Texts of Islam

The Qur'ân, ed. Palmer (SBE6): XIII. The Chapter of...

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This is Surah Ar-Ra'd (Chapter 13, "The Thunder") from the Qur'an, presented in E.H. Palmer's 1880 English translation published in the Sacred Books of the East series. The surah opens with declarations of God's creative power over the cosmos — the heavens, earth, celestial bodies, rain, and vegetation — presenting these as signs for those willing to reflect. Its central theological argument is the absolute sovereignty and omniscience of God: He alone controls fate, guides or leads astray, and will hold all souls to account, rendering idol-worship and the demand for miracles from the Prophet futile. The surah draws a sharp contrast between believers whose hearts find peace in remembrance of God and who will enter gardens of Eden, and disbelievers who face torment in this life and the next. A notable feature is its repeated rhetorical challenge to skeptics — "shall we really be created anew?" — answered with parables such as floodwater carrying off scum while useful sediment remains, illustrating how truth outlasts falsehood. The translator's footnotes reflect 19th-century Orientalist scholarship, including a philological note on a rare dialectal word and a historical gloss linking Qur'anic imagery to early Islamic conquests.

The Qur'ân, ed. Palmer (SBE6): XIII. The Chapter of...

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