49 This is of the tidings of the Unseen which We inspire in thee (Muhammad). Thou thyself knewest it not, nor did thy folk (know it) before this. Then have patience. Lo! the sequel is for those who ward off (evil).
Trivia:
Surah 11
HUD
11:49-60
50 And unto (the tribe of) A'ad (We sent) their brother, Hud. He said: O my people! Serve Allah! Ye have no other God save Him. Lo! ye do but invent.
51 O my people! I ask of you no reward for it. Lo! my reward is the concern only of Him Who made me. Have ye then no sense?
We [Allah] sent Hud to the tribe of A'ad [1] who said to you,
Serve Allah!
52 And, O my people! Ask forgiveness of your Lord, then turn unto Him repentant; He will cause the sky to rain abundance on you and will add unto you strength to your strength. Turn not away, guilty!
Repent and ask for forgiveness.
53 They said: O Hud! Thou hast brought us no clear proof and we are not going to forsake our gods on thy (mere) saying, and we are not believers in thee.
54 We say naught save that one of our gods hath possessed thee in an evil way. He said: I call Allah to witness, and do ye (too) bear witness, that I am innocent of (all) that ye ascribe as partners (to Allah)
55 Beside Him. So (try to) circumvent me, all of you, give me no respite.
56 Lo! I have put my trust in Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Not an animal but He doth grasp it by the forelock! Lo! my Lord is on a straight path.
The people said to Hud,
You have no proof, so we won't give up our gods.
57 And if ye turn away, still I have conveyed unto you that wherewith I was sent unto you, and my Lord will set in place of you a folk other than you. Ye cannot injure Him at all. Lo! my Lord is Guardian over all things.
Hud said to them,
You can't hurt Allah at all.
58 And when Our commandment came to pass We saved Hud and those who believed with him by a mercy from Us; We saved them from a harsh doom.
59 And such were A'ad. They denied the revelations of their Lord and flouted His messengers and followed the command of every froward potentate.
So we [Allah] saved Hud and and those who believed him
(and sent a harsh doom on everyone else).
60 And a curse was made to follow them in the world and on the Day of Resurrection. Lo! A'ad disbelieved in their Lord. A far removal for A'ad, the folk of Hud!
A curse fell on them in this world and on the day of resurrection.
11:61-63
61 And unto (the tribe of) Thamud (We sent) their brother Salih. He said: O my people! Serve Allah, Ye have no other God save Him. He brought you forth from the earth and hath made you husband it. So ask forgiveness of Him and turn unto Him repentant. Lo! my Lord is Nigh, Responsive.
Then we sent Salih [2] to the tribe of Thamud who said to you,
Serve Allah!
Repent and ask for forgiveness.
62 They said: O Salih! Thou hast been among us hitherto as that wherein our hope was placed. Dost thou ask us not to worship what our fathers worshipped? Lo! we verily are in grave doubt concerning that to which thou callest us.
63 He said: O my people! Bethink you: if I am (acting) on clear proof from my Lord and there hath come unto me a mercy from Him, who will save me from Allah if I disobey Him? Ye would add to me naught save perdition.
The people said to Salih,
So you want us to worship different god than the one our fathers worshiped?
Why would we do that?
11:64-68
64 O my people! This is the camel of Allah, a token unto you, so suffer her to feed in Allah's earth, and touch her not with harm lest a near torment seize you.
65 But they hamstrung her, and then he said: Enjoy life in your dwelling-place three days! This is a threat that will not be belied.
66 So, when Our commandment came to pass, We saved Salih, and those who believed with him, by a mercy from Us, from the ignominy of that day. Lo, thy Lord! He is the Strong, the Mighty.
Salih said to them,
This is the camel of Allah.
Don't touch or harm her or you'll be tormented.
But they hamstrung her. So Salih said to them,
Enjoy where you'll be in three days.
So we [Allah] saved Salih.
67 And the (awful) Cry overtook those who did wrong, so that morning found them prostrate in their dwellings,
68 As though they had not dwelt there. Lo! Thamud disbelieved in their Lord. A far removal for Thamud!
And killed everyone in the tribe of Thamud.
69 And Our messengers came unto Abraham with good news. They said: Peace! He answered: Peace! and delayed not to bring a roasted calf.
Our messengers came to Abraham and said, "Peace."
Abraham said to them, "Peace" and fed them a roasted calf.
70 And when he saw their hands reached not to it, he mistrusted them and conceived a fear of them. They said: Fear not! Lo! we are sent unto the folk of Lot.
The messengers said, "We've come to visit Lot and his family."
71 And his wife, standing by laughed when We gave her good tidings (of the birth) of Isaac, and, after Isaac, of Jacob.
And his wife laughed when we told her that she would be the mother of Isaac and Jacob. [3]
72 She said: Oh woe is me! Shall I bear a child when I am an old woman, and this my husband is an old man? Lo! this is a strange thing!
73 They said: Wonderest thou at the commandment of Allah? The mercy of Allah and His blessings be upon you, O people of the house! Lo! He is Owner of Praise, Owner of Glory!
74 And when the awe departed from Abraham, and the glad news reached him, he pleaded with Us on behalf of the folk of Lot.
75 Lo! Abraham was mild, imploring, penitent.
She said,
Woe is me.
I'll deliver a baby when I'm an old woman and my husband is an old man.
That's pretty strange.
11:76-83
76 (It was said) O Abraham! Forsake this! Lo! thy Lord's commandment hath gone forth, and lo! there cometh unto them a doom which cannot be repelled.
The messengers said to Abraham,
A doom is coming that can't be stopped.
77 And when Our messengers came unto Lot, he was distressed and knew not how to protect them. He said: This is a distressful day.
When the messengers came to Lot, he said,
This is a distressful day.
78 And his people came unto him, running towards him - and before then they used to commit abominations - He said: O my people! Here are my daughters! They are purer for you. Beware of Allah, and degrade me not in (the person of) my guests. Is there not among you any upright man?
Lot said to the people,
Here are my daughters.
They are purer for you.
But don't have sex with my guests.
79 They said: Well thou knowest that we have no right to thy daughters, and well thou knowest what we want.
80 He said: Would that I had strength to resist you or had some strong support (among you)!
The people said,
You know that we can't have your daughters.
You know what we want.
81 (The messengers) said: O Lot! Lo! we are messengers of thy Lord; they shall not reach thee. So travel with thy people in a part of the night, and let not one of you turn round - (all) save thy wife. Lo! that which smiteth them will smite her (also). Lo! their tryst is (for) the morning. Is not the morning nigh?
The messengers said to Lot,
Leave tonight and don't look back (except for your wife).
Allah will smite her also.
82 So when Our commandment came to pass We overthrew (that township) and rained upon it stones of clay, one after another,
83 Marked with fire in the providence of thy Lord (for the destruction of the wicked). And they are never far from the wrong-doers.
So we rained fire and stones on that town.
Notes
- Unto (the tribe of) A'ad (We sent) their brother, Hud. (v.50)
Muslims say that Hud was an Arabian prophet. No one knows who he was or if he ever existed. This surah is named after him.
- Salih (v.61)
Salih is another legendary Arabian prophet. He probably didn't exist either.
- We gave her good tidings (of the birth) of Isaac,
and, after Isaac, of Jacob. (v.71)
According to the Quran, then, Abraham's (unnamed) wife is the mother of Isaac and Jacob.
In the Bible, Abraham's wife Sarah is Isaac's mother - but Rebekah is the mother of Jacob.
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