The Night Journey

We made the night and the day as two signs, then darkened the night and made the daylight for seeing, for you to seek your Lord’s bounty and to know how to count the years and calculate.

If anyone desires [only] the fleeting life, We speed up whatever We will in it, for whoever We wish; in the end We have prepared Hell for him in which to burn, disgraced and rejected.

[Prophet], your Lord’s bounty is not restricted—see how We have given some more than others—but the Hereafter holds greater ranks and greater favors.

If either or both of them reach old age with you, say no word that shows impatience with them, and do not be harsh with them, but speak to them respectfully and lower your wing in humility towards them in kindness and say, ‘Lord, have mercy on them, just as they cared for me when I was little.’

Give relatives their due, and the needy, and travelers—do not squander your wealth wastefully...

There is not a single thing that does not celebrate His praise, though you do not understand their praise: He is most forbearing, most forgiving.

We know best the way they listen, when they listen to you and when they confer in secret, and these wrongdoers say, ‘You are only following a man who is bewitched.’

We gave the people of Thamud the she-camel as a clear sign, yet they maltreated it.

The vision We showed you was only a test for people, as was the cursed tree [mentioned] in the Qur’an. We warn them, but this only increases their insolence.

He retorted, ‘Why should I bow down to someone You have created out of clay?’ and [then] said, ‘You see this being You have honored above me? If You reprieve me until the Day of Resurrection, I will lead all but a few of his descendants by the nose.’

He retorted, ‘Why should I bow down to someone You have created out of clay?’ and [then] said, ‘You see this being You have honored above me? If You reprieve me until the Day of Resurrection, I will lead all but a few of his descendants by the nose.’

We have honored the children of Adam and carried them by land and sea; We have provided good sustenance for them and favored them specially above many of those We have created.

[Prophet], the disbelievers almost tempted you away from what We revealed to you, so that you would have invented some other revelation and attribute it to Us and then they would have taken you as a friend.

So perform the regular prayers in the period from the time the sun is past its zenith till the darkness of the night, and [recite] the Qur’an at dawn—dawn recitation is always witnessed—and during the night wake up and pray, as an extra offering of your own, so that your Lord may raise you to a [highly] praised status.

Say, ‘The Spirit is part of my Lord’s domain. You have only been given a little knowledge.’