27:1  Ţā SÄ«n. These are verses of the Qur'ān, a clear, elucidating book;

27:2  a guidance and joyful tidings to the believers

27:3  who attend regularly to prayers and pay their zakāt, and who firmly believe in the life to come.

27:4  As for those who will not believe in the life to come, We make their deeds seem fair to them, and so they wander about in distraction.

27:5  These are the ones for whom grievous suffering is in store, and who in the life to come shall be the worst losers.

27:6  Most certainly, you receive the Qur'ān out of the grace of One who is Wise, All- Knowing.

27:7  Moses said to his family: 'I perceive a fire. I will bring you from there some information, or else, I will bring you a burning brand so that you may warm yourselves.'

27:8  But when he came close to it, he was addressed: 'Blessed are those in the fire and those around it! And limitless in His glory is God, the Lord of all the worlds.'

27:9  'Moses! Truly, I am alone God, the Almighty, the Wise!

27:10  Now throw down your staff' But when he saw it moving, as if it were a serpent, he turned and fled, with no thought of turning back. 'Moses, have no fear!' [Said God]: 'Messengers have nothing to fear in My presence.

27:11  If anyone has done wrong and then replaced the wrong with good; well, I am Much-Forgiving, Merciful.

27:12  Now place your hand inside your garment, and it will come out [shining] white without blemish. [This is one of] the nine signs for Pharaoh and his people. They are wicked people.'

27:13  But when Our light-giving signs came to them, they said: 'This is plain sorcery.'

27:14  Within their souls they knew them to be true, yet they, in their wickedness and arrogance, rejected them. Consider, then, what happened in the end to the evil- doers.

27:15  For sure, We granted knowledge to David and Solomon, and both of them said: 'All praise is due to God who has favoured us above many of His believing servants.'

27:16  Solomon inherited David. He said: 'O people! We have been taught the speech of birds, and have been given of all good things. This is indeed a manifest favour [from God].'

27:17  Before Solomon were marshalled his troops of jinn, humans and birds; and they were all lined in orderly ranks.

27:18  At length, when they came to a valley of ants, one ant said: 'Go into your dwellings, ants, lest Solomon and his troops inadvertently crush you.'

27:19  He smiled joyously at her words, and said: 'My Lord! Direct my whole being so that I will always be grateful for Your grace which You have bestowed on me and on my parents, and that I may do righteous deeds which will please You; and include me, by Your grace, among Your righteous servants.'

27:20  He inspected the birds and said: 'Why is it that I do not see the hoopoe? Is he among the absentees?

27:21  I will certainly punish him severely, or I will kill him, unless he brings me a clear warrant' [for his absence].

27:22  But the hoopoe did not take long in coming. He said: 'I have just learnt things that are unknown to you, and I come to you from Sheba with accurate information.

27:23  I found there a woman ruling over them; and she has been given of all good things, and hers is a magnificent throne.

27:24  I found her and her people prostrating themselves to the sun instead of God; and Satan has made their deeds seem goodly to them, thus turning them away from the path [of God], so that they cannot find the right way.

27:25  That they should not prostrate themselves in worship of God who brings forth all that is hidden in the heavens and the earth, and knows what you conceal and what you reveal;

27:26  God, other than whom there is no deity, the Lord of the [truly] magnificent Throne.'

27:27  Said [Solomon]: 'We shall see whether you have told the truth or you are a liar.

27:28  Go with this my letter and deliver it to them; and then draw back from them, and see what answer they return.'

27:29  [The Queen of Sheba] said: 'Know, my nobles, that a worthy letter has been delivered to me.

27:30  It is from Solomon, and it reads, “In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Beneficent:

27:31  Do not exalt yourselves against me, but come to me in submission [to God].”

27:32  Nobles, counsel me in this my affair; no decision on any matter do I take unless you are present.'

27:33  They said: 'We are endowed with power and with mighty prowess in war; but the command is yours. Consider, then, what you would command.'

