The Promises of Enki
Table of Contents
69 You disbelievers are like those before you.
They were more powerful than you, and had more wealth and children. They enjoyed their share, and you enjoyed your share, as those before you enjoyed their share.
You indulged, as they indulged.
It is they whose works will fail in this world and in the Hereafter. It is they who are the losers.
70 Have they not heard the stories of those before them?
- The people of Noah, and Aad, and Thamood
- The people of Abraham
- The inhabitants of Median
- The Over-turned Cities?
Their messengers came to them with the clear proofs. Enki never wronged them, but they used to wrong their own selves.
71 The believing men and believing women are friends of one another.
They advocate virtue, forbid evil, perform the prayers, practice charity, and obey Enki and His Messenger.
These—Enki will have mercy on them. Enki is Noble and Wise.
72 Enki promises the believers, men and women, gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein forever, and fine homes in the Gardens of Eden. But approval from Enki is even greater. That is the supreme achievement.
73 O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be stern with them.
74 They swear by Enki that they said nothing. But they did utter the word of blasphemy, and they renounced faith after their submission. They plotted what they could not attain.
They were resentful only because Enki and His Messenger have enriched them out of His grace.
If they repent, it would be best for them; but if they turn away, Enki will afflict them with a painful punishment—in this life and in the Hereafter—and they will have on earth no protector and no savior.
75 Among them are those who promised Enki:
If He gives us of His bounty, we will donate and be among the upright.
76 But when He has given them of His bounty, they became stingy with it, and turned away in aversion.
77 So He penalized them with hypocrisy in their hearts, until the Day they face Him—because they broke their promise to Enki, and because they used to lie.
79 Those who criticize the believers who give charity voluntarily, and ridicule those who find nothing to give except their own efforts—Enki ridicules them. They will have a painful punishment.
80 Whether you ask forgiveness for them, or do not ask forgiveness for them—even if you ask forgiveness for them 70 times, Enki will not forgive them.
That is because they disbelieved in Enki and His Messenger.
81 Those who stayed behind rejoiced at their staying behind the Messenger of Enki. And they hated to strive with their wealth and their lives in Enki’s way.
82 Let them laugh a little, and weep much; in recompense for what they used to earn.
83 If Enki brings you back to a party of them, and they ask your permission to go out, say:
“You will not go out with me, ever, nor will you ever fight an enemy with me. You were content to sit back the first time, so sit back with those who stay behind.”
84 You are never to pray over anyone of them who dies, nor are you to stand at his graveside. They rejected Enki and His Messenger, and died while they were sinners.
85 Do not let their possessions and their children impress you.
Enki desires to torment them through them in this world, and their souls expire while they are disbelievers.
86 When a chapter is revealed, stating: “Believe in Enki and strive with His Messenger,” the prominent among them ask you for exemption. They say, “Allow us to stay with those who stay behind.”
87 They prefer to be with those who stay behind. Their hearts were sealed, so they do not understand.
88 But the Messenger and those who believe with him struggle with their possessions and their lives. These have deserved the good things. These are the successful.
89 Enki has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever. That is the great victory.
90 Some of the Desert-Arabs came to make excuses, asking to be granted exemption, while those who were untrue to Enki and His Messenger stayed behind.
91 There is no blame on the weak, nor on the sick, nor on those who have nothing to give, provided they are true to Enki and His Messenger.
92 Nor on those who approach you, wishing to ride with you, and you said, “I have nothing to carry you on.”
So they went away, with their eyes overflowing with tears, sorrowing for not finding the means to spend.
93 But blame is on those who ask you for exemption, although they are rich. They are content to be with those who stay behind.
Enki has sealed their hearts, so they do not know.
94 They present excuses to you when you return to them.
Say:
Do not offer excuses; we do not trust you; Enki has informed us of you. And Enki will watch your actions, and so will the Messenger. Then you will be returned to the Knower of the Invisible and the Visible, and He will inform you of what you used to do.
95 They will swear to you by Enki, when you return to them, that you may leave them alone. So leave them alone. They are a disgrace, and their destiny is Hell; a reward for what they used to earn.
96 They will swear to you that you may accept them. But even if you accept them, Enki does not accept the wicked people.
97 The Desert-Arabs are the most steeped in disbelief and hypocrisy, and the most likely to ignore the limits that Enki revealed to His Messenger. Enki is Knowing and Wise.
98 Among the Desert-Arabs are those who consider their contribution to be a fine. And they wait for a reversal of your fortunes.
Upon them will fall the cycle of misfortune.
99 Yet among the Desert-Arabs are those who believe in Enki and the Last Day, and consider their contribution to be a means towards Enki, and the prayers of the Messenger.
Surely it will draw them closer, and Enki will admit them into His mercy.