Surah Al-Isra’

Surah Al-Isra’
Also called Surah Bani Israel
(The Children of Israel)
Chapter 17
It is 111 Verses 12 Units (Ruku’): Revealed at Makkah

In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
1. Glory be to (Allah) Who took His servant (the Prophet Muhammad) on a journey by night from the Sacred Mosque (at Makkah) to the farthest mosque (at Jerusalem), the surroundings whereof We have blessed (and from there to the Heavens and beyond), so that We may show to him some of Our (Great) Signs; surely (Allah) is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.
2. And We gave Moses the Scripture (Torah) and made it a Guidance to the children of Israel, saying: Do not take other than (Allah) as the Disposer of (your) affairs.
3. O offspring of those whom We carried (in the Ship) with Noah; surely (Noah) was a grateful servant (of Allah).
4.And We convey to the children of Israel in the Scripture (the Torah): That you will surely cause corruption in the land twice, and you will surely reach (a degree) of great arrogance.
5. So when the Warning of the first (transgression) came true (by spreading corruption and slaying the Prophets), We sent against you some of Our slaves of great might in war, and they probed (even) into the homes (violating their sanctity), and it was a Warning (completely) fulfilled (at the hands of Assyrians
and Babylonians).
6. Then We gave you back your turn to prevail against them, and aided you with wealth and children and made you to outnumber them.
7. (And Allah said): If you do good, you do it for your own selves, and if you do evil, (you do it only) against your own selves. So when the second Warning came true (and We raised new enemies against you and allowed them) to bring you to grief and to enter the mosque (of Jerusalem) as they entered it once before, and to destroy whatever they gained ascendancy over with utter destruction.
8. It may be that your Lord (Allah) will have Mercy on you, but if again you return (to disobedience) We too will return (to Punishment), and We have made Hell a prison for the deniers of the Truth (the opposers of Peace).
9. Surely this Qur’an guides to that which is most upright and gives good209 tidings to the believers who do righteous good deeds, that they shall have a great reward (Paradise).
10. And that those who do not believe in the Hereafter, We have prepared for them a painful Torment.
11. And man supplicates for bad (against himself and others in anger) as he supplicates for good, and man is ever hasty.
12. And We (Allah) have appointed the night and the day as two Signs (of Our Existence, Oneness, Our Perfect Knowledge, and Power). Then We have erased the Sign of the night, while We have made the Sign of the day for you to see, so that you may seek bounty from your Lord (Allah), and that you might know the numbering of years and the reckoning (of time); and We have explained everything (in detail) with full explanation.
13. And every man’s destiny We have tied to his neck, and We (Allah) shall bring forth to him on the Day of Resurrection (and Judgment) a record which he will find wide open:
14. (It will be said): Read your record; your own self is sufficient as a reckoner against you this Day.
15. Whoever accepts (God,s) Guidance, he is only guided for (the benefit of) his own soul and whoever goes astray, he only goes astray against it: Nor canthe bearer of a burden bear the burden of another, (from the Justice of Allah is that He will not count others who are innocent, guilty for the sins of their fathers through ‘ancestral’ or ‘original’ sin); nor do We chastise until We sent a Messenger (giving Warnings).
16. And when We wish to destroy a village (for their wrongdoings), We send Our Commandment (i.e., last Warning) to those of its people who have lost themselves entirely in the pursuit of pleasures, and (if) they (continue) to act sinfully, the Word (of Torment) proves true against it, so We destroy it with utter destruction.
17.And how many (of the disbelieving) generations did We destroy after Noah! And your Lord (Allah) is Sufficient as Knowing and Seeing with regard to the sins of His subjects (of mankind and jinn).
18. Whoever desires this present life, We hasten to him therein what We please, for whom We desire, then We assign to him Hell; he will enter it disgraced, disowned.
19. And whoever desires the Hereafter and strives for it with its due striving and is a believer; (as for) these, their striving will surely be appreciated.
20. To each We aid, these as well as those, out of the Bounty of (Allah) your Lord, and the Bounty of your Lord (Allah) is something that is not withheld.
21. See how We prefer one above another (in this world), and certainly the Hereafter will be greater in degrees and greater in preference.
22. Do not associate with Allah any other god, lest you remain disgraced, forsaken.
23. And your Lord (Allah) has commanded that you worship none but Him, and have good treatment to parents. Whether one or both of them reach old age in your life, say not to them a word of disrespect, nor shout at them, but address them with terms of honor.
24. And make yourself submissively gentle to them with mercy, and say: (O Allah) my Lord! Have Mercy on them, as they brought me up (when I was) young.
25. Your Lord (Allah) knows best what is in your minds; if you are righteous, then He is surely Forgiving to those who turn (to Him) frequently (in supplication, obedience, and repentance).

