Al-Isra 17
The Night JourneyHow to read the Hangul
الرَّحْمَٰنِ르r라흐마니 بِسْمِ비스밀
- Bold = the stressed syllable of the word; a little stronger.
- Overline = long vowel (madd): hold it about two beats. Length matters most in recitation.
- Tiny = no vowel in the Arabic here — just the consonant, short.
- Small Latin letter = a sound Korean lacks, on the next syllable: f upper teeth on lower lip · θ/ð tongue tip between the teeth · r rolled tongue tip (a bare ㄹ is l).
How to read the Hangul
beginning the Christ salvation
- Bold, larger (ˈ) = say it strong and a little longer — the stressed syllable.
- Faint = weak and short (a reduced vowel). Don't give every syllable equal weight.
- Tiny 으 · 트 · 스 = barely voiced. English has no vowel there — stop on the consonant.
- Whole word faint (the, of, and, to…) = light and quick in a sentence; stress the content words.
- Small f v θ ð r = sounds Korean doesn't have — f: upper teeth on the lower lip; v: the same, voiced; θ/ð: tongue tip between the teeth; r: tongue curled back, touching nothing.
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Surah
About this surah
Classed as a Meccan sura, it begins with God taking His servant by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque to show him some of His signs. It turns to the Book given to Moses and the warning that the Children of Israel would twice spread corruption in the land and face the consequences. Each person's record will be laid open for him to read on the Day of Resurrection. A series of commands follows: worship God alone, honour and care for parents, give relatives and the needy their due without squandering, do not kill children for fear of poverty, avoid adultery, protect the orphan's property, give full measure and do not walk arrogantly. Iblis's refusal to bow to Adam, God's honouring of the children of Adam, a question about the Spirit, and the challenge that no one could produce a Quran like this all appear. It recalls Moses's nine signs and ends with praise of God, who has no son and no partner.
- The night journey
- Israel's two corruptions
- Duties to parents and others
- Dignity of Adam's children
- The Quran's challenge
The name The name comes from verse 1, which tells how God took His servant by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque.
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1
Glory be to Him who took His servant by night from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque, whose surroundings We have blessed, so that We might show him some of Our signs. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing.
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2
We gave Moses the Book and made it a guidance for the Children of Israel: "Do not take any guardian besides Me,
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you descendants of those We carried with Noah." He was a truly grateful servant.
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And We decreed for the Children of Israel in the Book: "You will surely spread corruption in the land twice, and you will surely become greatly arrogant."
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So when the promise of the first of the two came, We sent against you servants of Ours of great might, and they ravaged through the homes. It was a promise fulfilled.
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Then We gave you back the upper hand over them, and reinforced you with wealth and sons, and made you more numerous in manpower.
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If you do good, you do good for yourselves; and if you do evil, it is against yourselves. Then when the promise of the second came, [We sent them] to disgrace your faces, and to enter the Mosque as they entered it the first time, and to utterly destroy whatever they overran.
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Perhaps your Lord will have mercy on you. But if you return [to sin], We will return [to punishment]. And We have made Hell a prison for the disbelievers.
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This Quran guides to what is most upright, and gives good news to the believers who do righteous deeds that they will have a great reward,
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and that We have made ready a painful torment for those who reject the Hereafter.
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The human being calls for harm just as he calls for good; humans are always in a hurry.
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We have made the night and the day two signs. We erased the sign of the night and made the sign of the day give sight, so that you may seek bounty from your Lord and know the number of years and the reckoning [of time]. And We have explained everything in detail.
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We have fastened every person's fate to his neck, and on the Day of Resurrection We will bring out for him a record which he will find spread open:
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"Read your record. Today you yourself are sufficient as a reckoner against you."
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Whoever is guided is guided only for his own good, and whoever goes astray goes astray only to his own loss. No bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another. And We never punish until We have sent a messenger.
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When We intend to destroy a town, We command its affluent ones, but they transgress in it; so the word [of punishment] becomes due against it, and We destroy it utterly.
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How many generations have We destroyed after Noah! Your Lord is sufficient as One fully aware and seeing of the sins of His servants.
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Whoever desires the fleeting [life], We hasten for him in it what We will, for whom We intend. Then We have appointed for him Hell, in which he will burn, condemned and rejected.
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But whoever desires the Hereafter and strives for it with due effort, while being a believer, it is they whose effort will be appreciated.
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To each — these and those — We extend from the bounty of your Lord. The bounty of your Lord is not withheld.
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See how We have favoured some of them over others. But the Hereafter is greater in ranks and greater in excellence.
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Do not set up another god alongside God, or you will sit condemned and forsaken.
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Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him, and that you be good to your parents. If one or both of them reach old age with you, do not say to them [so much as] "Ugh," and do not repel them, but speak to them with noble words.
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And lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy, and say, "My Lord, have mercy on them, as they raised me when I was small."
