—an iron canopy over their heads; and I shall command the earth to turn into a solid sheet of copper, so that no sky will send down rain and no land will put forth a single shoot. If, in spite of that, any rain should fall, I will loose blight upon them; should anything escape the blight, I will strip it of blessing. If they call upon Me, I will not answer; if they ask of Me, I will not grant; if they weep, I will show them no mercy; and if they humble themselves before Me, I will turn My face away from them.
Yet if they say:
‘O Allah, it was You who first favored us and our forefathers with Your mercy and honor. You chose us for Yourself, placed among us Your Prophethood, Your Book, and Your mosques. You established us in the land and made us its heirs; You reared us—and those before us—by Your grace while we were small, and preserved us by Your mercy when we grew. You are the most faithful of benefactors even though we have changed, and You do not change even if we have. So perfect for us Your blessing, Your bounty, Your favor, Your generosity, and Your kindness.’
If they speak thus, I will reply:
‘I begin with My servants in mercy and favor: if they accept, I complete it; if they seek more, I increase it; if they give thanks, I multiply it. But if they alter, I alter; and when they alter, I grow angry. When I grow angry, I punish—and nothing can withstand My wrath.’
Kaʿb said:
Jeremiah then declared, ‘By Your mercy I awoke this morning to learn at Your feet. How could that befit me when I am too humble and weak to speak in Your presence? Yet by Your mercy You have kept me alive for this day. No one has more cause than I to fear this punishment and this warning, for I have long been content to dwell among the sinners while they disobey You all around me without my protest or correction. If You punish me, it is for my sin; and if You show mercy, that is the hope I cherish in You.’
He went on:
‘O Lord—glory and praise are Yours; blessed are You, our Lord, Exalted! Will You destroy this town and its surroundings, though they are the dwellings of Your prophets and the place of Your revelation? O Lord—glory and praise are Yours; blessed and exalted are You—will this mosque and the surrounding mosques and houses raised for Your remembrance be laid waste? O Lord—glory and praise are Yours; blessed and exalted are You—will this nation be slain and punished, though they are the descendants of Abraham, Your intimate friend, the community of Moses, Your confidant, and the people of David, Your chosen one? O Lord, which towns can ever feel safe from Your punishment after this, and which servants can ever feel secure from Your might once the offspring of Your friend Abraham, the community of Your confidant Moses, and the people of Your deputy David have been subjected to worshipers of fire?’
Allah the Exalted said:
‘O Jeremiah, let none who disobey Me find My vengeance strange. I honored these people for their obedience; had they disobeyed Me, I would have set them in the abode of the disobedient—unless My mercy overtook them.’
Jeremiah said:
‘O Lord, You took Abraham as a friend and safeguarded us by virtue of him; You brought Moses near as one spoken to. We beg You, therefore, to protect us, not to snatch us away, and not to give our enemy power over us.’
Then Allah revealed to him:
‘O Jeremiah, I sanctified you in your mother’s womb and preserved you for this very day. Had your people cared for the orphans, the widows, the poor, and the traveler in need, I would have been their supporter, and they would have stood with Me like a garden—its trees luxuriant, its water pure, its springs never failing, its fruit never spoiling or ceasing. But now I will lodge My complaint with you against the Children of Israel. I was to them like a compassionate caller: I shielded them from every drought and hardship and led them from one bounty to another.’