SURA LXXIII (73) - The Enfolded   (Mecca - 20 Verses)          (III - 24)     
 
       In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
 
       O Thou enfolded in thy mantle,
 
       Stand up all night, except a small port of it, for prayer:
 
       Half or curtail the half a little, -
 
       Or add to it:  And with measured tone intone the Koran,
 
       For we shall devolve on thee weighty words.
 
       Verily, at the oncoming of night are devout impressions strongest, and
words are most collected;
 
       But in the day time thou hast continual employ -
 
       And commemorate the name of thy Lord, and devote thyself to Him with
entire devotion.
 
       Lord of the East and of the West!  No God is there but He!  Take Him for
thy protector,
 
73:10  And endure what they say with patience, and depart from them with a
decorous departure.
 
       And let Me alone with the gainsayers, rich in the pleasures of this
life; and bear thou with them yet a little while:
 
       For with Us are strong fetters, and a flaming fire,
 
       And food that choketh, and a sore torment.
 
       The day cometh when the earth and the mountains shall be shaken; and the
mountains shall become a loose sand heap.
 
       Verily, we have sent you an Apostle to witness against you, even as we
sent an Apostle to Pharaoh:
 
       But Pharaoh rebelled against the Apostle, and we therefore laid hold on
him with a severe chastisement.
 
       And how, if ye believe not, will you screen yourselves from the day that
shall turn children greyheaded?
 
       The very heaven shall be reft asunder by it:  this threat shall be
carried into effect.
 
       Lo! this is a warning.  Let him then who will, take the way to his Lord.
 
73:20  Of a truth, thy Lord knoweth that thou prayest almost two-thirds, or
half, or a third of the night, as do a part of thy followers.  But God
measureth the night and the day: - He knoweth that ye cannot count its hours
aright, and therefore, turneth to you mercifully.  Recite then so much of the
Koran as may be easy to you.  He knoweth that there will be some among you
sick, while others travel through the earth in quest of the bounties of God;
and other do battle in his cause.  Recite therefore so much of it as may be
easy.  And observe the Prayers and pay the legal Alms, and lend God a liberal
loan: for whatever good works ye send on before for your own behoof, ye shall
find with God.  This will be best and richest in the recompense.  And seek the
forgiveness of God: verily, God is forgiving, Merciful.
 
