AL NABA’ (The Great News)
In the Name of God,1 the Gracious, the Merciful 2
1 Concerning what are they disputing?
2 Concerning the great news,
3 About which they cannot agree.
4 Truly, they shall soon know!
5 Truly, truly they shall soon know!
6 Have we not made the earth as a wide expanse,
7 And the mountains as pegs?
8 And created you in pairs,
9 And made your sleep for rest,
10 And made the night as a covering,
11 And made the day as a means of subsistence?
12 And built over you the seven heavens,
13 And placed a light of splendour?
14 And do we not send down from the clouds water in abundance,
15 That we may produce therewith corn and vegetables,
16 And gardens of luxurious growth?
17 Truly the day of sorting out is a thing appointed,
18 The day that the trumpet shall be sounded, and you shall come forth in crowds;
19 And the heavens shall be opened as if there were doors,
20 And the mountains shall vanish, as if they were a mirage.
21 Truly hell is as a place of ambush,
22 For the transgressors a place of destination;
23 They will dwell in it for ages.
24 Nothing cool shall they taste in it, nor any drink,
25 Except a boiling fluid and a fluid, dark, murky, intensely cold,
26 A fitting reward.
27 For they did not fear giving account,
28 But they treated our signs as false.
29 And all things have we preserved on record.
30 So taste, for no increase shall we grant you, except in punishment.
31 Truly, for the righteous there will be a fulfilment of desires;
32 Gardens enclosed, and grapevines;
33 Companions of equal age;
34 And a cup full.
35 No vanity shall they hear there, nor untruth;
36 Reward from your Lord, a gift, sufficient,
37 Lord of the heavens and the earth, and all between, the most gracious: none shall have power to argue with him.
38 The day that the Spirit3 and the angels will stand forth in ranks, none shall speak except the one4 who is permitted by the most gracious, and he will say what is right.
39 That day will be the sure reality: therefore, who so will, let him return to his Lord!
40 Truly, we have warned you of a penalty near, the day when man will see what his hands have sent forth, and the unbeliever will say, Woe to me! Would that I were dust!
- 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). ↩︎
- 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. ↩︎ - 78:38 the Spirit, this is terminology frequently used in the Taurat and Injil of someone also called the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is not an angel or created being, but the uncreated, eternal Spirit of God himself who 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 humankind (see 2 Peter 1:21). He also lives inside of every follower of ‘ISA AL-MASIH, empowering them to live in a way pleasing to God. ↩︎
- 78:38 intercession, according to Al-Kitab, only one messenger is identified as having the power of intercession—Prophet ‘ISA AL-MASIH. The Taurat says prophetically that ‘ISA “bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Shaya 53:12). The Injil plainly teaches that ‘ISA “is also able to save completely those who draw near to God through him, seeing he lives forever to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). ↩︎