The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

346
The Quran 52: 25
them. 25 They turn to one another and say, 26 ‘When we were still with
our families [on earth] we used to live in fear––27 God has been
gracious to us and saved us from the torment of intense heat – 28 We
used to pray to Him: He is the Good, the Merciful One.’ 29 So
[Prophet] remind [people].
By the grace of your Lord [Prophet], you are neither oracle nor
madman. 30 If a they say, ‘He is only a poet: we shall await his fate,’
31 say, ‘Wait if you wish; I too am waiting’– 32 does their reason really
tell them to do this, or are they simply insolent people? 33 If they say,
‘He has made it up himself ’– they certainly do not believe – 34 let
them produce one like it, if what they say is true. 35 Were they created
without any agent? Were they the creators? 36 Did they create the
heavens and the earth? No! They do not have faith. 37 Do they possess
your Lord’s treasures or have control over them? 38 Do they have
a ladder to climb, in order to eavesdrop [on Heaven’s secrets]? Let
their eavesdropper produce clear proof. 39 Does God have daughters
while you have sons? b 40 Do you [Prophet] demand a payment from
them that would burden them with debt? 41 Do they have [access to]
the unseen? Could they write it down? 42 Do they think they can
ensnare you? It is the disbelievers who have been ensnared. 43 Do
they really have another god besides God? God is far above anything
they set alongside Him.
44 Even if they saw a piece of heaven falling down on them, c they
would say, ‘Just a heap of clouds,’ 45 so leave them, Prophet, until
they face the Day when they will be thunderstruck, 46 the Day when
their snares will be of no use to them, when they will get no help.
47 Another punishment awaits the evildoers, though most of them do
not realize it. 48 Wait patiently [Prophet] for your Lord’s judgement:
you are under Our watchful eye. Celebrate the praise of your Lord
when you rise. 49 Glorify Him at night and at the fading of the stars.
a Eleven verses in this section begin with ‘or’, which is powerful in Arabic argumentation.
The Quran surveys all their arguments, one by one, with equal emphasis. Thus it
uses am (‘or’) which indicates equivalence in Arabic. We have omitted the conjunction.
b This refers to the pagan belief that the angels were the daughters of God and to
their habit of denigrating the birth of their own daughters.
c The Meccans challenged the Prophet to bring the heavens down on them, if he were
truly God’s Messenger. Cf. 17: 92.