Surah 17

AL ISRA’ (The Night Journey) or BANI ISRA’IL (The Children of Israel)

In the Name of God,1 the Gracious, the Merciful 2

1 Glory to him who took his servant for a journey by night from the sacred mosque to the farthest mosque, whose precincts we blessed, in order that we might show him some of our signs; for he is the one who hears and sees. 2 We gave Musa3 Al-Kitab4, and made it a guide to Bani-Israel5. Take not other than me as disposer of affairs. 3 O you that are sprung from those whom we carried with Nuh6, truly he was a devotee most grateful.

4 And we gave warning to Bani-Israel in Al-Kitab, that twice they would do mischief on the earth and be elated with great arrogance. 5 When the first of the warnings came to pass, we sent against you our servants given to terrible warfare. They entered the innermost parts of your homes, and it was a warning fulfilled. 6 Then we granted you a turn against them. We gave you increase in resources and sons, and made you the more numerous in manpower. 7 If you did well, you did well for yourself; if you did evil, it was against yourself. So when the second of the warnings came to pass, our servants came to disfigure your faces, and to enter your temple as they had entered it before, and to visit with destruction all that fell into their power. 8 It may be that your Lord may show mercy to you; but if you revert, we shall revert. And we have made hell a prison for those who reject.

9 Truly this Quran guides to that which is most right, and gives the glad tidings to the believers who work righteousness, that they shall have a magnificent reward. 10 And to those who do not believe in the hereafter, we have prepared for them a grievous penalty. 11 The prayer that man should make for good, he makes for evil; for man is given to haste. 12 We have made the night and the day as two signs. The sign of the night have we obscured, while the sign of the day we have made to enlighten you; that you may seek bounty from your Lord, and that you may know the number and count of the years. All things have we explained in detail. 13 Every man’s fate we have fastened on his own neck. On the day of judgment we shall bring out for him a scroll, which he will see spread open. 14 Read your record. Sufficient is your soul this day to make out an account against you.

15 Whoever receives guidance, receives it for his own benefit. Whoever goes astray does so to his own loss. No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another. Nor would we visit with our wrath until we had sent a messenger. 16 When we decide to destroy a population, we send a definite order to those among them who are given the good things of this life and yet transgress; so that the word is proved true against them. Then we destroy them utterly. 17 How many generations have we destroyed after Nuh? And enough is your Lord to note and see the sins of his servants. 18 If anyone wishes for transitory things, we readily grant them such things as we will, to such persons as we will. In the end have we provided hell for them. They will burn in it, disgraced and rejected. 19 Those who wish for the hereafter, and strive for it with all due striving, and have faith, they are the ones whose striving is acceptable. 20 Of the bounties of your Lord we bestow freely on all these as well as those. The bounties of your Lord are not closed. 21 See how we have bestowed more on some than on others; but truly the hereafter is more in rank and gradation and more in excellence.

22 Take not with God another object of worship; or you will sit in disgrace and destitution. 23 Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but him, and that you be kind to parents. Whether one or both of them attain old age in your life, say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, but address them in terms of honour. 24 And, out of kindness, be humble before them, and say, “My Lord, bestow on them your mercy even as they cherished me in childhood.” 25 Your Lord knows best what is in your hearts. If you do deeds of righteousness, truly he is most forgiving to those who turn to him again and again. 26 And render to relatives their due rights, as to those in need, and to the wayfarer; but do not squander in the manner of an extravagant man. 27 Truly squanderers are brothers of the demons; and Iblis7 is to his Lord ungrateful. 28 And even if you have to turn away from in pursuit of the mercy from your Lord which you hope for, yet speak to them a gentle word. 29 Neither let your hand be tied to your neck, nor stretch it out to its utmost reach, so that you become blameworthy and destitute. 30 Truly your Lord provides sustenance in abundance for whom he pleases, and he provides in a just measure. For he knows and regards all his servants.

31 Do not kill your children for fear of poverty. We shall provide sustenance for them as well as for you. Truly the killing of them is a great sin. 32 Nor come near to adultery, for it is shameful and evil, opening the road to other evils. 33 Nor take life which God has made sacred except for just cause. And if anyone is slain wrongfully, we have given his heir authority. But let him not exceed bounds in the matter of taking life; for he is helped. 34 Come not near to the orphan’s property except to improve it, until he attains the age of full strength. And fulfil your commitments, for commitments will be enquired into. 35 Give full measure when you measure, and weigh with a balance that is straight. That is the most fitting and the most advantageous in the final determination. 36 And do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge, for every act of hearing, seeing, or of the heart will be enquired into. 37 Nor walk on the earth with insolence; for you cannot split the earth open, nor reach the mountains in height. 38 Of all such things the evil is hateful in the sight of your Lord.

