Surah Ibrahim: Thematic English Translation (Mustafa Çevik)

By Alif, Lam, and Ra: O Prophet! This Quran has been sent down by Allah, the Exalted, who alone is worthy of praise, in words formed from the letters in which your people speak, understand one another, and write, so that people may know the reason for their creation, live in keeping with it, and so come out of darkness into light.

Allah, who created and owns the heavens, the earth, and what is between them, calls people through the Quran to live a life in keeping with their innate nature. Woe to those who will not grasp this truth! They will be punished for it with a most severe punishment.

Those who not only abandon the everlasting happiness of the Hereafter for the petty pleasures of the brief worldly life, but also strive to keep others from living in keeping with Allah’s call, are wrongdoers who prefer falsehood to the truth.

We sent Our verses to every prophet in the language of his own people, so that they might be easily explained and understood. Allah does not guide to His right path those who arrogantly turn away from His call. And whoever desires guidance and strives for it, He brings to guidance (His right path).

Authority to lay down rulings over His creatures belongs to Allah alone; every ruling of His is absolutely right, and Allah alone possesses boundless knowledge and power.

We sent Moses too to his people, to bring them out of darkness into light and to remind them of the Day of Resurrection and Reckoning. There are lessons to be learned from what Moses went through, but only those who bear hardships in Allah’s way and hold out with patience can draw lessons from it.

Moses had said to his people: “O my people! Do not forget the blessings Allah has bestowed on you. Pharaoh was subjecting you to the worst of torture, killing your sons, sparing your women and daughters and using them for his evil ends. Allah saved you from Pharaoh’s oppression; never let it slip from your minds that you are going through a test from your Lord! Your Lord promises you that if you hold fast to His call and give thanks, He will give you His blessings in still greater measure; but if you are ungrateful and turn away, you will be struck with a severe punishment.”

Then Moses went on: “Even if you and all the people living on the earth were ungrateful to Allah and rejected His call, you could do Allah no harm. Allah needs no one. He is the only God worthy of praise.”

You behave as though you had never heard what befell the peoples of Noah, Ad, and Thamud, who came and went before you, and the peoples after them whose number only Allah knows. Their prophets too had conveyed to them plainly what the purpose of their creation was and how they should live accordingly, explained it with examples, and shown it by the way they lived. But they too brushed the call aside, tried to silence the prophets, and said, “We do not accept what you say, for we do not believe that you are prophets.”

Their prophets had said to them: “Do you doubt the call of Allah, who created the heavens, the earth, and what is between them, and which will bring you out of darkness into light? The truth is that our Lord is calling you to repent of your shirk and disbelief, to forgiveness and salvation, before the day He has set for your appointed term comes.” But they, without a moment’s thought, would say to the prophets, “You too are mortal human beings like us, who eat and drink; and on top of that you claim to be prophets and want us to give up the way of life we inherited from our forefathers. If what you say is true, then convince us by showing miracles, and we shall see.”

Their prophets said to them: “Yes, we too are mortal human beings like you. Allah bestows prophethood on whom He wills of His servants, whom He deems worthy; and miracles come about not at the prophets’ wish but only by Allah’s will. Miracles are events that leave human beings powerless, and they do not come about at any human being’s wish; those who wish to believe should accept this truth, believe what we say, and trust in Allah alone and submit to His call.

Why should we not trust in Allah and submit to Him, when He has made known to us what is right? Have no doubt that the persecution you inflict on us for this will not make us give up speaking the truth. Those who trust in Allah and believe will surely succeed and be happy.”

At this those who would not abandon their lives founded on shirk and disbelief said to their prophets: “Either you accept our gods, return to our religion, and follow us, or we will drive you out of our land.”

After these words of those who associated partners with Allah, Allah revealed to His prophets: “We will surely destroy them and bring believers in their place. This is Allah’s promise to those who believe in Allah’s call and strive (jihad) to fulfill what faith requires.”

