Surah 75. Al-Qiyamah

NAY! I call to witness the Day of Resurrection!¹

  - Mohammad Asad

By "calling it to witness", i.e., by speaking of the Day of Resurrection as if it had already occurred, the above phrase is meant to convey the certainty of its coming.

I swear by the Day of Resurrection,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

I do swear by the Day of Judgment!

  - Mustafa Khattab

Nay, I swear by the Day of Resurrection;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

I do call to witness the Resurrection Day; ⁵⁸⁰⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. lxx. 40, and n. 5700. Here the point to be enforced is understood. The appeal is made to two considerations: (1) That every act has to be accounted for, and evil must have its recompense at the Resurrection; and (2) that man's own spirit has a conscience which would reproach him for sin, if he did not suppress that inner voice.

But nay! I call to witness the accusing voice of man's own conscience!²

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "the [self-]reproaching soul": i.e., man's subconscious awareness of his own shortcomings and failings.

and I swear by the self reproaching soul!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And I do swear by the self-reproaching soul!

  - Mustafa Khattab

Nay, I swear by the accusing soul (that this Scripture is true).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And I do call to witness the self-reproaching spirit; (eschew Evil). ⁵⁸¹⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Our doctors postulate three states or stages of the development of the human soul: (1) Ammara (xii. 53), which is prone to evil, and, if not checked and controlled, will lead to perdition; (2) Lawwama, as here, which feels conscious of evil, and resists it, asks for Allah's grace and pardon after repentance and tries to amend; it hopes to reach salvation; (3) Mutmainna (lxxxix 27), the highest stage of all, when it achieves full rest and satisfaction. Our second stage may be compared to Conscience, except that in English usage Conscience is a faculty and not a stage in spiritual development.

Does man think that We cannot [resurrect him and] bring his bones together again?

  - Mohammad Asad

Does man think that We shall not be able to put his bones together?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Do people think We cannot reassemble their bones?

  - Mustafa Khattab

Thinketh man that We shall not assemble his bones?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Does man think that We cannot assemble his bones? ⁵⁸¹¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The Unbelievers' usual cry is: "What! when we are reduced to bones and dust, how can our personality be called to account?" (xvii. 49). The answer is: Allah has said so, and He will do it; for the death here is not the end of all things.

Yea indeed, We are able to make whole his very finger-tips!

  - Mohammad Asad

Why not? We are able to put together, in perfect order, the very tips of his fingers.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Yes 'indeed'! We are 'most' capable of restoring 'even' their very fingertips.¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 This refers to the fact that every human has a unique set of fingerprints.

Yea, verily. Yea, We are able to restore his very fingers!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Nay We are able to put together in perfect order the very tips of his fingers. ⁵⁸¹²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

An idiom for the most delicate parts of his body.

None the less, man chooses to deny what lies ahead of him,

  - Mohammad Asad

But man wishes to keep on doing evil in the future as well.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Still people want to deny what is yet to come,

  - Mustafa Khattab

But man would fain deny what is before him.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But man wishes to do wrong (even) in the time in front of him. ⁵⁸¹³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

It is bad enough not to repent of past sins. But the evil-doer who rejects a Day of Reckoning and has no conscience wants to go on in his career of sin and jeopardise his future also.