# Sura  21 - The Prophets

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

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> SURA XXI (21) - THE PROPHETS - Mecca - 112 Verses             (LXV - 151)    
>  
>        In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
>  
>        This people's reckoning hath drawn nigh, yet, sunk in carelessness, they
> turn aside.
>  
>        Every fresh warning that cometh to them from their Lord they only hear
> to mock it, -
>  
>        Their hearts set on lusts:  and they who have done this wrong say in
> secret discourse, "Is He more than a man like yourselves?  What!  will ye, with
> your eyes open, accede to sorcery?"
>  
>        Say:  "My Lord knoweth what is spoken in the heaven and on the earth: He
> is the Hearer, the Knower."
>  
>        "Nay," say they, "it is the medley of dreams:  nay, he hath forged it:
> nay, he is a poet:  let him come to us with a sign as the prophets of old were
> sent."
>  
>        Before their time, none of the cities which we have destroyed, believed:
> will these men, then, believe?
>  
>        And we sent none, previous to thee, but men to whom we had revealed
> ourselves.  Ask ye the people who are warned by Scriptures, if ye know it not.
>  
>        We have them n ot bodies which could dispense with food: and they were
> not to live for ever.
>  
>        Then made we good our promise to them; and we delivered them and whom we
> pleased, and we destroyed the transgressors.
>  
> 21:10  And now have we sent down to you "the book," in which is your warning:
> What, will ye not then understand?
>  
>        And how many a guilty city have we broken down, and raised up after it
> other peoples:
>  
>        And when they felt our vengeance, lo! they fled from it.
>  
>        "Flee not," said the angels in mockery, "but come back to that wherein
> ye revelled, and to your abodes!  Questions will haply be put to you."
>  
>        They said, "Oh, woe to us!  Verily we have been evil doers."
>  
>        And this ceased not to be their cry, until we made them like reaped
> corn, extinct.
>  
>        We created not the heaven and the earth, and what is between them, for
> sport:
>  
>        Had it been our wish to find a pastime, we had surely found it in
> ourselves; - if to do so had been our will.
>  
>        Nay, we will hurl the truth at falsehood, and it shall smite it, and lo!
> it shall vanish.  But woe be to you for what ye utter of God!
>  
>        All beings in the heaven and on the earth are His: and they who are in
> his presence disdain not his service, neither are they wearied:
>  
> 21:20  They praise Him night and day:  they rest not.
>  
>        Have they taken gods from the earth who can quicken the dead?
>  
>        Had there been in either heaven or earth gods besides God, both surely
> had gone to ruin.  But glory be to God, the Lord of the throne, beyond what
> they utter!
>  
>        He shall not be asked of his doings, but they shall be asked.
>  
>        Have they taken other gods beside Him?  Say; Bring forth your proofs
> that they are gods.  This is the warning of those who are with me, and the
> warning of those who were before me:  but most of them know not the truth, and
> turn aside.
>  
>        No apostle have we sent before thee to whom we did not reveal that
> "Verily there is no God beside me:  therefore worship me."
>  
>        Yet they say, "The God of Mercy hath begotten issue from the angels."
> Glory be to Him!  Nay, they are but His honoured servants:
>  
>        They speak not till He hath spoken; and they do His bidding.
>  
>        He knoweth what is before them and what is behind them; and no plea
> shall they offer.
>  
>        Save for whom He pleaseth; and they tremble for fear of Him.
>  
> 21:30  And that angel among them who saith "I am a god beside Him," will we
> recompense with hell:  in such sort will we recompense the offenders.
>  
>        Do not the infidels see that the heavens and the earth were both a solid
> mass, and that we clave them asunder, and that by means of water we give life
> to everything?  Will they not then believe?
>  
>        And we set mountains on the earth lest it should move with them, and we
> made on it broad passages between them as routes for their guidance;
>  
>        And we made the heaven a roof strongly upholden; yet turn they away from
> its signs.
>  
>        And He it is who hath created the night and the day, and the sun and the
> moon, each moving swiftly in its sphere.
>  
>        At no time have we granted to man a life that shall last for ever:  if
> thou then die, shall they live for ever?
>  
>        Every soul shall taste of death:  and for trial will we prove you with
> evil and with good; and unto Us shall ye be brought back.
>  
>        And when the infidels see thee they receive thee only with scoffs: -
> "What! is this he who maketh such mention of your gods?"  Yet when mention is
> made to them of the God of Mercy, they believe not.
