Surah Al-Mu'minun: Thematic English Translation (Mustafa Çevik)

Without doubt the true believers will surely prevail, in this world and the Hereafter. They perform their prayers with care and awareness, spend from what they have to win Allah’s good pleasure, and turn away from empty, meaningless words and deeds. They guard their chastity, and have relations with none but their spouses and those they married and took as wives while they were slave women. For these lawful relations they are not blamed and incur no sin. But those who go beyond these are the ones who have overstepped the bounds and violated Allah’s prohibition.

The believers guard carefully and faithfully what Allah and people have entrusted to them. They keep the promises they make to Allah and to people and fulfill what they require; they do not sacrifice their prayers to worldly interests, but perform them with care and constancy.

These are the ones who will attain the blessings of the home of Paradise, Allah’s promise, and remain forever in the Gardens of Firdaws.

We created the first human being from clay that We first refined and turned into mud; then We turned it into the seed of life, a drop of fluid, and placed it in the bodies of woman and man. We fertilized the cells We create from this fluid through marriage and attached them to the wall of the mother’s womb. After a time, from this cell, fertilized and attached to the womb wall, We formed his bones, clothed them with flesh, and made him into a human being.

Exalted indeed are the knowledge and power of Allah, who created you thus.

O people! After this creation of yours, when you are brought into the world, the reason for your creation is made known to you, and you are invited to live a life in keeping with it. After a time you will all die, be raised again with the Resurrection, be gathered in Our presence, and be called to account for whether or not you lived your worldly lives in keeping with the reason for your creation.

Above you We created the seven heavens and what runs its course in its orbit there. We established a perfect order in them and made laws; We created none of them without reason or in vain.

We send down water from the sky according to a measure and law We have set, make the soil absorb it, and keep some of it on the surface of the earth. Know well that We have power to take back the water We send down, too. With this rain We send down We grow date groves, vineyards, and many other plants you eat and benefit from; and with that rain too We grow the olive tree, which grows in abundance on Mount Sinai and around it, from whose fruit you extract oil and which is a relish for those who eat it.

In the creation and life of the animals We have created for your benefit there are also lessons for those who reflect. We let you benefit from the meat, the milk, and much else of many of them. Moreover, you have some of these animals carry your loads. And thanks to the laws We have set in the seas, you travel and carry goods by ship.

We sent Noah too to his people, to make known Allah’s purpose in creating the human being and to invite them to live by the system of life that accords with it.

And Noah said to his people: “O my people! Follow the system of life that is the call of Allah, who created you and endowed you with so many blessings; you have no true god but Allah. Should you not, then, live in keeping with this truth?”

At this the leading men of Noah’s people, who associated partners with Allah, said to the people: “Noah too is only a mortal human being like us; had Allah wanted to send a messenger, He would have sent an angel from the sky; nor did we ever hear from our forefathers that a prophet was sent from among humans. Noah is a madman who is trying to tear down and change our order so as to gain superiority over us; let us put up with him for a while, and if he does not give up what he says, then we will punish him.”

When his people would not accept the call, Noah prayed to Allah thus: “My Lord, help me against their calling my call a lie and stubbornly turning away.”

And in answer to his prayer We revealed to him: “O Noah! Build a ship as We direct, under Our watch and guidance; and when Our decree comes and the waters cover the land, take on board a pair of each of the animals living in that region, and those who believe with you; and do not ask anything of Me for those who deserve destruction, for they have deserved to be destroyed by drowning.”

O Noah! You and those who board the ship with you, pray thus: “Praise be to Allah, who has saved us from this people who associate partners with Him, deny the truth, and do wrong; He alone is worthy of praise.” And say: “O my Lord! Let me land, and those with me, in a blessed and safe place; it is You who know best the finest and safest place to settle.”

Surely there are many lessons to be drawn from this story of Noah for those who use their reason. We tested the people of Noah, but they ended up among the losers.

