AL SAJDAH (The Prostration)
In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful
1 A. L. M.
2 The revelation of Al-Kitab in which there is no doubt, from the Lord of the universe.
3 Or do they say he has forged it? No, it is the truth from your Lord, that you may admonish a people to whom no warner has come before you: in order that they may receive guidance.
4 It is Allah who has created the heavens and the earth, and all between them, in six days,[1] and is firmly established on the throne: you have none, besides him, to protect or intercede for you: will you not then receive admonition?
5 He rules all affairs from the heavens to the earth: in the end will all affairs go up to him on a day, the space of which will be as a thousand years[2] of your reckoning.
6 Such is he, the knower of all things, hidden and open, the exalted, the merciful;
7 He who has made everything which he has created most good: he began the creation of man with clay,
8 And made his descendants from a quintessence of the nature of a fluid despised:
9 But he fashioned him in due proportion, and breathed into him something of his spirit. And he gave you the faculties of hearing and sight and feeling: little thanks do you give.
10 And they say: What when we lie, hidden and lost, in the earth, shall we indeed be in a creation renewed? No, they deny the meeting with their Lord.
11 Say: The Angel of Death, put in charge of you, will take your souls: then shall you be brought back to your Lord.
12 If only you could see when the guilty ones will bend low their heads before their Lord saying: Our Lord, we have seen and we have heard: now then send us back to the world: we will work righteousness: for we do indeed now believe.
13 If we had so willed we could certainly have brought every soul its true guidance: but the world from me will come true, I will fill hell with Jinns and men all together.
14 Taste then, for you forget the meeting of this day of yours, and we too will forget you. Taste the penalty of eternity for your deeds!
15 Only those believe in our signs, who, when they are recited to them, fall down in adoration, and celebrate the praises of their Lord, nor are they puffed up with pride.
16 Their limbs do forsake their beds of sleep, the while they call on their Lord, in fear and hope: and they spend in charity out of the sustenance which we have bestowed on them.
17 Now no person knows what delights of the eye are kept hidden for them as a reward for their deeds.[3]
18 Is then the man who believes no better than the man who is rebellious and wicked? Not equal are they.
19 For those who believe and do righteous deeds, are gardens as hospitable homes, for their deeds.
20 As to those who are rebellious and wicked, their abode will be the fire: every time they wish to get away therefrom, they will be forced there into, and it will be said to them: Taste the penalty of the fire which you used to reject as false.
21 And indeed we will make them taste of the penalty of this life prior to the supreme penalty, in order that they may return.
22 And who does more wrong than one to whom are recited the signs of his Lord, and who then turns away therefrom? Truly from those who transgress we shall exact retribution.
23 We did indeed aforetime give Al-Kitab to Musa: be not then in doubt of its reaching you: and we made it a guide to Bani-Israel.
24 And when they became steadfast and believed firmly in our revelations, we appointed from among them leaders who gave guidance under our command.
25 Truly your Lord will judge between them on the day of judgment, in the matters wherein they differ among themselves.
26 Does it not teach them a lesson, how many generations we destroyed before them, in whose dwellings they now go to and fro? Truly in that are signs: do they not then listen?
27 And do they not see that we drive rain to parched soil, and produce therewith crops, providing food for their cattle and themselves? Have they not the vision?
28 They say: When will this decision be, if you are telling the truth?
29 Say: On the day of decision, no profit will be to unbelievers if they believe nor will they be granted a respite.
30 So turn away from them and wait: they too are waiting.
[1] Similar wording is found in the Taurat: “in six days Allah made the heavens and earth, the sea, and all that is in them” (Exodus 20:11). The six days of creation are described in detail in the Taurat, Genesis, chapter one.
[2] Previously, the holy Injil made a similar statement in a context speaking about the last days, “But do not forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Peter 3:8).
[3] This verse hearkens back to a verse from the Injil— But as it is written, “Eye has not seen, nor has ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9).