A Meccan sura dealing with the inevitability of man’s meeting with his Lord on the Day of Judgement. The obedience of the sky and earth is contrasted with the disobedience of the disbelievers. The reaction of the believers and of the disbelievers on the Day of Judgement is described. The title is taken from the description of events on that Day in the opening verse.
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy
1 When the sky is ripped apart, 2 obeying its Lord as it rightly must, 3 when the earth is levelled out, 4 casts out its contents, and becomes empty, 5 obeying its Lord as it rightly must, 6 you humans, toiling laboriously towards your Lord, will meet Him: 7 whoever is given his record in his right hand 8 will have an easy reckoning 9 and return to his people well pleased, 10 but whoever is given his record from behind his back 11 will cry out for destruction–– 12 he will burn in the blazing Fire. 13 He used to live among his people well pleased. 14 He thought he would never return [to his Lord]–– 15 indeed he will! His Lord was watching him. 16 I swear by the glow of sunset, 17 by the night and what it covers, 18 by the full moon, 19 you will progress from stage to stage. [a]
20 So why do they not believe? 21 Why, when the Quran is read to them, do they not prostrate themselves [to God]? 22 No! The disbelievers reject the Quran–– 23 God knows best what they keep hidden inside–– 24 so give them news of a painful torment. 25 But those who believe and do good deeds will have a never-ending reward.
Footnotes
a. As the sun sets, followed by darkness, which is then illuminated by the moon, you will move by stages from death to resurrection.
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.