Taraweeh Tonight: Connect With The Quran – Thirteenth Night of Ramadan

Ramadan 2013 Posts

Thirteenth Night of Ramaḍān

Allāh, the Al-Mighty, says what can be interpreted to mean:

Surat Ibrahim – Abraham (014)

In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy

19. [Prophet], do you not see that God created the heavens and the earth for a purpose? He could remove all of you and replace you with a new creation if He wished to:

20. that is not difficult for God.

21. When they all appear before Him, the weak will say to the powerseekers, ‘We were your followers. Can you protect us from any of God’s punishment?’ They will reply, ‘If God had guided us, we would have guided you. It makes no difference now whether we rage or endure with patience: there is no escape.’

22. When everything has been decided, Satan will say, ‘God gave you a true promise. I too made promises but they were false ones: I had no power over you except to call you, and you responded to my call, so do not blame me; blame yourselves. I cannot help you, nor can you help me. I reject the way you associated me with God before.’ A bitter torment awaits such wrongdoers,

23. but those who believed and did good deeds will be brought into Gardens graced with flowing streams, there to remain with their Lord’s permission: their greeting there is ‘Peace’.

24. [Prophet], do you not see how God makes comparisons? A good word is like a good tree whose root is firm and whose branches are high in the sky,

25. yielding constant fruit by its Lord’s leave– God makes such comparisons for people so that they may reflect–

26. but an evil word is like a rotten tree, uprooted from the surface of the earth, with no power to endure.

27. God will give firmness to those who believe in the firmly rooted word, both in this world and the Hereafter, but the evildoers He leaves to stray: God does whatever He will.

28. [Prophet], do you not see those who, in exchange for God’s favour, offer only ingratitude and make their people end up in the home of ruin, Hell,

29. where they burn? What an evil place to stay!

30. They set up [false deities] as God’s equals to lead people astray from His path. Say, ‘Take your pleasure now, for your destination is the Fire.’

31. Tell My servants who have believed to keep up the prayer and give, secretly and in public, out of what We have provided them, before a Day comes when there will be no trading or friendship.

32. It is God who created the heavens and earth, who has sent down water from the sky and with it brought forth produce to nourish you; He has made ships useful to you, sailing the sea by His command, and the rivers too;

33. He has made the sun and the moon useful to you, steady on their paths; He has made the night and day useful to you

34. and given you some of everything you asked Him for. If you tried to count God’s favours you could never calculate them: man is truly unjust and ungrateful. 35. Remember when Abraham said, ‘Lord, make this town safe! Preserve me and my offspring from idolatry,

36. Lord, the [idols] have led many people astray! Anyone who follows me is with me, but as for anyone who disobeys me– You are surely forgiving and merciful. 37. Our Lord, I have established some of my offspring in an uncultivated valley, close to Your Sacred House, Lord, so that they may keep up the prayer. Make people’s hearts turn to them, and provide them with produce, so that they may be thankful.

38. Our Lord, You know well what we conceal and what we reveal: nothing at all is hidden from God, on earth or in heaven.

39. Praise be to God, who has granted me Ishmael and Isaac in my old age: my Lord hears all requests!

40. Lord, grant that I and my offspring may keep up the prayer. Our Lord, accept my request.

41. Our Lord, forgive me, my parents, and the believers on the Day of Reckoning.’ 42. Do not think [Prophet] that God is unaware of what the disbelievers do: He only gives them respite until a Day when their eyes will stare in terror.

43. They will rush forward, craning their necks, unable to divert their eyes, a gaping void in their hearts.

44. So warn people of the Day when punishment will come to them, and when the disbelievers will say, ‘Our Lord, give us a little more time: we shall answer Your call and follow the messengers.’ Did you [disbelievers] not swear in the past that your power would have no end?

45. You lived in the same places as others who wronged themselves before, and you were clearly shown how We dealt with them– We gave you many examples. 46. They made their plots, but, even if their plots had been able to move mountains, God had the answer.

47. So do not think [Prophet] that God will break His promise to His messengers: He is mighty, and capable of retribution.

48. One Day– when the earth is turned into another earth, the heavens into another heaven, and people all appear before God, the One, the Overpowering– 49. you [Prophet] will see the guilty on that Day, bound together in fetters,

50. in garments of pitch, faces covered in fire.

51. [All will be judged] so that God may reward each soul as it deserves: God is swift in His reckoning.

52. This is a message to all people, so that they may be warned by it, and know that He is the only God, and so that those who have minds may take heed.

Further on Allāh, the Al-Mighty, says what can be interpreted to mean:

Surat Al-Hijr (015)

In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy

26. We created man out of dried clay formed from dark mud–

27. the jinn We created before, from the fire of scorching wind.

28. Your Lord said to the angels, ‘I will create a mortal out of dried clay, formed from dark mud.

29. When I have fashioned him and breathed My spirit into him, bow down before him,’

30. and the angels all did so.

31. But not Iblis: he refused to bow down like the others.

32. God said, ‘Iblis, why did you not bow down like the others?’

33. and he answered, ‘I will not bow to a mortal You created from dried clay, formed from dark mud.’

34. ‘Get out of here!’ said God. ‘You are an outcast, 35 rejected until the Day of Judgement.’

36. Iblis said, ‘My Lord, give me respite until the Day when they are raised from the dead.’

37. ‘You have respite,’ said God,

38. ‘until the Day of the Appointed Time.’

39. Iblis then said to God, ‘Because You have put me in the wrong, I will lure mankind on earth and put them in the wrong,

40. all except Your devoted servants.’

41. God said, ‘[Devotion] is a straight path to Me:

42. you will have no power over My servants, only over the ones who go astray and follow you.

43. Hell is the promised place for all these,

44. with seven gates, each gate having its allotted share of them.

45. But the righteous will be in Gardens with springs– 46. “Enter them in peace and safety!”––

47. and We shall remove any bitterness from their hearts: [they will be like] brothers, sitting on couches, face to face.

48. No weariness will ever touch them there, nor will they ever be expelled.’

49. [Prophet], tell My servants that I am the Forgiving, the Merciful,

50. but My torment is the truly painful one.    

Further on Allāh, the Al-Mighty, says what can be interpreted to mean:

85. We did not create the heavens and the earth and everything between them without a true purpose: the Hour will certainly come, so [Prophet] bear with them graciously.

86. Your Lord is the All Knowing Creator. 87We have given you the seven oft-recited verses and the whole glorious Qurʾān.

88. Do not look longingly at the good things We have given some to enjoy. Do not grieve over the [disbelievers], but lower your wings over the believers

89. and say, ‘I am here to give plain warning,’

90. like the [warning] We have sent down for those who divide themselves into bands

91. and abuse the Qurʾān––

92. by your Lord, We will question them all

93. about their deeds.

94. So proclaim openly what you have been commanded [to say], and ignore the idolaters.

95. We are enough for you against all those who ridicule your message,

96. who set up another god beside God– they will come to know.

97. We are well aware that your heart is weighed down by what they say.

98.  Celebrate the glory of your Lord and be among those who bow down to Him:

99. worship your Lord until what is certain comes to you.