عن أيِّ شيء يسأل بعض كفار قريش بعضا؟ يتساءلون عن الخبر العظيم الشأن، وهو القرآن العظيم الذي ينبئ عن البعث الذي شك فيه كفار قريش وكذَّبوا به.

about which they differ.

ما الأمر كما يزعم هؤلاء المشركون، سيعلم هؤلاء المشركون عاقبة تكذيبهم، ويظهر لهم ما الله فاعل بهم يوم القيامة، ثم سيتأكد لهم ذلك، ويتأكد لهم صدق ما جاء به محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم، من القرآن والبعث. وهذا تهديد ووعيد لهم.

In the end they will find out.

ألم نجعل الأرض ممهدة لكم كالفراش؟

والجبال رواسي؛ كي لا تتحرك بكم الأرض؟

وخلقناكم أصنافا ذكرا وأنثى؟

وجعلنا نومكم راحة لأبدانكم، فيه تهدؤون وتسكنون؟

وجعلنا الليل لباسًا تَلْبَسكم ظلمته وتغشاكم، كما يستر الثوب لابسه؟

وجعلنا النهار معاشا تنتشرون فيه لمعاشكم، وتسعَون فيه لمصالحكم؟

وبنينا فوقكم سبع سموات متينة البناء محكمة الخلق، لا صدوع لها ولا فطور؟

and make a blazing lamp?

Did We not send water pouring down from the clouds

to bring forth with it grain, plants,

and luxuriant gardens?

A time has been appointed for the Day of Decision:

a Day when the Trumpet will sound and you will come forward in crowds,

when the sky will open up like wide portals,

when the mountains will vanish like a mirage.

Hell lies in wait,

a home for oppressors

to stay in for a long, long time,

where they will taste no coolness nor drink

except one that is scalding and dark––

a fitting requital,

for they did not fear a reckoning,

and they rejected Our messages as lies.

We have recorded everything in a Record.

‘Taste this: all you will get from Us is more torment.’

For those who were aware of God there is supreme fulfilment:

private gardens, vineyards,

nubile, well-matched companions,

and an overflowing cup.

There they will hear no vain or lying talk:

a reward from your Lord, a fitting gift

from the Lord of the heavens and earth and everything between, the Lord of Mercy. They will have no authority from Him to speak.

On the Day when the Spirit and the angels stand in rows, they will not speak except for those to whom the Lord of Mercy gives permission, who will say only what is right.

That is the Day of Truth. So whoever wishes to do so should take the path that leads to his Lord.

We have warned you of imminent torment, on the Day when every person will see what their own hands have sent ahead for them, when the disbeliever will say, ‘If only I were dust!’

By the forceful chargers

raring to go,

sweeping ahead at full stretch,

overtaking swiftly

to bring the matter to an end,

on the Day when the blast reverberates

and the second blast follows,

hearts will tremble

and eyes will be downcast.

They say, ‘What? shall we be brought back to life,

after we have turned into decayed bones?’ and they say,

‘Such a return is impossible!’

But all it will take is a single blast,

and they will be back above ground.

Have you [Prophet] heard the story of Moses?

His Lord called out to him in the sacred valley of Tuwa:

‘Go to Pharaoh, for he has exceeded all bounds,

and ask him, “Do you want to purify yourself [of sin]?

Do you want me to guide you to your Lord, so that you may hold Him in awe?” ’

Moses showed him the great sign,

but he denied it and refused [the faith].

He turned away and hastily

gathered his people, proclaiming,

‘I am your supreme lord,’

so God condemned him to punishment in the life to come as well as in this life:

there truly is a lesson in this for anyone who stands in awe of God.

Which is harder to create: you people or the sky that He built,

raising it high and perfecting it,

giving darkness to its night and bringing out its morning brightness,

and the earth, too, He spread out,

bringing waters and pastures out of it,

and setting firm mountains [in it]

for you and your animals to enjoy?

