A. J. Arberry - Sura 20: Ta Ha lyrics

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compa**ionate 20:1 Ta Ha We have not sent down the Koran upon thee for thee to be unprosperous, but only as a reminder to him who fears, a revelation from Him who created the earth and the high heavens; the All-compa**ionate sat Himself upon the Throne; to Him belongs 20:5 all that is in the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, and all that is underneath the soil. Be thou loud in thy speech, yet surely He knows the secret and that yet more hidden. God -- there is no god but He. To Him belong the Names Most Beautiful. Hast thou received the story of Moses? When he saw a fire, and said to his family, 'Tarry you here; I observe a fire. 20:10 Perhaps I shall bring you a brand from it, or I shall find at the fire guidance.' When he came to it, a voice cried, 'Moses, I am thy Lord; put off thy shoes; thou art in the holy valley, Towa. I Myself have chosen thee; therefore give thou ear to this revelation. Verily I am God; there is no god but I; therefore serve Me, and perform the prayer of My remembrance. The Hour is coming; I would conceal it that every soul may be recompensed for its labours. Let none bar thee from it, that believes not in it but follows after his own caprice, or thou wilt perish. What is that, Moses, thou hast in thy right hand?' 'Why, it is my staff,' said Moses. 'I lean upon it, and with it I beat down leaves to feed my sheep; other uses also I find in it. 20:20 Said He, 'Cast it down, Moses!' and he cast it down, and behold it was a serpent sliding. Said He, 'Take it, and fear not; We will restore it to its first state. Now clasp thy hand to thy arm-pit; it shall come forth white, without evil. That is a second sign. So We would show thee some of Our greatest signs. 20:25 'Go to Pharaoh; he has waxed insolent.' 'Lord, open my breast,' said Moses, 'and do Thou ease for me my task. Unloose the knot upon my tongue, that they may understand my words. 20:30 'Appoint for me of my folk a familiar, Aaron, my brother; by him confirm my strength, and a**ociate him with me in my task. So shall we glorify Thee, and remember Thee abundantly. 20:35 'Surely Thou seest into us.' Said He, 'Thou art granted, Moses, thy petition. Already another time We favoured thee, when We revealed what was revealed unto thy mother: "Cast him into the ark, and cast him into the river, and let the river throw him up on the shore. An enemy of Mine and his shall take him." 20:40 And I loaded on thee love from Me, and to be formed in My sight, when thy sister went out, saying, "Shall I point you to one to have charge of him?" So We returned thee to thy mother that she might rejoice, and not sorrow. Then thou slewest; a living soul, and We delivered thee out of grief, and We tried thee with many trials. Many years among the people of Midian thou didst sojourn, then camest hither, Moses, according to a decree. I have chosen thee for My service; go therefore, thou and thy brother; with My signs, and neglect not 20:45 to remember Me. Go to Pharaoh, for he has waxed insolent; yet speak gently to him, that haply he may be mindful, or perchance fear.' 'O our Lord,' said Moses and Aaron, 'truly we fear he may exceed against us, or wax insolent.' 'Fear not,' said He. 'Surely I shall be with you, hearing and seeing. So go you both to Pharaoh, and say, "We are the Messengers of thy Lord, so send forth with us the Children of Israel and chastise them not; we have brought thee a sign from thy Lord; and peace be upon him who follows the guidance! 20:50 It has been revealed to us that chastisement shall light upon him who cries lies and turns his back." Pharaoh said, 'Who is your Lord, Moses?' He said, 'Our Lord is He who gave everything its creation, then guided it.' Pharaoh said, 'And what of the former generations?' Said Moses, 'The knowledge of them is with my Lord, in a Book; my Lord goes not astray, nor forgets -- 20:55 He who appointed the earth to be a cradle for you, and therein threaded roads for you, and sent down water out of heaven, and therewith We have brought forth divers kinds of plants. Do you eat, and pasture your cattle! Surely in that are signs for men possessing reason. Out of the earth We created you, and We shall restore you into it, and bring you forth from it a second time.' So We showed Pharaoh all Our signs, but he cried lies, and refused. 'Hast thou come, Moses,' he said, 'to expel us out of our land 20:60 'by thy sorcery? We shall a**uredly bring thee sorcery the like of it; therefore appoint a tryst between us and thee, a place mutually agreeable, and we shall not fail it, neither thou.' 'Your tryst shall be upon the Feast Day.' said Moses. 