In the name of God, the Almighty,¹ the Merciful.

¹ kāf hā yā ʿayn ṣād¹

² A remembrance¹ of the mercy of thy Lord to His servant Zachariah.

³ When he called to his Lord with a secret call,

⁴ He said: “My Lord: feeble are become the bones within¹ me, and my head is aflame with white hair,² yet never have I been wretched in my call to Thee, my Lord,

⁵ “But I fear¹ my heirs after me,² and my wife is barren, so give Thou me from Thyself an heir³

⁶ “To inherit¹ from me and to inherit from the house of Jacob; and make Thou him, my Lord, pleasing.”

⁷ “O Zachariah: We bring thee glad tidings of a lad whose name is John.¹ We have not made a namesake for him before.”

⁸ He said: “My Lord: how will I have a lad when my wife is barren and I have reached extreme old age?”

⁹ Said he:¹ “Thus said thy Lord: ‘It is easy for Me; and I created thee before when thou wast nothing.’”

¹⁰ He said: “My Lord: make Thou for me a proof.”¹ Said He: “Thy proof² is that thou shalt not speak to men three nights, being sound.”³

¹¹ And he went out to his people from the chamber and instructed¹ them: “Give you glory² morning and evening!”

¹² “O John:¹ hold thou fast the Writ!”² And We gave him judgment when a child,

¹³ And tenderness from Us, and purity;¹ and he was in prudent fear,²

¹⁴ And dutiful to his parents; and he was not arrogant or defiant.

¹⁵ And peace be upon him the day he was born, and the day he dies, and the day he is raised up alive!¹

¹⁶ And remember thou in the Writ¹ Mary:² — when she withdrew from her people to a place in the East,

¹⁷ So she separated herself from them;¹ then We sent to her Our Spirit, and he appeared to her as a mortal without fault.²

¹⁸ She said: “I seek refuge in the Almighty¹ from thee[...],² if thou be in prudent fear.”

¹⁹ He said: “I am only a messenger of thy Lord, that I might give thee a pure lad.”

²⁰ She said: “How can I have a lad, when no mortal has touched me, neither have I been unchaste?”

²¹ He said: “Thus said thy Lord: ‘It is easy for Me — and that We make him a proof¹ for mankind, and a mercy from Us; and it is a matter ordained.’”

²² Then she bore him,¹ and withdrew with him to a distant place.

²³ And the pains of childbirth brought her to the trunk of the date-palm. She said: “Would that I had died before this and been utterly forgotten!”¹

²⁴ Then he¹ called to her, from below her:² “Grieve thou not; thy Lord has placed beneath thee a stream.

²⁵ “And shake thou towards thee the trunk of the date-palm; it will drop upon thee ripe, fresh dates.

²⁶ “So eat thou, and drink thou, and let thine eye be comforted; and if thou see any mortal, say thou: ‘I have vowed to the Almighty¹ a fast,² so I will not speak this day to any man.’”³

²⁷ And she brought him to her people, bearing him. They said: “O Mary:¹ thou hast done² an unheard-of thing.

²⁸ “O sister of Aaron:¹ thy father was not an evil man, and thy mother was not unchaste.”

²⁹ Then she pointed to him. They said: “How can we speak to one who is in the cradle a child?”

³⁰ He said: “I am the servant of God; He has given me the Writ,¹ and made me a prophet,

³¹ “And made me blessed wherever I be — and enjoined upon me the duty¹ and the purity² as long as I live —

³² “And dutiful to my mother; and He has not made me arrogant or wretched.

³³ “And peace be upon me the day I was born, and the day I die,¹ and the day I am raised up alive!”²

³⁴ (That is Jesus,¹ son of Mary² — the word of truth³ concerning which they doubt.

³⁵ It is not for God to take a son. Glory¹ be to Him! When He decrees a matter, He but says to it: “Be thou,” and it is.

³⁶ “And God is my Lord and your Lord, so serve Him; this is a straight path.”

³⁷ Then the parties differed¹ among themselves; then woe to those who ignore warning² from the meeting³ of a tremendous day.

³⁸ How they hear and how they see¹ the day they come to Us! But the wrongdoers² are this day in manifest error.

³⁹ And warn thou them of the Day of Regret, when the matter will be concluded; but they are in heedlessness, and they do not believe.¹

⁴⁰ We will inherit¹ the earth and whoso is thereon, and to Us will they be returned.

⁴¹ And remember thou in the Writ¹ Abraham: — he was a man of truth and a prophet.

⁴² When he said to his father:¹ “O my father: why servest thou what neither hears nor sees, nor can avail thee anything?”

⁴³ “O my father: there has come to me knowledge that has come not to thee, so follow thou me; I will lead thee to an even path.”

⁴⁴ “O my father: serve thou not the satan;¹ the satan² is to the Almighty³ defiant.”

⁴⁵ “O my father: I fear lest there touch thee a punishment from the Almighty,¹ and thou be an ally to the satan.”²

⁴⁶ Said he: “Art thou averse¹ to my gods, O Abraham? If thou cease not, I will stone thee; so depart thou from me a good while.”

⁴⁷ He said: “Peace be upon thee! I will ask forgiveness for thee of my Lord; He is gracious towards me.

⁴⁸ “And I will withdraw from you¹ and that to which you call besides² God, and I will call to my Lord;³ it may be that I will not in my call to my Lord be wretched.”

