Surah Al-Insan: Thematic English Translation (Mustafa Çevik)

We created the human being over a long span of time, taking him through various stages before he was a being worthy of mention as human, and endowed him with so many qualities.

And so that he might reproduce and multiply, We made a drop of water whose essence is formed from a mixture into a seed; and in the mother’s womb We changed it from form to form and perfected it with hearing, sight, understanding and comprehension, and his other organs, feelings, and abilities.

Then We showed him the way to live by the order and morality that best suits his innate nature. And the human being will use his choice either to live by the order of life that is Allah’s call, or, being ungrateful to Allah, who created him and endowed him with so many blessings, to live by the orders of life set up by those who side with Satan.

For those who complete their worldly lives being ungrateful to Allah by turning away from living the order of life that is the reason for their creation, We have prepared collars to be fastened round their necks in Hell, and a most painful fire.

But those who strive heart and soul to live on the right path to which they are invited will be served, in the Gardens their Lord has prepared for them, drinks of endless delight made from delicious and fragrant plant essences, whose source is found only in Paradise. These are the ones who keep the word they gave their Lord, who never let the terror of the Day of Resurrection slip from their minds, and who stand in awe of Him.

Such believers, to win Allah’s good pleasure, suppress their own desires and feed and give drink to the needy, the orphan, and the captive, and help them. They say to themselves, “We give this help to win our Lord’s good pleasure, and we expect no return for it from people,” and then, “We believe that our Lord will ask us to account for whom and for what we used the blessings He has bestowed on us, as on everyone.”

Because of this faith of theirs and the good they do, Allah will protect them from the terror of the Day of Resurrection, grant light to their faces and peace and calm to their hearts, and then, because they held out without compromising their faith against the hardships they met while striving in this cause, He will reward them in Paradise with rewards beyond description. There, in their silken garments, they will recline on their couches and rest in the shade beneath the trees of Paradise, troubled neither by scorching heat nor by cold. They will reach the fruit trees with ease, and food will be served to them in vessels of silver and drink in goblets of crystal.

From springs called Salsabil they will be offered drinks mixed with ginger, and there they will live an undying youth, each of them looking like scattered pearls. Wherever you look in Paradise, you will see blessings of matchless beauty and a magnificent kingdom being lived.

Those whom Allah has deemed worthy of His Paradise will wear garments of silk and satin and bracelets of silver on their arms, and their Lord will give them pure drinks of the most delicious kind, and it will be said to them: “These rewards are the recompense for your taking Allah alone as Lord and God and for the effort you showed in living by the order of Islam, which is His call, and by its morality.”

O Prophet! Surely it is We who are sending down this Quran to you part by part. So, patiently and without despair, without giving in to the wishes of those who associate partners with Allah, those who deny the truth, and the ungrateful, and without ever compromising what your faith requires, convey to people morning and evening the life that is your Lord’s call, and invite them to live it!

For part of the night continue to worship your Lord, ask for help through prayer, and reflect, never letting His greatness and power slip from your mind.

Those who turn their backs on the truth are drawn by the allure of this fleeting, brief worldly life and love it dearly, and they care nothing for the punishment awaiting them on the Day of Resurrection and Reckoning.

Yet it is We who created them from nothing, set each of their limbs and organs in its proper place in the most fitting way, and let them benefit from the blessings We created; if We will, We can do away with them and bring others in their place.

With all these verses Allah is warning you; whoever wishes reflects on and heeds these warnings and chooses to live by the order of life that is his Lord’s call.

Had Allah not willed to show you the right path, you could not have formed it or found it on your own.

Allah knows the one truth of everything, has power over everything, and is the Possessor of judgment and wisdom. Allah brings to His right path whoever wishes to live in keeping with the reason for his creation.

For those who disregard the call made in Allah’s name through the Quran there is a painful punishment in Hell.