39 This is the wisdom which your Lord has revealed to you. Take not, with God, another object of worship. Lest you be thrown into hell, blameworthy and rejected. 40 Has then your Lord preferred for you sons, and taken for himself daughters among the angels? Truly you utter a most dreadful saying.

41 We have explained things in various ways in this Quran, in order that they may receive admonition, but it only increases their aversion. 42 Say, “If there had been gods with him, as they say, behold, they would certainly have found a way to the Lord of the throne.” 43 Glory to him! He is high above all that they say! Exalted and great is he. 44 The seven heavens and the earth, and all beings in them, declare his glory. There is not a thing but celebrates his praise; and yet you do not understand how they declare his glory! Truly he is oft-forbearing, most forgiving!

45 When you recite the Quran, we put between you and those who do not believe in the hereafter, an invisible veil. 46 And we put covering over their hearts, lest they should understand the Quran, and deafness into their ears. When you commemorate your Lord and him alone in the Quran, they turn on their backs, fleeing. 47 We know best why it is they listen, when they listen to you; and when they meet in private conference, behold, the wicked say, “You follow none other than a man who is bewitched.” 48 See what examples they come up with for you. But they have gone astray, and never can they find a way. 49 They say, “What? When we are reduced to bones and dust, will we really be raised up a new creation?” 50 Say, “Whether you are stones or iron, 51 or created matter, which in your minds is hardest?” Then will they say, “Who will cause us to return?” Say, “He who created you first.” Then they will wag their heads towards you, and say, “When will that be?” Say, “Maybe it will be quite soon. 52 It will be on a day when he will call you, and you will answer with his praise, and you will think that you waited but a little while.”

53 Say to my servants that they should say those things that are best. For Shaitan8 sows dissensions among them because Shaitan is to man an avowed enemy. 54 It is your Lord that knows you best. If he please, he grants you mercy, or if he please, punishment. We have not sent you to be a disposer of their affairs for them. 55 And it is your Lord who knows best all beings that are in the heavens and on earth. We bestowed on some prophets more gifts than on others. And we gave to Dawud9 the Zabur.10

56 Say, “Call on those whom you fancy besides him. They have neither the power to remove your troubles from you nor to change them.” 57 Those whom they call upon desire means of access to their Lord, even those who are nearest. They hope for his mercy and fear his wrath; for the wrath of your Lord is something to take heed of. 58 There is not a population but we shall destroy it before the day of judgment, or punish it with a dreadful penalty as written in Al-Kitab.

59 And we refrain from sending the signs, only because the men of former generations treated them as false. We sent the she-camel to the people of Thamud to open their eyes, but they treated her wrongfully. We only send the signs by way of terror. 60 Behold, we told you that your Lord encompasses mankind. We granted the vision which we showed you, but as a trial for men, as also the cursed tree in the Quran. We put terror into them, but it only increases their great transgression.

61 Behold we said to the angels, “Bow down to Adam11.” They all bowed down, except for Iblis. He said, “Shall I bow down to one whom you created from clay?” 62 He said, “Do you see? This is the one whom you have honoured above me. If you give me respite until the day of judgment, I will surely bring his descendants under my sway—all but a few.” 63 God said, “Go your way. If any of them follow you, truly hell will be your reward—an ample reward. 64 Lead to destruction those whom you can among them with your voice. Make assaults on them with your cavalry and your infantry. Mutually share with them wealth and children and make promises to them.” But Shaitan promises them nothing but deceit. 65 As for my servants, no authority shall you have over them. Enough is your Lord for a disposer of affairs.

66 Your Lord is he that makes the ship go smoothly for you through the sea, in order that you may seek his bounty. For he is to you most merciful. 67 When distress seize you at sea, those that you call upon besides himself leave you in the lurch. But when he brings you back safe to land, you turn away. Most ungrateful is man. 68 Do you then feel secure that he will not cause you to be swallowed up beneath the earth when you are on land, or that he will not send against you a violent tornado so that you shall find no one to carry out your affairs for you? 69 Or do you feel secure that he will not send you back a second time to sea and send against you a heavy gale to drown you because of your ingratitude, so that you find no helper therein against us? 70 We have honoured the sons of Adam; provided them with transport on land and sea; given them for sustenance things good and pure; and conferred on them special favours, above a great part of our creation.