⁴⁹ So when he had withdrawn from them, and what they served besides¹ God, We gave him Isaac and Jacob; and each We made a prophet.

⁵⁰ And We gave to them¹ of Our mercy, and We made for them² a tongue³ of truthfulness exalted.

⁵¹ And remember thou in the Writ¹ Moses: — he was sincere, and was a messenger and a prophet.

⁵² And We called to him from the right side of the mount,¹ and brought him near in private conference.

⁵³ And We gave him, of Our mercy, his brother Aaron, a prophet.

⁵⁴ And remember thou in the Writ¹ Ishmael: — He was true to the promise² — and he was a messenger and a prophet;

⁵⁵ He enjoined upon his people the duty¹ and the purity,² and was pleasing in the sight of his Lord.

⁵⁶ And remember thou in the Writ¹ Idrīs:² — he was a man of truth and a prophet.

⁵⁷ And We raised him to a high station.

⁵⁸ Those are they whom God favoured among the prophets¹ of the progeny of Adam,² and of those We bore³ with Noah, and of the progeny of Abraham and Israel,⁴ and of those We guided and chose. When the proofs⁵ of the Almighty⁶ were recited to them, they fell down in submission⁷ weeping.⁸

⁵⁹ But there succeeded them successors who caused the duty¹ to be lost,² and followed lusts;³ they will meet with error⁴

⁶⁰ Save he who repents and believes and works righteousness,¹ for those will enter the Garden, and they will not be wronged in anything:

⁶¹ (Gardens of perpetual abode that the Almighty¹ has promised His servants in the Unseen — His promise is to come to pass.

⁶² They will hear therein no vain speech; only: “Peace!” And they will have therein provision morning and evening.)

⁶³ That is the Garden which We cause those to inherit among Our servants who are in prudent fear.¹

⁶⁴ “And we¹ come down only by command of thy Lord. Unto Him belongs what is before us,² and what following us, and what is in-between; and never is thy Lord forgetful,

⁶⁵ “Lord of the Heavens and the Earth and what is between them;¹ so serve thou Him, and be thou steadfast in His service; knowest thou one named² like Him?”³

⁶⁶ And man says: “When I am dead, am I then to be brought forth alive?”

⁶⁷ Does not man remember that We created him before, when he was nothing?

⁶⁸ Then, by thy Lord, will We gather them and the satans!¹ Then will We bring them to be present round about Gehenna on bended knee;

⁶⁹ Then will We extract from every sect¹ those of them most severe towards the Almighty² in disdain;

⁷⁰ Then will We best know those most worthy to be burned therein.

⁷¹ And there is not one of you save will arrive at¹ it; that is upon thy Lord an inevitability decreed.

⁷² Then will We deliver those who were in prudent fear,¹ and leave the wrongdoers² therein on bended knee.

⁷³ And when Our proofs¹ are recited to them as clear signs, those who ignore warning² say to those who heed warning:³ “Which of the two factions⁴ is better in standing⁵ and better in assembly?”⁶

⁷⁴ But how many a generation We destroyed before them which was better in possessions and outward appearance!

⁷⁵ Say thou: “Whoso is in error — no matter the extent the Almighty¹ extends for him² — when³ they have seen what they are promised, whether it be the punishment⁴ or the Hour, then will they know who is worse in position and weaker in force.”

⁷⁶ And God increases those who were guided in guidance; and the enduring things — the righteous deeds — are better with thy Lord as reward, and better as recourse.¹

⁷⁷ Hast thou then seen him who denies Our proofs¹ and says: “I will be given wealth and children”?²

⁷⁸ Has he looked into the Unseen, or taken a covenant with the Almighty?¹

⁷⁹ No, indeed!¹ We will write down what he says, and extend for him the punishment greatly.²

⁸⁰ And We will inherit from him what he says;¹ and he will come to Us alone.

⁸¹ And they have taken gods, besides¹ God, that they might be for them an honour.²

⁸² No, indeed!¹ They will deny their service, and be a foe² to them.

⁸³ Dost thou not see¹ that We send the satans² upon the false claimers of guidance,³ inciting them ever onwards?⁴

⁸⁴ So hasten thou not against them;¹ We but number for them a number.²

⁸⁵ (The day We gather those of prudent fear¹ to the Almighty² as a crowd of honoured guests³

⁸⁶ And drive the lawbreakers to Gehenna as a destination,¹

⁸⁷ They will have no power of intercession save he who has taken a covenant with the Almighty.¹

⁸⁸ And they say: “The Almighty¹ has taken a son.”²

⁸⁹ You have done¹ a monstrous thing.

⁹⁰ The heavens are nigh rent therefrom, and the earth split open, and the mountains fallen in destruction

⁹¹ That they urge upon¹ the Almighty² a son

⁹² When it behoves not the Almighty¹ to take a son;²

⁹³ There is none in the heavens and the earth but comes to the Almighty¹ as a servant.)

⁹⁴ He has counted them; and He numbered them exactly.¹

⁹⁵ And each of them will come to Him on the Day of Resurrection alone.

⁹⁶ Those who heed warning¹ and do righteous deeds — the Almighty² will appoint for them love.³

⁹⁷ And We have made it¹ easy² in thy tongue,³ only that thou bear glad tidings therewith to those of prudent fear,⁴ and thou warn therewith a contentious people.

⁹⁸ And how many a generation We destroyed before them! Perceivest thou any one of them, or hearest thou from them a sound?