After the people of Noah, We sent to the people who came after them a prophet from among themselves too. That prophet said to the people: “Know Allah as He deserves and take Him alone as God. If you obey a mortal like yourselves, you will suffer ruin. Fulfill your responsibilities by obeying and worshipping Allah alone.”

The wanton, spoiled leading men of his people said of their prophet, “He too is a mortal like us; if we follow the word of such a mortal, abandon our existing gods, and change our system of life, then we will lose our means, our power, and our standing.”

The leading men of this people who associated partners with Allah, who tried to see and portray their prophet in this way, also said: “This man who claims to be a prophet says that after we die and mingle with the dust we will be raised again and called to account as to whom we lived our worldly lives for, and by what standard; that cannot be. There is no life but this worldly life; we die, and our children go on living after us. This man ascribes to Allah the lies he makes up himself; so we are not going to believe him.”

At this their prophet prayed to Allah thus: “My Lord, help me against this people who accuse me of lying.” And Allah revealed to His Prophet, “Before long We will make them regret what they have said and done.” Then a dreadful cry seized them and turned them into what looked like a heap of rubbish. Then those deniers became fuel for Hell. We carried on the line through the believers We saved from among them.

No community that deserves destruction by punishment can lengthen or bring forward the time of its passing, in accordance with Allah’s law.

Later We sent Our prophets as messengers to other communities too. But many of them called Allah’s call a lie and rejected it. So We struck them too with the punishment they deserved for their ingratitude and shirk, and wiped them out. Thus We turned them into stories, never off people’s lips, from which a lesson is to be learned.

We sent Moses and Aaron, with Our verses, Our clear messages, and the proofs of prophethood, to Pharaoh and the chiefs of his people. But they grew arrogant and refused to follow the call, and moreover accused Moses and Aaron of lying, saying: “Are we to believe what two mortal human beings like us say, whose kin are our slaves, and change the belief, order, and morality we have kept for so many years? That cannot be.” For this ingratitude and boasting of theirs, they too took their place among those who were destroyed. Yet We had sent them a Book too, so that they might enter the right path.

And We made Jesus, son of Mary, and his mother each a proof of Allah’s knowledge and power; We raised them both to a lofty station and made them guides showing the way to attaining Paradise.

Allah said to His prophets and their followers: “Eat and drink of the good things We have made lawful for you in worldly life. Warn people to be virtuous, righteous people who take no god but Allah.

The system of life (religion) to which We invite you is the only true religion. And I am your one true Lord and God. So fulfill your responsibilities toward Allah.

Surely Allah knows best what you do and what you fail to do when you should have done it.”

Despite all Our warnings and counsel, the communities that came after the prophets broke the unity and togetherness among them and formed factions, and each faction prided itself on what it had made up and tried to be happy with it.

O Prophet! Warn people with the case of those who strayed from the right path because they did this in the past. And leave those who will not learn from it to themselves, in heedlessness and error, until the punishment comes upon them.

Do those who associate partners with Allah think that by giving them wealth, property, and children We approve of their state, or are making them compete with one another? No, not at all. Though they have been warned, they do not wish to understand and accept where things will end.

On the other hand, those who believe wholeheartedly in their Lord’s verses, spend what He gives them in the way of winning His good pleasure, never let the Day of Reckoning slip from their minds, and whose hearts tremble in reverence for their Lord: these are the ones who vie with one another in good deeds and strive to get ahead. In the end it is they who will prevail and be happy.

We place on no one a burden beyond his strength. With Us are books of deeds, in which a full record is kept of what everyone has done to the extent of his strength. In the end no one will be wronged.

But those who will not accept this truth stubbornly go on violating Allah’s prohibitions.

