Juz 30

What is it that they are questioning each other about?!

[Is it] about the Great Tiding,

the one about which they differ?

No indeed! Soon they will know!

No indeed! Soon they will know for once again!

Did We not make the earth a resting place?

and the mountains stakes?

and create you in pairs?

and make your sleep for rest?

and make the night a covering?

and make the day for livelihood?

and build above you the seven mighty heavens?

and make [the sun for] a radiant lamp?

and send down water pouring from the rain-clouds,

that We may bring forth with it grains and plants,

and luxuriant gardens?

Indeed the Day of Judgement is the tryst,

the day the Trumpet will be blown, and you will come in groups,

and the sky will be opened and become gates,

and the mountains will be set moving and become a mirage.

Indeed hell is in ambush,

a resort for the rebels,

to reside therein for ages,

tasting in it neither any coolness nor drink,

except boiling water and pus,

a fitting requital.

Indeed they did not expect any reckoning,

and they denied Our signs mendaciously,

and We have figured everything in a Book.

So [now] taste! We shall increase you in nothing but punishment!

Indeed a triumph awaits the Godwary:

gardens and vineyards,

and buxom maidens of a like age,

and brimming cups.

Therein they shall hear neither vain talk nor lies

—a reward and a sufficing bounty from your Lord,

the All-beneficent, the Lord of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them. They will not be able to address Him

on the day when the Spirit and the angels stand in an array: none shall speak except someone who is permitted by the All-beneficent and says what is rightful.

That day is true for certain. So let anyone who wishes take resort with his Lord.

Indeed We have warned you of a punishment near at hand—the day when a person will observe what his hands have sent ahead and the faithless one will say, ‘I wish I were dust!’

By those [angels] who wrest [the soul] violently,

by those who draw [it] out gently,

by those who swim smoothly,

by those who, racing, take the lead,

by those who direct the affairs [of creatures]:

the day when the Quaker quakes

and is followed by the Successor,

hearts will be trembling on that day,

bearing a humbled look.

They will say, ‘Are we being returned to our earlier state?

What, even after we have been decayed bones?!’

They will say, ‘This is, then, a ruinous return!’

Yet it will be only a single shout,

and behold, they will be awake.

Did you receive the story of Moses,

when his Lord called out to him in the holy valley of Tuwa?

[And said,] ‘Go to Pharaoh, for indeed he has rebelled,

and say, ‘‘Would you purify yourself?

I will guide you to your Lord, that you may fear [Him]?’’ ’

Then he showed him the greatest sign.

But he denied, and disobeyed.

Then he turned back, walking swiftly,

and gathered [the people] and proclaimed,

saying, ‘I am your exalted lord!’

So Allah seized him with the punishment of this life and the Hereafter.

There is indeed a moral in that for someone who fears!

Is your creation more prodigious or that of the heaven He has built?

He raised its vault and fashioned it,

and darkened its night, and brought forth its forenoon.

Thereafter He spread out the earth,

brought forth from it its water and pastures,

setting firm the mountains,

as a [place of] sustenance for you and your livestock.

When the Greatest Catastrophe befalls

—the day when man will remember his endeavours

and hell is brought into view for those who can see—

as for him who has been rebellious

and preferred the life of this world,

his refuge will indeed be hell.

But as for him who is awed to stand before his Lord and restrains his soul from [following] desires,

his refuge will indeed be paradise.

They ask you concerning the Hour, “When will it set in,

considering your frequent mention of it?”

Its outcome is with your Lord.

You are only a warner for those who are afraid it.

The day they see it, it shall be as if they had not stayed [in the world] except for an evening or forenoon.

He frowned and turned away

when the blind man approached him.

And how do you know, maybe he would purify himself,

or take admonition, and the admonition would benefit him!

But as for someone who is wealthy,

you attend to him,

though you are not liable if he does not purify himself.

But as for someone who comes hurrying to you,

while he fears [Allah],

you are neglectful of him.

No indeed! These [verses of the Quran ] are a reminder

—so let anyone who wishes remember—

in honoured scriptures,

exalted and purified,

in the hands of envoys,

noble and pious.

Perish man! How ungrateful is he!

From what did He create him?

He created him from a drop of [seminal] fluid; then proportioned him.

Then He made the way easy for him;

then He made him die and buried him;

and then, when He wished, resurrected him.

No indeed! He has not yet carried out what He has commanded him.

