Chapter 78, 40 verses
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. What are they asking (one another) about?
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم عم يتساءلون
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Whereof do they question one another ?
About the great news, (i.e. Islamic Monotheism, the Qur'an, which Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم brought and the Day of Resurrection)
عن النبإ العظيم
(It is) of the awful tidings,
About which they are in disagreement.
الذي هم فيه مختلفون
Concerning which they are in disagreement.
Nay, they will come to know!
كلا سيعلمون
Nay, but they will come to know!
Nay, again, they will come to know!
ثم كلا سيعلمون
Nay, again, but they will come to know!
Have We not made the earth as a bed,
ألم نجعل الأرض مهادا
Have We not made the earth an expanse,
And the mountains as pegs?
والجبال أوتادا
And the high hills bulwarks ?
And We have created you in pairs (male and female, tall and short, good and bad, etc.).
وخلقناكم أزواجا
And We have created you in pairs,
And We have made your sleep as a thing for rest.
وجعلنا نومكم سباتا
And have appointed your sleep for repose,
And We have made the night as a covering (through its darkness),
وجعلنا الليل لباسا
And have appointed the night as a cloak,
And We have made the day for livelihood.
وجعلنا النهار معاشا
And have appointed the day for livelihood.
And We have built above you seven strong (heavens),
وبنينا فوقكم سبعا شدادا
And We have built above you seven strong (heavens),
And We have made (therein) a shining lamp (sun).
وجعلنا سراجا وهاجا
And have appointed a dazzling lamp,
And We have sent down from the rainy clouds abundant water.
وأنزلنا من المعصرات ماء ثجاجا
And have sent down from the rainy clouds abundant water,
That We may produce therewith corn and vegetations,
لنخرج به حبا ونباتا
Thereby to produce grain and plant,
And gardens of thick growth.
وجنات ألفافا
And gardens of thick foliage.
Verily, the Day of Decision is a fixed time,
إن يوم الفصل كان ميقاتا
Lo! the Day of Decision is a fixed time,
The Day when the Trumpet will be blown, and you shall come forth in crowds (groups after groups). [Tafsir At-Tabari]
يوم ينفخ في الصور فتأتون أفواجا
A day when the trumpet is blown and ye come in multitudes,
And the heaven shall be opened, and it will become as gates,
وفتحت السماء فكانت أبوابا
And the heaven is opened and becometh as gates,
And the mountains shall be moved away from their places and they will be as if they were a mirage.
وسيرت الجبال فكانت سرابا
And the hills are set in motion and become as a mirage.
Truly, Hell is a place of ambush -
إن جهنم كانت مرصادا
Lo! hell lurketh in ambush,
A dwelling place for the Taghun (those who transgress the boundary limits set by Allah like polytheists, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah, hyprocrites, sinners, criminals),
للطاغين مآبا
A home for the rebellious.
They will abide therein for ages.
لابثين فيها أحقابا
They will abide therein for ages.
Nothing cool shall they taste therein, nor any drink.
لا يذوقون فيها بردا ولا شرابا
Therein taste they neither coolness nor (any) drink
Except boiling water, and dirty wound discharges -
إلا حميما وغساقا
Save boiling water and a paralysing cold:
An exact recompense (according to their evil crimes).
جزاء وفاقا
Reward proportioned (to their evil deeds).
For verily, they used not to look for a reckoning.
إنهم كانوا لا يرجون حسابا
For lo! they looked not for a reckoning;
But they belied Our Ayat (proofs, evidence, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, and that which Our Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم brought) completely.
وكذبوا بآياتنا كذابا
They called Our revelations false with strong denial.
And all things We have recorded in a Book.
وكل شيء أحصيناه كتابا
Everything have We recorded in a Book.
So taste you (the results of your evil actions). No increase shall We give you, except in torment.
فذوقوا فلن نزيدكم إلا عذابا
So taste (of that which ye have earned). No increase do We give you save of torment.
Verily, for the Muttaqun, there will be a success (Paradise);
إن للمتقين مفازا
Lo! for the duteous is achievement -
Gardens and vineyards,
حدائق وأعنابا
Gardens enclosed and vineyards,
And young full-breasted (mature) maidens of equal age,
وكواعب أترابا
And maidens for companions,
And a full cup (of wine).
وكأسا دهاقا
And a full cup.
No Laghw (dirty, false, evil talk) shall they hear therein, nor lying;
لا يسمعون فيها لغوا ولا كذابا
There hear they never vain discourse, nor lying -
A reward from your Lord, an ample calculated gift (according to the best of their good deeds),
جزاء من ربك عطاء حسابا
Requital from thy Lord - a gift in payment -
(From) the Lord of the heavens and the earth, and whatsoever is in between them, the Most Gracious, with Whom they cannot dare to speak (on the Day of Resurrection except by His Leave).
رب السماوات والأرض وما بينهما الرحمن ۖ لا يملكون منه خطابا
Lord of the heavens and the earth, and (all) that is between them, the Beneficent; with Whom none can converse.
The Day that Ar-Ruh [Jibril (Gabriel) or another angel] and the angels will stand forth in rows, they will not speak except him whom the Most Gracious (Allah) allows, and he will speak what is right.
يوم يقوم الروح والملائكة صفا ۖ لا يتكلمون إلا من أذن له الرحمن وقال صوابا
On the day when the angels and the Spirit stand arrayed, they speak not, saving him whom the Beneficent alloweth and who speaketh right.
That is (without doubt) the True Day. So, whosoever wills, let him seek a place with (or a way to) His Lord (by obeying Him in this worldly life)!
ذلك اليوم الحق ۖ فمن شاء اتخذ إلى ربه مآبا
That is the True Day. So whoso will should seek recourse unto his Lord.
Verily, We have warned you of a near torment - the Day when man will see that (the deeds) which his hands have sent forth, and the will say: "Woe to me! Would that I were dust!"
إنا أنذرناكم عذابا قريبا يوم ينظر المرء ما قدمت يداه ويقول الكافر يا ليتني كنت ترابا
Lo! We warn you of a doom at hand, a day whereon a man will look on that which his own hands have sent before, and the will cry: "Would that I were dust!"