⁵⁰ And to ʿĀd, their brother Hūd. He said: “O my people: serve God; you have no god but He; you are only inventing.”¹

⁵¹ “O my people: I ask of you for it no reward; my reward is only upon¹ Him who created me. Will you then not² use reason!”

⁵² And: “O my people: ask forgiveness of your Lord; then turn to Him. He will send the sky upon you in abundant rains, and increase you in strength to your strength. And turn not away as lawbreakers.”

⁵³ They said: “O Hūd: thou hast not brought us clear evidence; and we will not leave our gods at thy word; and we do not believe thee.

⁵⁴ “We say only that some of our gods have afflicted thee with evil.”¹ He said: “I call God to witness — and bear you witness² — that I am quit of that to which you ascribe a partnership,³

⁵⁵ “Besides¹ Him; so scheme against me all together; then grant me no respite.

⁵⁶ “I have placed my trust in God, my Lord and your Lord. There is no creature save He holds it by its forelock.¹ My Lord is on a straight path.²

⁵⁷ “Then if you turn away: I have conveyed to you that wherewith I was sent to you; and my Lord will make succeed you¹ a people other than you; and you will not harm Him at all. My Lord is custodian over all things.”

⁵⁸ And when Our command came, We delivered Hūd and those who heeded warning¹ with him, by mercy from Us; and We saved them from a stern punishment.

⁵⁹ And those were ʿĀd; they rejected the proofs¹ of their Lord, and opposed His messengers, and followed the command of every obstinate tyrant.

⁶⁰ And they were followed¹ by a curse in the World; and on the Day of Resurrection[...].² In truth,³ ʿĀd denied their Lord — so away with ʿĀd, the people of Hūd!⁴

⁶¹ And to Thamūd, their brother Ṣāliḥ. He said: “O my people: serve God; you have no god but He. He produced you from the earth and settled you therein, so ask forgiveness of Him; then turn to Him; my Lord is near and responsive.”

⁶² They said: “O Ṣāliḥ: thou hadst been among us one in whom hope was placed before this!¹ Dost thou forbid us to serve what our fathers served? We are, about that to which thou invitest us, in sceptical doubt.”

⁶³ He said: “O my people: have you considered:¹ if I be upon clear evidence from my Lord, and He has given me mercy from Him, then who would help me against God if I disobeyed Him? Then would you not increase me other than in loss.”²

⁶⁴ And: “O my people: this is the she-camel of God: to you a proof.¹ So leave her to feed in God’s earth, and touch her not with evil² lest a near punishment seize you.”

⁶⁵ Then they hamstrung¹ her;² and he said: “Enjoy yourselves in your homes three days — that is a promise not to be belied.”

⁶⁶ And when Our command came, We delivered Ṣāliḥ and those who heeded warning¹ with him, by mercy from Us, and from the disgrace of that day; thy Lord: He is the Strong, the Exalted in Might.

⁶⁷ And the Blast seized those who did wrong; and morning found them lying prone in their homes

⁶⁸ As if they had never lived¹ therein. In truth,² Thamūd denied their Lord — so away with Thamūd!³

⁶⁹ And Our messengers came to Abraham with glad tidings; they said: “Peace!” Said he: “Peace!” And he tarried not to bring a roasted calf.

⁷⁰ And when he saw their hands reaching not towards it, he was suspicious¹ of them, and conceived a fear from them.² They said: “Fear thou not; we have been sent to the people of Lot.”

⁷¹ And his wife was standing; and she laughed; and We gave her glad tidings of Isaac, and after Isaac, Jacob.

⁷² She said: “Oh, woe is me! Shall I bear a child when I am an old woman and this, my husband, an old man? This is an amazing thing!”

⁷³ They said: “Dost thou marvel at the command of God? The mercy of God and His blessings be upon you, people of the house; He is praiseworthy and glorious.”

