عَمَّيَتَسَآءَلُونَ١

About what are they asking one another?

About the great news¹ -

That over which they are in disagreement.

No! They are going to know.

Then, no! They are going to know.

Have We not made the earth a resting place?

And the mountains as stakes?¹

And We created you in pairs.

And made your sleep [a means for] rest

And made the night as clothing¹.

And made the day for livelihood.

And constructed above you seven strong [heavens].

And made [therein] a burning lamp

And sent down, from the rain clouds, pouring water.

That We may bring forth thereby grain and vegetation.

And gardens of entwined growth.

Indeed, the Day of Judgement is an appointed time -

The Day the Horn is blown and you will come forth in multitudes

And the heaven is opened and will become gateways.

And the mountains are removed and will be [but] a mirage.

Indeed, Hell has been lying in wait

For the transgressors, a place of return,

In which they will remain for ages [unending].

They will not taste therein [any] coolness or drink.

Except scalding water and [foul] purulence -

An appropriate recompense.¹

Indeed, they were not expecting an account

And denied Our verses with [emphatic] denial.

But all things We have enumerated in writing.

"So taste [the penalty], and never will We increase you except in torment."¹

Indeed, for the righteous is attainment¹ -

Gardens and grapevines.

And full-breasted [companions] of equal age.

And a full cup.¹

No ill speech will they hear therein or any falsehood -

[As] reward from your Lord, [a generous] gift [made due by] account,¹

[From] the Lord of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them, the Most Merciful. They possess not from Him [authority for] speech.¹

The Day that the Spirit [i.e., Gabriel] and the angels will stand in rows, they will not speak except for one whom the Most Merciful permits, and he will say what is correct.

That is the True [i.e., certain] Day; so he who wills may take to his Lord a [way of] return.¹

Indeed, We have warned you of an impending punishment on the Day when a man will observe what his hands have put forth¹ and the disbeliever will say, "Oh, I wish that I were dust!"

By those [angels] who extract with violence¹

And [by] those who remove with ease¹

And [by] those who glide [as if] swimming¹

And those who race each other in a race¹

And those who arrange [each] matter,¹

On the Day the blast [of the Horn] will convulse [creation],

There will follow it the subsequent [one].

Hearts,¹ that Day, will tremble,

Their eyes¹ humbled.

They are [presently] saying, "Will we indeed be returned to [our] former state [of life]?

Even if we should be decayed bones?"¹

They say, "That, then, would be a losing return."¹

Indeed, it will be but one shout,

And suddenly they will be [alert] upon the earth's surface.

Has there reached you the story of Moses? -

When his Lord called to him in the sacred valley of Ṭuwā,

"Go to Pharaoh. Indeed, he has transgressed.

And say to him, 'Would you [be willing to] purify yourself

And let me guide you to your Lord so you would fear [Him]?'"

And he showed him the greatest sign,¹

But he [i.e., Pharaoh] denied and disobeyed.

Then he turned his back, striving [i.e., plotting].¹

And he gathered [his people] and called out.

And said, "I am your most exalted lord."

So Allāh seized him in exemplary punishment for the last and the first [transgression].¹.

Indeed in that is a lesson [i.e., warning] for whoever would fear [Allāh].

Are you a more difficult creation or is the heaven? He [i.e., Allāh] constructed it.

He raised its ceiling and proportioned it.

And He darkened its night and extracted its brightness.¹

And after that He spread the earth.

He extracted from it its water and its pasture,

And the mountains He set firmly

As enjoyment [i.e., provision] for you and your grazing livestock.

But when there comes the greatest Overwhelming Calamity¹ -

The Day when man will remember that for which he strove,

And Hellfire will be exposed for [all] those who see -

So as for he who transgressed

And preferred the life of the world,

Then indeed, Hellfire will be [his] refuge.

But as for he who feared the position of his Lord¹ and prevented the soul from [unlawful] inclination,

Then indeed, Paradise will be [his] refuge.

They ask you, [O Muḥammad], about the Hour: when is its arrival?¹

In what [position] are you that you should mention it?¹

To your Lord is its finality.¹

You are only a warner for those who fear it.

It will be, on the Day they see it,¹ as though they had not remained [in the world] except for an afternoon or a morning thereof.

He [i.e., the Prophet (ﷺ) ] frowned and turned away

Because there came to him the blind man,¹ [interrupting].

But what would make you perceive, [O Muḥammad], that perhaps he might be purified¹

Or be reminded and the remembrance would benefit him?

As for he who thinks himself without need,¹

To him you give attention.

And not upon you [is any blame] if he will not be purified.¹

But as for he who came to you striving [for knowledge]

While he fears [Allāh],

From him you are distracted.

