brethren of the Satans, and Satan was ungrateful to
> his Lord:
>  
> 17:30  But if thou turn away from them, while thou thyself seekest boons from
> thy Lord for which thou hopest, at least speak to them with kindly speech:
>  
>        And let not thy hand be tied up to thy neck; nor yet open it with all
> openness, lest thou sit thee down in rebuke, in beggary.
>  
>        Verily, thy Lord will provide with open hand for whom he pleaseth, and
> will be sparing.  his servants doth he scan, inspect.
>  
>        Kill not your children for fear of want:  for them and for you will we
> provide.  Verily, the killing them is a great wickedness.
>  
>        Have nought to do with adultery; for it is a foul thing and an evil way:
>  
>        Neither slay any one whom God hath forbidden you to slay, unless for a
> just cause:  and whosoever shall be slain wrongfully, to his heir have we given
> powers; but let him not outstep bounds in putting the manslayer to death, for
> he too, in his turn, will be assisted and avenged.
>  
>        And touch not the substance of the orphan, unless in an upright way,
> till he attain his age of strength:  And perform your convent; verily the
> covenant shall be enquired of:
>  
>        And give full measure when you measure, and weigh with just balance.
> This will be better, and fairest for settlement:
>  
>        And follow not that of which thou hast no knowledge; because the hearing
> and the sight and the heart, - each of these shall be enquired of:
>  
>        And walk not proudly on the earth, for thou canst not cleave the earth,
> neither shalt thou reach to the mountains in height:
>  
> 17:40  All this is evil; odious to thy Lord.
>  
>        This is a part of the wisdom which thy Lord hath revealed to thee.  Set
> not up any other god with God, lest thou be cast into Hell, rebuked, cast away.
>  
>        What! hath your Lord prepared sons for you, and taken for himself
> daughters from among the angels?  Indeed, ye say a dreadful saying.
>  
>        Moreover, for man's warning have we varied this Koran:  Yet it only
> increaseth their flight from it.
>  
>        Say:  If,, as ye affirm, there were other gods with Him, they would in
> that case seek occasion against the occupant of the throne:
>  
>        Glory to Him!  Immensely high is He exalted above thier blasphemies!
>  
>        The seven heavens praise him, and the earth, and all who are therein;
> neither is there aught which doth not celebrate his praise; but their
> utterances of praise ye understand not.  He is kind, induglent.
>  
>        When thou recitest the Koran we place between thee and those who believe
> not in the life to come, a dark veil;
>  
>        And we put coverings over their hearts lest they should understand it,
> and in their ears a heaviness;
>  
>        And when in the Koran thou namest thy One lord, they turn their backs in
> flight.
>  
> 17:50  We well know why they hearken, when they hearken unto thee, and when
> they whisper apart; when the wicked say, "Ye follow no other than a man
> enchanted."
>  
>        See what likenesses they strike out for thee!  But they are in error,
> neither can they find the path.
>  
>        They also say, "After we shall have become bones and dust, shall we in
> sooth be raised a new creation?"
>  
>        Say:  "Yes, though ye were stones, or iron, or any other creature, to
> your seeming, yet harder to be raised."  But they will say, "Who shall bring us
> back?"  Say:  "He who created you at first."  And they will wag their heads at
> thee, and say, "When shall this be?"  Say:  "Haply it is nigh."
>  
>        On that day shall God call you forth, and ye shall answer by praising
> Him; and ye shall seem to have tarried but a little while.
>  
>        Enjoin my servants to speak in kindly sort:  Verily Satan would stir up
> strifes among them, for Satan is man's avowed foe.
>  
>        Your Lord well knoweth you:  if He please He will have mercy on you; or
> if He please He will chastise you:  and we have not sent thee to be a guardian
> over them.
>  
>        Thy Lord hath full knowledge of all in the heavens and the earth.  High
> gifts have we given to some of the prophets than to others, and the Psalter we
> gave to David.
>  
>        Say:  Call ye upon those whom ye fancy to be gods beside Him; yet they
> will have no power to relieve you from trouble, or to shift it elsewhere.
