Ali Quli Qarai, The Qur’ān with a Phrase-by-Phrase English Translation (2005)
12 It is He who shows you the lightning,
inspiring fear and hope,
and He produces the clouds heavy [with rain].
13 The Thunder celebrates His praise,
and the angels [too], in awe of Him,
and He releases the thunderbolts
and strikes with them whomever He wishes.
Yet they dispute concerning Allah,
though He is great in might.1
14 [Only] to Him belongs the true invocation;2
and those whom they invoke besides Him
do not answer them in any wise —
like someone who stretches his hands towards water
[desiring] that it should reach his mouth,
but it does not reach it —
and the invocations of the faithless only go awry.
15 To Allah prostrates whoever there is in the heavens
and the earth,
willingly or unwillingly,
and their shadows at sunrise and sunset.
16 Say,
‘Who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth?’
Say, ‘Allah!’
Say, ‘Have you then taken others besides Him
for guardians,
who have no control over their own benefit
or harm?’
Say,
1 Or ‘though He is severe in punishment.’
2 Or ‘His is the invitation to the truth,’ or ‘His is the true invitation.’
