Ta Ha

Tâ Hâ
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful:
[20:1]
Tā hā.

[20:2]
We have not revealed the Qur’ān to you that you should be miserable,

[20:3]
but only to remind him who fears

[20:4]
a revelation from Him Who created the earth and the high heavens.

[20:5]
The Compassionate One presided upon the Throne.

[20:6]
To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth and whatever is between them and whatever is beneath the soil.

[20:7]
And should you be loud in your speech, then indeed He knows the secret and [that which is] yet more hidden.

[20:8]
God - there is no god save Him. To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names.

[20:9]
Has the story of Moses come to you?

[20:10]
When he caught sight of a fire and said to his family, 'Wait, Indeed I see a fire [in the distance]. Perhaps I [can] bring you a brand from it, or find at the fire some guidance'.

[20:11]
And when he reached it he was called [by name], 'O Moses!

[20:12]
Indeed I am your Lord. So take off your sandals, for lo! you are in the holy valley of Tuwā.

[20:13]
And I [Myself] have chosen you, so listen to what is being revealed.

[20:14]
Verily I am God - there is no god except Me. So worship Me and establish prayer for to make remembrance of Me.

[20:15]
The Hour is assuredly coming. [But] I will to keep it hidden so that every soul may be requited for what it strives for.

[20:16]
So do not let him bar you from it, who believes not in it but follows his own whim, lest you perish.

[20:17]
And what is that in your right hand, O Moses?'

[20:18]
He said, 'It is my staff. I lean upon it and I beat down [leaves] with it for my sheep, and I have uses for it in other ways'.

[20:19]
He said, 'Cast it down, O Moses!'

[20:20]
And he cast it down, and lo! it was a serpent moving swiftly.

[20:21]
He said, 'Take [hold of] it and do not fear. We will restore it to its former state.

[20:22]
And thrust your hand into your flank, it will emerge white without any fault. [That is] yet another sign.

[20:23]
That We may show you of Our greatest signs,

[20:24]
Go to Pharaoh. He has indeed transgressed'.

[20:25]
He said, 'My Lord, expand my breast for me.

[20:26]
And make easy for me my affair.

[20:27]
And undo the knot upon my tongue,

[20:28]
so that they may understand what I [shall] say.

[20:29]
And appoint for me a minister, from my family,

[20:30]
Aaron, my brother.

[20:31]
Confirm through him my strength

[20:32]
and let him share in my affair.

[20:33]
So that we may glorify You over and over again

[20:34]
and remember You over and over again.

[20:35]
Indeed You are ever Seeing of us'.

[20:36]
He said, 'You have been granted your request, O Moses!

[20:37]
And certainly, We have done you a favour [already] another time,

[20:38]
when We revealed to your mother that which was revealed,

[20:39]
"Cast him in the ark, then cast him into the river, and then the river shall throw him up onto the shore; [there] an enemy of Mine and an enemy of his shall take him". And I cast upon you a love from Me and that you might be reared under My eyes.

[20:40]
When your sister walked up and she then said, "Shall I show you someone who will take care of him?" Thus We restored you to your mother that her eyes might rejoice and not grieve. Then you slew a soul, whereupon We delivered you from [great] distress, and We tried you with various ordeals. Then you stayed for several years among the people of Midian. Then you came [hither] as ordained, O Moses!

[20:41]
And I chose you for Myself.

[20:42]
Go, you and your brother with My signs, and do not flag in remembrance of Me.

[20:43]
Go the two of you to Pharaoh. Truly he has transgressed [the bounds].

[20:44]
And speak to him gentle words that perhaps he may be mindful or fear'.

[20:45]
The two [of them] said, 'Our Lord, We truly fear that he may forestall us or become tyrannical'.

[20:46]
He said, 'Do not fear, for I shall be with the two of you, hearing and seeing.

[20:47]
So go to him and say, "Truly we are two messengers of your Lord, so let the Children of Israel go with us and do not [continue to] chastise them. We have verily brought you a sign from your Lord, and may peace be upon him who follows [right] guidance.

[20:48]
Indeed it has been revealed to us that the chastisement shall befall him who denies and turns away" '.

[20:49]
He said, 'So who is your Lord, O Moses?'

[20:50]
He said, 'Our Lord is He Who gave to everything its [peculiar] nature and then guided [it]'.

[20:51]
He said, 'So what of the generations of old?'

[20:52]
Said he: 'The knowledge thereof is with my Lord, in a Book. My Lord does not err, nor does He forget.

[20:53]
The One Who made for you the earth a cradle, and threaded for you therein ways, and sent down from the heaven water. And therewith We brought forth various kinds of plants.

[20:54]
Eat and pasture your cattle. In that there are indeed signs for people of sense.

[20:55]
From it We created you, and into it We shall restore you, and from it We shall bring you forth a second time'.

[20:56]
And verily We showed him all Our signs, but he denied and refused.

