AL-ISRA’ (THE NIGHT JOURNEY)
MECCA PERIOD
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE:
(1) LIMITLESS in His glory is He who transported His servant by night from the Inviolable House of Worship [at Mecca] to the Remote House of Worship [at Jerusalem] — the environs of which We had blessed — so that We might show him some of Our symbols: for, verily, He alone is all-hearing, all-seeing.
(2) And [thus, too,] We vouchsafed revelation unto Moses, and made it a [source of] guidance for the children of Israel, [commanding them:] “Do not ascribe to any but Me the power to determine your fate,
(3) O you descendants of those whom We caused to be borne [in the ark] with Noah! Behold, he was a most grateful servant [of Ours]!”
(4) And we made [this] known to the children of Israel through revelation: “Twice, indeed, will you spread corruption on earth and will indeed become grossly overbearing!”
(5) Hence, when the prediction of the first of those two [periods of iniquity] came true, We sent against you some of Our bondmen of terrible prowess in war, and they wrought havoc throughout the land: and so the prediction was fulfilled.
(6) And after a time We allowed you to prevail against them once again, and aided you with wealth and offspring, and made you more numerous [than ever].
(7) [And We said:] “If you persevere in doing good, you will but be doing good to yourselves; and if you do evil, it will be [done] to yourselves.”
And so, when the prediction of the second [period of your iniquity] came true, [We raised new enemies against you, and allowed them] to disgrace you utterly, and to enter the Temple as [their forerunners] had entered it once before, and to destroy with utter destruction all that they had conquered.
(8) Your Sustainer may well show mercy unto you; but if you revert [to sinning], We shall revert [to chastising you]. And [remember this:] We have ordained that [in the hereafter] hell shall close upon all who deny the truth.
Source: The Quran. Surah 17, Verses 1-8.
A Warning to the Children of Israel.