Surah 69. Al-Haqqah

And so he will find himself in a happy state of life,

  - Mohammad Asad

So he will have a life of pleasure,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They will be in a life of bliss,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Then he will be in blissful state

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And he will be in a life of Bliss

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

in a lofty paradise,

  - Mohammad Asad

in a lofty garden,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

in an elevated Garden,

  - Mustafa Khattab

In a high Garden

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

In a Garden on high

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

with its fruits within easy reach.

  - Mohammad Asad

with clusters of fruit within his reach.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

whose fruit will hang within reach.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Whereof the clusters are in easy reach.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

The Fruits whereof (will hang in bunches) low and near. ⁵⁶⁵⁴

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The description is that of ripe, luscious grapes, hanging low in heavy bunches, so near that they could be gathered and enjoyed in dignified ease. Cf. also lv. 54; lxxvi. 14.

[And all who are thus blest will be told:] "Eat and drink with good cheer in return for all [the good deeds] that you have sent ahead in days gone by!"

  - Mohammad Asad

We shall say to him: "Eat and drink to your hearts content; this is a reward for what you did in the days gone by."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'They will be told,' 'Eat and drink joyfully for what you did in the days gone by.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

(And it will be said unto those therein): Eat and drink at ease for that which ye sent on before you in past days.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"Eat ye and drink ye with full satisfaction; because of the (good) that ye sent before you in the days that are gone!" ^{5655 5656}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. ii. 110: "Whatever good ye send forth for your souls before you, ye shall find it with Allah: for Allah sees well all that ye do."

It will be a wholly new world, a new earth and a new heaven, when the blessed might well think with calm relief of "the days that are gone". Cf- xiv. 48, and n. 1925. Even Time and Space will be no more, so that any ideas that we may form here will be found to have become wholly obsolete by then.

But as for him whose record shall be placed in his left hand,¹⁴ he will exclaim: "Oh, would that I had never been shown this my record,

  - Mohammad Asad

Thus signifying that he had been unrighteous in his earthly life, in contrast with those "whose record will be placed in their right hand" (see verse {19} and note [12] above).

While he, who will be given his Book of Deeds in his left hand, will say: "Woe to me, would that I had not been given my Book of Deeds

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And as for those given their record in their left hand, they will cry 'bitterly', 'I wish I had not been given my record,

  - Mustafa Khattab

But as for him who is given his record in his left hand, he will say: Oh, would that I had not been given my book

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And he that will be given his Record in his left hand will say: "Ah! would that my record had not been given to me! ⁵⁶⁵⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

This is in contrast to the righteous ones who will receive their record in their right hand. Cf. lxix. 19, n. 5652. The righteous are glad when they remember their past: their memory is itself a precious possession. The unjust are in agony when they remember their past. Their memory is itself a grievous punishment.

and neither known this my account!

  - Mohammad Asad

nor known what my account was!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

nor known anything of my reckoning!

  - Mustafa Khattab

And knew not what my reckoning!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"And that I had never realized how my account (stood)!

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Oh, would that this [death of mine] had been the end of me!

  - Mohammad Asad

Would that my death had ended all!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

I wish death was the end!

  - Mustafa Khattab

Oh, would that it had been death!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"Ah! would that (Death) had made an end of me! ⁵⁶⁵⁸

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The death as from this life was but a transition into a new world. They would wish that that death had been the end of all things, but it will not be.

Of no avail to me is all that I have [ever] possessed,

  - Mohammad Asad

My wealth had availed me nothing,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

My wealth has not benefited me!

  - Mustafa Khattab

My wealth hath not availed me,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"Of no profit to me has been my wealth!

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

[and] all my power of argument has died away from me!"¹⁵

  - Mohammad Asad

The term sultan, which primarily signifies "power" or "authority", has here - as in many other places in the Qur'an - evidently the meaning of "argument", synonymous with hujjah (Ibn 'Abbas, 'Ikrimah, Mujahid, Ad-Dahhak, all of them quoted by Tabari): in this case, an argument or arguments against the idea of life after death and, hence, of divine judgment.

and my authority has gone away from me."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

My authority has been stripped from me.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

My power hath gone from me.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"My power has perished from me!"... ⁵⁶⁵⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The intensest agony is when the soul loses power over itself, when the personality tries to realise itself in new conditions and cannot: this is life in death.

[Thereupon the command will go forth:] "Lay hold of him, and shackle him,¹⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

For an explanation of the allegory of "shackles", see note [13] on 13:5 , note [44] on the last but one sentence of 34:33 , and notes [6] and [7] on 36:8 .

We shall say: "Seize him and put a chain around his neck,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'It will be said,' 'Seize and shackle them,

  - Mustafa Khattab

(It will be said): Take him and fetter him

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

(The stern command will say): "Seize ye him and bind ye him ⁵⁶⁶⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Perhaps the word for 'bind' should be construed: 'bind his hands round his neck, to remind him that his hands when they were free were closed to all acts of charity and mercy': Cf. xvii. 29.

and then let him enter hell,

  - Mohammad Asad

then cast him in the blazing fire,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

then burn them in Hell,

  - Mustafa Khattab

And then expose him to hell fire

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"And burn ye him in the Blazing Fire.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

and then thrust him into a chain [of other sinners like him¹⁷ - a chain] the length whereof is seventy cubits:¹⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

See 14:49 - "on that Day thou wilt see all who were lost in sin (al-mujrimin) linked together in fetters" - and the corresponding note [64], which explains my above interpolation of the phrase, "of other sinners like him".

I.e., a chain exceedingly long - the number "seventy" being used here metonymically, as is often done in classical Arabic, in the sense of "very many" (Zamakhshari); hence "of a measure the length whereof is known only to God" (Tabari; also Al-Hasan, as quoted by Razi).

then fasten him with a chain seventy cubits long.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

then tie them up with chains seventy arms long.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And then insert him in a chain whereof the length is seventy cubits.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"Further make him march in a chain whereof the length is seventy cubits! ⁵⁶⁶¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The sinful men who will be given their record on the Day of Judgment in their left hands will be in utter despair. Their power and authority which they misused to perpetrate injustice and oppression will be gone. The wealth that had made them turn a deaf ear to the call of Truth will be no more. They will cry out in agony: "O would that we were never raised again!. 0 would that death had obliterated us once for all". But their cries will be of no avail. They will be seized, bound in chains and drawn into the Blazing Fire for their crimes against Allah and man.

for, behold, he did not believe in God, the Tremendous,

  - Mohammad Asad

For he did not believe in Allah, the Most High,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

For they never had faith in Allah, the Greatest,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Lo! he used not to believe in Allah the Tremendous,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"This was he that would not believe in Allah Most High ⁵⁶⁶²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The grip of sin was fastened on sinners because they forsook Allah. They ran after their own lusts and worshipped them, or they ran after Allah's creatures, ignoring Him Who is the cause and source of all good.

and did not feel any urge¹⁹ to feed the needy:

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "did not urge", i.e., himself.

nor did he care to feed the poor.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

nor encouraged the feeding of the poor.

  - Mustafa Khattab

And urged not on the feeding of the wretched,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"And would not encourage the feeding of the indigent! ⁵⁶⁶³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. cvii. 3; lxxxix, 18. The practical result of their rebellion against the God of Mercy was that their sympathies dried up. Not only did they not help or feed those in need, but they hindered others from doing so. And they have neither friend nor sympathy (food) in the Hereafter.

and so, no friend has he here today,

  - Mohammad Asad

Today he neither has a true friend here,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

So this Day they will have no close friend here,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Therefor hath he no lover here this day,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"So no friend hath he here this Day.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali