Surah 101. Al-Qariah

OH, the sudden calamity!¹

I.e., the coming of the Last Hour, which will involve a terrifying transformation of the world (see note [63] on 14:48 and note [90] on {20:105-107}).

How awesome the sudden calamity!

And what could make thee conceive what that sudden calamity will be?

[It will occur] on the Day when men will be like moths swarming in confusion,

and the mountains will be like fluffy tufts of wool....

And then, he whose weight [of good deeds] is heavy in the balance

shall find himself in a happy state of life;

whereas he whose weight is light in the balance

shall be engulfed by an abyss.²

Lit., "his mother [i.e., goal] will be an abyss", sc., of suffering and despair. The term "mother" (umm) is used idiomatically to denote something that embraces or enfolds.

And what could make thee conceive what that [abyss] will be?

A fire hotly burning!³

Lit., "hot fire", the adjective meant to stress the essential quality of fire. It should be borne in mind that all Qur'anic descriptions of the sinner's suffering in the hereafter are metaphors or allegories relating to situations and conditions which can be understood only by means of comparisons with physical phenomena lying within the range of human experience (see Appendix I).