Let man consider his food:

We pour down plenteous water [from the sky],

then We split the earth making fissures in it

and make the grain grow in it,

as well as vines and vegetables,

olives and date palms,

and densely-planted gardens,

fruits and pastures,

as a sustenance for you and your livestock.

So when the deafening Cry comes—

the day when a man will evade his brother,

his mother and his father,

his spouse and his sons—

each of them will have a task to keep him preoccupied on that day.

Some faces will be bright on that day,

laughing and joyous,

and some faces on that day will be covered with dust,

overcast with gloom.

It is they who are the faithless, the vicious.

When the sun is wound up,

when the stars scatter,

when the mountains are set moving,

when the pregnant camels are neglected,

when the wild beasts are mustered,

when the seas are set afire,

when the souls are assorted,

when the girl buried-alive will be asked

for what sin she was killed.

When the records [of deeds] are unfolded,

when the sky is stripped off,

when hell is set ablaze,

when paradise is brought near,

then a soul shall know what it has readied [for itself].

So I swear by the stars that return,

the comets,

by the night as it approaches,

by the dawn as it breathes:

it is indeed the speech of a noble apostle,

powerful and eminent with the Lord of the Throne,

one who is obeyed and is trustworthy as well.

Your companion is not crazy:

certainly he saw him on the manifest horizon,

and he is not miserly concerning the Unseen.

And it is not the speech of an outcast Satan.

So where are you going?

It is just a reminder for all the nations,

for those of you who wish to walk straight;

but you will not wish unless it is wished by Allah, the Lord of all the worlds.

When the sky is rent apart,

when the stars are scattered,

when the seas are merged,

when the graves are overturned,

then a soul shall know what it has sent ahead and left behind.

O man! What has deceived you about your generous Lord,

who created you and proportioned you, and gave you an upright nature,

and composed you in any form that He wished?

No! Indeed, you deny the Retribution.

Indeed, there are over you watchers,

noble writers,

who know whatever you do.

Indeed the pious shall be amid bliss,

and indeed the vicious shall be in hell,

entering it on the Day of Retribution,

and they shall not be absent from it.

And what will show you what is the Day of Retribution?

Again, what will show you what is the Day of Retribution?

It is a day when no soul will be of any avail to another soul and all command that day will belong to Allah.

Woe to the defrauders, who use short measures,

who, when they measure [a commodity bought] from the people, take the full measure,

but diminish when they measure or weigh for them.

Do they not know that they will be resurrected

on a tremendous day,

a day when mankind will stand before the Lord of all the worlds?

Indeed, the record of the vicious is in Sijjeen.

And what will show you what is Sijjeen?

It is a written record.

Woe to the deniers on that day,

who deny the Day of Retribution;

and none denies it except every sinful transgressor.

When Our signs are recited to him, he says, ‘Myths of the ancients!’

No, that is not the case! Rather, their hearts have been sullied by what they have been earning.

Indeed, they will be alienated from their Lord on that day.

Afterward they will enter hell,

then told, ‘This is what you used to deny!’

Indeed, the record of the pious is in Illeeyun.

And what will show you what is Illeeyun?

It is a written record,

witnessed by those brought near [to Allah].

The pious shall be amid bliss,

observing, [as they recline] on couches.

You will perceive in their faces the freshness of bliss.

They will be served with a sealed pure wine,

whose seal is musk—for such let the viers vie—

and whose seasoning is from Tasneem,

a spring where those brought near [to Allah] drink.

Indeed the guilty used to laugh at the faithful,

and when they passed them by they would wink at each other,

and when they returned to their folks they would return amused,

and when they saw them they would say, ‘Indeed those are the astray!’

Though they were not sent to watch over them.

So today the faithful will laugh at the faithless,

observing from their couches:

Have the faithless been requited for what they used to do?

When the sky is split open

and gives ear to its Lord as it should.

When the earth is spread out

and throws out what is in it, emptying itself,

and gives ear to its Lord as it should.

O man! You are labouring toward your Lord laboriously, and you will encounter Him.

Then, as for him who is given his record [of deeds] in his right hand,

he will receive an easy reckoning,

and he will return to his folks joyfully.

But as for him who is given his record from behind his back,

he will pray for annihilation

and enter the Blaze.

Indeed he used to be joyful among his folk,

and he thought that he would never return.

Yes, his Lord had been watching him.

I swear by the evening glow,

by the night and what it is fraught with,

by the moon when it blooms full:

you will surely fare from stage to stage.

What is the matter with them that they will not believe,

and will not prostrate when the Quran is recited to them?