26. And give the relative his due right, and (the neighbour and) the poor, and the traveler in need, and do not spend wastefully.
27. Surely the spendthrifts are the brothers of the devils, and the devil is ever ungrateful to his Lord (Allah).
28.But if you turn away from them, (those who are in want because you yourself are) seeking Mercy from (Allah) your Lord which you hope for, then say to them a gentle word.
29. And do not make your hand to be shackled to your neck nor stretch it forth to its utmost (extent), so that (afterwards) you remain blameworthy, destitute.
30. Surely your Lord (Allah) makes plentiful the means of sustenance for whom He wills, and He straitens (it for whom He wills); surely He is All-Aware, All-Seeing of His subjects (of mankind and jinn).
31. And do not kill your children for fear of poverty; We provide for them sustenance and yourselves; surely killing them is a grave sin.
32. And do not approach fornication (unlawful sexual intercourse); surely it is an indecency and an evil way.
33. And do not kill the life which Allah has made sacred, except with (legal) right (in the execution of a legal sentence, or in a just war, or in individual legitimate self- defence), and whoever is killed unjustly, We have indeed given to his heir authority (to exact a just retribution), so let him not exceed the just limits in (retributive) killing; surely he is aided (by Allah through the Islamic law).
34. And draw not near to the wealth of the orphan except in a goodly way until he attains maturity; and fulfill the promise, surely (every) promise will be questioned about.
35. And give full measure when you measure out, and weigh with a true balance; this is fair and best in the end.
36.And never concern yourself with anything of which you have no knowledge of; surely the hearing and the sight and the heart, about all of these, (one) shall be questioned.
37. And do not go about in the land exultant, for you cannot cut through the earth nor can you reach the mountains in height.
38. All this, the evil of it, is hateful in the Sight of your Lord (Allah).
39. This is of what your Lord (Allah) has revealed to you of Wisdom, and do not associate any other god with Allah lest you should be thrown into Hell, blamed (and condemned), cast away (far from Allah’s Mercy).
40. What? Has your Lord (Allah) favored you people with sons and taken daughters for Himself from the Angels? Most surely you utter a grievous saying.
41. And certainly We have repeated (Warnings) in this Qur’an that they may remember, but it does not add (to the deniers) except to their aversion.
42. Say: If there were with Him gods as they say, then certainly they would have been able to seek a way to (Allah) the Lord of the (Great) Throne.
43. Glory be to Him (Allah) and Exalted is He in High Exaltation above what they say.
44. The seven heavens declare Allah’s Glory and the earth (with it), and those who are in them; and there is not a single thing but glorifies Him with praise, but you do not understand their glorification; surely He is Forbearing, Forgiving.
45. And when you recite the Qur’an, We place between you and those (arrogant ones) who do not believe in the Hereafter an invisible veil (so they understand it not);
46. And We have placed coverings on their hearts and a heaviness in their ears, lest they understand it, and when you mention your Lord (Allah) alone in the Qur’an they turn their backs in aversion.
47. We know best what they listen to when they listen to you, and when they take counsel secretly, when the workers of iniquity (polytheists, disbelievers), say: You follow none but a man bewitched.
48. See what they liken you to! So they have gone astray and cannot find the way.
49. And they say: When we are bones and decayed particles, shall we then certainly be raised up (from the dead), being a new creation?
50. Say: Become stones or iron,

51. Or some other creature of those which are too hard (to receive life) in your minds (and even then you shall be resurrected)! But they will say: Who will return us? Say: (Allah) Who created you at first. Still they will shake their heads at you and say: When will it be? Say: Perhaps it is near.
52. On the Day when (Allah) will call you forth, then you shall obey Him, giving Him Praise, and you will think that you have stayed (on the earth) only a short while.
53. And say to My servants (that) they speak that which is best; surely Satan sows dissensions among them; surely Satan is an open enemy to man.
54. And your Lord (Allah) knows you best; He will have Mercy on you if He wills, or He will chastise you if He wills; and We have not sent you as a warden over them.
55. And your Lord (Allah) is Most Knowing of whoever is in the heavens and the earth; and certainly We have made some of the Prophets to excel others, and to David We gave the Book (of Psalms).
56. Say: Call on those (prophets such as Jesus Christ, or angels such as the Holy Spirit, or saints such as Mary, or jinn, etc.) whom you assume (to be gods) besides Him (Allah) and (you will find that) they have no power to remove any affliction from you, or to shift it (elsewhere).
57. Those whom they call upon (of prophets, angels, saints, or jinn) themselves seek the means of access to their Lord (Allah), as to which of them should be nearest, and they hope for His Mercy and fear His Torment; surely the Torment of your Lord (Allah) is a thing to be guarded against.