When, despite all their efforts, their peoples rejected the truth, the prophets prayed, “Our Lord! Now pass Your judgment between us and them.” In the end those who associated partners with Allah and denied the truth were struck with the punishment they deserved and perished. And in the Hereafter the fire of Hell awaits them. There they will be given bloody, pus-filled water to drink; they will try to swallow this loathsome water but will scarcely be able to get it down. Death will close in on them from every side, yet they will not be able to die, and they will be made to suffer one punishment worse than another.

The deeds done in the name of goodness by those who have conditioned themselves to deny the truth are like ashes that the wind scatters and blows away on a stormy day. What they took to be good has no reward at all in the Hereafter. This is a great loss, a great ruin.

Allah did not create the heavens, the earth, and what is between them in vain, but for a lofty purpose, and created you too to live so as to fulfill that purpose! Know well that, if Allah wills, He can do away with you and bring a new community in your place. This is not at all difficult for Allah.

When the Day of Reckoning comes, all people will be gathered in Allah’s presence; and on That Day those who, using their weakness as an excuse, blindly followed those they saw as powerful will say to the leaders they followed: “We followed you in our worldly life, and for that we are now being punished; can you not save us even a little from Allah’s punishment?” And they will say to those asking them for help: “If Allah saved us from this punishment we deserve, we would save you too; but now such a deliverance is impossible for us as well as for you. So however much we weep and wail, plead and implore, it is of no use; it is long since too late. Now none of us can possibly escape the punishment we deserve.”

On the Day of Reckoning, when the judgment is over and everyone comes face to face with what he deserves, Satan too will answer those who say, “It was you who caused us to enter Hell,” thus: “Allah’s call to you was true. I, however, made you empty promises, told you lies, and deceived you. In truth I had no power over you to make you do what I wished. I only invited you, calling you to shirk and disbelief. And you turned to my call rather than Allah’s, and followed it. Now do not reproach and blame me for your own guilt; turn and look at yourselves. It is you who are to be blamed and reproached. Today neither I nor those you took as gods alongside Allah can hear your cries or come to your aid, and no one can save me from Allah’s punishment either. I knew all along that associating partners with Allah was wrong. But when I whispered this wrong to you, you accepted it without a moment’s thought.”

The truth is that Satan and his followers have deserved a most severe punishment.

Those who believe and strive to fulfill what faith requires will, by their Lord’s leave, be settled in Gardens through which rivers flow, full of blessings, the home of happiness, and there they will congratulate one another.

Allah likens a good, true word, well spoken, to a fruitful tree whose roots are in the ground and whose branches rise toward the sky. By its Lord’s leave this tree yields its fruit at all times.

Allah gives such examples so that people may reflect, grasp what is right, and invite others in this way.

But evil words that harbor shirk and disbelief within them and invite people to it are like a frail tree whose roots in the ground have begun to rot. Such a tree has neither the chance nor the strength to stay standing, bear fruit, or live.

Those who strive to apply the belief of tawhid in their lives Allah keeps standing firm, like trees whose roots are in the ground and whose branches rise to the sky. And in the Hereafter He rewards them with the blessings of Paradise. Those who turn away from His call Allah leaves to themselves in error in their swamp; He has power to do what He wills.

Do you not see those who are ungrateful for the many blessings Allah has given, grow arrogant, take gods alongside Allah, urge others to live as they do, and drag others, and are themselves dragged, into Hell, the home of punishment? Woe to those who will make that Hell their home! Though they were called to win Allah’s good pleasure, they would not accept it, turned away from what is right, and supported and led the way for those inclined to ingratitude in their turning away. Let them amuse themselves a while longer, enjoying the blessings Allah has given; in any case, the place they will end up in is Hell.

O Prophet! Tell My believing servants to perform their prayers consciously and with care, and to spend in Allah’s way, secretly and openly, from the blessings We have given them, before the Day of Reckoning comes, on which there will be no bargaining, and no spouse, friend, kinsman, wealth, property, or position.