Indeed, the faithless impugn [the Apostle],

and Allah knows best what they keep to themselves.

So inform them of a painful punishment,

excepting such as are faithful and do righteous deeds: for them there will be an everlasting reward.

By the heaven with its Houses,

by the Promised Day,

by the Witness and the Witnessed:

perish the People of the Ditch!

The fire abounding in fuel,

above which they sat

as they were themselves witnesses to what they did to the faithful.

They were vindictive towards them only because they had faith in Allah, the All-mighty and the All-laudable,

to whom belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and Allah is witness to all things.

Indeed those who persecute the faithful, men and women, and do not repent thereafter, there is the punishment of hell for them and the punishment of burning.

Indeed those who have faith and do righteous deeds—for them will be gardens with streams running in them. That is the supreme success.

Indeed your Lord’s striking is severe.

It is indeed He who originates and brings back,

and He is the All-forgiving, the All-affectionate,

Lord of the Throne, the All-glorious,

doer of what He desires.

Did you receive the story of the hosts

of Pharaoh and Thamud?

Indeed the faithless dwell in denial,

and Allah besieges them from all around.

Indeed it is a glorious Quran,

in a preserved tablet.

By the heaven, and by the nightly visitor

(and what will show you what is the nightly visitor?

It is the brilliant star):

there is a guard over every soul.

So let man consider from what he was created.

He was created from an effusing fluid

which issues from between the loins and the breast-bones.

Indeed He is able to bring him back [after death],

on the day when the secrets are examined

and he shall have neither power nor helper.

By the resurgent heaven,

and by the furrowed earth:

it is indeed a conclusive discourse,

and not a jest.

Indeed they are devising a stratagem,

and I [too] am devising a plan.

So respite the faithless; give them a gentle respite.

Celebrate the Name of your Lord, the Most Exalted,

who created and proportioned,

who determined and guided,

who brought forth the pasture

and then turned it into a black scum.

We shall have you recite [the Quran], then you will not forget [any of it]

except what Allah may wish. Indeed, He knows the open and what is hidden.

And We shall ease you into facility.

So admonish, for admonition is indeed beneficial:

he who fears [God] will take admonition,

and the most wretched will shun it

—he who will enter the Great Fire,

then he will neither live in it, nor die.

‘Felicitous is he who purifies himself,

celebrates the Name of his Lord, and prays.

But you prefer the life of this world,

while the Hereafter is better and more lasting.’

This is indeed in the former scriptures,

the scriptures of Abraham and Moses.

Did you receive the account of the Enveloper?

Some faces on that day will be humbled,

wrought-up and weary:

they will enter a scorching fire

and made to drink from a boiling spring.

They will have no food except cactus,

neither nourishing, nor of avail against hunger.

Some faces on that day will be joyous,

pleased with their endeavour,

in a lofty garden,

where they will not hear any vain talk.

In it is a flowing spring

and raised couches,

with goblets set,

and cushions laid out in an array,

and carpets spread out.

Do they not observe the camel, [to see] how it has been created?

and the sky, how it has been raised?

and the mountains, how they have been set?

and the earth, how it has been surfaced?

So admonish—for you are only an admonisher,

and not a taskmaster over them—

except him who turns back and disbelieves.

Him Allah will punish with the greatest punishment.

Indeed to Us will be their return.

Then, indeed, their reckoning will lie with Us.

By the Dawn,

by the ten nights,

by the Even and the Odd,

by the night when it departs!

Is there an oath in that for one possessing intellect?

Have you not regarded how your Lord dealt with [the people of] ‘Ad,

[and] Iram, [the city] of the pillars,

the like of which was not created among cities,

and [the people of] Thamud, who hollowed out the rocks in the valley,

and Pharaoh, the impaler

—those who rebelled [against Allah] in their cities

and caused much corruption in them,

so your Lord poured on them lashes of punishment.

Indeed your Lord is in ambush.

As for man, whenever his Lord tests him, and grants him honour, and blesses him, he says, ‘My Lord has honoured me.’

But when He tests him and tightens for him his provision, he says, ‘My Lord has humiliated me.’

No indeed! No, you do not honour the orphan,

and do not urge the feeding of the needy.

You eat the inheritance rapaciously,

and love wealth with much fondness.

No indeed! When the earth is levelled to a plain,

and your Lord [’s edict] arrives with the angels in ranks,

the day when hell is brought [near], man will take admonition on that day, but what will that admonition avail him?