'Let the people be mustered at the high noon. Pharaoh then withdrew, and gathered his guile. Thereafter he came again, and Moses said to them, 'O beware! Forge not a lie against God, lest He destroy you with a chastisement. Whoso forges has ever failed.' 20:65 And they disputed upon their plan between them, and communed secretly saying, 'These two men are sorcerers and their purpose is to expel you out of your land by their sorcery, and to extirpate your justest way. So gather your guile; then come in battle-line. Whoever today gains the upper hand shall surely prosper. They said, 'Moses, either thou wilt cast, or we shall be the first to cast.' 'No,' said Moses. 'Do you cast!' And lo, it seemed to him, by their sorcery, their ropes and their staffs were sliding; 20:70 and Moses conceived a fear within him. We said unto him, 'Fear not; surely thou art the uppermost. Cast down what is in thy right hand, and it shall swallow what they have fashioned; for they have fashioned only the guile of a sorcerer, and the sorcerer prospers not; wherever he goes.' And the sorcerers cast themselves down prostrating. 'We believe,' they said, 'in the Lord of Aaron and Moses.' Pharaoh said, 'Have you believed him before I gave you leave? Why, he is the chief of you, the same that taught you sorcery; I shall a**uredly cut off alternately your hands and feet, then I shall crucify you upon the trunks of palm-trees; you shall know of a certainty which of us is more terrible in chastisement, and more abiding.' 20:75 They said, 'We will not prefer thee over the clear signs that have come to us, nor over Him who originated us. Decide then what thou wilt decide; thou canst only decide touching this present life. We believe in our Lord, that He may pardon us our offences, and the sorcery thou hast constrained us to practise; God is better, and more abiding.' Whosoever comes unto his Lord a sinner, for him awaits Gehenna wherein he shall neither die nor live. And whoso comes unto Him a believer having done deeds of righteousness, those -- for them await the most sublime degrees; Gardens of Eden, underneath which rivers flow, therein dwelling forever; that is the recompense of the self-purified. Also We revealed unto Moses, 'Go with My servants by night; strike for them a dry path in the sea, 20:80 fearing not overtaking, neither afraid.' Pharaoh followed them with his hosts, but they were overwhelmed by the sea; so Pharaoh had led his people astray, and was no guide to them. Children of Israel, We delivered you from your enemy; and We made covenant with you upon the right side of the Mount, and sent down on you manna and quails: 'Eat of the good things wherewith We have provided you; but exceed not therein, or My anger shall alight on you; and on whomsoever My anger alights, that man is hurled to ruin. Yet I am All-forgiving to him who repents and believes, and does righteousness, and at last is guided.' 20:85 'What has sped thee far from thy people, Moses?' 'They are upon my tracks,' Moses said. 'I have hastened, Lord, only that I may please Thee.' Said He, 'We have tempted thy people since thou didst leave them. The Samaritan has misled them into error.' Then Moses returned very angry and sorrowful to his people, saying, 'My people, did your Lord not promise a fair promise to you? Did the time of the covenant seem so long to you, or did you desire that anger should alight on you from your Lord, so that you failed in your tryst with me?' 20:90 'We have not failed in our tryst with thee,' they said, 'of our volition; but we were loaded with fardels, even the ornaments of the people, and we cast them, as the Samaritan also threw them, into the fire.' (Then he brought out for them a Calf, a mere body that lowed; and they said, 'This is your god, and the god of Moses, whom he has forgotten.' What? Did they not see that thing returned no speech unto them, neither had any power to hurt or profit them? Yet Aaron had aforetime said to them, 'My people, you have been tempted by this thing, no more; surety your Lord is the All-merciful; therefore follow me, and obey my commandment!' 'We will not cease,' they said, 'to cleave to it, until Moses returns to us.') Moses said, 'What prevented thee, Aaron, when thou sawest them in error, so that thou didst not follow after me? Didst thou then disobey my commandment?' 20:95 'Son of my mother,' Aaron said, 'take me not by the beard, or the head! I was fearful that thou wouldst say, "Thou hast divided the Children of Israel, and thou hast not observed my word." Moses said, 'And thou, Samaritan, what was thy business?' 'I beheld what they beheld not,' he said, 'and I seized a handful of dust from the messenger's track, and cast it into the thing. So my soul prompted me.' 'Depart!' said Moses. 