[20:57]
He said, 'Have you come to us so that you may expel us from our land by your sorcery, O Moses? <

[20:58]
Yet we [too] shall produce for you a sorcery like it. So fix a tryst between us and you, [a tryst] which neither we nor you shall fail to keep, [at] a place of equal distance.

[20:59]
Said he, 'Your tryst shall be the Day of Adornment and let the people assemble at forenoon'. [20:60]

[20:60]
Then Pharaoh withdrew, and summoned up his guile, and then came.

[20:61]
Moses said to them, 'Woe to you! Do not invent a lie against God, lest He annihilate you by some chastisement. For verily he who invents lies, fails'.

[20:62]
So they disputed their matter among themselves and kept secret their private counsel.

[20:63]
They said, 'These two men are indeed sorcerers who intend to expel you from your land by their sorcery, and do away with your excellent traditions.

[20:64]
So summon up your guile and come in battle-line. For truly he who is uppermost, this day shall be the victor!'

[20:65]
They said, 'O Moses! Either cast or we shall be the first to cast'.

[20:66]
He said, 'Nay, you cast!', and lo! their ropes and their staffs appeared to him by [the effect of] their sorcery as though they were gliding swiftly.

[20:67]
And Moses sensed fear within himself.

[20:68]
We said, 'Do not be afraid! Indeed you shall have the upper hand.

[20:69]
And cast that which is in your right hand. It shall swallow up that which they have produced. For what they have produced is only a sorcerer's trick, and the sorcerer does not succeed wherever he may go'.

[20:70]
Thereat the sorcerers cast [their heads] down prostrating. They said, 'We [now] believe in the Lord of Aaron and Moses'.

[20:71]
Said he, 'Do you profess belief in him before I give you permission? He is indeed your chief who taught you sorcery. I shall assuredly cut off your hands and feet on opposite sides and I shall assuredly crucify you on the trunks of palm trees. And you shall then know which of us is harsher in [inflicting] chastisement, and [which of us is] more lasting'.

[20:72]
They said, 'We will not choose you over what has come to us of clear signs, and [over] Him Who originated us. Decree what you will decree. What you decree is only [relevant] in the life of this world.

[20:73]
Indeed We profess belief in our Lord, that He may forgive us our sins and the sorcery to which you forced us. And God is better and more enduring'.

[20:74]
Truly whoever comes to his Lord a criminal, for him there shall be Hell wherein he shall neither die nor live.

[20:75]
And whoever comes to Him a believer, having performed righteous deeds, for such shall be the highest degrees -

[20:76]
the Gardens of Eden underneath which rivers flow, abiding therein, and that is the reward of him who keeps pure.

[20:77]
And verily We revealed to Moses, [saying], 'Lead My servants on a journey by night and strike for them a dry path in the sea. Do not fear to be overtaken and do not be afraid'.

[20:78]
Then Pharaoh pursued them with his hosts, and there engulfed them what did engulf them of the sea.

[20:79]
And Pharaoh led his people astray and he did not guide them.

[20:80]
O Children of Israel, truly We delivered you from your enemy, and We made a tryst with you on the right side of the [Tūr] Mount, and We sent down to you manna and quails:

[20:81]
'Eat of the good things We have provided you, but do not transgress regarding it, lest My wrath descend on you. And he on whom My wrath descends certainly perishes.

[20:82]
And indeed I am Forgiving toward him who repents, and believes, and acts righteously, and then follows guidance'.

[20:83]
'And what has hurried you [to depart] from your people, O Moses?'

[20:84]
He said, 'They are close upon my track, and I hastened to You, my Lord, that You may be pleased'.

[20:85]
He said, 'Indeed We tried your people after you, and the Samaritan led them astray'.

[20:86]
Thereupon Moses returned to his people, angry and sad. He said, 'O my people, did not your Lord promise you a fair promise? Did the period seem too long for you, or did you desire that wrath should become incumbent against you from your Lord, and so you broke your tryst with me?'

[20:87]
They said, 'We did not break our tryst with you of our own accord, but we were laden with the burdens of the people's ornaments, and we cast them, and so did the Samaritan cast.

[20:88]
Then he produced for them a calf, a [mere] body with a low. And they said, 'This is your God and the God of Moses: so he forgot'.

[20:89]
Did they not see that it did not reciprocate their words, nor did it have any power over hurt for them or any benefit?

[20:90]
And Aaron had certainly said to them beforehand, 'O my people, you are only being tested thereby! But truly your Lord is the Compassionate One, so follow me and obey my command'.

[20:91]
They said, 'We will not cease to cling to it until Moses returns to us'.

[20:92]
He said, 'O Aaron, what held you back when you saw them going astray

[20:93]
that you did not follow me? Did you then disobey my command?'

[20:94]
He said, 'O son of my mother do not clutch my beard or my head! Indeed I feared that you would have said, "You have caused division among the Children of Israel and you did not wait for my word" '.

[20:95]
He said, 'And what have you to say, O Samaritan?'

[20:96]
He said, 'I perceived what they did not perceive, so I seized a handful from the track of the messenger and threw it [in]. Thus my soul prompted me'.