71 One day we shall call together all human beings with their leaders. Those who are given their record in their right hand will read it, and they will not be dealt with unjustly in the least. 72 But those who were blind in this world, will be blind in the hereafter, and most astray from the path. 73 And their purpose was to tempt you away from that which we had revealed to you, to substitute in our name something quite different. Behold they would certainly have made you their friend. 74 And had we not given you strength, you would nearly have inclined to them a little. 75 In that case we would have made you taste an equal portion in this life, and an equal portion in death. Moreover you would have found none to help you against us. 76 Their purpose was to scare you off the land, in order to expel you; but in that case they would not have stayed after you, except for a little while. 77 This was our way with the messengers we sent before you. You will find no change in our ways.

78 Establish regular prayers—at the sun’s decline until the darkness of the night, and the morning prayer and reading. For the prayer and reading in the morning carry their testimony. 79 And pray in some part of the night—an additional prayer for you. Soon your Lord will raise you to a station of praise and glory! 80 Say, “O my Lord, let my entry be by the gate of truth and honour, and likewise my exit by the gate of truth and honour; and grant me from your presence an authority to aid me. 81 And say, “Truth has arrived, and falsehood perished; for falsehood is bound to perish.”

82 We send down in the Quran that which is a healing and a mercy to those who believe. To the unjust it causes nothing but loss after loss. 83 Yet when we bestow our favours on man, he turns away and becomes remote on his side, and when evil seizes him he gives himself up to despair! 84 Say, “Everyone acts according to his own disposition, but your Lord knows best who it is that is best guided on the way.”

85 They ask you concerning the Spirit12. Say, “The Spirit comes by command of my Lord. Only a little knowledge is communicated to you.” 86 If it were our will, we could take away that which we have sent you by inspiration. Then would you find no one to plead your affair in that matter against us, 87 except for mercy from your Lord; for his bounty to you is great. 88 Say, “If the whole of mankind and Jinns were to gather together to produce the like of this Quran, they could not produce the like of it, even if they backed up each other with help and support.” 89 And we have explained to man in this Quran, every kind of comparison. Yet the greater part of men refuse except with ingratitude! 90 They say, “We shall not believe in you, until you cause a spring to gush forth for us from the earth, 91 “Or you have a garden of date trees and vines, and cause rivers to gush forth in their midst, carrying abundant water, 92 “Or you cause the sky to fall in pieces, as you say, against us; or you bring God and the angels before us face to face; 93 “Or you have a house adorned with gold, or you mount a ladder right into the skies. No, we shall not even believe in your mounting until you send down to us a book that we can read.” Say, “Glory to my Lord! Am I anything but a man, a messenger?” 94 What kept men back from belief when guidance came to them was nothing but this—they said, “Has God sent a man to be messenger?” 95 Say, “If there were settled, on earth, angels walking about in peace and quiet, we should certainly have sent them down from the heavens an angel for a messenger.” 96 Say, “Enough is God for a witness between me and you; for he is well acquainted with his servants, and he sees all things.”

97 It is he whom God guides, that is on true guidance; but he whom he leaves astray, for such will you find no protector besides him. On the day of judgment we shall gather them together, prone on their faces, blind, dumb, and deaf. Their abode will be hell. Every time it shows abatement, we shall increase for them the fierceness of the fire. 98 That is their reward, because they rejected our signs, and said, “When we are reduced to bones and broken dust, can we really be raised up as a new creation?” 99 Don’t they see that God, who created the heavens and the earth, has power to create the like of them? Only he has decreed an appointed term, of which there is no doubt. But the unjust refuse except with ingratitude.

100 Say, “If you had control of the treasures of the mercy of my Lord, behold, you would keep them back, for fear of spending them. For man is stingy.” 101 To Musa we gave nine clear signs—ask Bani-Israel. When he came to them, Firaun said to him, “O Musa, I consider you, indeed, to have been worked upon by sorcery.” 102 Musa said, “You know well that these things have been sent down by none but the Lord of the heavens and the earth as eye opening evidence. And I consider you indeed, O Firaun, to be one doomed to destruction.” 103 So he resolved to remove them from the face of the earth, but we drowned him and all who were with him. 104 And we said thereafter to Bani-Israel, “Dwell securely in the land; but when the second of the warnings came to pass, we gathered you together in a mingled crowd.”