>  
>        Those whom ye call on, themselves desire union with their Lord, striving
> which of them shall be nearest to him:  they also hope for his mercy and fear
> his chastisement.  Verily the chastisement of thy Lord is to be dreaded.
>  
> 17:60  There is no city which we will not destroy before the day of
> Resurrection, or chastise it with a grievous chastisement.  This is written in
> the Book.
>  
>        Nothing hindered us from sending thee with the power of working
> miracles, except that the people of old treated them as lies.  We gave to
> Themoud the she-camel before their very eyes, yet they maltreated her!  We send
> not a prophet with miracles but to strike terror.
>  
>        And remember when we said to thee, Verily, thy Lord is round about
> mankind; we ordained the vision which we shewed thee, and likewise the cursed
> tree of the Koran, only for men to dispute of; we will strike them with terror;
> but it shall only increase in them enormous wickedness:
>  
>        And when we said to the Angels, "Prostrate yourselves before Adam:" and
> they all prostrated them, save Eblis.  "What!" said he, "shall I bow me before
> him whom thou hast created of clay?
>  
>        Seest thou this man whom thou hast honoured above me?  Verily, if thou
> respite me till the day of Resurrection, I will destroy his offspring, except
> a few."
>  
>        He say, "Begone:  but whosoever of them shall follow thee, verily, Hell
> shall be your recompense; an ample recompense!
>  
>        And entice such of them as thou canst by thy voice; assault them with
> thy horsemen and thy footmen; be their partner in their riches and in their
> children, and make them promises:  but Satan shall make them only deceitful
> promises.
>  
>        As to my servants, no power over them shalt thou have;  And thy Lord
> will be their sufficient guardian."
>  
>        It is your Lord who speedeth onward the ships for you in the sea, that
> ye may seek of his abundance; for he is merciful towards you.
>  
>        When a misfortune befalleth you out at sea, they whom ye invoke are not
> to be found:  God alone is there:  yet when he bringeth you safe to dry land,
> ye place yourselves at a distance from Him.  Ungrateful is man.
>  
> 17:70  What! are ye sure, then, that he will not cleave the sides of the
> earth for you?  or that he will not send against you a whirlwind charged with
> sands?  Then shall ye find no protector.
>  
>        Or are ye sure that he will not cause you to put back to sea a second
> time, and send against you a storm blast, and drown you, for that ye have been
> thankless?  Then shall ye find no helper against us therein.
>  
>        And now have we honoured the children of Adam:  by land and by sea have
> we carried them:  food have we provided for them of good things, and with
> endowments beyond many of our creatures have we endowed them.
>  
>        One day we will summon all men with their leaders:  they whose book
> shall be given into their right hand, shall read their book, and not be wronged
> a thread:
>  
>        And he who has been blind here, shall be blind hereafter, and wander yet
> more from the way.
>  
>        And, verily, they had well nigh beguiled thee from what we revealed to
> thee, and caused thee to invent some other things in our name:  but in that
> case they would surely have taken thee as a friend;
>  
>        And had we not settled thee, thou hadst well nigh leaned to them a
> little:
>  
>        In that case we would surely have made thee taste of woe in life and of
> woe in death:  then thou shouldest not have found a helper against us.
>  
>        And truly they had almost caused thee to quit the land, in order wholly
> to drive thee forth from it:  but then, themselves should have tarried but a
> little after thee.
>  
>        This was our way with the Apostles we have already sent before thee, and
> in this our way thou shalt find no change.
>  
> 17:80  Observe prayer at sunset, till the first darkening of the night, and
> the daybreak reading - for the daybreak reading hath its witnesses,
>  
>        And watch unto it in the night:  this shall be an excess in service:  it
> may be that thy Lord will raise thee to a glorious station:
>  
>        And say, "O my Lord, cause me to enter with a perfect entry, and to come
> forth with a perfect forthcoming, and give me from thy presence a helping
> power:"
>  
>        And say:  Truth is come and falsehood is vanished.  Verily, falsehood is
> a thing that vanisheth.
>  
>        And we send down of the Koran that which is a healing and a mercy to the
> faithful:  But it shall only add to the ruin of the wicked.
>  
>        When we bestow favours on man, he withdraweth and goeth aside; but when
> evil toucheth him, he is despairing.
