Surah Rum
Contents
A.L.M. [30:1]
Byzantium’s been defeated [30:2]
in a nearby land; but after their defeat they will be victorious [30:3]
in some years. The matter is up to God, in the past and in the future. And on that day the believers will rejoice [30:4]
by the help of God, who helps anyone at will, being the almighty, the merciful. [30:5]
It is a promise of God, and God never violates a divine promise, though most people are unaware. [30:6]
They know the superficials of the life of the world, but they are heedless of the hereafter. [30:7]
Don’t they reflect within themselves? God did not create the heavens and the earth and what is between them except in a sound manner and for a definite term. But most people actually disbelieve in the meeting with their Lord. [30:8]
Haven’t they traveled the earth and seen how those before them ended up? They were more powerful than these, and they plowed the land and populated it, more than these have peopled it; and their messengers came to them with indisputable evidence. It was not God who wronged them; rather, they wronged themselves. [30:9]
Then the end of those who did evil will be the worst, as they repudiated the signs of God, and used to deride them. [30:10]
God initiates creation, then repeats it; then you will be returned to God. [30:11]
And the day the time comes, sinners will despair. [30:12]
And there will be no intercessors for them from among their idols, and they will reject their idols. [30:13]
And the day the time comes, on that day they will separate. [30:14]
As for those who believed and did good deeds, they will be delighted in a garden. [30:15]
As for those who disbelieved and repudiated Our signs and the meeting of the hereafter, they will be faced with torment. [30:16]
So glorify God in your evenings and your mornings [30:17]
—for all praise in the heavens and on earth are due to God— and at dusk and midday. [30:18]
God brings the living forth from the dead, and brings the dead forth from the living; and enlivens the earth after its death. And this is how you will be resurrected. [30:19]
Among the signs of God is having created you from dust; then there you are, humankind, propagating widely. [30:20]
And among the signs of God is having created mates for you from yourselves that you may feel at home with them, creating love and compassion between you. Surely there are signs in that for people who reflect. [30:21]
And among the signs of God is the constitution of the heavens and the earth, and the diversity of your languages and colors; surely there are signs in that for those who know. [30:22]
And among the signs of God is your sleep at night and in daytime, and your seeking of the divine bounty. Surely there are signs in that for people who listen. [30:23]
And among the signs of God is showing you lightning, occasion for fright and for hope, and showering rain from the sky, enlivening the earth thereby after its death. Surely there are signs in that for people who understand. [30:24]
And among the signs of God is that the sky and the earth exist by divine decree; and when God calls you, a call from the earth, you will then come forth— [30:25]
for everyone in the heavens and on earth belongs to God, to whom everyone submits, [30:26]
as God is the one who initiates creation and then repeats it, something most easy for God, to whom belongs the supreme pattern in the heavens and the earth, and who is the almighty, the supremely wise. [30:27]
God presents you an example from your own domain: do you have slaves who share equally in what We have provided you, fearing them as you fear your own? Thus do We distinguish the signs for people who understand. [30:28]
But those who’ve gone wrong follow their desires without knowledge. So who guides those whom God has allowed to get lost? There are no saviors for them. [30:29]
So incline your aim to religion as God-given nature, according to which God created humanity: there is no altering the creation of God— that is the true religion, but most people do not know. [30:30]
Turning to God repentant, be conscious of God and pray, and do not be idolaters [30:31]
who have divided their religion into sects, each faction pleased with its own. [30:32]
When affliction touches people, they pray to their Lord, turning to God repentant; but then when God allows them a taste of divine mercy, a segment of them attribute partners to their Lord, [30:33]
in effect ungrateful for what We have given them. So enjoy yourselves for a while, for you will soon know. [30:34]
Or have We sent some authority down to them that tells them of what they have idolized? [30:35]
Whenever We let people taste mercy, they are glad of it, but when ill they have brought on themselves hits them, then they are despondent. [30:36]
Haven’t they seen that God expands and restricts the provision of anyone at will? Surely there are signs in that for people who believe. [30:37]
So give your kin their rightful due, and the poor and the wayfarer too: that is best for those who seek the favor of God; and they are the ones who thrive. [30:38]
Whatever excess you invest in people’s property to make more profit does not grow with God; but whatever alms you give seeking the favor of God, these are the ones that make double. [30:39]
God is the one who created you, and provided you sustenance; and will make you die and then revive you. Can any of your idols do any of that? Glory to God, who is beyond any association they attribute. [30:40]
Corruption has appeared on land and on sea because of what people have earned by their acts, to make them taste some of what they have done, that they might turn back. [30:41]
Say, “Travel the earth and see how those before you ended up; most of them were idolaters.” [30:42]
So set your aim for true religion before there comes a day from God that cannot be averted— on that day they’ll be divided: [30:43]
whoever was ungrateful will be responsible for his ingratitude, and whoever acted with integrity will make their own bed, [30:44]
so God may reward from the bounty divine those who had faith and did good. For God does not love the ungrateful. [30:45]
And among the signs of God is sending you the winds as heralds, to let you taste of divine mercy, and so ships may sail by divine direction, and so you may seek from the divine bounty, so that you may be thankful. [30:46]
We have already sent messengers to their peoples before you, and they brought them clear proofs. Then We took vengeance on those who sinned, while it was Our duty to help the believers. [30:47]
God is the one who sends the winds that raise the clouds, spreading them in the sky at will, then rendering them into pieces, and you see rain emerging from within them; and when God touches with it whichever servants God will, then they rejoice [30:48]
even if they had been despondent before this, before being showered with rain. [30:49]
So behold the traces of the mercy of God, how God enlivens the earth after its death: that is the Vivifier of the dead, who is capable of all things. [30:50]
But if We send a wind and they see it yellowing, they become ungrateful after that. [30:51]
So you can’t make the dead hear; and you cannot make the deaf hear the call when they turn away. [30:52]
And you cannot guide the blind out of their wandering astray. The only ones you can get to hear are those who believe in Our signs and who acquiesce. [30:53]
God is the one who created you in weakness, then put strength after weakness, then put frailty and old age after strength. God creates what God will, being the omniscient, the all-powerful. [30:54]
And on the day of the end of time, the sinners will swear they had stayed but an hour— that is how they were deceived. [30:55]
But those to whom knowledge and faith were given will say, “You actually stayed until the day of resurrection, according to the contract of God: now this is the day of resurrection, though you did not know.” [30:56]
On that day the excuse of those who did wrong will not profit them, nor will their plea be admitted. [30:57]
We have presented to people every pattern in this Recital. But even if you bring them a sign, the scoffers will surely say you are only a faker. [30:58]
Thus does God seal the hearts of those who do not know. [30:59]
So be patient, for the promise of God is true; don’t let the uncertain make you reckless. [30:60]