58. And there is not a village but We (Allah) shall destroy it before the Day of Resurrection (for its ungratefulness, denial, and transgression) or chastise it with a severe Chastisement; this is written in the Book (of Our Decrees).
59.And nothing could have hindered Us that We (Allah)should send Signs except that the ancients denied them; and We gave to (the tribe of) Thamud the she-camel, a manifest Sign, but they treat her wrongfully, and We (Allah) do not send Signs except to make (men) fear (so that they take heed and follow the Truth).
60. And (remember, O Prophet Muhammad) when We said to you: Surely (Allah) your Lord encompasses the people (and will protect you from their harm); and We did not make the sight which We showed you (during your night Journey to Jerusalem and your ascension to the Heavens) except as a trial for the people and the (extremely) harmful tree (of Zaqquum, mentioned) in the Qur’an as well; and We threaten them (by the Signs and Our Requital) but it only increases them (the disbelievers) in great transgression.
61.And (remember) when (Allah) said to the Angels: Bow down to Adam (in honor and respect). So they bowed down except Iblees (Lucifer). He said: Shall I bow down to him whom You have created from clay?
62. (He then) said: See, this is he whom You have honored above me? If You will give me respite til the Day of Resurrection, I shall most certainly cause his Off spring to follow me submissively (and blindly) except a few.
63. (Allah) said: Be gone! For whoever of them will follow you, then surely Hell is your recompense, a full recompense:
64. And excite any of them whom you can with your voice (and through illicit songs, music, and any other call to Allah’s disobedience), and gather against them your forces, riding and on foot, and share with them in wealth and children, and promise them; but Satan promises them nothing but deceit:
65. Surely (as for) My (sincere, devoted) servants, you have no authority overthem; and your Lord (Allah) is Sufficient as (their) Guardian (Trustee, Savior, and Protector).
66. Your Lord (Allah) is He Who causes the ships to sail for you in the sea, that you may seek of His bounty; surely He is Ever Merciful to you.
67. And when harm touches you upon the sea, those that you call upon besides Him (Allah) vanish to you except for Him (Allah alone); but when He brings you safe to the land, you turn away; and man is ever ungrateful.
68.Do you then feel secure that He (Allah) will not cause a tract of land to swallow you up, or send on you a tornado? Then you shall not find any protector for yourselves.
69.Or, do you feel secure that He (Allah)will (not) send you back into it another time, then send against you a hurricane of wind and thus drown you because of your ungratefulness (disbelief)? Then you shall not find any avenger against God (Allah) in the matter.
70. And surely We (Allah) have honored the children of Adam, and We carry them on land and sea (from the transport We have provided for them), and We have given them of the good things, and We have made them to excel by an appropriate excellence over most of those whom We have created.
71. Remember the Day when We (Allah) shall call every people with their leader (with their Prophets or their records of good and bad deeds); then whoever is given his record in his right hand, such will read their record, and they will not be dealt with unjustly, even as much as a thread.
72. And whoever is blind (of heart) in this (world), he will be blind in the Hereafter; and more astray in way.
73. And surely they strove hard to turn you away from that which We have revealed to you (O Prophet Muhammad), that you should invent against God (Allah) something other than it, and then they would certainly have taken you as a close friend.
74. And had We not made you stand firm, you would certainly have been near to incline to them a little;
75. In that case We (Allah) would certainly have made you taste a double (suffering) in this life and a double (suffering) after death, then you would not have found any helper against God (Allah)

76. And surely they wished to scare you from the land that they may expel you from it, and in that case they will not have stayed after you except for a little while.
77. (This is Our) Way with regard to those of Our Messengers whom We sent before you (O Prophet Muhammad), and you shall not find any change in Allah’s Way.
78. Perform the prayer perfectly from the declining of the sun til the darkness of the night and the morning recitation; surely the morning recitation is witnessed.
79. And during a part of the night, pray optional prayers (beyond what is incumbent on you); it may be that your Lord (Allah) will raise you to a praised position (of intercession on the Day of Resurrection for all of creation since the time of Adam).
80. And say: (O Allah) my Lord! Make me to enter a goodly entering, and cause me to go forth a goodly going forth, and grant me from You an authority to assist (me).
81.And say: The Truth has come and the falsehood has perished; surely falsehood by its nature is bound to perish.
82. And We reveal of the Qur’an that which is a Healing and a Mercy to the believers, while it adds only to the loss of the workers of iniquity (the evildoers).
83. And when We bestow favor upon man (the disbeliever), he turns away and behaves arrogantly, and when adversity touches him, he is despairing.