>  
>        Say:  Every one acteth after his own manner:  but your Lord well knoweth
> who is best guided in his path.
>  
>        And they will ask thee of the Spirit.  Say:  The Spirit proceedeth at my
> Lord's command:  but of knowledge, only a little to you is given.
>  
>        If we pleased, we could take away what we have revealed to thee:  none
> couldst thou then find thee to undertake thy cause with us.
>  
>        Save as a mercy from thy Lord; great, verily, is his favour towards
> thee.
>  
> 17:90  Say:  Verily, were men and Djinn assembled to produce the like of this
> Koran, they could not produce its like, though the one should help the other.
>  
>        And of a truth we have set out to men every kind of similitude in this
> Koran, but most men have refused everything except unbelief.
>  
>        And they say, "By no means will we believe on thee till thou cause a
> fountain to gush forth for us from the earth;
>  
>        Or, till thou have a garden of palm-trees and grapes, and thou cause
> forth-gushing rivers to gush forth in its midst;
>  
>        Or thou make the heaven to fall on us, as thou hast given out, in
> pieces; or thou bring God and the angels to vouch for thee;
>  
>        Or thou have a house of gold; or thou mount up into Heaven; nor will we
> believe in thy mounting up, till thou send down to us a book which we may
> read."  Say:  Praise be to my Lord!  Am I more than a man, an apostle?
>  
>        And what hindereth men from believing, when the guidance hath come to
> them, but that they say, "Hath God sent a man as an apostle?"
>  
>        Say:  Did angels walk the earth as its familiars, we had surely sent
> them an angel-apostle out of Heaven.
>  
>        Say:  God is witness enough between you and me.  His servants He
> scanneth, eyeth.
>  
>        And He whom God shall guide will be guided indeed; and whom he shall
> mislead thou shalt find none to assist, but Him:  and we will gather them
> together on the day of the resurrection, on their faces, blind and dumb and
> deaf:  Hell shall be their abode:  so oft as its fires die down, we will
> rekindle the flame.
>  
> 17:100 This shall be their reward for that they believed not our signs and
> said, "When we shall have become bones and dust, shall we surely be raised a
> new creation?"
>  
>        Do they not perceive that God, who created the Heavens and the Earth, is
> able to create their like?  And he hath ordained them a term; there is no doubt
> of it:  but the wicked refuse everything except unbelief.
>  
>        Say:  If ye held the treasures of my Lord's mercy ye would certainly
> refrain from them through fear of spending them:  for man is covetous.
>  
>        We therefore gave to Moses nine clear signs.  Ask thou, therefore, the
> children of Israel how it was when he came unto them, and Pharaoh said to him,
> "Verily, I deem thee, O Moses, a man enchanted."
>  
>        Said Moses, "Thou knowest that none hath sent down these clear signs but
> the Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth; and I surely deem thee, O Pharaoh, a
> person lost."
>  
>        So Pharaoh sought to drive them out of the land; but we drowned him and
> all his followers.
>  
>        And after his death, we said to the children of Israel, "Dwell ye in the
> land:" and when the promise of the next life shall come to pass, we will bring
> you both up together to judgment.  In truth have we sent down the Koran, and in
> truth hath it descended, and we have only sent thee to announce and to warn.
>  
>        And we have parcelled out the Koran into sections, that thou mightest
> recite it unto men by slow degrees, and we have sent it down piecemeal.
>  
>        Say:  Believe ye therein or believe ye not?  They verily to whom
> knowledge had been given previously, fall on their faces worshipping when it is
> recited to them, and say:  "Glory be to God!  the promise of our Lord is made
> good!"
>  
>        They fall down on their faces weeping, and It increaseth their humility.
>  
> 17:110 Say:  Call upon God (Allah), or call upon the God of Mercy (Arrahman),
> by whichsoever ye will invoke him:  He hath most excellent names.  And be not
> loud in thy prayer, neither pronounce it too low; but between these follow a
> middle way:
>  
>        And say:  Praise be to God who hath not begotten a son, who hath no
> partner in the Kingdom, nor any protector on account of weakness.  And magnify
> him by proclaiming His greatness.
>
> — *Sura  17 - The Night Journey*