Verses 1–18

الٓر ۚ تِلْكَ ءَايَٰتُ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ وَقُرْءَانٍۢ مُّبِينٍۢ﴿١﴾

15:1Alif, Lam, Ra. These are the signs of the Book and a manifest Quran.

رُّبَمَا يَوَدُّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ لَوْ كَانُوا۟ مُسْلِمِينَ﴿٢﴾

15:2Much will the faithless wish that they had been Muslims.¹

ذَرْهُمْ يَأْكُلُوا۟ وَيَتَمَتَّعُوا۟ وَيُلْهِهِمُ ٱلْأَمَلُ ۖ فَسَوْفَ يَعْلَمُونَ﴿٣﴾

15:3Leave them to eat and enjoy and to be diverted by longings. Soon they will know.²

وَمَآ أَهْلَكْنَا مِن قَرْيَةٍ إِلَّا وَلَهَا كِتَابٌۭ مَّعْلُومٌۭ﴿٤﴾

15:4We did not destroy any town but that it had a known term.

مَّا تَسْبِقُ مِنْ أُمَّةٍ أَجَلَهَا وَمَا يَسْتَـْٔخِرُونَ﴿٥﴾

15:5No nation can advance its time nor can it defer it.

وَقَالُوا۟ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِى نُزِّلَ عَلَيْهِ ٱلذِّكْرُ إِنَّكَ لَمَجْنُونٌۭ﴿٦﴾

15:6They said, ‘O you, to whom the Reminder has been sent down, you are indeed crazy.³

لَّوْ مَا تَأْتِينَا بِٱلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةِ إِن كُنتَ مِنَ ٱلصَّٰدِقِينَ﴿٧﴾

15:7Why do you not bring us the angels should you be truthful?!’

مَا نُنَزِّلُ ٱلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةَ إِلَّا بِٱلْحَقِّ وَمَا كَانُوٓا۟ إِذًۭا مُّنظَرِينَ﴿٨﴾

15:8We do not send down the angels except with due reason, and then they will not be granted any respite.

إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا ٱلذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُۥ لَحَٰفِظُونَ﴿٩﴾

15:9Indeed We have sent down the Reminder, and indeed We will preserve it.

وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ فِى شِيَعِ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ﴿١٠﴾

15:10Certainly We sent [apostles] before you to former communities,

وَمَا يَأْتِيهِم مِّن رَّسُولٍ إِلَّا كَانُوا۟ بِهِۦ يَسْتَهْزِءُونَ﴿١١﴾

15:11and there did not come to them any apostle but that they used to deride him.

كَذَٰلِكَ نَسْلُكُهُۥ فِى قُلُوبِ ٱلْمُجْرِمِينَ﴿١٢﴾

15:12That is how We let it pass through the hearts of the guilty:

لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِهِۦ ۖ وَقَدْ خَلَتْ سُنَّةُ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ﴿١٣﴾

15:13they do not believe in it, and the precedent of the ancients has already passed.

وَلَوْ فَتَحْنَا عَلَيْهِم بَابًۭا مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ فَظَلُّوا۟ فِيهِ يَعْرُجُونَ﴿١٤﴾

15:14Were We to open for them a gate of the sky, so that they could go on ascending through it,

لَقَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّمَا سُكِّرَتْ أَبْصَٰرُنَا بَلْ نَحْنُ قَوْمٌۭ مَّسْحُورُونَ﴿١٥﴾

15:15they would surely say, ‘Indeed a spell has been cast on our eyes; indeed, we are a bewitched lot.’

وَلَقَدْ جَعَلْنَا فِى ٱلسَّمَآءِ بُرُوجًۭا وَزَيَّنَّٰهَا لِلنَّٰظِرِينَ﴿١٦﴾

15:16Certainly We have appointed houses in the sky and adorned them for the onlookers,

وَحَفِظْنَٰهَا مِن كُلِّ شَيْطَٰنٍۢ رَّجِيمٍ﴿١٧﴾

15:17and We have guarded them from every outcast Satan,⁴

إِلَّا مَنِ ٱسْتَرَقَ ٱلسَّمْعَ فَأَتْبَعَهُۥ شِهَابٌۭ مُّبِينٌۭ﴿١٨﴾

15:18except someone who may eavesdrop, whereat there pursues him a manifest flame.