He will say, ‘Alas, had I sent ahead for my life [in the Hereafter]!’

On that day none shall punish as He punishes,

and none shall bind as He binds.

‘O soul at peace!

Return to your Lord, pleased and pleasing!

Then enter among My servants,

and enter My paradise!’

I swear by this town,

as you reside in this town;

[and] by the father and him whom he begot:

certainly We created man in travail.

Does he suppose that no one will ever have power over him?

He says, ‘I have squandered immense wealth.’

Does he suppose that no one sees him?

Have We not made for him two eyes,

a tongue, and two lips,

and shown him the two paths [of good and evil]?

Yet he has not embarked upon the uphill task.

And what will show you what is the uphill task?

[It is] the freeing of a slave,

or feeding, during days of [general] starvation,

an orphan among relatives

or a needy man in desolation,

while being one of those who have faith and enjoin one another to patience, and enjoin one another to compassion.

They are the People of the Right Hand.

But those who defy Our signs, they are the People of the Left Hand.

A closed Fire will be [imposed] upon them.

By the sun and her forenoon splendour,

by the moon when he follows her,

by the day when it reveals her,

by the night when it covers her,

by the sky and Him who built it,

by the earth and Him who spread it,

by the soul and Him who fashioned it,

and inspired it with [discernment between] its virtues and vices:

one who purifies it is felicitous,

and one who betrays it fails.

The [people of] Thamud denied [Allah’s signs] out of their rebellion,

when the most wretched of them rose up.

The apostle of Allah had told them, ‘This is Allah’s she-camel, let her drink!’

But they impugned him and hamstrung her. So their Lord took them unawares by night because of their sin, and levelled it.

And He does not fear its outcome.

By the night when it envelops,

by the day when it brightens,

by Him who created the male and the female:

your endeavours are indeed diverse.

As for him who gives and is Godwary

and confirms the best promise,

We will surely ease him toward facility.

But as for him, who is stingy and self-complacent,

and denies the best promise,

We will surely ease him toward hardship.

His wealth will not avail him when he perishes.

Indeed guidance rests with Us,

and to Us belong the world and the Hereafter.

So I warn you of a blazing fire,

which none shall enter except the most wretched [of persons]

—he who impugns [God’s prophets] and turns his back.

The Godwary [person] will be spared of that

—he who gives his wealth to purify himself

and does not expect any reward from anyone,

but seek only the pleasure of their Lord, the Most Exalted,

and, surely, soon they will be well-pleased.

By the morning brightness,

and by the night when it is calm!

Your Lord has neither forsaken you, nor is He displeased with you,

and the Hereafter shall be better for you than the world.

Soon your Lord will give you [that with which] you will be pleased.

Did He not find you an orphan, and shelter you?

Did He not find you astray, and guide you?

Did He not find you needy, and enrich you?

So, as for the orphan, do not oppress him;

and as for the beggar, do not chide him;

and as for your Lord’s blessing, proclaim it!

Did We not open your breast for you

and relieve you of your burden

which [almost] broke your back?

Did We not exalt your name?

Indeed ease accompanies hardship.

Indeed ease accompanies hardship.

So when you are done, appoint,

and supplicate your Lord.

By the fig and the olive,

by Mount Sinai,

and by this secure town:

We certainly created man in the best of forms;

then We relegated him to the lowest of the low,

except those who have faith and do righteous deeds. There will be an everlasting reward for them.

So what makes you deny the Retribution?

Is not Allah the fairest of all judges?

Read in the Name of your Lord who created;

created man from a clinging mass.

Read, and your Lord is the most generous,

who taught by the pen,

taught man what he did not know.

Indeed man becomes rebellious

when he considers himself without need.

Indeed to your Lord is the return.

Tell me, he who forbids

a servant when he prays,

tell me, should he be on [true] guidance,

or bid [others] to Godwariness,

tell me, should he call him a liar and turn away

—does he not know that Allah sees [him]?

No indeed! If he does not cease, We shall seize him by the forelock,

a lying, sinful forelock!

Then let him call out his gang!

We [too] shall call the keepers of hell.

No indeed! Do not obey him, but prostrate and draw near [to Allah]!

Indeed We sent it down on the Night of Ordainment.

And what will show you what is the Night of Ordainment?

The Night of Ordainment is better than a thousand months.

In it the angels and the Spirit descend, by the leave of their Lord, with every command.

It is peaceful until the rising of the dawn.

