THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL (Al-Isra)

17:1-7
1
Glorified be He Who carried His servant by night from the Inviolable Place of Worship to the Far distant
place of worship the neighbourhood whereof We have blessed, that We might show him of Our tokens!
Lo! He, only He, is the Hearer, the Seer.
2
We gave unto Moses the Scripture, and We appointed it a guidance for the children of Israel, saying:
Choose no guardian beside Me.
He [Allah] carried his servant [Muhammad] one night from one place of worship to another one far away.
[1]
We [Allah] did this to show him our tokens!
3
(They were) the seed of those whom We carried (in the ship) along with Noah. Lo! he
was a grateful slave.
4
And We decreed for the Children of Israel in the Scripture: Ye verily will work corruption in the earth twice, and
ye will become great tyrants.
5
So when the time for the first of the two came, We roused against you slaves of Ours of great might who ravaged
(your) country, and it was a threat performed.
6
Then we gave you once again your turn against them, and We aided you with wealth and children and made you more in soldiery.
7
(Saying): If ye do good, ye do good for your own souls, and if ye do evil, it is for them (in like manner). So, when the time
for the second (of the judgments) came (We roused against you others of Our slaves) to ravage you, and to enter the Temple
even as they entered it the first time, and to lay waste all that they conquered with an utter wasting.
Noah was a grateful slave. [2]
How many generations have We destroyed!
8
It may be that your Lord will have mercy on you, but if ye repeat (the crime) We shall
repeat (the punishment), and We have appointed hell a dungeon for the
disbelievers.
9
Lo! this Qur'an guideth unto that which is straightest, and giveth tidings unto the believers who do good works that
theirs will be a great reward.
We have made hell a dungeon for disbelievers.
10
And that those who believe not in the Hereafter, for them We have
prepared a painful doom.
11
Man prayeth for evil as he prayeth for good; for man was ever hasty.
12
And We appoint the night and the day two portents. Then We make dark the portent of the night, and We make the portent
of the day sight-giving, that ye may seek bounty from your Lord, and that ye may know the computation of the years,
and the reckoning; and everything have We expounded with a clear expounding.
13
And every man's augury have We fastened to his own neck, and We shall bring forth for him on the Day of Resurrection
a book which he will find wide open.
14
(And it will be said unto him): Read thy Book. Thy soul sufficeth as reckoner against thee this day.
15
Whosoever goeth right, it is only for (the good of) his own soul that he goeth right, and whosoever erreth,
erreth only to its hurt. No laden soul can bear another's load, We never punish until we have sent a messenger.
We have prepared a painful doom for those who disbelieve in the hereafter.
16
And when We would destroy a township We send commandment to its
folk who live at ease, and afterward they commit abomination therein, and so the
Word (of doom) hath effect for it, and we annihilate it with complete
annihilation.
We (the Word of doom?) destroyed entire towns by annihilating them with complete annihilation.
17
How many generations have We destroyed since Noah! And Allah sufficeth as Knower and Beholder
of the sins of His slaves.
How many generations we have destroyed since Noah! [3]
18
Whoso desireth that (life) which hasteneth away, We hasten for him therein what We will
for whom We please. And afterward We have appointed for him hell; he
will endure the heat thereof, condemned, rejected.
19
And whoso desireth the Hereafter and striveth for it with the effort necessary, being a believer; for
such, their effort findeth favour (with their Lord).
20
Each do We supply, both these and those, from the bounty of thy Lord. And the bounty of thy Lord can never be walled up.
21
See how We prefer one of them above another, and verily the Hereafter will be greater in degrees and greater in preferment.
22
Set not up with Allah any other god (O man) lest thou sit down reproved, forsaken.
We have created a hell for those who desire life in this world.

17:23-38
23
Thy Lord hath decreed, that ye worship none save Him, and (that ye show)
kindness to parents. If one of them or both of them attain old age with thee, say not
"Fie" unto them nor repulse them, but speak unto them a gracious word.
24
And lower unto them the wing of submission through mercy, and say: My Lord! Have mercy on them both as they did
care for me when I was little.
25
Your Lord is Best Aware of what is in your minds. If ye are righteous, then lo! He was ever Forgiving unto
those who turn (unto Him).
Be kind to your parents.
Treat them with respect in their old age.
26
Give the kinsman his due, and the needy, and the wayfarer, and squander
not (thy wealth) in wantonness.
27
Lo! the squanderers were ever brothers of the devils, and the devil was ever an ingrate to his Lord.
28
But if thou turn away from them, seeking mercy from thy Lord, for which thou hopest, then speak unto them a reasonable word.
29
And let not thy hand be chained to thy neck nor open it with a complete opening, lest thou sit down rebuked, denuded.
30
Lo! thy Lord enlargeth the provision for whom He will, and straiteneth (it for whom He will). Lo, He was ever Knower,
Seer of His slaves.
Help your family, the needy, and wayfarer.
Don't selfishly squander your wealth.
31
Slay not your children, fearing a fall to poverty, We shall provide for them and for you. Lo!
the slaying of them is great sin.
32
And come not near unto adultery. Lo! it is an abomination and an evil way.
33
And slay not the life which Allah hath forbidden save with right. Whoso is slain wrongfully, We have given power
unto his heir, but let him not commit excess in slaying. Lo! he will be helped.
Don't kill your children to avoid falling into poverty.
34
Come not near the wealth of the orphan, save with that which is better till he come to strength;
and keep the covenant. Lo! of the covenant it will be asked.
35
Fill the measure when ye measure, and weigh with a right balance; that is meet, and better in the end.
Don't steal from orphans.
36
(O man), follow not that whereof thou hast no knowledge. Lo! the hearing and the sight and the
heart - of each of these it will be asked.
37
And walk not in the earth exultant. Lo! thou canst not rend the earth, nor canst thou stretch to the height of the hills.
38
The evil of all that is hateful in the sight of thy Lord.
Don't follow what you don't know.
Notes
- That We might show him of Our tokens! (v.1)
This verse supposedly refers to Muhammad's famous midnight ride on the back of a flying horse
(Al-Buraq) from Mecca to Jerusalem and then to heaven.
- Noah ... was a grateful slave. (v.3)
He probably didn't seem so grateful when he was drunk and naked in his tent, and then cursed his grandson (and all of
his descendants) with slavery for seeing him in this condidition. (See Genesis 9:20-29)
- How many generations have We destroyed since Noah! (v.17)
I give up. How many?
I suppose this is the Quran's clumsy way of referring to all of God's killings.