When the great overwhelming event arrives

on the Day that man remembers what he has done

and Hell is there for all to see,

for anyone who has transgressed

and preferred the present life

Hell will be home;

for anyone who feared the meeting with his Lord and restrained himself from base desires,

Paradise will be home.

They ask you [Prophet] about the Hour,

saying, ‘When will it arrive?’, but how can you tell [them that]?

Its time is known only to your Lord;

you are only sent to warn those who fear it.

On the Day they see it, it will seem they lingered [in this life] an evening [at most,] or its morning.

He frowned and turned away

when the blind man came to him––

for all you know, he might have grown in spirit,

or taken note of something useful to him.

For the self-satisfied one

you go out of your way––

though you are not to be blamed for his lack of spiritual growth––

but from the one who has come to you full of eagerness

and awe

you allow yourself to be distracted.

No indeed! This [Quran] is a lesson

from which those who wish to be taught should learn,

[written] on honoured,

exalted, pure pages,

by the hands of

noble and virtuous scribes.

Woe to man! How ungrateful he is!

From what thing does God create him?

He creates him from a droplet, He proportions him,

He makes the way easy for him,

then He causes him to die and be buried.

When He wills, He will raise him up again.

Yet man does not fulfil God’s commands.

Let man consider the food he eats!

We pour down abundant water

and cause the soil to split open.

We make grain grow,

and vines, fresh vegetation,

olive trees, date palms,

luscious gardens,

fruits, and fodder:

all for you and your livestock to enjoy.

When the Deafening Blast comes––

the Day man will flee from his own brother,

his mother, his father,

his wife, his children:

each of them will be absorbed in concerns of their own on that Day-

on that Day some faces will be beaming,

laughing, and rejoicing,

but some faces will be dust-stained

and covered in darkness:

those are the disbelievers, the licentious.

When the sun is shrouded in darkness,

when the stars are dimmed,

when the mountains are set in motion,

when pregnant camels are abandoned,

when wild beasts are herded together,

when the seas boil over,

when souls are sorted into classes,

when the baby girl buried alive is asked

for what sin she was killed,

when the records of deeds are spread open,

when the sky is stripped away,

when Hell is made to blaze

and Paradise brought near:

then every soul will know what it has brought about.

I swear by the planets

that recede, move, and hide,

by the night that descends,

by the dawn that softly breathes:

this is the speech of a noble messenger,

who possesses great strength and is held in honour by the Lord of the Throne––

he is obeyed there and worthy of trust.

Your companion is not mad:

he did see him on the clear horizon.

He does not withhold what is revealed to him from beyond.

This is not the word of an outcast devil.

So where are you [people] going?

This is a message for all people;

for those who wish to take the straight path.

But you will only wish to do so by the will of God, the Lord of all people.

When the sky is torn apart,

when the stars are scattered,

when the seas burst forth,

when graves turn inside out:

each soul will know what it has done and what it has left undone.

Mankind, what has lured you away from God,

your generous Lord, who created you, shaped you, proportioned you,

in whatever form He chose?

Yet you still take the Judgement to be a lie!

Over you stand

watchers, noble recorders

who know what you do:

the good will live in bliss,

and the wicked will burn in the Fire.

They will enter it on the Day of Judgement

and they will find no escape.

What will explain to you what the Day of Judgement is?

Yes! What will explain to you what the Day of Judgement is?

The Day when no soul will be able to do anything for another; on that Day, command will belong to God.

Woe to those who give short measure,

who demand of other people full measure for themselves,

but give less than they should when it is they who weigh or measure for others!

Do these people not realize that they will be raised up

on a mighty Day,

a Day when everyone will stand before the Lord of the Worlds?

No indeed! The list of the wicked is in Sijjin––

what will explain to you what Sijjin is?––

a clearly numbered list.

Woe on that day to the deniers,

those who deny the Day of Judgement!

Only the evil aggressor denies it:

when Our revelations are recited to him, he says, ‘Ancient fables!’

No indeed! Their hearts are encrusted with what they have done.

