Al Inshiqaq

1 When the heaven bursts asunder,

1 In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. When the heaven is split asunder,

2 And obeys its Lord and it must.

2 And listens to and obeys its Lord - and it must do so.

3 And when the earth is stretched,

3 And when the earth is stretched forth,

4 And casts forth what is in it and becomes empty,

4 And has cast out all that was in it and became empty.

5 And obeys its Lord and it must.

5 And listens to and obeys its Lord - and it must do so.

6 O man! surely you must strive (to attain) to your Lord, a hard striving until you meet Him.

6 O man! Verily, you are returning towards your Lord with your deeds and actions (good or bad), a sure returning, and you will meet (the results of your deeds which you did).

7 Then as to him who is given his book in his right hand,

7 Then as for him who will be given his Record in his right hand,

8 He shall be reckoned with by an easy reckoning,

8 He surely will receive an easy reckoning,

9 And he shall go back to his people joyful.

9 And will return to his family in joy!

10 And as to him who is given his book behind his back,

10 But whosoever is given his Record behind his back,

11 He shall call for perdition,

11 He will invoke (for his) destruction,

12 And enter into burning fire.

12 And he shall enter a blazing Fire, and be made to taste its burning.

13 Surely he was (erstwhile) joyful among his followers.

13 Verily, he was among his people in joy!

14 Surely he thought that he would never return.

14 Verily, he thought that he would never come back (to Us)!

15 Yea! surely his Lord does ever see him.

15 Yes! Verily, his Lord has been ever beholding him!

16 But nay! I swear by the sunset redness,

16 So I swear by the afterglow of sunset;

17 And the night and that which it drives on,

17 And by the night and whatever it gathers in its darkness,

18 And the moon when it grows full,

18 And by the moon when it is at the full.

19 That you shall most certainly enter one state after another.

19 You shall certainly travel from stage to stage (in this life and in the Hereafter).

20 But what is the matter with them that they do not believe,

20 What is the matter with them, that they believe not?

21 And when the Quran is recited to them they do not make obeisance?

21 And when the Qur'an is recited to them, they fall not prostrate.

22 Nay! those who disbelieve give the lie to the truth.

22 Nay, those who disbelieve belie (Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم and whatever he brought, i.e. this Qur'an and Islamic Monotheism, etc.).

23 And Allah knows best what they hide,

23 And Allah knows best what they gather (of good and bad deeds),

24 So announce to them a painful punishment~

24 So announce to them a painful torment.

25 Except those who believe and do good; for them is a reward that shall never be cut off.

25 Save those who believe and do righteous good deeds, for them is a reward that will never come to an end (i.e. Paradise).