Never forget that Allah created the heavens, the earth, and what is between them for you; that with the water He sends down from the sky He brings forth for you all kinds of provision on the earth and offers it to you; that by the laws He has set in the seas He makes ships float and places them at your service; and that He lets you benefit from the rivers.

It is Allah, too, who has placed at your service the sun and the moon, running their courses in their own orbits by the laws Allah has set, and who has made the day bright and the night dark for your ease. If you tried to count the blessings He gives, you could never finish counting them. But most people, despite so many blessings bestowed on them, are ungrateful to Allah, turn away from His call, and do not give thanks to Him. For they are ignorant and unjust.

Long ago Abraham prayed to Allah thus: “My Lord, make this town a safe, secure place, and keep me and my descendants from taking any god but You. My Lord, these people who associate partners with You, and those they take as gods and make into idols, have caused many ignorant people who do not use their reason to associate partners with You and deny the truth.

My Lord, whoever follows me is of me and is on Your right path. And whoever turns away from Your call, his case rests with You. You are merciful and forgiving toward those who repent of their wrong and turn to what is right.

My Lord, I have settled some of my family in a barren valley unfit for cultivation, near Your sacred House, so that they may perform their prayers, pray to You, trust in You and take refuge in You, and attain Your mercy and compassion! My Lord! Incline the hearts of some people toward them, bestow provision on them, and grant that they may be among those who give thanks.” And he went on with his prayer:

“Our Lord! You know our inner and outer selves, all that is hidden or open in us. Nothing on earth or in heaven can be hidden from You, and You alone are worthy of praise! My Lord, praise be to You; You granted me Ishmael and Isaac in my old age. Surely You hear prayers. My Lord, make me and my descendants among Your servants who perform the prayer with care! My Lord, accept my prayer along with my worship.

My Lord, on the Day of Reckoning forgive me, my mother and father, and all the believers, in Your mercy and compassion.”

Never think that Allah is unaware of what those who associate partners with Him and deny the truth do. Allah defers the penalty they deserve to the day when their eyes will stare in terror as though they were about to burst from their sockets.

On That Day, panic-stricken at the terror of the place of gathering, as if searching for a way out, with heads raised to the sky, eyes frozen in their sockets, beside themselves, and hearts utterly empty, they will rush about here and there.

O Prophet! Warn people before they come face to face with such a severe punishment. When That Day comes, those who paid no heed to the warnings and turned away from Allah’s call will say: “Our Lord! Give us a little more respite and send us back to the world, so that we may be among those who live by the system of life to which You invited us through the prophets.”

And Allah will say to them: “Were you not the ones who did not believe, though you were told that you would be raised after death and called to account for what you did? You used to swear oaths to make others believe too that you would not be raised again after death.

What is more, you lived in the dwellings of peoples who had been destroyed for associating partners with Allah and rejecting the call, and you had been told of what befell them.

Those wrongdoers destroyed before you had likewise laid every kind of trap for their prophets, who invited them to live by the system of life that would please Allah, subjected them to persecution, and rejected them. And Allah brought to nothing their traps, which they thought strong enough to move mountains from their places.”

Never think that Allah will go back on His promise of help to His prophets and the believers; there is no one who can make Allah go back on His promise. He is supreme in power; He surely gives those who deserve it what they deserve, and exacts retribution from those who associate partners with Him, deny the truth, and do wrong.

When the day comes, the earth you live on will be exchanged for another earth, and the heavens for other heavens; everything will be turned upside down, and all people will be raised again and gathered in the presence of Allah, the one true Sovereign.

On That Day you will see those who are brought into His presence as people who turned away from the call made through the Quran, bound in chains, clothed in garments of pitch, with fire blasting their faces. On the Day of Reckoning every person will receive the recompense for his stance toward Allah’s call. Allah is swift in reckoning.

This Quran is a counsel for people, a Book of warning that makes known that there is no true god but Allah. It is also a guide for those truly possessed of understanding who wish to know the reason for their creation and live in keeping with it.