Despite the many blessings We have given them, such people are ungrateful, grow spoiled, and run wild. When We seize them in an iron grip for what they have done, they will begin to plead and implore. Then they will be told: “Stop crying out in vain now. You will never receive help from Us. Long ago, though Our verses were recited to you time and again and you were invited to what is right, you grew arrogant and boastful and would not accept it; and not content with that, when you gathered at night, under cover of darkness, you would rail ignorantly and thoughtlessly against Our Book, the Quran.”

These people who associate partners with Allah do not try to understand the truth by reasoning over Allah’s Book, the Quran. Has a call come to them that did not come to their forefathers, that they stand bewildered before it? Yet this call was conveyed to their forefathers in the distant past as well. Now what has come over them, that they do not believe in the prophethood of a man known among them to be honest and trustworthy, and turn away from the divine Book We have sent with him? What is more, they insolently accuse him of lying and madness. Yet the Quran is a source of honor and dignity for them, but they do not know its worth.

There is no sign of madness in the Prophet. He conveys the Quran, which is truth itself, and invites people to live by the system of life that is Allah’s purpose in creating them. But most of them dislike what they are invited to through the Quran. Were Allah to follow their wishes, the order of what is between the heavens and the earth would be disrupted and collapse.

O Prophet! You are not asking any payment for the call you make in Allah’s name, that they should be running away from you on that account! You know that the reward your Lord will give is worth more than all the blessings of this world; Allah is the best of those who reward.

The truth is that you are calling them to live by the system of life that is the reason for their creation. But those who do not believe in the Hereafter and the Day of Reckoning stubbornly persist in not believing this call being made in Allah’s name.

Yet when hardship befalls them, they at once ask Us for help. Were We to have mercy on them and relieve their hardship, they would go back to their ungrateful, wanton, and arrogant lives. Indeed We tested those who had conditioned themselves to deny the truth with hardship and straits too. And when We relieved their hardship, they did not repent and turn to their Lord’s call.

When the time comes and We open the gates of Our most grievous punishment on the Day of Reckoning, on That Day they will lose all hope and stand bewildered.

O people! Allah has given you eyes to see, ears to hear, hearts (minds) to understand, and countless blessings; will you still not give thanks to Him and understand that He alone is your Lord and God?

It is Allah who created you and spread you over the earth. In the end you will be returned to Him, and on That Day you will be called to account as to whom you lived for, and by what standard, with the blessings He gave you.

It is Allah, too, who gives you life and takes it. The alternation of night and day is also bound to the laws of Allah’s order. When Allah has bound everything He has created to the perfect order and laws He has established, what is the matter with you, that you turn away from the order and laws your Lord has set up and offered for you?

Those who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth say, as their forefathers who believed and lived as they do said: “When we have died and become heaps of bones and mingled with dust and earth, are we then to be raised again and give account? This was said to our forefathers before us too. So this threat of being raised again and giving account is nothing but a tale told to the ancients as well.”

O Prophet! Say to them: “To whom do the earth and all that is on it belong?” They will say: “To Allah, of course.” Then why can you not see that Allah, who created them from nothing and brought them into being, will raise them again after death?

Then say to them again: “Who is the Creator and Owner of the seven heavens and of the whole universe, who established their orders and governs them?” Again they will say, “Allah, of course.” At this say to them: “Since you believe this truth, why then do you not take Allah alone as Lord and God and agree to turn to His call, instead of associating partners with Him?”

Ask them this too: “Who is it that provides for the heavens and the earth and what is between them, protects and watches over them by the laws He has set, but against whom no one can be protected and watched over?” Again they will say, “Allah, of course.”

Say: “Then why do you not use your reason, but fall into Satan’s trap and, at his instigation, as if Allah were not enough for you, take as your way of life what beings created like yourselves have made up? Yet We sent you the Quran and made known to you plainly the reason for your creation. Despite this you called what is in it a lie too.”

Allah has taken no one as a child, and there is no true god but Allah. Had there been any god besides Him, each god would have set about establishing his own order over created beings, making laws, and gaining superiority over the others, and the order of the universe would have been turned upside down and ruined.

