The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

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The Quran 6: 55
Himself to be merciful: if any of you has foolishly done a bad
deed, and afterwards repented and mended his ways, God is most
forgiving and most merciful.’ 55 In this way We explain the revelations,
so that the way for sinners may be made clear. a 56 Say, ‘I am
forbidden to worship those you call on other than God.’ Say, ‘I will
not follow your vain desires, for if I did, I would stray from the path
and cease to be rightly guided.’ 57 Say, ‘I stand on clear proof from
my Lord, though you deny it. What you seek to hasten is not within
my power. Judgement is for God alone: He tells the truth, and He is
the best of judges.’ 58 Say, ‘If what you seek to hasten were within my
power, the matter would be settled between you and me, but God
knows best who does wrong.’ 59 He has the keys to the unseen: no one
knows them but Him. He knows all that is in the land and sea. No
leaf falls without His knowledge, nor is there a single grain in the
darkness of the earth, or anything, fresh or withered, that is not
written in a clear Record. 60 It is He who calls your souls back by
night, knowing what you have done by day, then raises you up again
in the daytime until your fixed term is fulfilled. It is to Him that you
will return in the end, and He will tell you what you have done. 61 He
is the Supreme Master over His subjects. He sends out recorders to
watch over you until, when death overtakes any of you, those sent by
Us take his soul – they never fail in their duty. 62 Then they will all be
returned to God, their true Lord. The Judgement truly belongs to
Him, and He is the swiftest of reckoners.
63 Say [Prophet], ‘Who is it that saves you from the dark depths of
land and sea when you humbly and secretly call to Him [and say], “If
He rescues us from this, We shall truly be thankful”?’ 64 Say, ‘God
rescues you from this and every distress; yet still you worship others
beside Him.’ 65 Say, ‘He has power to send punishment on you from
above or from under your very feet, or to divide you into discordant
factions and make some taste the violence of others.’ See how We
explain Our revelation in various ways, so that they may understand,
66 yet your people still reject it even though it is the truth. Say, ‘I have
not been put in charge of you. 67 Every prophecy has its fixed time to
be fulfilled: you will come to realize this.’
68 When you come across people who speak with scorn about Our
a Another interpretation of this verse is that the way of the sinners is hereby made
distinct from the way of the righteous.