⁷⁴ And when the alarm had left Abraham and the glad tidings had reached him, he disputed with Us concerning the people of Lot;¹

⁷⁵ Abraham was clement, compassionate, penitent.

⁷⁶ “O Abraham: forsake thou this; the command of thy Lord has come, and there will come to them a punishment which cannot be repelled.”

⁷⁷ And when Our messengers came to Lot, he was distressed for them and straitened with unease for them;¹ and he said: “This is a trying² day.”

⁷⁸ And his people came to him, hastening towards him; and before had they been doing evil deeds.¹ He said: “O my people: these are my daughters; they are purer for you. So be in prudent fear² of God, and disgrace me not concerning my guests. Is then there not³ among you a right-minded man?”⁴

⁷⁹ They said: “Thou knewest we have no right¹ to² thy daughters; and thou knowest what we desire.”

⁸⁰ He said: “Would that I had power against you, or could take shelter in a strong support!”

⁸¹ Said they: “O Lot: we are messengers of thy Lord; they will not reach thee. And travel thou with thy household during a portion of the night; and let not any one of you turn around save thy wife — there will befall her what befalls them. Their appointment is the morning; is then the morning not¹ near?”

⁸² And when Our command came, We utterly overthrew it,¹ and rained upon it stones of baked clay,² piled up in layers,

⁸³ Marked¹ in the sight of thy Lord. And it² is not far from the wrongdoers.³

⁸⁴ And to Madyan,¹ their brother Shuʿayb: he said: “O my people: serve God; you have no god but He; so decrease not the measure and the balance. I see you in affluence,² but I fear for you the punishment of an encompassing day.”

⁸⁵ And: “O my people: fulfil the measure and the balance with equity,¹ and deprive not men of their possessions,² and commit not evil in the earth, working corruption.

⁸⁶ “The remainder of God¹ is better² for you, if you be believers.³ And I am not a custodian over you.”

⁸⁷ They said: “O Shuʿayb: does thy duty¹ command thee that we leave what our fathers served, or that we do not with our wealth what we will? Thou art the clement, the right-minded!”²

⁸⁸ He said: “O my people: have you considered:¹ if I be upon clear evidence from my Lord, and He has provided me with a goodly provision from Him[...]?² But I desire not to oppose you in that which I forbid you;³ I desire only right ordering, so far as I am able. And my success is only through God; in Him have I placed my trust, and to Him do I turn.”

⁸⁹ And: “O my people: let not my¹ dissension cause you to commit evil, that there befall you the like of what befell the people of Noah, or the people of Hūd, or the people of Ṣāliḥ; and the people of Lot are not far from you.”

⁹⁰ And: “Ask forgiveness of your Lord; then turn to Him; my Lord is merciful and loving.”

⁹¹ They said: “O Shuʿayb: we understand not much of what thou sayest; and we consider thee among us as weak. And were it not for thy family, we would have stoned thee; and thou art not to us one respected.”¹

⁹² He said: “O my people: is my family more respected for power by you than God? And Him have you put¹ behind your backs.² My Lord encompasses what you do.”

⁹³ And: “O my people: work according to your power¹ — I am working; you will come to know to whom comes a punishment that disgraces him, and who is a liar. And watch — I am with you watching.”

⁹⁴ And when Our command came, We saved Shuʿayb and those who heeded warning¹ with him, by mercy from Us. And the Blast seized those who were doing wrong; and morning found them lying prone in their homes

⁹⁵ As though they had never lived¹ therein — so away with Madyan,² even as Thamūd was taken away!³

⁹⁶ And We sent Moses with Our proofs¹ and a clear authority

⁹⁷ To Pharaoh¹ and his eminent ones, but they followed the command of Pharaoh;² and the command of Pharaoh³ was not right-minded.

⁹⁸ He will precede his people on the Day of Resurrection, and lead them to the Fire, and evil is the place¹ led to.

⁹⁹ And they¹ were followed² here³ by a curse; and on the Day of Resurrection evil is the gift given.