27:34  Said she: 'When kings enter a country, they despoil it, and make the noble ones of its people the most abject. Thus do they behave.

27:35  Hence, I am going to send these people a gift and wait to see what the envoys bring back.'

27:36  When [the queen's envoy] came to Solomon, he said: 'Is it gold that you would give me? What God has given me is much better than all that He has given you. Yet you rejoice with your own gift.

27:37  Go back to them, for we shall certainly come to them with forces they cannot match, and we shall certainly drive them from the land in disgrace, and they will be utterly humbled.'

27:38  Solomon said: 'Which of you, nobles, can bring me her throne before they come to me in submission?'

27:39  Said an efreet of the jinn: 'I shall bring it to you before you rise from your position. I am powerful enough to do it, and worthy of trust.'

27:40  But the one who was deeply versed in the Book said: 'I shall bring it to you within the twinkling of your eye.' When he saw it standing before him, he said: 'This is by the grace of my Lord, so as to test me whether I am grateful or ungrateful. He who is grateful [to God] is but grateful for his own good. As for him who is ungrateful... My Lord is self-sufficient, most generous.'

27:41  He [then] said: 'Alter the appearance of her throne: let us see whether she will be able to recognize it, or she will remain unguided.'

27:42  So when she arrived, she was asked: 'Is your throne like this?' She answered: 'It looks as though it were the same.' [Said Solomon]: 'We were endowed with knowledge before her, and we have surrendered ourselves to God.

27:43  Yet that which she used to worship instead of God had kept her away [from the true faith]. She belonged to an unbelieving nation.'

27:44  She was told to enter the court. When she saw it, she thought it was a lake of water, and she bared her legs. Said he: 'It is but a court smoothly paved with glass!' She said: '0 my Lord! I have indeed wronged my soul, but now I submit myself, with Solomon, to God, the Lord of all the worlds.'

27:45  To the ThamÅ«d We sent their brother, ŞāliÄ¥, and he said: “Worship God alone', but they split into two contending factions.

27:46  Said [ŞāliÄ¥]: “My people, why do you seek to hasten evil instead of hoping for the good? Why do you not seek God's forgiveness, so that you may be graced with His mercy?'

27:47  They answered: “We augur evil from you and those that follow you.' Said he: “The evil you augur can come only from God. You are indeed people undergoing a test.'

27:48  There were in the city nine men who did evil deeds in the land, and would not do any good.

27:49  They said: 'Let us swear a mutual oath by God that we shall suddenly kill him and his household by night; and then we shall boldly say to his next of kin, “We did not witness the destruction of his household; and we are indeed telling the truth.”

27:50  They devised a scheme; but We also devised a scheme, while they could not perceive it.

27:51  Behold what all their scheming came to in the end: We destroyed them utterly, together with all their people,

27:52  and their dwellings are now empty, ruined, because of their wrongdoing. In this there is a clear sign for people of knowledge.

27:53  And we saved the people who believed and were God-fearing.

27:54  And Lot said to his people: 'Would you commit this abomination with your eyes open?

27:55  Would you approach men with lust rather than women? You are a grossly ignorant people.'

27:56  His people's only answer was: “Expel Lot's people from your city! They are folk who keep themselves pure.'

27:57  So We saved him with his household, except for his wife, whom We destined to be among those who stayed behind.

27:58  And We rained on the others a rain of destruction. Dire indeed is such rain which fell on those who were forewarned.

27:59  Say: All praise be to God, and peace be upon His servants whom He has chosen. Who is more worthy: God or the false [deities] they associate with Him?

27:60  Or, who is it that has created the heavens and the earth, and sends down for you water from the skies, with which We cause to grow gardens of delightful beauty? You could have never caused such trees to grow. Could there be any deity alongside God? Nay, they are people who swerve from justice.