The faithless from among the People of the Book and the polytheists were not set apart [from the community of the faithful] until the proof had come to them:

an apostle from Allah reciting impeccable scriptures,

wherein are upright writings.

Those who were given the Book did not divide except after the proof had come to them.

Though they were not commanded except to worship Allah, dedicating their faith to Him as men of pure faith, and to maintain the prayer and pay the zakat. That is the upright religion.

Indeed the faithless from among the People of the Book and the polytheists will be in the fire of hell, to remain in it [forever]. It is they who are the worst of creatures.

Indeed those who have faith and do righteous deeds—it is they who are the best of creatures.

Their reward, near their Lord, is the Gardens of Eden, with streams running in them, to remain in them forever. Allah is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him. That is for those who fear their Lord.

When the earth is rocked with a terrible quake

and discharges its burdens,

and man says, ‘What is the matter with her?’

On that day she will relate her chronicles

for her Lord will have inspired her.

On that day, mankind will issue forth in various groups to be shown their deeds.

So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it,

and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.

By the snorting chargers,

by the strikers of sparks [with their hoofs],

by the raiders at dawn,

raising therein a trail of dust,

and cleaving therein a host!

Indeed man is ungrateful to his Lord,

and indeed he is [himself] witness to that!

And indeed he is an avid lover of wealth.

Does he not know, when what is [buried] in the graves is turned over,

and what is [concealed] in the breasts is divulged,

on that day their Lord will be well informed about them [and their deeds]?

The Catastrophe!

What is the Catastrophe?

What will show you what is the Catastrophe?

[It is] the day when mankind will be like scattered moths

and the mountains like carded wool.

As for him, whose deeds weigh heavy in the scales,

he will have a pleasing life.

But as for him, whose deeds weigh light in the scales,

his home will be the Abyss.

And what will show you what it is?

It is a scorching fire!

Rivalry [and vainglory] distracted you

until you visited [even] the graves.

No indeed, soon you will know!

No indeed, soon you will know for yet another time!

Indeed, were you to know with certain knowledge,

you would have surely seen hell [in this very life].

Afterward you will surely see it with the eye of certainty.

Then, on that day, you will surely be questioned concerning the Blessing.

By Time!

Man is indeed in loss,

except those who have faith and do righteous deeds, and enjoin one another to [follow] the truth, and enjoin one another to patience.

Woe to every scandal-monger and slanderer,

who amasses wealth and counts it over.

He supposes his wealth will make him immortal!

No indeed! He will surely be cast into the Crusher.

And what will show you what is the Crusher?

[It is] the fire of Allah, set ablaze,

which will overspread the hearts.

Indeed it will close in upon them

in outstretched columns.

Have you not regarded how your Lord dealt with the army of the elephants?

Did He not make their stratagems go awry,

and send against them flocks of birds

pelting them with stones of shale,

thus making them like chewed-up straw?

[In gratitude] for solidarity among the Quraysh,

their solidarity during winter and summer journeys,

let them worship the Lord of this House,

who has fed them [and saved them] from hunger, and secured them from fear.

Did you see him who denies the Retribution?

That is the one, who drives away the orphan,

and does not urge the feeding of the needy.

Woe to those who pray

but are heedless of their prayers

—who show off

but deny aid.

Indeed We have given you abundance.

So pray to your Lord, and sacrifice [the sacrificial camel].

Indeed it is your enemy who is without posterity.

Say, ‘O faithless ones!

I do not worship what you worship,

nor do you worship what I worship;

nor will I worship what you have worshipped,

nor will you worship what I worship.

To you your religion, and to me my religion.’

When Allah’s help comes with victory,

and you see the people entering Allah’s religion in throngs,

celebrate the praise of your Lord, and plead to Him for forgiveness. Indeed, He is all-clement.

Perish the hands of Abu Lahab, and perish he!

Neither his wealth availed him, nor what he had earned.

Soon he will enter the blazing fire,

and his wife [too], the firewood carrier,

with a rope of palm fibre around her neck.

Say, ‘He is Allah, the One.

Allah is the All-embracing.

He neither begat, nor was begotten,

nor has He any equal.’

Say, ‘I seek the protection of the Lord of the daybreak

from the evil of what He has created,

and from the evil of the dark night when it falls,

and from the evil of the witches, who blow on knots,

and from the evil of the envious one when he envies.’

Say, ‘I seek the protection of the Lord of humans,

Sovereign of humans,

God of humans,

from the evil of the sneaky tempter

who puts temptations into the breasts of humans,

from among the jinn and humans.’