The Winnowing Winds · Surah 51

By those that winnow with a winnowing

And those that bear the burden (of the rain)

And those that glide with ease (upon the sea)

And those who distribute (blessings) by command

Lo! that wherewith ye are threatened is indeed true

And lo! the judgment will indeed befall

By the heaven full of paths

Lo! ye, forsooth, are of various opinion (concerning the truth)

He is made to turn away from it who is (himself) averse

Accursed be the conjecturers

Who are careless in an abyss

They ask: When is the Day of Judgment

(It is) the day when they will be tormented at the Fire

(And it will be said unto them): Taste your torment (which ye inflicted). This is what ye sought to hasten

Lo! those who keep from evil will dwell amid gardens and watersprings

Taking that which their Lord giveth them; for lo! aforetime they were doers of good

They used to sleep but little of the night

And ere the dawning of each day would seek forgiveness

And in their wealth the beggar and the outcast had due share

And in the earth are portents for those whose faith is sure

And (also) in yourselves. Can ye then not see

And in the heaven is your providence and that which ye are promised

And by the Lord of the heavens and the earth, it is the truth, even as (it is true) that ye speak

Hath the story of Abraham's honoured guests reached thee (O Muhammad)

When they came in unto him and said: Peace! he answered, Peace! (and thought): Folk unknown (to me)

Then he went apart unto his housefolk so that they brought a fatted calf

And he set it before them, saying: Will ye not eat

Then he conceived a fear of them. They said: Fear not! and gave him tidings of (the birth of) a wise son

Then his wife came forward, making moan, and smote her face, and cried: A barren old woman

They said: Even so saith thy Lord. Lo! He is the Wise, the Knower

(Abraham) said: And (afterward) what is your errand, O ye sent (from Allah)

They said: Lo! we are sent unto a guilty folk

That we may send upon them stones of clay

Marked by thy Lord for (the destruction of) the wanton

Then we brought forth such believers as were there

But We found there but one house of those surrendered (to Allah)

And We left behind therein a portent for those who fear a painful doom

And in Moses (too, there is a portent) when We sent him unto Pharaoh with clear warrant

But he withdrew (confiding) in his might, and said: A wizard or a madman

So We seized him and his hosts and flung them in the sea, for he was reprobate

And in (the tribe of) A'ad (there is a portent) when we sent the fatal wind against them

It spared naught that it reached, but made it (all) as dust

And in (the tribe of) Thamud (there is a portent) when it was told them: Take your ease awhile

But they rebelled against their Lord's decree, and so the thunderbolt overtook them even while they gazed

And they were unable to rise up, nor could they help themselves

And the folk of Noah aforetime. Lo! they were licentious folk

We have built the heaven with might, and We it is Who make the vast extent (thereof)

And the earth have We laid out, how gracious is the Spreader (thereof)

And all things We have created by pairs, that haply ye may reflect

Therefor flee unto Allah; lo! I am a plain warner unto you from him

And set not any other god along with Allah; lo! I am a plain warner unto you from Him

Even so there came no messenger unto those before them but they said: A wizard or a madman

Have they handed down (the saying) as an heirloom one unto another? Nay, but they are froward folk

So withdraw from them (O Muhammad), for thou art in no wise blameworthy

And warn, for warning profiteth believers

I created the jinn and humankind only that they might worship Me

I seek no livelihood from them, nor do I ask that they should feed Me

Lo! Allah! He it is that giveth livelihood, the Lord of unbreakable might

And lo! for those who (now) do wrong there is an evil day like unto the evil day (which came for) their likes (of old); so let them not ask Me to hasten on (that day)

And woe unto those who disbelieve, from (that) their day which they are promised