No! Indeed, they [i.e., these verses] are a reminder;

So whoever wills may remember it.¹

[It is recorded] in honored sheets,

Exalted and purified,

[Carried] by the hands of messenger-angels,

Noble and dutiful.

Destroyed [i.e., cursed] is man;¹ how disbelieving is he.

From what thing [i.e., substance] did He create him?

From a sperm-drop He created him and destined for him;¹

Then He eased the way for him;¹

Then He causes his death and provides a grave for him.¹

Then when He wills, He will resurrect him.

No! He [i.e., man] has not yet accomplished what He commanded him.

Then let mankind look at his food -

How We poured down water in torrents,

Then We broke open the earth, splitting [it with sprouts],

And caused to grow within it grain

And grapes and herbage

And olive and palm trees

And gardens of dense shrubbery

And fruit and grass -

[As] enjoyment [i.e., provision] for you and your grazing livestock.

But when there comes the Deafening Blast¹

On the Day a man will flee from his brother

And his mother and his father

And his wife and his children,

For every man, that Day, will be a matter adequate for him.¹

[Some] faces, that Day, will be bright -

Laughing, rejoicing at good news.

And [other] faces, that Day, will have upon them dust.

Blackness will cover them.

Those are the disbelievers, the wicked ones.

When the sun is wrapped up [in darkness]

And when the stars fall, dispersing,

And when the mountains are removed

And when full-term she-camels¹ are neglected

And when the wild beasts are gathered

And when the seas are filled with flame¹

And when the souls are paired¹

And when the girl [who was] buried alive is asked

For what sin she was killed

And when the pages¹ are spread [i.e., made public]

And when the sky is stripped away

And when Hellfire is set ablaze

And when Paradise is brought near,

A soul will [then] know what it has brought [with it].¹

So I swear by the retreating stars -

Those that run [their courses] and disappear [i.e., set]

And by the night as it closes in¹

And by the dawn when it breathes [i.e., stirs]

[That] indeed, it [i.e., the Qur’ān] is a word [conveyed by] a noble messenger [i.e., Gabriel]

[Who is] possessed of power and with the Owner of the Throne, secure [in position],

Obeyed there [in the heavens] and trustworthy.

And your companion [i.e., Prophet Muḥammad (ﷺ) ] is not [at all] mad.¹

And he has already seen him [i.e., Gabriel] in the clear horizon.¹

And he [i.e., Muḥammad (ﷺ)] is not a withholder of [knowledge of] the unseen.¹

And it [i.e., the Qur’ān] is not the word of a devil, expelled [from the heavens].

So where are you going?¹

It is not except a reminder to the worlds

For whoever wills among you to take a right course.

And you do not will except that Allāh wills - Lord of the worlds.

When the sky breaks apart

And when the stars fall, scattering,

And when the seas are erupted

And when the [contents of] graves are scattered [i.e., exposed],

A soul will [then] know what it has put forth and kept back.

O mankind, what has deceived you concerning your Lord, the Generous,

Who created you, proportioned you, and balanced you?

In whatever form He willed has He assembled you.

No! But you deny the Recompense.

And indeed, [appointed] over you are keepers,¹

Noble and recording;

They know whatever you do.

Indeed, the righteous will be in pleasure,

And indeed, the wicked will be in Hellfire.

They will [enter to] burn therein on the Day of Recompense,

And never therefrom will they be absent.

And what can make you know what is the Day of Recompense?

Then, what can make you know what is the Day of Recompense?

It is the Day when a soul will not possess for another soul [power to do] a thing; and the command, that Day, is [entirely] with Allāh.

Woe to those who give less [than due],¹

Who, when they take a measure from people, take in full.

But if they give by measure or by weight to them, they cause loss.

Do they not think that they will be resurrected

For a tremendous Day -

The Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds?

No! Indeed, the record of the wicked is in sijjeen.

And what can make you know what is sijjeen?

It is [their destination¹ recorded in] a register inscribed.

Woe, that Day, to the deniers,

Who deny the Day of Recompense.

And none deny it except every sinful transgressor.

When Our verses are recited to him, he says, "Legends of the former peoples."

No! Rather, the stain has covered their hearts of that which they were earning.¹

No! Indeed, from their Lord, that Day, they will be partitioned.¹

Then indeed, they will [enter and] burn in Hellfire.

Then it will be said [to them], "This is what you used to deny."

No! Indeed, the record of the righteous is in ʿilliyyūn.

And what can make you know what is ʿilliyyūn?

It is [their destination¹ recorded in] a register inscribed

Which is witnessed by those brought near [to Allāh].

Indeed, the righteous will be in pleasure