Allah knows the absolute truth of everything, its visible and invisible side, and is far above the partners (shirk) associated with Him. He has power over everything, needs no one’s help, and everything needs Him.

O Prophet! Pray thus: “My Lord! When the punishment You have promised to those who turn away from Your call comes, do not leave me among them.”

Surely, if We will to carry out in this world part of the punishment We have promised them, We have power to show it to you and to protect you.

Whatever they say and whatever they do, you still invite them to do what is right. And so respond in the finest way to their aggression and to what they make up and say about you.

We know full well what they make up and ascribe.

Say: “O my Lord! I take refuge in You from Satan and people of a satanic nature confusing my mind with their whisperings and suggestions as I strive to carry out my task as messenger faithfully. My Lord, I take refuge in You, too, from their drawing near me and provoking me, from their wearing me down and leading me into error.”

When death comes to any of those who refuse to live by the system of life that is the reason for their creation, he begins this time to plead with Us and implore: “My Lord, return me to life, so that I may begin to live a life that will please You.” No, no; these words he is now forced to say are nothing but an expression of his helplessness; there is now a barrier before them, impossible to cross, against their returning to the world. The place to which they will be raised and return is the Hereafter, and there they will see the recompense for what they did in the world.

When the Day of Resurrection comes and the Trumpet is blown, neither lineage nor any other kinship or friendship will be of any use to anyone. On That Day the ties between them will be gone; no one will be in any state to ask after or look to anyone; all will be gathered to see the recompense they deserve; and the righteous deeds of those who grasped Allah as He deserves, responded to His call, and fulfilled their responsibilities toward Him will weigh heavy on their scales. Such people will attain what they hoped for and be happy.

Those who turned away from the call Allah made through His Books and prophets will suffer ruin, their deeds weighing light on the scale, and will be dragged into Hell.

The fire of Hell will scorch their faces; their lips will burn and fall away, and with their teeth bared they will writhe in agony. On That Day Allah will say to them: “Were you not the ones who called My verses lies and rejected them when they were recited and conveyed to you?” And they will answer: “Our Lord! We have fallen victim to our arrogance, our ingratitude, and our wanton rebellion. That is why we paid no heed to the call. Our Lord! Bring us out of this Fire and give us one more chance. If we go back to shirk and disbelief, then make us among the wrongdoers who wrong themselves, among those who dwell in Hell forever.”

This time Allah will say to them: “You will remain forever in that punishment you have deserved; stop crying out in vain; despite the warnings given you, you did not use the blessings and time you were given as you should, and wasted them.

Yet among you there were also those who did their utmost to live in keeping with the reason for their creation. But while you kept mocking them, they were praying, ‘Our Lord! We take refuge in Your mercy, Your compassion, and Your pardon.’

O you who associate partners with Allah! Besides mocking the faith of the believers, you never even thought of reflecting on Our verses.

So today I reward the believers with Paradise, because they held out against your oppression and mockery without compromising their faith, and trusted in their Lord. This is the true success, gain, and happiness.”

Allah will ask those in Hell, “How many years did you stay in the world?” And they will say: “A day, or less; but we do not know for certain. Ask anyone today who has kept his wits about him.”

Allah will say to them: “Yes, you stayed only a little while in the world. Though you were warned that worldly life is fleeting and short and that in the end you would meet this day, you did not grasp its importance. Did you think that I created you aimlessly, in vain?! Yet it was made plain to you that you would be brought into My presence and questioned about the way you used the blessings and time you were given.

Today you have understood that there is no true Lord and God but Allah, that you were created not in vain but to live a life whose limits Allah has set, and that the seat of sovereignty over His creatures belongs to Allah alone.”

Thus those who took other lords and gods alongside Allah will be punished with the punishment they deserve, and they will never escape it.

O believers! Pray, you too: “Our Lord! Deal with us in Your mercy and compassion; You are the best of those who show mercy.”