وَلَقَد رَآهُ نَزلَةً أُخرىٰ

And he certainly saw him in another descent.

عِندَ سِدرَةِ المُنتَهىٰ

At the Lote Tree of the Ultimate Boundary.

عِندَها جَنَّةُ المَأوىٰ

Besides it is the Garden of Refuge.

إِذ يَغشَى السِّدرَةَ ما يَغشىٰ

When the Lote Tree was shrouded by what shrouded it.

ما زاغَ البَصَرُ وَما طَغىٰ

The sight didn’t swerve, nor did it overstep.

أَفَرَأَيتُمُ اللّاتَ وَالعُزّىٰ

Did you consider al-Lat and al-Uzza?

وَمَناةَ الثّالِثَةَ الأُخرىٰ

And Manat, the third one, the other?

أَلَكُمُ الذَّكَرُ وَلَهُ الأُنثىٰ

So for you the male and for Him the female?

تِلكَ إِذًا قِسمَةٌ ضيزىٰ

What a bizarre distribution!

إِن هِيَ إِلّا أَسماءٌ سَمَّيتُموها أَنتُم وَآباؤُكُم ما أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ بِها مِن سُلطانٍ ۚ إِن يَتَّبِعونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ وَما تَهوَى الأَنفُسُ ۖ وَلَقَد جاءَهُم مِن رَبِّهِمُ الهُدىٰ

These are nothing but names you named—you and your forefathers—without any authorization from God. They follow nothing except assumption and what the souls desire, even though guidance did come to them from their Lord.