Al-'Alaq

iq'ra bi-is'mi rabbika alladhī khalaqa

Read! In the name of your Lord who created:

khalaqa l-insāna min ʿalaqin

He created manfrom a clinging form.

iq'ra warabbuka l-akramu

Read! Your Lord is the Most Bountiful One

alladhī ʿallama bil-qalami

who taught by [means of] the pen,

ʿallama l-insāna mā lam yaʿlam

who taught man what he did not know.

kallā inna l-insāna layaṭghā

But man exceeds all bounds

an raāhu is'taghnā

when he thinks he is self-sufficient:

inna ilā rabbika l-ruj'ʿā

[Prophet], all will return to your Lord.

ara-ayta alladhī yanhā

Have you seen the man who forbids

ʿabdan idhā ṣallā

[Our] servant to pray?

ara-ayta in kāna ʿalā l-hudā

Have you seen whether he is rightly guided,

aw amara bil-taqwā

or encourages true piety?

ara-ayta in kadhaba watawallā

Have you seen whether he denies the truth and turns away from it?

alam yaʿlam bi-anna l-laha yarā

Does he not realize that God sees all?

kallā la-in lam yantahi lanasfaʿan bil-nāṣiyati

No! If he does not stop, We shall drag him by his forehead––

nāṣiyatin kādhibatin khāṭi-atin

his lying, sinful forehead.

falyadʿu nādiyahu

Let him summon his comrades;

sanadʿu l-zabāniyata

We shall summon the guards of Hell.

kallā lā tuṭiʿ'hu wa-us'jud wa-iq'tarib

No! Do not obey him [Prophet]: bow down in worship and draw close.