An-Najm

CONSIDER this unfolding [of God’s message], as it comes down from on high!

This fellow-man of yours has not gone astray, nor is he deluded,

and neither does he speak out of his own desire:

that [which he conveys to you] is but [a divine] inspiration with which he is being inspired –

something that a very mighty one has imparted to him:

[an angel] endowed with sur­passing power, who in time manifested himself in his true shape and nature,

appearing in the horizon’s loftiest part,

and then drew near, and came close,

until he was but two bow-lengths away, or even nearer.

And thus did [God] reveal unto His servant whatever He deemed right to reveal.

The [servant’s] heart did not give the lie to what he saw:

will you, then, contend with him as to what he saw?

And, indeed, he saw him a second time

by the lote-tree of the farthest limit,

near unto the garden of promise.