Ali Quli Qarai, The Qur’ān with a Phrase-by-Phrase English Translation (2005)
5 the Lord of the heavens and the earth
and whatever is between them,
and the Lord of the easts.1
6 Indeed We have adorned the lowest heaven 2
with the finery of the stars,3
7 and to guard from any froward devil.
8 They do not eavesdrop on the Supernal Elite
but are shot at from every side,
9 to drive them away,
and for them there is a constant mortification,
10 except him who snatches a snatch,4
whereat there pursues him a piercing flame.5
11 Ask them, is their creation more prodigious 6
or [that of other creatures] that We have created?
Indeed We created them from a viscous clay.
12 Indeed you wonder,
while they engage in ridicule,
13 and [even] when admonished
do not take admonition,
14 and when they see a sign
they make it an object of ridicule,
15 and say,
‘This is nothing but plain magic!’
16 ‘What! When we are dead
1 That is, the points of sunrise at the winter and summer solstices. Cf. 7:137; 55:17; 70:40.
2 Or ‘the heaven of the earth,’ or ‘the nearest heaven.’
3 Or ‘We have adorned the nearest heaven with an adornment, the stars.’
4 That is, of celestial intelligence. See Ṭabarī for several related traditions from the Prophet (ṣ).
5 Cf. 15:17-18.
6 Or ‘more tough’ (or strong), or ‘more difficult.’ Cf. 79:27.