27:61  Or, who is it that made the earth a stable abode and caused rivers to run in its midst, and has set upon it firm mountains, and has placed a barrier between the two great bodies of water? Could there he any deity alongside God? Nay, most of them are devoid of knowledge.

27:62  Or, who is it that responds to the one in distress when he calls out to Him, and who removes the ill, and makes you inherit the earth? Could there be any deity alongside God? Little do they reflect!

27:63  Or, who is it that guides you in the midst of the deep darkness of land and sea, and sends forth the winds as heralds of His forthcoming grace? Could there be any deity alongside God? Sublimely exalted is God above anything they associate with Him.

27:64  Or, who is it that creates all life in the first instance, and then brings it forth anew? And who is it that provides you with sustenance out of heaven and earth? Could there be any deity alongside God?' Say: “Produce your proof, if you are truthful.'

27:65  Say: “None in the heavens or earth knows what is hidden except God. Nor can they ever perceive when they shall be raised from the dead.'

27:66  Indeed the total sum of their knowledge stops short of comprehending the hereafter. Nay, they are in doubt of it. Nay, they are blind to it.

27:67  The unbelievers say: “What! After we have become dust, we and our forefathers, shall we be brought back [to life)?

27:68  We have been promised this before, we and our forefathers! This is nothing but fables of the ancients.'

27:69  Say: “Go all over the earth and see what happened in the end to the guilty.'

27:70  Do not grieve over them, nor be distressed by what they scheme.

27:71  They ask: “When will this promise be fulfilled, if what you say be true?'

27:72  Say: “It may well be that something of that which you so hastily demand has already drawn close to you.'

27:73  Your Lord is indeed most bountiful to people, but most of them are ungrateful.

27:74  And indeed your Lord knows all that their hearts conceal and all that they bring into the open.

27:75  There is nothing that is hidden in the heavens or the earth but is recorded in a clear book.

27:76  This Qur'ān explains to the Children of Israel most of that over which they disagree.

27:77  And it is indeed guidance and mercy to those who believe.

27:78  Your Lord will judge between them in His wisdom; for He alone is Almighty, All-Knowing.

27:79  So, place your trust in God; for yours is surely the path of the clear truth.

27:80  Indeed you cannot make the dead hear; and you cannot make the deaf hear your call when they turn their backs and go away.

27:81  Nor can you lead the blind out of their error. You can only get those who believe in Our signs to listen; and they will then submit themselves [to God].

27:82  When the Word comes to pass against them, We will bring forth to them out of the earth a beast which will say to them that mankind had no real faith in Our revelations.

27:83  On that day We shall gather from each community a host of those who denied Our revelations; and they shall be lined in ranks.

27:84  And when they come forth [God] will say: 'Did you deny My revelations even though you did not comprehend them fully; or what was it that you were doing?'

27:85  And the Word will come to pass against them because of their wrongdoing, and they will be unable to speak.

27:86  Are they not aware that it is We who have made the night for them to rest in, and the day to give them light? In this there are truly signs for people who will believe.

27:87  On that day the trumpet will be sounded, and all who are in the heavens and the earth will be stricken with terror, except those God wills to exempt. All shall come to Him in utter humility.

27:88  And you see the mountains, which you deem so firm, pass away as clouds pass away. Such is the work of God who has ordered all things to perfection. He is indeed fully aware of all that you do.

27:89  Whoever comes [before Him] with a good deed shall have far better than it; and they will be secure from the terror of that day.

27:90  And those who come with evil deeds, their faces will be thrust into the fire: “Are you now being recompensed for anything other than what you did [in life]?'

27:91  [Say]: 'I am only bidden to worship the Lord of this city who has made it sacred. To Him all things belong. And I am bidden to be one of those who submit themselves [to God].

27:92  And to recite the Qur'ān.' So whoever chooses to follow the right path does so for his own benefit; and if any chooses to go astray, say: “I am only a warner.'

27:93  And say: All praise is due to God. He will indeed make you see His signs, and you will recognize them. Your Lord i