'It shall be thine all this life to cry "Untouchable!" And thereafter a tryst awaits thee thou canst not fail to keep. Behold thy god, to whom all the day thou wast cleaving! We will surely burn it and scatter its ashes into the sea. Your God is only the One God; there is no god, but He alone who in His knowledge embraces everything.' 20:100 So We relate to thee stories of what has gone before, and We have given thee a remembrance from Us. Whosoever turns away from it, upon the Day of Resurrection He shall bear a fardel, therein abiding forever; how evil upon the Day of Resurrection that burden for them! On the day the Trumpet is blown; and We shall muster the sinners upon that day with eyes staring, whispering one to another, 'You have tarried only ten nights.' We know very well what they will say, when the justest of them in the way will say, 'You have tarried only a day.' 20:105 They will question thee concerning the mountains. Say: 'My Lord will scatter them as ashes; then He will leave them a level hollow wherein thou wilt see no crookedness neither any curving.' On that day they will follow the Summoner in whom is no crookedness; voices will be hushed to the All-merciful, so that thou hearest naught but a murmuring. Upon that day the intercession will not profit, save for him to whom the All-merciful gives leave, and whose speech He approves. He knows what is before them and behind them, and they comprehend Him not in knowledge. 20:110 And faces shall be humbled unto the Living, the Eternal. He will have failed whose burden is of evildoing; but whosoever does deeds of righteousness, being a believer, shall fear neither wrong nor injustice. Even so We have sent it down as an Arabic Koran, and We have turned about in it something of threats, that haply they may be godfearing, or it may arouse in them remembrance. So high exalted be God, the true King! And hasten not with the Koran ere its revelation is accomplished unto thee; and say, 'O my Lord, increase me in knowledge.' 20:115 And We made covenant with Adam before, but he forgot, and We found in him no constancy. And when We said to the angels, 'Bow yourselves to Adam'; so they bowed themselves, save Iblis; he refused. Then We said, 'Adam, surely this is an enemy to thee and thy wife. So let him not expel you both from the Garden, so that thou art unprosperous. It is a**uredly given to thee neither to hunger therein, nor to go naked, neither to thirst therein, nor to suffer the sun.' Then Satan whispered to him saying, 'Adam, shall I point thee to the Tree of Eternity, and a Kingdom that decays not?' So the two of them ate of it, and their shameful parts revealed to them, and they took to stitching upon themselves leaves of the Garden. And Adam disobeyed his Lord, and so he erred. 20:120 Thereafter his Lord chose him, and turned again unto him, and He guided him. Said He, 'Get you down, both of you together, out of it, each of you an enemy to each; but if there comes to you from Me guidance, then whosoever follows My guidance shall not go astray, neither shall he be unprosperous; but whosoever turns away from My remembrance, his shall be a life of narrowness, and on the Resurrection Day We shall raise him blind.' 20:125 He shall say, 'O my Lord, why hast thou raised me blind, and I was won't to see?' God shall say, 'Even so it is. Our signs came unto thee, and thou didst forget them; and so today thou art forgotten.' So We recompense him who is prodigal and believes not in the signs of his Lord; and the chastisement of the world to come is more terrible and more enduring. Is it not a guidance to them, how many generations We destroyed before them in whose dwelling-places they walk? Surely in that are signs for men possessing reason. And but for a word that preceded from thy Lord, and a stated term, it had been fastened. 20:130 So be thou patient under what they say, and proclaim thy Lord's praise before the rising of the sun, and before its setting, and proclaim thy Lord's praise in the watches of the night, and at the ends of the day; haply thou wilt be well-pleasing. Stretch not thine eyes to that We have given pairs of them to enjoy -- the flower of the present life, that We may try them therein and thy Lord's provision is better, and more enduring. And bid thy family to pray, and be thou patient in it; We ask of thee no provision, but it is We who provide thee. And the issue ultimate is to godfearing. They say, 'Why does he not bring us a sign from his Lord?' Has there not come to them the clear sign of what is in the former scrolls? Had We destroyed them with a chastisement aforetime, they would have said, 'Our Lord, why didst Thou not send us a Messenger, so that we might have followed Thy signs before that we were humiliated and degraded?' 20:135 Say: 'Everyone is waiting; so wait, and a**uredly you shall know who are the travellers on the even path, and who is guided.'