>  
>        "Man," say they, "is made up of haste."  But I will shew you my signs:
> desire them not then to be hastened.
>  
>        They say, "When will this threat be made good?  Tell us, if ye be men of
> truth?"
>  
> 21:40  Did the infidels but know the time when they shall not be able to keep
> the fire of hell from their faces or from their backs, neither shall they be
> helped!
>  
>        But it shall come on them suddenly and shall confound them; and they
> shall not be able to put it back, neither shall they be respited.
>  
>        Other apostles have been scoffed at before thee:  but that doom at which
> they mocked encompassed the scoffers.
>  
>        Say:  Who shall protect you by night and by day from the God of Mercy?
> Yet turn they away from the warning of their Lord.
>  
>        Have they gods beside Us who can defend them?  For their own succour
> have they no power; neither shall the gods they join with God screen them from
> Us.
>  
>         Yes! we have given these men and their fathers enjoyments so long as
> their life lasted.  What! see they not that we come to a land and straiten its
> borders?  Is it they who are the conquerors?
>  
>        Say:  I only warn you of what hath been revealed to me:  but the deaf
> will not hear the call, whenever they are warned;
>  
>        Yet if a breath of thy Lord's chastisement touch them, they will
> assuredly say, "Oh! woe to us! we have indeed been offenders."
>  
>        Just balances will we set up for the day of the resurrection, neither
> shall any soul be wronged in aught; though, were a work but the weight of a
> grain of mustard seed, we would bring it forth to be weighed:  and our
> reckoning will suffice.
>  
>        We gave of old to Moses and Aaron the illumination, and a light and a
> warning for the God-fearing,
>  
> 21:50  Who dread their Lord in secret, and who tremble for "the Hour."
>  
>        And this Koran which we have sent down is a blessed warning:  will ye
> then disown it?
>  
>        Of old we gave unto Abraham his direction, for we knew him worthy.
>  
>        When he said to his Father and to his people, "What are these images to
> which ye are devoted?"
>  
>        They said, "We found our fathers worshipping them."
>  
>        He said, "Truly ye and your fathers have been in a plain mistake."
>  
>        They said, "Hast thou come unto us in earnest? or art thou of those who
> jest?"
>  
>        He said, "Nay, your Lord is the Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth,
> who hath created them both; and to this am I one of those who witness:
>  
>        - And, by God, I will certainly lay a plot against your idols, after ye
> shall have retired and turned your backs."
>  
>        So, he broke them all in pieces, except the chief of them, that to it
> they might return, inquiring.
>  
> 21:60  They said, "Who hath done this to our gods?  Verily he is one of the
> unjust."
>  
>        They said, "We heard a youth make mention of them:  they call him
> Abraham."
>  
>        They said, "Then bring him before the people's eyes, that they may
> witness against him."
>  
>        They said, "Hast thou done this to our gods, O Abraham?"
>  
>        He said, "Nay, that their chief hath done it:  but ask y them, if they
> can speak."
>  
>        So they turned their thoughts upon themselves, and said, "Ye truly are
> the impious persons:"
>  
>        Then became headstrong in their former error and exclaimed, "Thou
> knowest that these speak not."
>  
>        He said, "What! do ye then worship, instead of God, that which doth not
> profit you at all, nor injure you?  Fie on you and on that ye worship instead
> of God!  What! do ye not then understand?"
>  
>        They said:  "Burn him, and come to the succour of your gods:  if ye will
> do anything at all."
>  
>        We said, "O fire! be thou cold, and to Abraham a safety!"
>  
> 21:70  And they sought to lay a plot against him, but we made them the
> sufferers.
>  
>        And we brought him and Lot in safety to the land which we have blessed
> for all human beings:
>  
>        And we gave him Isaac and Jacob as a farther gift, and we made all of
> them righteous:
>  
>        We also made them models who should guide others by our command, and we
> inspired them with good deeds and constancy in prayer and almsgiving, and they
> 
> worshipped ud.
>  
>        And unto Lot we gave wisdom, and knowledge; and we rescued him from the
> city which wrought filthiness; for they were a people, evil, perverse:
>  
>        And we caused him to enter into our mercy, for he was of the righteous.
>  
>        And remember Noah when aforetime he cried to us and we heard him, and
> delivered him and his family from the great calamity;
>  
>        And we helped him against the people who treated our signs as
> impostures.  An evil people verily were they, and we drowned them all.
