The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

348
The Quran 53: 24
to them from their Lord. 24 Is man to have everything he wishes for, a
25 when the present life and the life to come belong only to God?
26 There are many angels in heaven whose intercession will be of no
use until God gives permission to those He will, whose words He
will accept. 27 Those who deny the life to come give the angels female
names. 28 They have no knowledge to base this on: they merely follow
guesswork. Guesswork is of no value against the Truth. 29 So
[Prophet] ignore those who turn away from Our revelation, who
want only the life of this world. 30 Their knowledge does not go
beyond that. Your Lord knows best who strays from His path and
who follows guidance. 31 Everything in the heavens and earth belongs
to God. He will repay those who do evil according to their deeds, and
reward, with what is best, those who do good. 32 As for those who
avoid grave sins and foul acts, though they may commit small sins,
your Lord is ample in forgiveness. He has been aware of you from
the time He produced you from the earth and from your hiding
places in your mothers’ wombs, so do not assert your own goodness: b
He knows best who is mindful of Him.
33 [Prophet], consider that man who turned away: 34 he only gave a
little and then he stopped. 35 Does he have knowledge of the Unseen?
Can he see [the Hereafter]? 36 Has he not been told what was written
in the Scriptures of Moses 37 and of Abraham, who fulfilled his duty:
38 that no soul shall bear the burden of another; 39 that man will only
have what he has worked towards; 40 that his labour will be seen 41 and
that in the end he will be repaid in full for it; 42 that the final goal is
your Lord; 43 that it is He who makes people laugh and weep; 44 that it
is He who gives death and life; 45 that He Himself created the two
sexes, male and female, 46 from an ejected drop of sperm; 47 that He
will undertake the second Creation; 48 that it is He who gives wealth
and possessions; 49 that He is the Lord of Sirius; c 50 that it was He
who destroyed, in their entirety, ancient Ad 51 and Thamud, 52 and
before them the people of Noah who were even more unjust
and insolent; 53 that it was He who brought down the ruined cities
54 and enveloped them in the punishment He ordained for them?
55 Which then of your Lord’s blessings do you d deny?
a The disbelievers claimed that they worshipped their goddesses in order that these
might intercede for them with God, or bring them closer to Him. Cf. 6: 94; 39: 3.
b Cf. 32: 10; 50: 4. c The star worshipped by the pagan Arabs.
d The man who turned away (verse 33).