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Your Lord knows best what is in your souls. If you are righteous, He is ever forgiving to those who turn back [to Him].
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Give the relative his due, and the needy and the traveller, and do not squander wastefully.
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The wasteful are brothers of the devils, and Satan is ever ungrateful to his Lord.
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And if you must turn away from them while seeking mercy from your Lord which you hope for, then speak to them gently.
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Do not keep your hand chained to your neck, nor stretch it out to its full extent, or you will sit blamed and destitute.
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Your Lord extends provision to whom He wills and restricts it. He is fully aware of His servants, All-Seeing.
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Do not kill your offspring out of dread of poverty. It is We who provide for them, and for you too. To kill them is truly a grave wrong.
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Do not go near adultery. It is an indecency and an evil way.
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Do not kill the soul which God has made sacred, except by right. Whoever is killed unjustly, We have given his heir authority, but let him not exceed limits in killing; he is [already] supported.
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Do not go near the orphan's property, except in the best way, until he reaches maturity. And fulfil the covenant; the covenant will be asked about.
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Give full measure when you measure, and weigh with an accurate balance. That is better and best in the end.
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Do not pursue what you have no knowledge of. Hearing, sight and the heart, all of these will be questioned.
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Do not walk on the earth arrogantly. You will never tear the earth apart, nor reach the mountains in height.
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All this — its evil is hateful in the sight of your Lord.
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That is part of the wisdom your Lord has revealed to you. Do not set up another god alongside God, or you will be cast into Hell, blamed and rejected.
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Has your Lord then chosen sons for you and taken for Himself daughters from among the angels? You are saying a monstrous thing.
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We have explained [things] in various ways in this Quran so that they may take heed, but it only increases them in aversion.
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Say, "Had there been other gods alongside Him, as they claim, they would certainly have tried to find a way to the Owner of the Throne."
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Glory be to Him! He is exalted high above what they say.
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The seven heavens and the earth and whoever is in them glorify Him. There is nothing that does not glorify Him with praise, but you do not understand their glorification. He is ever Forbearing, Most Forgiving.
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Whenever you recite the Quran, We set an unseen barrier between you and those who reject the Hereafter.
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And We have placed coverings over their hearts so that they do not understand it, and heaviness in their ears. When you mention your Lord alone in the Quran, they turn their backs in aversion.
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We know best what they listen for when they listen to you, and when they confer in secret, when the wrongdoers say, "You are only following a man bewitched."
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See how they strike comparisons for you; they have gone astray and cannot find a way.
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They say, "When we are bones and crumbled particles, will we really be raised up as a new creation?"
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Say, "Be stones or iron,
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or any creation that seems greater in your minds." Then they will say, "Who will bring us back?" Say, "He who created you the first time." Then they will shake their heads at you and say, "When will it be?" Say, "Perhaps it is near.
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On the Day He calls you, you will respond with His praise, and you will think that you stayed [in the world] only a little while."
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Tell My servants to say what is best. Satan sows discord among them; Satan is ever a clear enemy to man.
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Your Lord knows you best. If He wills, He will have mercy on you, or if He wills, He will punish you. We have not sent you as a guardian over them.
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Your Lord knows better than anyone all who are in the heavens and the earth. We have given some prophets precedence over others, and We granted David the Psalms.
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Say, "Call on those you claim [as gods] besides Him. They have no power to remove harm from you or to change it."
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Those whom they call on themselves seek a means of access to their Lord, [striving to see] which of them will be nearest, and they hope for His mercy and fear His punishment. The punishment of your Lord is ever to be feared.
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There is no town that We will not destroy before the Day of Resurrection or punish with a severe punishment. That is inscribed in the Book.
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Nothing prevents Us from sending signs except that the earlier peoples denied them. We gave Thamud the she-camel as a visible sign, but they wronged her. We send signs only as a warning.
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And when We said to you, "Your Lord encompasses the people." We made the vision which We showed you only a trial for people, and [likewise] the tree cursed in the Quran. We warn them, but it only increases them in great transgression.
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And when We said to the angels, "Prostrate to Adam," they prostrated, except Iblis. He said, "Should I prostrate to one You created from clay?"
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He said, "Do You see this one whom You have honoured above me? If You grant me respite until the Day of Resurrection, I will surely bring his descendants under my control, except a few."
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[God] said, "Go! Whoever of them follows you, Hell will be the recompense of you all, an ample recompense.
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Incite with your voice whoever of them you can, and rally against them your cavalry and your infantry, and share with them in wealth and children, and make them promises." But Satan promises them nothing but delusion.
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"As for My servants, you will have no authority over them." And your Lord is sufficient as a guardian.
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Your Lord is He who drives the ships for you through the sea so that you may seek of His bounty. He is ever Most Merciful to you.
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When harm touches you at sea, those you call on vanish, except Him. But when He brings you safely to land, you turn away. Man is ever ungrateful.
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Do you feel secure that He will not cause a side of the land to swallow you, or send against you a storm of stones, and then you will find no guardian for yourselves?