84. Say: Each one works according to his manner; and your Lord (Allah) knows well whose path is best guided.
85. And they ask you (O Prophet Muhammad) about the Spirit. Say: The Spirit (descends) by the Command of (Allah) my Lord; and you (O mankind) have not been given of knowledge (about the Spirit) except a little.
86. And if We will, We should certainly take away that which We have revealed to you (O Prophet Muhammad), then you would not find for you any protector against God (Allah).
87. Except as a Mercy from (Allah) your Lord - surely His Favor to you is ever great.
88. Say: If all of mankind and jinn should gather together to bring the like of this Qur’an, they could not bring the like of it, even if they were all aiders one to another.
89. And certainly We have explained for the people in this Qur’an every kind of similitude, but most people are unwilling to accept anything but disbelief.
90. And they say: We shall not believe in you until you cause a spring to gush forth from the earth for us.
91.Or (until) you have a garden of date-palms and grapes in the midst of which you should cause rivers to rush forth in abundance.
92. Or you cause the sky to fall down upon us in pieces as you threatened, or (until) you bring Allah and the Angels face-to-face (before us).
93. Or (until) you have a house of gold, or you ascend to heaven, and we shall not believe in your ascending until you bring down to us (from the heavens) a Book which we can read. Say (O Prophet Muhammad): Glory (and Honor) be to (Allah) my (and your) Lord; am I anything but a mortal man, sent as a Messenger to you?
94. And nothing prevented people from believing when the Guidance came to them except that they said: Has Allah sent a mortal man as (His) Messenger?
95. Say: Had there been in the earth Angels walking about as settlers, We would certainly have sent down to them from the heavens an Angel as a Messenger.
96. Say: Allah suffices as a Witness between me and you; surely He is All Aware of His subjects (of mankind and jinn), All-Seeing.
97. And he whom Allah guides, he is on true Guidance, but he whom He leaves astray (because of his arrogance and persistence in sin), you shall not find for him guardians besides Him (Allah); and We shall gather them together on the Day of Resurrection on their faces, blind, dumb, and deaf; their abode is Hell; whenever it abates, We shall increase for them the fierceness of the Fire.
98. This is their retribution because they disbelieved in Our Signs and said: When we are bones and decayed particles, shall we then indeed be raised up (from the dead) into a new creation?
99. Do they not consider that Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth, is able to create their like, and He has appointed for them a term of which there is no doubt. But the workers of iniquity (polytheists, disbelievers, atheists) are unwilling to accept anything but disbelief.
100. Say: If you control the treasures of the Mercy of my Lord (Allah), then you would withhold (them) from fear of spending, and man is ever niggardly.

101. And certainly We gave Moses nine clear Signs; so ask the children of Israel. When he came to them, Pharaoh said to him: Most surely I think you, O Moses, to be a man bewitched.
102. (Moses) said: Truly you know that none but (Allah only) the Lord of the heavens and the earth has sent down these as clear Proofs and most surely I consider that you, O Pharaoh, are in utter loss (despised and cursed, a lunatic tyrant lacking all reasonable intellect, bound to destruction).
103. So Pharaoh wanted to scare the Israelites out of the land (of Egypt), but We drowned him and those with him (his soldiers) all together;
104. And We (Allah) said to the children of Israel after (it was all over with Pharaoh): Dwell in the (promised) land (of Palestine), and when the promise of the Last Day shall come to pass (i.e., the second coming, the descent of Jesus Christ the son of Mary, down to earth) we shall bring you as one crowd gathered from various nations (and lands led by the Anti-Christ, who will then be defeated by the force of Truth).
105. And in truth We have sent it down (this Qur’an), and in truth has it descended; and We (Allah) have not sent you (O Prophet Muhammad) except as a giver of good news (of eternal Bliss for whoever believes and does righteous deeds) and as a warner (of Chastisement for whoever associates any partner with Allah and works evil).
106. And it is a Qur’an (recitation) which We have divided into parts, so that you may recite it to the people at intervals, and We have revealed it by stages.
107. Say: Believe in it (the Qur’an) or believe not; surely those who were given the (right) knowledge before it, when it is recited to them, fall down on their faces in humble prostration.
108. And they say: Glory and Honor be to (Allah) our Lord! Most surely the Promise of (Allah) our Lord must be fulfilled.
109. And they fall down on their faces weeping, and it increases them in humility.
110. Say: Call upon Allah or call upon Ar-Rahman (the Most Compassionate); whichever you call upon, He has the Best Names; and do not utter your prayer with a raised voice, nor be silent concerning it, and seek a way between these.
111. And say: (All) Praise (and Honor) is due to Allah, Who has not taken to Himself a son (nor daughters), and Who has no partner in (His) Dominion, and has no deficiency and no need of any help; and (thus) proclaim His Greatness, magnifying (Him) with every magnificence.