The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

71. NOAH
A Meccan sura giving further details of the life of Noah before the Flood, to
encourage the Prophet and warn the disbelievers.
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy
1 We sent Noah to his people: ‘Warn your people, before a painful
punishment comes to them.’ 2 And so he said, ‘My people, I am here
to warn you plainly. 3 Serve God, be mindful of Him and obey me.
4 He will forgive you your sins and spare you until your appointed
time––when God’s appointed time arrives it cannot be postponed. If
only you understood!’
5 He said, ‘My Lord, I have called my people night and day, 6 but
the more I call them, the further they run away: 7 every time I call
them, so that You may forgive them, they thrust their fingers into their
ears, cover their heads with their garments, persist in their rejection,
and grow more insolent and arrogant. 8 I have tried calling them
openly. 9 I have tried preaching to them in public and speaking to
them in private. 10 I said, “Ask forgiveness of your Lord: He is ever
forgiving. 11 He will send down abundant rain from the sky for you;
12 He will give you wealth and sons; He will provide you with gardens
and rivers. 13 What is the matter with you? Why will you not fear
God’s majesty, 14 when He has created you stage by stage? a 15 Have
you ever wondered how God created seven heavens, one above the
other, 16 placed the moon as a light in them and the sun as a lamp,
17 how God made you spring forth from the earth like a plant, 18 how
He will return you into it and then bring you out again, 19 and how
He has spread the Earth out for you 20 to walk along its spacious
paths?” ’
21 Noah said, ‘My Lord, they have disobeyed me and followed
those whose riches and children only increase their ruin; 22 who have
made a grand plan, 23 saying, “Do not renounce your gods! 24 Do not
renounce Wadd, Suwa, Yaghuth, Yauq, or Nasr!” b They have led
a See 22: 5; 23: 12–15.
b Names of idols.