Sūra XVIII.: Kahf, or the Cave.

Section 8

54. Walaqad sarrafna fee hatha alqur-ani lilnnasi min kulli mathalin wakana al-insanu akthara shay-in jadalan

54. We have explained
In detail in this Qur-ān,
For the benefit of mankind,
Every kind of similitude:
But man is, in most things,
Contentious.

55. Wama manaAAa alnnasa an yu/minoo ith jaahumu alhuda wayastaghfiroo rabbahum illa an ta/tiyahum sunnatu al-awwaleena aw ya/tiyahumu alAAathabu qubulan

55. And what is there
To keep back men
From believing, now that
Guidance has come to them,
Nor from praying for forgiveness
From their Lord, but that
(They ask that) the ways
Of the ancients be repeated
With them, or the Wrath
Be brought to them
Face to face?

56. Wama nursilu almursaleena illa mubashshireena wamunthireena wayujadilu allatheena kafaroo bialbatili liyudhidoo bihi alhaqqa waittakhathoo ayatee wama onthiroo huzuwan

56. We only send the apostles
To give glad tidings
And to give warnings
But the Unbelievers dispute
With vain argument, in order
Therewith to weaken the truth,
And they treat My Signs
As a jest, as also the fact
That they are warned!

57. Waman athlamu mimman thukkira bi-ayati rabbihi faaAArada AAanha wanasiya ma qaddamat yadahu inna jaAAalna AAala quloobihim akinnatan an yafqahoohu wafee athanihim waqran wa-in tadAAuhum ila alhuda falan yahtadoo ithan abadan

57. And who doth more wrong
Than one who is reminded
Of the Signs of his Lord,
But turns away from them,
Forgetting the (deeds) which his hands
Have sent forth? Verily We
Have set veils over their hearts
Lest they should understand this,
and over their ears, deafness.
If thou callest them
To guidance, even then
Will they never accept guidance.

58. Warabbuka alghafooru thoo alrrahmati law yu-akhithuhum bima kasaboo laAAajjala lahumu alAAathaba bal lahum mawAAidun lan yajidoo min doonihi maw-ilan

58. But your Lord is most forgiving,
Full of Mercy. If he were
To call them (at once) to account
For what they have earned,
then surely He would
Have hastened their Punishment:
But they have their appointed
Time, beyond which they
Will find no refuge.

59. Watilka alqura ahlaknahum lamma thalamoo wajaAAalna limahlikihim mawAAidan

59. Such were the populations
We destroyed when they
Committed iniquities; but
We fixed an appointed time
For their destruction.

Next: Section 9 (60-70)