[20:97]
Said he, 'Begone! It shall be yours [as your lot] throughout life to say, "Do not touch [me]!" And indeed there will be a tryst for you, which you will not fail to keep. Now look at your god to whom you remained clinging! We will surely burn it and then scatter [the ashes of] it into the waters.

[20:98]
Indeed your God is the One God, than whom there is no other god. He embraces all things in [His] knowledge'.

[20:99]
Thus, We relate to you some stories of what is past, and We have given you from Ourselves a Reminder.

[20:100]
Whoever turns away from it, he shall indeed, on the Day of Resurrection, bear a burden,

[20:101]
therein abiding. And evil for them on the Day of Resurrection is that burden!

[20:102]
The day the Trumpet is blown, and We shall assemble the criminals on that day bruised.

[20:103]
They will whisper to one another: 'You have tarried only ten nights'.

[20:104]
We know very well what they will say, when the justest of them in the way will say, 'You have tarried only a day'.

[20:105]
They will question you concerning the mountains. Say: 'My Lord will scatter them as ashes,

[20:106]
then He will leave them a level hollow,

[20:107]
wherein you will see neither crookedness, nor any curving'.

[20:108]
On that day they will follow the Summoner - there will be no deviation therein. Voices will be hushed before the Compassionate One, so that you hear nothing but a faint shuffle.

[20:109]
On that day intercession will not profit except [intercession] from him whom the Compassionate One permits and whose word He approves.

[20:110]
He knows what is before them and behind them, and they do not comprehend such [things] in knowledge.

[20:111]
And faces shall be humbled before the Living, the Eternal Sustainer; and he will certainly have failed [he] who carries [the burden of] evildoing.

[20:112]
But whoever does righteous deeds, being a believer, shall fear neither wrong, nor injustice.

[20:113]
Thus We have revealed it as an Arabic Qur’ān, and We have distributed in it [statements] of threats, so that they may fear, or it may arouse in them a remembrance.

[20:114]
So exalted be God, the King, the Truth. And do not hasten with the Qur’ān before its revelation is completed for you, and say, ‘My Lord, increase me in knowledge’.

[20:115]
And We made a covenant with Adam before, but he forgot, and We did not find in him any constancy.

[20:116]
And when We said to the angels, ‘Prostrate before Adam’; so they prostrated, except Iblīs: he refused.

[20:117]
Then We said, 'Adam, indeed this is an enemy of yours and of your wife. So do not let him cause you both to be expelled from the Garden, so that you then toil.

[20:118]
It is indeed [assured] for you that you will neither be hungry therein nor go naked,

[20:119]
And it is indeed [assured] for you neither to be thirsty therein, nor to suffer the sun'.

[20:120]
Then Satan whispered to him saying, 'O Adam, shall I guide you to the Tree of Immortality, and a kingdom that does not waste away?'

[20:121]
So both of them ate of it, and their shameful parts were exposed to them, and they began to piece together onto themselves leaves of the Garden. And Adam disobeyed his Lord and so he erred.

[20:122]
Thereafter his Lord chose him, and relented to him, and guided him.

[20:123]
He said, 'Go down both of you from it all together, some of you being enemies of others. Yet if there should come to you guidance from Me, then whoever follows My guidance shall not go astray, neither shall he be miserable.

[20:124]
But whoever disregards My remembrance, his shall be a straitened life. And on the Day of Resurrection We shall bring him to the assembly, blind'.

[20:125]
He shall say, 'My Lord, why have you brought be to the assembly blind, though I used to see?'

[20:126]
He will say, 'So it is. Our signs came to you, but you forgot them; and so today you will be forgotten'.

[20:127]
And so We requite him who is prodigal and believes not in the signs of his Lord. And the chastisement of the Hereafter is more terrible and more enduring.

[20:128]
Is it not a guidance to them how many We destroyed before them of generations amid [the ruins of] whose dwelling-places they walk? Surely in that there are signs for people of sense.

[20:129]
And but for a decree that had already preceded from your Lord, it would have been an inevitability and a specified term.

[20:130]
So be patient with what they say and make glorifications by praising your Lord before the rising of the sun, and before its setting, and in the watches of the night, and make glorifications at either side of the day, that perhaps you may be pleased.

[20:131]
And do not extend your glance toward what We have given to some pairs among them to enjoy, [as] the flower of the life of this world that We may try them thereby. And your Lord's provision is better and more enduring.

[20:132]
And bid your family to prayer, and be steadfast in [the maintenance of] it. We do not ask of you any provision. We [it is Who] provide you, and the [best] sequel will be in favour of God-fearing.

[20:133]
And they say, 'Why does he not bring us a sign from his Lord?' Has there not come to them the clear proof of what is in the former scriptures?

[20:134]
Had We destroyed them with a chastisement before him, they would have said: 'Our Lord, if only You had sent us a messenger, so that we might have followed those signs of Yours before we were [thus] abased and disgraced?'

[20:135]
Say: 'Each is waiting. So wait! For you shall indeed know who are the followers of the even path and who is [rightly] guided'.