Surah Ar-Ra`d (The Thunder) in English

1. له دعوة الحق والذين يدعون من دونه لا يستجيبون لهم بشيء إلا كباسط كفيه إلى الماء ليبلغ فاه وما هو ببالغه وما دعاء الكافرين إلا في ضلال

   14

   [Only] to Him belongs the true invocation; and those whom they invoke besides Him do not answer them in any wise—like someone who stretches his hands towards water [desiring] that it should reach his mouth, but it does not reach it—and the invocations of the faithless only go awry.

   lahū daʿwatu l-ḥaqqi wa-lladhīna yadʿūna min dūnihī lā yastajībūna lahum bi-shayʾin ʾillā ka-bāsiṭi kaffayhi ʾilā l-māʾi li-yablugha fāhu wa-mā huwa bi-bālighihī wa-mā duʿāʾu l-kāfirīna ʾillā fī ḍalālin

2. Recommended prostration

   ولله يسجد من في السماوات والأرض طوعا وكرها وظلالهم بالغدو والآصال

   15

   To Allah prostrates whoever there is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, and their shadows at sunrise and sunset.

   wa-li-llāhi yasjudu man fī s-samāwāti wa-l-ʾarḍi ṭawʿan wa-karhan wa-ẓilāluhum bi-l-ghuduwwi wa-l-ʾāṣāli

3. قل من رب السماوات والأرض قل الله قل أفاتخذتم من دونه أولياء لا يملكون لأنفسهم نفعا ولا ضرا قل هل يستوي الأعمى والبصير أم هل تستوي الظلمات والنور أم جعلوا لله شركاء خلقوا كخلقه فتشابه الخلق عليهم قل الله خالق كل شيء وهو الواحد القهار

   16

   Say, ‘Who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth?’ Say, ‘Allah!’ Say, ‘Have you then taken others besides Him for guardians, who have no control over their own benefit or harm?’ Say, ‘Are the blind one and the seer equal? Are darkness and light equal?’ Have they set up for Allah partners who have created like His creation, so that the creations seemed confusable to them? Say, ‘Allah is the creator of all things, and He is the One and the All-paramount.’

   qul man rabbu s-samāwāti wa-l-ʾarḍi quli llāhu qul ʾa-fa-ttakhadhtum min dūnihī ʾawliyāʾa lā yamlikūna li-ʾanfusihim nafʿan wa-lā ḍarran qul hal yastawī l-ʾaʿmā wa-l-baṣīru ʾam hal tastawī ẓ-ẓulumātu wa-n-nūru ʾam jaʿalū li-llāhi shurakāʾa khalaqū ka-khalqihī fa-tashābaha l-khalqu ʿalayhim quli llāhu khāliqu kulli shayʾin wa-huwa l-wāḥidu l-qahhāru

4. أنزل من السماء ماء فسالت أودية بقدرها فاحتمل السيل زبدا رابيا ومما يوقدون عليه في النار ابتغاء حلية أو متاع زبد مثله كذلك يضرب الله الحق والباطل فأما الزبد فيذهب جفاء وأما ما ينفع الناس فيمكث في الأرض كذلك يضرب الله الأمثال

   17

   He sends down water from the sky whereat the valleys are flooded to [the extent of] their capacity, and the flood carries along a swelling scum. And from what they smelt in the fire for the purpose of [making] ornaments or wares, [there arises] a similar scum. That is how Allah compares truth and falsehood. As for the scum, it leaves as dross, and that which profits the people stays in the earth. That is how Allah draws comparisons.

   ʾanzala mina s-samāʾi māʾan fa-sālat ʾawdiyatun bi-qadarihā fa-ḥtamala s-saylu zabadan rābiyan wa-mimmā yūqidūna ʿalayhi fī n-nāri btighāʾa ḥilyatin ʾaw matāʿin zabadun mithluhū ka-dhālika yaḍribu llāhu l-ḥaqqa wa-l-bāṭila fa-ʾammā z-zabadu fa-yadhhabu jufāʾan wa-ʾammā mā yanfaʿu n-nāsa fa-yamkuthu fī l-ʾarḍi ka-dhālika yaḍribu llāhu l-ʾamthāla

5. للذين استجابوا لربهم الحسنى والذين لم يستجيبوا له لو أن لهم ما في الأرض جميعا ومثله معه لافتدوا به أولئك لهم سوء الحساب ومأواهم جهنم وبئس المهاد

   18

   For those who answer [the summons of] their Lord there shall be the best [of rewards]. But those who do not answer Him, even if they possessed all that is on the earth and as much of it besides, they would surely offer it to redeem themselves with it. For such there shall be an adverse reckoning, and their refuge shall be hell, and it is an evil resting place.

   li-lladhīna stajābū li-rabbihimu l-ḥusnā wa-lladhīna lam yastajībū lahū law ʾanna lahum mā fī l-ʾarḍi jamīʿan wa-mithlahū maʿahū la-ftadaw bihī ʾulāʾika lahum sūʾu l-ḥisābi wa-maʾwāhum jahannamu wa-biʾsa l-mihādu