Chapter 79, 46 verses
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. By those who drag forth to destruction,
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم والنازعات غرقا
By those [angels] who extract with violence
By the meteors rushing,
والناشطات نشطا
And [by] those who remove with ease
By the lone stars floating,
والسابحات سبحا
And [by] those who glide [as if] swimming
By the angels hastening,
فالسابقات سبقا
And those who race each other in a race
And those who govern the event,
فالمدبرات أمرا
And those who arrange [each] matter,
On the day when the first trump resoundeth.
يوم ترجف الراجفة
On the Day the blast [of the Horn] will convulse [creation],
And the second followeth it,
تتبعها الرادفة
There will follow it the subsequent [one].
On that day hearts beat painfully
قلوب يومئذ واجفة
Hearts, that Day, will tremble,
While eyes are downcast
أبصارها خاشعة
Their eyes humbled.
(Now) they are saying: Shall we really be restored to our first state
يقولون أإنا لمردودون في الحافرة
They are [presently] saying, "Will we indeed be returned to [our] former state [of life]?
Even after we are crumbled bones ?
أإذا كنا عظاما نخرة
Even if we should be decayed bones?
They say: Then that would be a vain proceeding.
قالوا تلك إذا كرة خاسرة
They say, "That, then, would be a losing return."
Surely it will need but one shout,
فإنما هي زجرة واحدة
Indeed, it will be but one shout,
And lo! they will be awakened.
فإذا هم بالساهرة
And suddenly they will be [alert] upon the earth's surface.
Hath there come unto thee the history of Moses ?
هل أتاك حديث موسى
Has there reached you the story of Moses? -
How his Lord called him in the holy vale of Tuwa,
إذ ناداه ربه بالواد المقدس طوى
When his Lord called to him in the sacred valley of Tuwa,
(Saying:) Go thou unto Pharaoh - Lo! he hath rebelled -
اذهب إلى فرعون إنه طغى
"Go to Pharaoh. Indeed, he has transgressed.
And say (unto him): Hast thou (will) to grow (in grace) ?
فقل هل لك إلى أن تزكى
And say to him, 'Would you [be willing to] purify yourself
Then I will guide thee to thy Lord and thou shalt fear (Him).
وأهديك إلى ربك فتخشى
And let me guide you to your Lord so you would fear [Him]?'"
And he showed him the tremendous token.
فأراه الآية الكبرى
And he showed him the greatest sign,
But he denied and disobeyed,
فكذب وعصى
But Pharaoh denied and disobeyed.
Then turned he away in haste,
ثم أدبر يسعى
Then he turned his back, striving.
Then gathered he and summoned
فحشر فنادى
And he gathered [his people] and called out
And proclaimed: "I (Pharaoh) am your Lord the Highest."
فقال أنا ربكم الأعلى
And said, "I am your most exalted lord."
So Allah seized him (and made him) an example for the after (life) and for the former.
فأخذه الله نكال الآخرة والأولى
So Allah seized him in exemplary punishment for the last and the first [transgression].
Lo! herein is indeed a lesson for him who feareth.
إن في ذلك لعبرة لمن يخشى
Indeed in that is a warning for whoever would fear [Allah].
Are ye the harder to create, or is the heaven that He built ?
أأنتم أشد خلقا أم السماء ۚ بناها
Are you a more difficult creation or is the heaven? Allah constructed it.
He raised the height thereof and ordered it;
رفع سمكها فسواها
He raised its ceiling and proportioned it.
And He made dark the night thereof, and He brought forth the morn thereof.
وأغطش ليلها وأخرج ضحاها
And He darkened its night and extracted its brightness.
And after that He spread the earth,
والأرض بعد ذلك دحاها
And after that He spread the earth.
And produced therefrom the water thereof and the pasture thereof,
أخرج منها ماءها ومرعاها
He extracted from it its water and its pasture,
And He made fast the hills,
والجبال أرساها
And the mountains He set firmly
A provision for you and for your cattle.
متاعا لكم ولأنعامكم
As provision for you and your grazing livestock.
But when the great disaster cometh,
فإذا جاءت الطامة الكبرى
But when there comes the greatest Overwhelming Calamity -
The day when man will call to mind his (whole) endeavour,
يوم يتذكر الإنسان ما سعى
The Day when man will remember that for which he strove,
And hell will stand forth visible to him who seeth,
وبرزت الجحيم لمن يرى
And Hellfire will be exposed for [all] those who see -
Then, as for him who rebelled
فأما من طغى
So as for he who transgressed
And chose the life of the world,
وآثر الحياة الدنيا
And preferred the life of the world,
Lo! hell will be his home.
فإن الجحيم هي المأوى
Then indeed, Hellfire will be [his] refuge.
But as for him who feared to stand before his Lord and restrained his soul from lust,
وأما من خاف مقام ربه ونهى النفس عن الهوى
But as for he who feared the position of his Lord and prevented the soul from [unlawful] inclination,
Lo! the Garden will be his home.
فإن الجنة هي المأوى
Then indeed, Paradise will be [his] refuge.
They ask thee of the Hour: when will it come to port ?
يسألونك عن الساعة أيان مرساها
They ask you, [O Muhammad], about the Hour: when is its arrival?
Why (ask they) ? What hast thou to tell thereof ?
فيم أنت من ذكراها
In what [position] are you that you should mention it?
Unto thy Lord belongeth (knowledge of) the term thereof.
إلى ربك منتهاها
To your Lord is its finality.
Thou art but a warner unto him who feareth it.
إنما أنت منذر من يخشاها
You are only a warner for those who fear it.
On the day when they behold it, it will be as if they had but tarried for an evening or the morn thereof.
كأنهم يوم يرونها لم يلبثوا إلا عشية أو ضحاها
It will be, on the Day they see it, as though they had not remained [in the world] except for an afternoon or a morning thereof.