Chapter 70, 44 verses
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. A questioner questioned concerning the doom about to fall
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم سأل سائل بعذاب واقع
A supplicant asked for a punishment bound to happen
Upon the disbelievers, which none can repel,
للكافرين ليس له دافع
To the disbelievers; of it there is no preventer.
From Allah, Lord of the Ascending Stairways
من الله ذي المعارج
[It is] from Allah, owner of the ways of ascent.
(Whereby) the angels and the Spirit ascend unto Him in a Day whereof the span is fifty thousand years.
تعرج الملائكة والروح إليه في يوم كان مقداره خمسين ألف سنة
The angels and the Spirit will ascend to Him during a Day the extent of which is fifty thousand years.
But be patient (O Muhammad) with a patience fair to see.
فاصبر صبرا جميلا
So be patient with gracious patience.
Lo! they behold it afar off
إنهم يرونه بعيدا
Indeed, they see it [as] distant,
While we behold it nigh:
ونراه قريبا
But We see it [as] near.
The day when the sky will become as molten copper,
يوم تكون السماء كالمهل
On the Day the sky will be like murky oil,
And the hills become as flakes of wool,
وتكون الجبال كالعهن
And the mountains will be like wool,
And no familiar friend will ask a question of his friend
ولا يسأل حميم حميما
And no friend will ask [anything of] a friend,
Though they will be given sight of them. The guilty man will long to be able to ransom himself from the punishment of that day at the price of his children
يبصرونهم ۚ يود المجرم لو يفتدي من عذاب يومئذ ببنيه
They will be shown each other. The criminal will wish that he could be ransomed from the punishment of that Day by his children
And his spouse and his brother
وصاحبته وأخيه
And his wife and his brother
And his kin that harboured him
وفصيلته التي تؤويه
And his nearest kindred who shelter him
And all that are in the earth, if then it might deliver him.
ومن في الأرض جميعا ثم ينجيه
And whoever is on earth entirely [so] then it could save him.
But nay! for lo! it is the fire of hell
كلا ۖ إنها لظى
No! Indeed, it is the Flame [of Hell],
Eager to roast;
نزاعة للشوى
A remover of exteriors.
It calleth him who turned and fled (from truth),
تدعو من أدبر وتولى
It invites he who turned his back [on truth] and went away [from obedience]
And hoarded (wealth) and withheld it.
وجمع فأوعى
And collected [wealth] and hoarded.
Lo! man was created anxious,
۞ إن الإنسان خلق هلوعا
Indeed, mankind was created anxious:
Fretful when evil befalleth him
إذا مسه الشر جزوعا
When evil touches him, impatient,
And, when good befalleth him, grudging;
وإذا مسه الخير منوعا
And when good touches him, withholding [of it],
Save worshippers.
إلا المصلين
Except the observers of prayer -
Who are constant at their worship
الذين هم على صلاتهم دائمون
Those who are constant in their prayer
And in whose wealth there is a right acknowledged
والذين في أموالهم حق معلوم
And those within whose wealth is a known right
For the beggar and the destitute;
للسائل والمحروم
For the petitioner and the deprived -
And those who believe in the Day of Judgment,
والذين يصدقون بيوم الدين
And those who believe in the Day of Recompense
And those who are fearful of their Lord's doom -
والذين هم من عذاب ربهم مشفقون
And those who are fearful of the punishment of their Lord -
Lo! the doom of their Lord is that before which none can feel secure -
إن عذاب ربهم غير مأمون
Indeed, the punishment of their Lord is not that from which one is safe -
And those who preserve their chastity
والذين هم لفروجهم حافظون
And those who guard their private parts
Save with their wives and those whom their right hands possess, for thus they are not blameworthy;
إلا على أزواجهم أو ما ملكت أيمانهم فإنهم غير ملومين
Except from their wives or those their right hands possess, for indeed, they are not to be blamed -
But whoso seeketh more than that, those are they who are transgressors;
فمن ابتغى وراء ذلك فأولئك هم العادون
But whoever seeks beyond that, then they are the transgressors -
And those who keep their pledges and their covenant,
والذين هم لأماناتهم وعهدهم راعون
And those who are to their trusts and promises attentive
And those who stand by their testimony
والذين هم بشهاداتهم قائمون
And those who are in their testimonies upright
And those who are attentive at their worship.
والذين هم على صلاتهم يحافظون
And those who [carefully] maintain their prayer:
These will dwell in Gardens, honoured.
أولئك في جنات مكرمون
They will be in gardens, honored.
What aileth those who disbelieve, that they keep staring toward thee (O Muhammad), open - eyed,
فمال الذين كفروا قبلك مهطعين
So what is [the matter] with those who disbelieve, hastening [from] before you, [O Muhammad],
On the right and on the left, in groups ?
عن اليمين وعن الشمال عزين
[To sit] on [your] right and [your] left in separate groups?
Doth every man among them hope to enter the Garden of Delight ?
أيطمع كل امرئ منهم أن يدخل جنة نعيم
Does every person among them aspire to enter a garden of pleasure?
Nay, verily. Lo! We created them from what they know.
كلا ۖ إنا خلقناهم مما يعلمون
No! Indeed, We have created them from that which they know.
But nay! I swear by the Lord of the rising - places and the setting - places of the planets that We verily are Able
فلا أقسم برب المشارق والمغارب إنا لقادرون
So I swear by the Lord of [all] risings and settings that indeed We are able
To replace them by (others) better than them. And we are not to be outrun.
على أن نبدل خيرا منهم وما نحن بمسبوقين
To replace them with better than them; and We are not to be outdone.
So let them chat and play until they meet their Day which they are promised,
فذرهم يخوضوا ويلعبوا حتى يلاقوا يومهم الذي يوعدون
So leave them to converse vainly and amuse themselves until they meet their Day which they are promised -
The day when they come forth from the graves in haste, as racing to a goal,
يوم يخرجون من الأجداث سراعا كأنهم إلى نصب يوفضون
The Day they will emerge from the graves rapidly as if they were, toward an erected idol, hastening.
With eyes aghast, abasement stupefying them: Such is the Day which they are promised.
خاشعة أبصارهم ترهقهم ذلة ۚ ذلك اليوم الذي كانوا يوعدون
Their eyes humbled, humiliation will cover them. That is the Day which they had been promised.