>  
>        And David and Solomon; when they gave judgment concerning a field when
> some people's sheep had caused a waste therein; and we were witnesses of their
> judgment.
>  
>        And we gave Solomon insight into the affair; and on both of them we
> bestowed wisdom and knowledge.  And we constrained the mountains and the birds
> to join with David in our praise:  Our doing was it!
>  
> 21:80  And we taught David the art of making mail for you, to defend you from
> each other's violence:  will ye therefore be thankful?
>  
>        And to Solomon we subjected the strongly blowing wind:  it sped at his
> bidding to the land we had blessed; for we know all things:
>  
>        And sundry Satans who should dive for him and perform other work beside:
> and we kept watch over them.
>  
>        And remember Job:  When he cried to his Lord, "Truly evil hath touched
> me:   but thou art the most merciful of those who shew mercy."
>  
>        So we heard him, and lightened the burden of his woe; and we gave him
> back his family, and as many more with them, - a mercy from us, and a memorial
> for those who serve us:
>  
>        And Ismael, and Edris and Dhoulkefl - all steadfast in patience.
>  
>        And we caused them to enter into our mercy; for they were of the
> righteous:
>  
>        And Dhoulnoun; when he went on his way in anger, and thought that we had
> no power over him.  But in the darkness he cried "There is no God but thou:
> Glory be unto Thee!  Verily, I have been one of the evil doers:"
>  
>        So we heard him and rescued him from misery:  for thus recuse we the
> faithful:
>  
>        And Zacharias; when he called upon his Lord saying, "O my Lord, leave
> not not childless:  but there is no better heir than Thyself."
>  
> 21:90  So we heard him, and gave him John, and we made his wife fit for child-
> bearing.  Verily, these vied in goodness, and called upon us with love and
> fear, and humbled themselves before us:
>  
>        And her who kept her maidenhood, and into whom we breathed of our
> spirit, and made her and her son a sign to all creatures.
>  
>        Of a truth, this, your religion, is the one Religion, and I your Lord;
> therefore serve me."
>  
>        But they have rent asunder this their great concern among themselves
> into sects.  All of them shall return to us.
>  
>        And whoso shall do the things that are right, and be a believer, his
> efforts shall not be disowned:  and surely will we write them down for him.
>  
>        There is a ban on every city which we shall have destroyed, that they
> shall not rise again,
>  
>        Until a way is opened for God and Magog, and they shall hasten from
> every high land,
>  
>        And this sure promise shall draw on.  And lo! the eyes of the infidels
> shall stare amazedly; and they shall say, "Oh, our misery! of this were we
> careless! yea, we were impious persons."
>  
>        Verily, ye, and what ye worship beside God, shall be fuel for hell:P  ye
> shall go down into it.
>  
>        Were these gods, they would not go down into it; but they shall all
> abide in it for ever.
>  
> 21:100 Therein shall they groan; but nought therein shall they hear to comfort
> them.
>  
>        But they for whom we have before ordained good things, shall be far away
> from it:
>  
>        Its slightest sound they shall not hear:  in what their souls longed
> for, they shall abide for ever:
>  
>        The great terror shall not trouble them; and the angel shall meet them
> with, "This is your day which ye were promised."
>  
>        On that day we will roll up the heaven as one rolleth up written
> scrolls.  As we made the first creation, so will we bring it forth again. This
> promise bindeth us; verily, we will perform it.
>  
>        And now, since the Law was given, have we written in the Psalms that "my
> servants, the righteous, shall inherit the earth."
>  
>        Verily, in this Koran is teaching for those who serve God.
>  
>        We have not sent thee otherwise than as mercy unto all creatures.
>  
>        Say:  Verily it hath been revealed to me that your God is one God; are
> ye then resigned to Him?  (Muslims.)
>  
>        But if they turn their backs, then say:  I have warned you all alike;
> but I know not whether that with which ye are threatened be nigh or distant.
>  
> 21:110 God truly knoweth what is spoken aloud, and He also knoweth that which
> ye hide.
>  
>        And I know whether haply this delay be not for your trial, and that ye
> may enjoy yourselves for a time.
>  
>        My Lord saith:  Judge ye with truth; for our Lord is the God of Mercy -
> whose help is to be sought against what ye utter.
>
> — *Sura  21 - The Prophets*