Surah 99. Az-Zalzalah

1.

WHEN THE EARTH quakes with her [last] mighty quaking,

2.

and [when] the earth yields up her burdens,¹

I.e., all that was hitherto hidden in it, including the bodies - or the remnants - of the dead.

3.

and man cries out, "What has happened to her?"

4.

on that Day will she recount all her tidings,

5.

as thy Sustainer will have inspired her to do.²

I.e., on the Day of Judgment the earth will bear witness, as it were, to all that has ever been done by man: an explanation given by the Prophet, according to a Tradition on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (quoted by Ibn Hanbal and Tirmidhi).

6.

On that Day will all men come forward, cut off from one another,³ to be shown their [past] deeds.

Lit., "as separate entities" (ashtatan). Cf. 6:94 - "And now, indeed, you have come unto Us in a lonely state, even as We created you in the first instance": thus stressing the individual, untransferable responsibility of every human being.

7.

And so, he who shall have done an atom's weight of good, shall behold it;

8.

and he who shall have done an atom's weight of evil, shall behold it.