A Meccan sura that describes punishment in this life (verses 4–12) and the next (verses 13–18). The bliss to be enjoyed by the believers is eloquently contrasted with the torments of hell (verses 19–37). From verse 38 onwards, God affirms the Truth of the Quran and the Prophet.
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy
1 The Inevitable Hour! 2 What is the Inevitable Hour? 3 What will explain to you what the Inevitable Hour is?
4 The people of Thamud and Ad denied that the crashing blow [a] would come: 5 Thamud was destroyed by a deafening blast; 6 Ad was destroyed by a furious wind 7 that God let loose against them for seven consecutive nights, eight consecutive days, so that you could have seen its people lying dead like hollow palm-trunks. 8 Can you see any trace of them now? 9 Pharaoh, too, and those before him, and the ruined cities: these people committed grave sins and disobeyed the messenger of their Lord, so He seized them with an ever tightening grip. 10 But when the Flood rose high, 11 We saved you in the floating ship, 12 making that event a reminder for you: attentive ears may take heed.
13 When the Trumpet is sounded a single time, 14 when the earth and its mountains are raised high and then crushed with a single blow, 15 on that Day the Great Event will come to pass. 16 The sky will be torn apart on that Day, it will be so frail. 17 The angels will be on all sides of it and, on that Day, eight of them will bear the throne of your Lord above them. 18 On that Day you will be brought to judgement and none of your secrets will remain hidden. 19 Anyone who is given his Record in his right hand will say, ‘Here is my Record, read it. 20 I knew I would meet my Reckoning,’ 21 and so he will have a pleasant life 22 in a lofty Garden, 23 with clustered fruit within his reach. 24 It will be said, ‘Eat and drink to your heart’s content as a reward for what you have done in days gone by.’ 25 But anyone who is given his Record in his left hand will say, ‘If only I had never been given any Record 26 and knew nothing of my Reckoning. 27 How I wish death had been the end of me. 28 My wealth has been no use to me, 29 and my power has vanished.’ 30 ‘Take him, put a collar on him, 31 lead him to burn in the blazing Fire, 32 and [bind him] in a chain seventy meters [b] long: 33 he would not believe in Almighty God, 34 he never encouraged feeding the hungry, 35 so today he has no real friend here, 36 and the only food he has is the filth 37 that only sinners eat.’
Glorify your Lord, the Almighty
38 So I swear by what you can see 39 and by what you cannot see: 40 this [Quran] is the speech of an honored messenger, 41 not the words of a poet– how little you believe!– 42 nor the words of a soothsayer– how little you reflect! 43 This [Quran] is a message sent down from the Lord of the Worlds: 44 if [the Prophet] had attributed some fabrication to Us, 45 We would certainly have seized his right hand 46 and cut off his lifeblood, [c] 47 and none of you could have defended him. 48 This [Quran] is a reminder for those who are aware of God. 49 We know that some of you consider it to be lies– 50 this will be a source of bitter regret for the disbelievers– 51 but it is in fact the certain Truth. 52 So [Prophet] glorify the name of your Lord, the Almighty.
Footnotes
a. Cf. the sura of this name (Sura 101).
b. A dhira is an arm’s-length.
c. Literally ‘artery’.
The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)
The Qur'an / a new translation by M. A. S. Abdel Haleem, copyright © 2004 Oxford World's Classics (Oxford University Press). Used by permission. All rights reserved.