In the name of the Unforgiving God
Alif Alif Alif Alif
By the waning moon
And by the descending veil.
O mankind! Believe in what We have made evident by obscure signs and turbid gestures
Penetrable by the rightly guided alone,
And there is none whom We have guided.
Among you there are those who say 'truly, we believe' while believing not.
We have filled their hearts with fear and their minds with false identity.
For them there is prepared a terrible fate
From which there shall be no respite.
And it makes no difference whether you warn them or warn them not,
And it makes no difference whether they warn you or warn you not.
Their example is like the one who tries to light a fire with compost and damp wood in a forest at night in heavy rain and with no matches and as soon as he creates a spark We blow it back out.
Or it is like the one disorientated and in a cloud of gnats. When he opens his eyes to see his way flies enter and blind him, and when he closes his eyes We turn him around.
We mock at mankind's efforts,
And We are the best of mockers.
Nothing is done except through Us, and nothing We do is comprehended by mankind.
Their hearts are filled with fear and their heads are filled with dog shit.
Observe the ever waxing and waning moon.
Indeed, in this would have been a clear sign had We made it so.
We are not shy to present to you these ever-mysterious signs.
Consider the one who swims with catfish. He is soon to drown.
And consider the one lost in an unfamiliar cave network with a broken leg. Though having light he will never leave, and the batteries of his torch are rapidly running down.
We guide whomever We will and We lead astray whomever We will,
And We are the best of deceivers.