14. Ibrahim: Abraham (tr. Palmer)

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This is Surah Ibrahim (Chapter 14) of the Quran, a Meccan chapter in the Islamic scriptural tradition, presented here in a 19th-century English translation (likely Palmer's or Sale's, given the archaic diction). The chapter's central argument is that God repeatedly sends prophets — Moses, and those to the peoples of Noah, Ad, and Thamud — to lead communities from darkness into light, but most reject them and face destruction as a consequence. A substantial portion is devoted to Abraham's prayers for Mecca and his descendants, establishing the theological and genealogical grounding of Islam's connection to the Abrahamic tradition. The chapter includes a vivid parable contrasting a "good word" to a firmly rooted tree bearing constant fruit versus a "bad word" to a diseased tree torn from the ground — one of the Quran's more developed metaphorical passages. It closes with eschatological imagery of Judgment Day: the earth replaced, sinners shackled in fetters wearing shirts of pitch, and Satan disavowing responsibility for those who followed him, insisting he only called and they chose to answer. The chapter's distinctive emphasis is on ingratitude as humanity's defining failure — God's enumerable blessings (water, ships, sun, rivers) are contrasted repeatedly with man described as "very unjust and ungrateful."

14. Ibrahim: Abraham (tr. Palmer)

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