Surah 75. Al-Qiyamah

But nay: no refuge [for thee, O man]!

  - Mohammad Asad

Nay! There will be no refuge.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

But no! There will be no refuge.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Alas! No refuge!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

By no means! No place of safety!

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

With thy Sustainer, on that Day, the journey's end will be!

  - Mohammad Asad

On that Day, the refuge will only be towards your Rabb.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

On that Day all will end up before your Lord.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Unto thy Lord is the recourse that day.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Before thy Lord (alone) that Day will be the place of rest.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Man will be apprised, on that Day, of what he has done and what he has left undone:⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "what he has sent ahead and left behind", i.e., whatever good and bad deeds he committed or omitted (Zamakhshari).

On that Day man shall be told about all his deeds, from the first to the last.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

All will then be informed of what they have sent forth and left behind.

  - Mustafa Khattab

On that day man is told the tale of that which he hath sent before and left behind.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

That Day will man be told (all) that he put forward and all that he put back. ⁵⁸¹⁸

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

All good and bad deeds, positive and negative, i.e., all sins of commission and omission, and all the good that a man did and all the evil that he omitted, all the influence that he radiated before him and all that he left behind him.

nay, but man shall against himself be an eye-witness,

  - Mohammad Asad

Indeed, man shall bear witness against himself,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

In fact, people will testify against their own souls,¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 Their organs will testify against them. See 41:19-24.

Oh, but man is a telling witness against himself,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Nay man will be evidence against himself ⁵⁸¹⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xxiv. 24, and n. 2976: "On the Day when their tongues, their hands, and their feet will bear witness against them as to their actions. " It is not what a man says about himself, or what others say of him, that determines judgment about him. It is what he is in himself. His own personality betrays him or commends him.

even though he may veil himself in excuses.⁵

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. 24:24 , 36:65 or {41:2-22}.

even though he shall plead with excuses.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

despite the excuses they come up with.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Although he tender his excuses.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Even though he were to put up his excuses.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

MOVE NOT thy tongue in haste, [repeating the words of the revelation:]⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit. "Move not thy tongue therewith so that thou might hasten it" - the pronoun undoubtedly referring to the contents of revelation. In order to understand this parenthetic passage (verses {16-19}) more fully, one should read it side by side with the related passage in 20:114 , together with the corresponding note [101]. Both these passages are in the first instance addressed to the Prophet, who is said to have been afraid that he might forget some of the revealed words unless he repeated them at the very moment of revelation; but both have also a wider import inasmuch as they apply to every believer who reads, listens to or studies the Qur'an. In 20:114 we are told not to draw hasty - and therefore potentially erroneous - conclusions from isolated verses or statements of the Qur'an, since only the study of the whole of its message can give us a correct insight. The present passage, on the other hand, lays stress on the need to imbibe the divine writ slowly, patiently, to give full thought to the meaning of every word and phrase, and to avoid the kind of haste which is indistinguishable from mechanical glibness, and which, moreover, induces the person who reads, recites or listens to it to remain satisfied with the mere beautiful sound of the Qur'anic language without understanding - or even paying adequate attention to - its message.

O Prophet, do not move your tongue too fast to memorize this revelation,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Do not rush your tongue trying to memorize 'a revelation of' the Quran.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Stir not thy tongue herewith to hasten it.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Move not thy tongue concerning the (Qur'an) to make haste therewith. ⁵⁸²⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xx. 114, and n. 2639: "Be not in haste with the Qur-an before its revelation to thee is completed." S. lxxv. is an earlier revelation, and the shade of meaning is slightly different. The immediate meaning was that the holy Prophet was to allow the revelation conveyed to him to sink into his mind and heart and not to be impatient about it; Allah would certainly complete it according to His Plan, and see that it was collected and preserved for men, and not lost; that the inspired one was to follow it and recite it as the inspiration was conveyed to him; and that it carries its own explanation according to the faculties bestowed by Allah on man. The general meaning follows the same lines: we must not be impatient about the inspired Word; we must follow it as made clear to us by the faculties given to us by Allah.

for, behold, it is for Us to gather it [in thy heart,] and to cause it to be read [as it ought to be read].⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., "it is for Us to make thee remember it and to cause it to be read with mind and heart". As pointed out in the preceding note, the Qur'an can be understood only if it is read thoughtfully, as one integral whole, and not as a mere collection of moral maxims, stories or disjointed laws.

