Surah Al-Furqan English Translation & Transliteration

¹How exalted and how generous is Allah, who has sent down to His servant the Quran, the Furqan that distinguishes truth from falsehood, so that it may be a warning to all peoples!

²For the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth belongs to Him alone. He has taken no child, nor has He any partner in His sovereignty; He created everything and bound the destiny/measure of everything to a law.

³Even so, they deify, besides Allah, those who are themselves created and cannot create anything, who have no power to benefit or harm even themselves, and who have no power over death, life, or resurrection.

⁴The disbelievers who cover up the truth said: "This Quran is nothing but words he has invented and attributed to Allah. And another group of people is helping him." Thus they resorted to slander, distortion, and lies.

⁵—They also said: "This Quran is nothing but the legends of the ancients, which are recited to him morning and evening so that he may memorize them." 16/24, 23/83, 27/68, 83/13

⁶Say to them: —This Quran has been sent down by Allah, who knows all the secrets of the heavens and the earth. For He is matchless in forgiveness and possesses infinite mercy.

⁷And they say: —What kind of messenger is this? He eats, drinks, and walks about the marketplaces. Since he is a messenger, at least an angel should have been given to him to warn together with him!

⁸—Or a treasure should have been given to him, or he should have a garden of his own from whose produce he could eat without toil. And those wrongdoers even go so far as to say to the believers, "You are following none other than a bewitched man."

⁹Just look at what they attribute to you! They have gone so far astray that they can no longer find the right path.

¹⁰He is so generous and so exalted that, if He wills, He will give you better than that: gardens beneath which rivers flow, and He will grant you mansions and palaces.

¹¹In fact, they deny the reality of the Hour, the end of this world; yet for those who do not take the reality of that Hour into account, We have prepared a terrible fire spewing flames.

¹²When this fire sees them from a far-off place, they will hear its furious roaring and its rumbling.

¹³And when they are cast into a narrow place in it, their hands bound to their necks, they will plead there to die and perish.

¹⁴Today, plead not once but many times to die and perish!

¹⁵Say: —Now, is this better, or the lasting Paradise promised to those who guard themselves against sins, which will be for them a reward and a final home?

¹⁶There they will have everything they wish, and they will abide there. This is the promise your Lord has undertaken to fulfill to those who believe.

¹⁷On that day Allah will gather them together with those whom they placed between themselves and Allah and served, and He will say to them: "Was it you who led these servants of Mine astray, or did they stray by themselves?"

¹⁸They will say: —Far be it from us, our Lord! We declare You free of all imperfection; You are far above any deficiency. It would not befit us to take anyone besides You as protectors and authorities. But You let them and their forefathers taste so many worldly pleasures that they grew insolent and forgot the reminder/the Quran, and in the end became a people who deserved destruction.

¹⁹See, they have proved you liars in all that you said. Now you can neither avert the punishment from yourselves nor obtain any help. Whoever among you is steeped in wrongdoing, We will make him taste a great punishment.

²⁰Yet all the messengers We sent before you ate and drank and walked about the marketplaces. For We are testing you through one another—will you be patient? Your Lord sees all things anyway.

²¹Those who do not take into account appearing before Us to give account said: "Should not angels have been sent down to us, or should we not see our Lord plainly?" They have certainly gone to excess in their arrogance and insolence.

²²Yes, one day they will see the angels, but on that day there will be no good news at all for the sinners, and they will say, "Alas, we are surrounded on every side!"

²³On that day We will turn all their deeds into scattered dust and bring them to nothing.

²⁴On that day the people of Paradise will be given the best of dwelling places and the finest of resting places.

²⁵On that day the sky will split apart and take on a cloud-like form, and the angels will be sent down in successive companies among the clouds.

²⁶On that day it will be plainly seen that true sovereignty belongs to the Most Merciful (ar-Rahman) alone, and it will be a very hard day for the disbelievers.

²⁷And on that day the one who turned his back on the revelation will bite his fingers in remorse and say: —Ah, if only I had taken the same path as the messenger who conveyed Allah's messages!

²⁸Ah, if only I had not taken so-and-so as a Khalil/close friend!

²⁹Indeed, he led me away from the Quran that had come to me. So this is how Satan abandons a person and disgraces him.

³⁰On that day the messenger who conveys Allah's messages will complain: "My Lord, these people of mine always turned their backs on this Quran."

³¹Thus these guilty ones became enemies to every one of the prophets. So be it—your Lord is sufficient as a guide and a helper.

³²The disbelievers who cover up the truths said: —If only the Quran had been sent down to him all at once! But We are sending this Quran down in parts like this, and reciting it distinctly, to strengthen your heart and to settle it firmly.

³³Whatever example they bring to put you in difficulty, We bring you both the truth/reality and the finest explanation of it.

³⁴Those who will be crammed into Hell, dragged on their faces—they will be in the worst position and the most wretched state.

³⁵We certainly gave Moses the Book and appointed his brother Aaron as his helper.

³⁶And We said to them: "Go to that well-known people who cling to lies in the face of Our verses," and then We razed that people to the ground.

³⁷And the people of Noah, who denied the messengers, We drowned, and We made this event a lesson for humankind; for We have prepared a painful punishment for every wrongdoing people who overstep the limits.

³⁸Moreover, We destroyed the people of Ad, the people of Thamud, the people of Rass, and many generations that came and went between them.

³⁹To each of them We gave admonitions and warnings, and when these did no good, We wiped them all out.

⁴⁰They must have passed by that town on which the rain of calamity fell. Do they not reflect on what happened to them, then? No, the truth is they dislike the thought of being raised again and giving account!

⁴¹And whenever they see you, they mock you, saying only: Of all people, has Allah found you to send as a messenger?

⁴²"Had we not persisted and been patient in our faith, this man would almost have led us away from the right path and made us abandon our gods," they say. But when they see the punishment, they will learn who has truly strayed from the path.

⁴³You do see the one who has taken his desires and whims as his god, don't you? Could you now be a guardian over such a person?

⁴⁴Or do you think that most of them listen to the truth or understand it? No, they are only like animals; indeed, they are even worse in straying from the path.

⁴⁵Do you not see how your Lord extends the shadow? Had He willed, He would have made it motionless; for We have made the sun its guide.

⁴⁶Then We gradually shorten the shadow in accordance with Our law in nature.

⁴⁷It is He who has made the night a covering for you, sleep a means of rest, and the day a time to rise and begin life anew.

⁴⁸It is He who sends the winds as bearers of good news ahead of His mercy! And with that rain We send down pure water from the sky,

⁴⁹so that with it We give life to dead land, and with it We meet the water needs of many animals and human beings We have created.

⁵⁰We relate these matters to them again and again so that they may reflect and take admonition, but, as it turns out, most people do nothing but show ingratitude.

⁵¹Had We willed, We would have sent a separate warner to every town.

⁵²So be aware of this responsibility, never be inclined to follow the disbelievers who cover up the truths, and strive against them with the Quran with mighty effort!

⁵³It is He who has let the two seas flow side by side, one fresh enough to drink and the other salty and bitter, and has placed between them an invisible veil and an insurmountable barrier/law so that they do not mix.

⁵⁴And it is He who has brought the human being into existence from water and granted him ties of kinship by blood and by marriage. Indeed, your Lord is infinite in power/the One who sets a measure for all things.

⁵⁵Yet they serve, besides Allah, those who can neither benefit nor harm them. Indeed, this disbelieving type is one who always turns his back on his Lord.

⁵⁶We have sent you only as a bearer of good news and a warner.

⁵⁷Say: —I ask of you no wage for this duty of mine, except that whoever wishes should take a path leading to his Lord.

⁵⁸And put your trust in Allah, the Ever-Living, who will never die, and bind yourself to Him, and proclaim His glory with praise. For your Lord is sufficient as One who is aware of every sin of His servants.

⁵⁹For it is He who created the heavens, the earth, and all that is between them in six stages, and then brought them under His sovereignty. So whatever you ask for, ask it of Allah, who is aware of all things!

⁶⁰When they are told: —Prostrate to the Most Merciful, they say: "And what is the Most Merciful? Are we to prostrate to whatever you command?" This only increases their aversion.

⁶¹How exalted a source of blessing is the Most Merciful, who has made constellations, star clusters, in the sky and placed in it a bright sun and a shining moon!

⁶²And it is He who makes night and day follow one another, for those who wish to look and take a lesson, or to give the blessings their due.

⁶³The good servants of the Most Merciful walk on the earth humbly and with dignity. When the impertinent harass them, they say "Peace" and pass on.

⁶⁴And they spend their nights worshipping their Lord, now prostrating, now standing.

⁶⁵And they pray: "Our Lord, keep the punishment of Hell away from us, for its punishment is very severe."

⁶⁶What an evil abode and what an evil shelter it is!

⁶⁷And when they spend, they are neither wasteful nor stingy; they take a balanced and measured course between the two.

⁶⁸And the servants of the Most Merciful do not implore any other god in prayer along with Allah. They do not unjustly take a life that Allah has made inviolable, and they do not commit fornication. Whoever does these things will meet a heavy penalty.

⁶⁹On the Day of Resurrection his punishment will be multiplied many times over, and he will remain in Hell, despised and degraded.

⁷⁰Except those who turn back in repentance, believe, and do right and good deeds; they are the ones whose evil deeds Allah will turn into good deeds. For Allah is matchless in forgiveness and an infinite source of mercy.

⁷¹Yes, whoever turns back from sins and does right and good deeds has turned to Allah, his repentance accepted.

⁷²And the good servants of the Most Merciful do not bear false witness. When they encounter ugly words and conduct, they pass by with maturity and dignity.

⁷³And when they are reminded of their Lord's verses, they do not behave as if blind and deaf to them.

⁷⁴And they pray: Our Lord! Grant us spouses and children who will be the comfort of our eyes, and make us leaders/imams for the conscientious.

⁷⁵These will be rewarded with mansions in the gardens of Paradise for the endurance and steadfastness they showed in Allah's way, and there they will be greeted with wishes of happiness, well-being, and peace.

⁷⁶They will abide there. What an excellent dwelling and what an excellent station it is!

⁷⁷Say: —Were it not for your prayer and your service, why would my Lord value you at all? You who have clung to lies against the truths—know well that the burden of this will never let go of you.