No indeed! On that Day they will be screened off from their Lord,

they will burn in Hell,

and they will be told, ‘This is what you called a lie.’

No indeed! The list of the truly good is in 'Illiyyin––

what will explain to you what 'Illiyyin is?––

a clearly written list,

witnessed by those brought near.

The truly good will live in bliss,

seated on couches, gazing around.

You will recognize on their faces the radiance of bliss.

They will be served a sealed nectar,

its seal [perfumed with] a fragrant herb––let those who strive, strive for this––

mixed with the water of Tasnim,

a spring from which those brought near will drink.

The wicked used to laugh at the believers––

they would wink at one another when the believers passed by them,

joke about them when they got back to their own people,

and say, when they saw them, ‘These people are misguided,’

though they were not sent to be their keepers-

so today the believers are laughing at the disbelievers

as they sit on couches, gazing around.

Have the disbelievers [not] been repaid for their deeds?

When the sky is ripped apart,

obeying its Lord as it rightly must,

when the earth is levelled out,

casts out its contents, and becomes empty,

obeying its Lord as it rightly must,

you humans, toiling laboriously towards your Lord, will meet Him:

whoever is given his record in his right hand

will have an easy reckoning

and return to his people well pleased,

but whoever is given his record from behind his back

will cry out for destruction––

he will burn in the blazing Fire.

He used to live among his people well pleased.

He thought he would never return [to his Lord]––

indeed he will! His Lord was watching him.

I swear by the glow of sunset,

by the night and what it covers,

by the full moon,

you will progress from stage to stage.

So why do they not believe?

Why, when the Quran is read to them, do they not prostrate themselves [to God]?

No! The disbelievers reject the Quran––

God knows best what they keep hidden inside––

so give them news of a painful torment.

But those who believe and do good deeds will have a never-ending reward.

By the sky with its towering constellations,

by the promised Day,

by the Witness and that which is witnessed,

damned were the makers of the trench,

the makers of the fuel-stoked fire!

They sat down

to watch what they were doing to the believers.

Their only grievance against them was their faith in God, the Mighty, the Praiseworthy,

to whom all control over the heavens and earth belongs: God is witness over all things.

For those who persecute believing men and women, and do not repent afterwards, there will be the torment of Hell and burning.

But for those who believe and do good deeds there will be Gardens graced with flowing streams: that is the great triumph.

[Prophet], your Lord’s punishment is truly stern––

it is He who brings people to life, and will restore them to life again––

and He is the Most Forgiving, the Most Loving.

The Glorious Lord of the Throne,

He does whatever He will.

Have you [not] heard the stories of the forces

of Pharaoh and Thamud?

Yet still the disbelievers persist in denial.

God surrounds them all.

This is truly a glorious Quran

[written] on a preserved Tablet.

By the sky and the night-comer––

What will explain to you what the night-comer is?

The piercing star––

there is a watcher over every soul.

Man should reflect on what he was created from.

He is created from spurting fluid,

then he emerges from between the backbone and breastbone:

God is certainly able to bring him back to life.

On the Day when secrets are laid bare

he will have no power and no one to help him.

By the sky and its recurring rain,

by the earth that cracks open!

This is truly a decisive statement;

it is not something to be taken lightly.

They plot and scheme,

but so do I:

[Prophet], let the disbelievers be, let them be for a while.

[Prophet], glorify the name of your Lord the Most High,

who created [all things] in due proportion;

who determined their destinies and guided them;

who brought out the green pasture

then made it dark debris.

[Prophet], We shall teach you [the Quran] and you will not forget––

unless God wishes; He knows both what is open and what is hidden––

We shall show you the easy way.

So remind, if reminding will help.

Those who stand in awe of God will heed the reminder,

but it will be ignored by the most wicked,

who will enter the Great Fire,

where they will neither die nor live.

Prosperous are those who purify themselves,

remember the name of their Lord, and pray.

Yet you [people] prefer the life of this world,