105 We sent it down in truth, and in truth it has descended. And we sent you only to give glad tidings and to warn. 106 It is a recitation which we have divided in order that you might recite it to men at intervals. We have revealed it by stages. 107 Say, “Whether you believe in it or not, it is true that those who were given knowledge beforehand, when it is recited to them, fall down on their faces in humble prostration. 108 And they say, ‘Glory to our Lord! Truly has the promise of our Lord been fulfilled.’ 109 They fall down on their faces in tears, and it increases their humility.” 110 Say, “Call upon God, or call upon the Merciful—by whatever name you call upon him—for to him belong the most beautiful names. Neither speak your prayer aloud, nor speak it in a low tone, but seek a middle course between.” 111 Say, “Praise be to God, who has not taken a son,13 and has no partner in his kingship. Nor does he need anyone to protect him from humiliation. Yes, magnify him for his greatness and glory.”

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  1. God, in Arabic allah, referring to the one true God, as opposed to an idol or “god.” It is the Arabic equivalent of elohim and eloah (Hebrew), alaha (Syriac), and theos (Greek), all of which accurately translate into English as “God.” This translation choice is consistent with respected English Quran translations including those of A. Yusuf Ali (original edition), S.H. Nasr (Study Quran), T.B. Irving, and T. Itani (Clear Quran). ↩︎
  2. the Gracious, the Merciful, the highlighting of God’s grace and mercy predates the Quran, coming down from the many hundreds of references in the Taurat, Zabur, and Injil. A few samples follow:
    Taurat, Exodus 34:6 — …YAHWEH, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth. 
    Zabur 145:8 — YAHWEH is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great loving kindness.
    Taurat, Joel 2:13 — Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to YAHWEH your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity.
    Taurat, Yunus 4:2 — …I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent of doing harm.”
    Injil, 1 Timothy 1:2 — …Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and AL-MASIH ‘ISA our Lord.
    Injil, Hebrews 4:16 — Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace for help in time of need. ↩︎
  3. 17:2 Musa, this Arabic name is derived from the Hebrew name Moses meaning “to pull out” or “draw out” (of water); referring to the biblical story where he was rescued from the Nile River by Firaun’s daughter. The original account of Musa‘s story begins in the Taurat, Exodus 3. ↩︎
  4. 17:2 Al-Kitab, that is, the Taurat. ↩︎
  5. 17:2 Bani-Israel, or Children of Israel, the Jewish people. They take their name from their forefather Prophet Yaqub (Jacob), to whom God gave the name Israel, as stated in the Taurat, Genesis 32:28 which says: He said, “Your name will no longer be called ‘Yaqub,’ but, ‘Israel,’ for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.” ↩︎
  6. 17:3 Nuh, Arabic name derived from the Hebrew name Noah, meaning “rest.” For the original account of Nuh see the Taurat, Genesis 6. ↩︎
  7. 17:27 Iblis, derived from the Greek diabolos, which also gives rise to the English word, devil. ↩︎
  8. 17:53 Shaitan, is derived from the Hebrew Satan, which means “adversary” or “accuser.” ↩︎
  9. 17:55 Dawud, this Arabic name is derived from David (Hebrew) and means “Beloved.” ↩︎
  10. 17:55 Zabur, or the Psalms of David. ↩︎
  11. 17:61 Adam, the Hebrew word adam means man, mankind, and gave the first man his name, Adam. The word adam can also mean ground and so helps make sense of the Taurat’s assertion that Adam was formed from the ground. Genesis 2:7 says: “YAHWEH God formed Adam (or the man) from the dust of the ground (adama), and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and Adam became a living soul.” ↩︎
  12. 17:85 Spirit, or Holy Spirit, or Spirit of God; not an angel, created being, nor an impersonal force, but the uncreated, eternal essence of God himself. The Spirit was present and active at the creation of heaven and earth (see Genesis 1:2). He is also the one who moved the prophets to speak God’s Word to mankind (see 2 Peter 1:21). The Spirit also lives inside of every follower of ‘ISA AL-MASIH, empowering them to live in a way pleasing to God (see 1 Corinthians 3:16). ↩︎
  13. 17:111 God has not taken a son, here the Quran is at variance with the Taurat (Hosea 11:1), Zabur (Psalm 2:7), and Injil (John 3:16), which all teach that ‘ISA Ibn Maryam is God’s Son. But it is not that the human ‘ISA one day suddenly became the divine son of God. Al-Kitab teaches that before his birth and even before the creation of the heavens and the earth, ‘ISA was always God’s Son, eternally co-existing with the Father. The fact that he chose to be born to the virgin Maryam as a human being, takes nothing away from him being God. God is God eternally, even after he chooses to become a human. Nothing can diminish the glory of God. ↩︎