(10) “We have certainly sent down to you a Book in which lies your renown. Will you not then understand?”

We have sent down to you—O people to whom Muhammad ibn Abd al-Muttalib has been sent—a glorious Book and a clear Quran, “in which lies your renown”: that is, your honor, pride, and elevation. If you heed the truthful accounts it contains and believe them, obey its commands, and avoid its prohibitions, your standing will be elevated and your stature will become great. “Will you not then understand” what benefits you and what harms you? How can you fail to embrace and act upon that which contains your renown and honor in this world and the Hereafter? Had you possessed understanding, you would have followed this ⦗520⦘ path. Since you did not follow it but instead pursued other paths that bring abasement and humiliation in this world and the Hereafter, as well as misery in both, it is evident that you possess neither sound understanding nor discerning judgment.

What subsequently occurred attests to the truth of this verse. Those who believed in the Messenger and heeded the Quran—from the Companions onward—attained such eminence, dazzling ascendancy, immense renown, and prestige surpassing that of kings as is known to everyone. Likewise, it is well known what befell those who paid no heed to this Quran, were not guided by it, and did not purify themselves through it: odium, abasement, defilement, and misery. There is therefore no path to happiness in this world and the Hereafter except by heeding this Book.