Surah Al-Furqān (The Criterion) in English

1. إذا رأتهم من مكان بعيد سمعوا لها تغيظا وزفيرا

   12

   When it sights them from a distant place, they will hear it raging and roaring.

   ʾidhā raʾathum min makānin baʿīdin samiʿū lahā taghayyuẓan wa-zafīran

2. وإذا ألقوا منها مكانا ضيقا مقرنين دعوا هنالك ثبورا

   13

   And when they are cast into a narrow place in it, bound together [in chains], they will pray for [their own] annihilation.

   wa-ʾidhā ʾulqū minhā makānan ḍayyiqan muqarranīna daʿaw hunālika thubūran

3. لا تدعوا اليوم ثبورا واحدا وادعوا ثبورا كثيرا

   14

   [They will be told:] ‘Do not pray for a single annihilation today, but pray for many annihilations!’

   lā tadʿū l-yawma thubūran wāḥidan wa-dʿū thubūran kathīran

4. قل أذلك خير أم جنة الخلد التي وعد المتقون كانت لهم جزاء ومصيرا

   15

   Say, ‘Is that better, or the everlasting paradise promised to the Godwary, which will be their reward and destination?’

   qul ʾa-dhālika khayrun ʾam jannatu l-khuldi llatī wuʿida l-muttaqūna kānat lahum jazāʾan wa-maṣīran

5. لهم فيها ما يشاءون خالدين كان على ربك وعدا مسئولا

   16

   There they will have whatever they wish, abiding [forever]—a promise [much] besought, [binding] on your Lord.

   lahum fīhā mā yashāʾūna khālidīna kāna ʿalā rabbika waʿdan masʾūlan

6. ويوم يحشرهم وما يعبدون من دون الله فيقول أأنتم أضللتم عبادي هؤلاء أم هم ضلوا السبيل

   17

   On the day that He will muster them and those whom they worship besides Allah, He will say, ‘Was it you who led astray these servants of Mine, or did they themselves stray from the way?’

   wa-yawma yaḥshuruhum wa-mā yaʿbudūna min dūni llāhi fa-yaqūlu ʾa-ʾantum ʾaḍlaltum ʿibādī hāʾulāʾi ʾam hum ḍallū s-sabīla

7. قالوا سبحانك ما كان ينبغي لنا أن نتخذ من دونك من أولياء ولكن متعتهم وآباءهم حتى نسوا الذكر وكانوا قوما بورا

   18

   They will say, ‘Immaculate are You! It does not behoove us to take any wali in Your stead! But You provided for them and their fathers until they forgot the Reminder, and they were a ruined lot.’

   qālū subḥānaka mā kāna yanbaghī lanā ʾan nattakhidha min dūnika min ʾawliyāʾa wa-lākin mattaʿtahum wa-ʾābāʾahum ḥattā nasū dh-dhikra wa-kānū qawman būran

8. فقد كذبوكم بما تقولون فما تستطيعون صرفا ولا نصرا ومن يظلم منكم نذقه عذابا كبيرا

   19

   So they will certainly impugn you in what you say, and you will neither be able to circumvent [punishment] nor find help, and whoever of you does wrong, We shall make him taste a terrible punishment.

   fa-qad kadhdhabūkum bi-mā taqūlūna fa-mā tastaṭīʿūna ṣarfan wa-lā naṣran wa-man yaẓlim minkum nudhiqhu ʿadhāban kabīran

9. وما أرسلنا قبلك من المرسلين إلا إنهم ليأكلون الطعام ويمشون في الأسواق وجعلنا بعضكم لبعض فتنة أتصبرون وكان ربك بصيرا

   20

   We did not send any apostles before you but that they indeed ate food and walked in marketplaces. We have made you a [means of] test for one another, [to see] if you will be patient and steadfast, and your Lord is all-seeing.

   wa-mā ʾarsalnā qablaka mina l-mursalīna ʾillā ʾinnahum la-yaʾkulūna ṭ-ṭaʿāma wa-yamshūna fī l-ʾaswāqi wa-jaʿalnā baʿḍakum li-baʿḍin fitnatan ʾa-taṣbirūna wa-kāna rabbuka baṣīran