It is Our responsibility to collect it in your memory, and make you recite it

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

It is certainly upon Us to 'make you' memorize and recite it.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Lo! upon Us (resteth) the putting together thereof and the reading thereof.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

It is for Us to collect it and to promulgate it:

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Thus, when We recite it, follow thou its wording [with all thy mind]:⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "follow thou its recitation", i.e., its message as expressed in words. Since it is God who reveals the Qur'an and bestows upon man the ability to understand it, He attributes its "recitation" to Himself.

and when it is recited, to make you follow it,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

So once We have recited a revelation 'through Gabriel', follow its recitation 'closely'.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And when We read it, follow thou the reading;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But when We have promulgated it follow thou its recital (as promulgated):

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

and then, behold, it will be for Us to make its meaning clear.⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., if the Qur'an is read "as it ought to be read" (see note [7] above), it becomes - as stressed by Muhammad 'Abduh - "its own best commentary".

and then it is Our responsibility to explain it.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then it is surely upon Us to make it clear 'to you'.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Then lo! upon Us (resteth) the explanation thereof.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Nay more it is for Us to explain it (and make it clear):

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

NAY, but [most of] you love this fleeting life,

  - Mohammad Asad

- Nay, the fact is that you people love this fleeting life

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

But no! In fact, you love this fleeting world,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Nay, but ye do love the fleeting Now

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Nay (ye men!) but ye love the fleeting life ⁵⁸²¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xxi. 37. Man loves haste and things of haste. For that reason he pins his faith on transitory things that come and go, and neglects the things of lasting moment, which come slowly, and whose true import will only be fully seen in the Hereafter.

and give no thought to the life to come [and to Judgment Day]!

  - Mohammad Asad

and are heedless to the Hereafter.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

and neglect the Hereafter.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And neglect the Hereafter.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And leave alone the Hereafter.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Some faces will on that Day be bright with happiness,

  - Mohammad Asad

On that Day, some faces shall be bright,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

On that Day 'some' faces will be bright,

  - Mustafa Khattab

That day will faces be resplendent,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Some faces that Day will beam (in brightness and beauty) ⁵⁸²²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

This passage (especially with reference to verses 26-28) would seem to refer to what our Doctors call the Lesser Judgment (Qiyamat-us-Sugra), which takes place immediately after death, and not to the Greater or General Judgment, which may be supposed to be referred to in such passages as occurs in S. lvi. There are other passages referring to the Lesser Judgment immediately after death; e.g., vii. 37 etc. If I understand aright, the punishment of sin takes place in three ways; (1) it may take place in this very life, but this may be deferred, to give the sinner respite; (2) it may be an agony immediately after death; and (3) in the final Resurrection, when the whole of the present order gives place to a wholly new World: xiv, 48.

looking up to their Sustainer;

  - Mohammad Asad

looking towards their Rabb.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

looking at their Lord.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Looking toward their Lord;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Looking towards their Lord;

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

and some faces will on that Day be overcast with despair,

  - Mohammad Asad

And on that Day some faces shall be gloomy,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And 'other' faces will be gloomy,

  - Mustafa Khattab

And that day will other faces be despondent,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And some faces that Day will be sad and dismal

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

knowing that a crushing calamity is about to befall them.

  - Mohammad Asad

thinking that some backbreaking calamity is about to be inflicted on them.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

anticipating something devastating to befall them.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Thou wilt know that some great disaster is about to fall on them.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

In the thought that some back-breaking calamity was about to be inflicted on them;

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali