(1–11) “In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. Hā Mīm. The revelation of the Book is from Allah, the Almighty, the All-Wise. Surely in the heavens and the earth are signs for the believers. And in your own creation and the living creatures He disperses are signs for people of sure faith. And in the alternation of night and day, the provision Allah sends down from the sky, reviving the earth with it after its death, and the shifting of the winds are signs for people who understand. These are the signs of Allah, which We recite to you in truth. So in what message, after Allah and His signs, will they believe? Woe to every sinful liar! He hears the signs of Allah recited to him, then persists arrogantly as though he had not heard them. So give him tidings of a painful punishment. Whenever he learns anything of Our signs, he takes them in mockery. For such people is a humiliating punishment. Ahead of them lies Hell. Neither what they have earned nor the protectors they have taken besides Allah will avail them at all, and theirs will be a tremendous punishment. This is guidance. As for those who disbelieve in the signs of their Lord, theirs will be a punishment of agonizing torment.”

The Most High gives an account that entails the command to venerate the Quran and give it due care. He declares that it is a “revelation” “from Allah”—the One acknowledged as God and worshipped because of His attributes of perfection and the blessings He alone bestows, and the One possessed of perfect might and consummate wisdom.

He then confirms this by mentioning the signs in the horizons and within human beings: the creation of the heavens and the earth; the living creatures He has dispersed throughout them; the benefits He has placed within them; and the water Allah sends down, through which He gives life to lands and people.

All of these are manifest signs and clear proofs of the truthfulness of this magnificent Quran and the soundness of the wisdom and rulings it contains. They also demonstrate the perfection that belongs to Allah Most High and prove the resurrection and emergence from the graves.

The Most High then divides people into two groups according to whether or not they benefit from His signs.

One group uses them as evidence, reflects upon them, benefits from them, and thereby rises in rank. These are those who believe fully in Allah, His angels, His Books, His messengers, and the Last Day—a faith that brings them to the degree of certainty. This purifies their minds, and through it their understanding, intellect, and knowledge increase.

The other group hears the signs of Allah in such a way that the proof is established against them, but then turns away from them in arrogance as though they had never heard them. This is because the signs neither refined nor purified their hearts. Rather, their arrogance toward them only increased their transgression.

Whenever such a person learns anything of Allah’s signs, he takes them in mockery. Allah Most High therefore threatens him with woe, saying:

“Woe to every sinful liar!”

That is, a liar in his speech and a sinner in his deeds.

He states that such a person will suffer a painful punishment and that “ahead of them lies Hell,” which suffices as their dreadful punishment. He also declares that “what they have earned” of wealth will not avail them, “nor the protectors they have taken besides Allah,” from whom they seek aid; instead, those protectors will forsake them when they need them most—if indeed they could ever have afforded them any benefit.

Having explained His signs in the Quran and those visible in creation, and that people fall into two groups concerning them, He states that the Quran, which encompasses these lofty teachings, is guidance. He says: “This is guidance.” This is a general description of the entire Quran: it guides to knowledge of Allah Most High through His sacred attributes and praiseworthy acts; it guides to knowledge of His messengers, His allies, His enemies, and their respective qualities; it guides to righteous deeds, calls people to them, identifies evil deeds, and forbids them; and it clarifies the recompense for deeds, both in this world and in the Hereafter. Those who accept its guidance are thereby rightly guided, attaining prosperity and happiness. ⦗776⦘ “As for those who disbelieve in the clear and decisive signs of their Lord”—which none deny except those whose wrongdoing has become severe and whose transgression has multiplied—“theirs will be a punishment of agonizing torment.”