Al Inshiqaq

1 When the sky is rent asunder,

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

1 When the sky has split [open]

2 And hearkens to (the Command of) its Lord, and it must needs (do so); -

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

2 And has responded to its Lord and was obligated [to do so]

3 And when the earth is flattened out,

3 And when the earth is stretched forth,

3 And when the earth has been extended

4 And casts forth what is within it and becomes (clean) empty,

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

4 And has cast out that within it and relinquished [it]

5 And hearkens to (the Command of) its Lord, - and it must needs (do so); - (then will come Home the full reality).

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

5 And has responded to its Lord and was obligated [to do so] -

6 O thou man! Verily thou art ever toiling on towards thy Lord - painfully toiling, - but thou shalt 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).

6 O mankind, indeed you are laboring toward your Lord with [great] exertion and will meet it.

7 Then he who is given his Record in his right hand,

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

7 Then as for he who is given his record in his right hand,

8 Soon will his account be taken by an easy reckoning,

8 He surely will receive an easy reckoning,

8 He will be judged with an easy account

9 And he will turn to his people, rejoicing!

9 And will return to his family in joy!

9 And return to his people in happiness.

10 But he who is given his Record behind his back, -

10 But whosoever is given his Record behind his back,

10 But as for he who is given his record behind his back,

11 Soon will he cry for perdition,

11 He will invoke (for his) destruction,

11 He will cry out for destruction

12 And he will enter a Blazing Fire.

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

12 And [enter to] burn in a Blaze.

13 Truly, did he go about among his people, rejoicing!

13 Verily, he was among his people in joy!

13 Indeed, he had [once] been among his people in happiness;

14 Truly, did he think that he would not have to return (to Us)!

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

14 Indeed, he had thought he would never return [to Allah].

15 Nay, nay! for his Lord was (ever) watchful of him!

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

15 But yes! Indeed, his Lord was ever of him, Seeing.

16 So I do call to witness the ruddy glow of Sunset;

16 So I swear by the afterglow of sunset;

16 So I swear by the twilight glow

17 The Night and its Homing;

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

17 And [by] the night and what it envelops

18 And the Moon in her fullness:

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

18 And [by] the moon when it becomes full

19 Ye shall surely travel from stage to stage.

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

19 [That] you will surely experience state after state.

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

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

20 So what is [the matter] with them [that] they do not believe,

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

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

21 And when the Qur'an is recited to them, they do not prostrate [to Allah]?

22 But on the contrary the Unbelievers reject (it).

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.).

22 But those who have disbelieved deny,

23 But Allah has full knowledge of what they secrete (in their breasts)

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

23 And Allah is most knowing of what they keep within themselves.

24 So announce to them a Penalty Grievous,

24 So announce to them a painful torment.

24 So give them tidings of a painful punishment,

25 Except to those who believe and work righteous deeds: For them is a Reward that will never fail.

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).

25 Except for those who believe and do righteous deeds. For them is a reward uninterrupted.