بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
1
إِذَا ٱلسَّمَآءُ ٱنشَقَّتْ
WHEN THE SKY is split asunder,1
2
وَأَذِنَتْ لِرَبِّهَا وَحُقَّتْ
obeying its Sustainer, as in truth it must;
3
وَإِذَا ٱلْأَرْضُ مُدَّتْ
and when the earth is levelled,2
4
وَأَلْقَتْ مَا فِيهَا وَتَخَلَّتْ
and casts forth whatever is in it, and becomes utterly void,3
5
وَأَذِنَتْ لِرَبِّهَا وَحُقَّتْ
obeying its Sustainer, as in truth it must -:
6
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ إِنَّكَ كَادِحٌ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ كَدْحًا فَمُلَـٰقِيهِ
[then,] O man - thou [that] hast, verily, been toiling towards thy Sustainer in painful toil4 - then shalt thou meet Him!
7
فَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِىَ كِتَـٰبَهُۥ بِيَمِينِهِۦ
And as for him whose record shall be placed in his right hand,5
8
فَسَوْفَ يُحَاسَبُ حِسَابًا يَسِيرًا
he will in time be called to account with an easy accounting,
9
وَيَنقَلِبُ إِلَىٰٓ أَهْلِهِۦ مَسْرُورًا
and will [be able to] turn joyfully to those of his own kind.6
10
وَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِىَ كِتَـٰبَهُۥ وَرَآءَ ظَهْرِهِۦ
But as for him whose record shall be given to him behind his back,7
11
فَسَوْفَ يَدْعُوا۟ ثُبُورًا
he will in time pray for utter destruction:
12
وَيَصْلَىٰ سَعِيرًا
but he will enter the blazing flame.
13
إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ فِىٓ أَهْلِهِۦ مَسْرُورًا
Behold, [in his earthly life] he lived joyfully among people of his own kind8 -
14
إِنَّهُۥ ظَنَّ أَن لَّن يَحُورَ
for, behold, he never thought that he would have to return [to God].
15
بَلَىٰٓ إِنَّ رَبَّهُۥ كَانَ بِهِۦ بَصِيرًا
Yea indeed! His Sustainer did see all that was in him!
16
فَلَآ أُقْسِمُ بِٱلشَّفَقِ
BUT NAY! I call to witness the sunset's [fleeting] afterglow,
17
وَٱلَّيْلِ وَمَا وَسَقَ
and the night, and what it [step by step] unfolds,
18
وَٱلْقَمَرِ إِذَا ٱتَّسَقَ
and the moon, as it grows to its fullness:9
19
لَتَرْكَبُنَّ طَبَقًا عَن طَبَقٍ
[even thus, O men,] are you bound to move onward from stage to stage.10
20
فَمَا لَهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ
What, then, is amiss with them that they will not believe [in a life to come]?11 -
21
وَإِذَا قُرِئَ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْقُرْءَانُ لَا يَسْجُدُونَ ۩
and [that], when the Qur'an is read unto them, they do not fall down in prostration?12
22
بَلِ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ يُكَذِّبُونَ
Nay, but they who are bent on denying the truth give the lie [to this divine writ]!
23
وَٱللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا يُوعُونَ
Yet God has full knowledge of what they conceal [in their hearts].13
24
فَبَشِّرْهُم بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ
Hence, give them the tiding of grievous suffering [in the life to come] -
25
إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ لَهُمْ أَجْرٌ غَيْرُ مَمْنُونٍۭ
unless it be such [of them] as [repent, and] attain to faith, and do good works: for theirs shall be a reward unending!