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Or do you feel secure that He will not send you back to [the sea] another time, and send against you a shattering wind and drown you for your ingratitude? Then you will find no one to demand redress from Us for it.
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We have honoured the children of Adam, carried them on land and sea, provided them with good things, and favoured them greatly over much of what We have created.
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On the Day We call every people with their leader, those who are given their record in their right hand will read their records, and they will not be wronged by so much as a thread.
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But whoever is blind in this [world] will be blind in the Hereafter, and further astray from the path.
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They nearly tempted you away from what We revealed to you, so that you would invent something else against Us; and then they would have taken you as a close friend.
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Had We not made you firm, you might almost have inclined to them a little.
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Then We would have made you taste double [punishment] in life and double in death, and then you would have found no helper against Us.
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They nearly drove you out of the land to expel you from it; but then they would not have remained after you except for a little while.
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[This is Our] way with the messengers We sent before you, and you will find no change in Our way.
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Keep up the prayer from the decline of the sun until the darkness of the night, and [the recitation of] the Quran at dawn. The dawn recitation is ever witnessed.
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And in part of the night, keep vigil with it as an extra [devotion] for you. Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a praiseworthy station.
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Say, "My Lord, let me enter with a true entrance and let me leave with a true exit, and grant me from Yourself a supporting authority."
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And say, "The truth has come and falsehood has perished. Falsehood is bound to perish."
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We send down of the Quran what is healing and mercy for the believers, but it only increases the wrongdoers in loss.
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When We bestow favour on man, he turns away and distances himself; and when evil touches him, he is in despair.
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Say, "Everyone acts according to his own disposition, and your Lord knows best who is best guided on the way."
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They ask you about the Spirit. Say, "The Spirit is of my Lord's command, and you have been given only a little knowledge."
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If We willed, We could take away what We have revealed to you; then you would find no guardian for it against Us,
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except as a mercy from your Lord. His favour upon you is great indeed.
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Say, "If mankind and the jinn gathered together to produce the like of this Quran, they could not produce its like, even if they helped one another."
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We have set forth for people in this Quran every kind of example, yet most people refuse everything but disbelief.
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They say, "We will never believe in you until you cause a spring to burst out of the earth for us,
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or you have a garden of date palms and grapevines and make rivers gush forth abundantly within it,
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or you make the sky fall upon us in pieces, as you have claimed, or you bring God and the angels before us face to face,
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or you have a house of gold, or you ascend into the sky. And we will not believe in your ascent until you bring down to us a book that we can read." Say, "Glory be to my Lord! Am I anything but a human being sent as a messenger?"
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When guidance reached people, the only thing that kept them from believing was their saying, "Would God send a mere human as His messenger?"
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Say, "If there were angels on the earth walking about in peace, We would have sent down to them from the sky an angel as a messenger."
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Say, "God is sufficient as a witness between me and you. He is fully aware of His servants, All-Seeing."
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Whoever God guides is rightly guided, and whoever He leaves astray, you will find for them no protectors besides Him. We will gather them on the Day of Resurrection on their faces, blind, dumb and deaf. Their refuge will be Hell; whenever it subsides, We will increase the blaze for them.
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That is their recompense because they disbelieved in Our signs and said, "When we are bones and crumbled particles, will we really be raised up as a new creation?"
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Have they not seen that God, who created the heavens and the earth, is able to create the like of them? He has appointed for them a term about which there is no doubt. Yet the wrongdoers refuse everything but disbelief.
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Say, "If you possessed the treasuries of my Lord's mercy, you would hold them back for fear of spending." Man is ever stingy.
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To Moses We gave nine evident signs. Ask the Children of Israel: when he came to them, Pharaoh told him, "Moses, I believe you are under a spell."
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He said, "You know well that none has sent these down except the Lord of the heavens and the earth, as clear evidence. And I think, Pharaoh, that you are doomed."
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So he wanted to drive them out of the land, but We drowned him and all who were with him.
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And after him We said to the Children of Israel, "Dwell in the land. Then when the promise of the Hereafter comes, We will bring you all together."
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With the truth We have sent it down, and with the truth it has come down. We have sent you only as a bearer of good news and a warner.
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[It is] a Quran which We have divided [into parts] so that you may recite it to people at intervals, and We have sent it down in stages.
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Say, "Believe in it or do not believe." Those who were given knowledge before it, when it is recited to them, fall down on their faces in prostration,
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and they say, "Exalted is our Lord! Our Lord's promise is bound to be fulfilled."
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They fall down on their faces weeping, and it increases them in humility.
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Say, "Call on God or call on the Most Gracious; whichever you call on, to Him belong the most beautiful names." Do not be too loud in your prayer nor too quiet, but seek a way between.
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And say, "Praise be to God, who has not taken a son, and who has no partner in sovereignty, nor does He need any protector out of weakness." And proclaim His greatness with all glorification.