Surah “The Mount, The Mountain”

as rendered by Arthur John Arberry — 49 verses

By the Moun
and a Book inscribe
in a parchment unrolled
by the House inhabite
and the roof uplifte
and the sea swarming
surely thy Lord's chastisement is about to fall
there is none to avert it
Upon the day when heaven spins dizzily
and the mountains are in motion
woe that day unto those that cry lies
such as play at plunging
the day when they shall be pitched into the fire of Gehenna
'This is the fire that you cried lies to
What, is this magic, or is it you that do not see
Roast in it! And bear you patiently, or bear not patiently, equal it is to you; you are only being recompensed for that you were working.
Surely the godfearing shall be in gardens and bliss
rejoicing in that their Lord has given them; and their Lord shall guard them against the chastisement of Hell
'Eat and drink, with wholesome appetite, for that you were working
Reclining upon couches ranged in rows; and We shall espouse them to wide-eyed houris
And those who believed, and their seed followed them in belief, We shall join their seed with them, and We shall not defraud them of aught of their work; every man shall be pledged for what he earned
And We shall succour them with fruits and flesh such as they desire
while they pass therein a cup one to another wherein is no idle talk, no cause of sin
and there go round them youths, their own, as if they were hidden pearls
They advance one upon another, asking each other questions
They say, 'We were before among our people, ever going in fear
and God was gracious to us, and guarded us against the chastisement of the burning wind
we were before ever calling upon Him; surely He is the All-benign, the All-compassionate.
Therefore remind! by thy Lord's blessing thou art not a soothsayer neither possessed
Or do they say, 'He is a poet for whom we await Fate's uncertainty'
Say: 'Await! I shall be awaiting with you.
Or do their intellects bid them do this? Or are they an insolent people
Or do they say, 'He has invented it?' Nay, but they do not believe
Then let them bring a discourse like it, if they speak truly
Or were they created out of nothing? Or are they the creators
Or did they create the heavens and earth? Nay, but they have not sure faith
Or are thy Lord's treasuries in their keeping? Or are they the registrars
Or have they a ladder whereon they listen? Then let any of them that has listened bring a clear authority
Or has He daughters, and they sons
Or askest thou them for a wage, and so they are weighed down with debt
Or is the Unseen in their keeping, and so they are writing it down
Or desire they to outwit? The unbelievers, they are the outwitted
Or have they a god, other than God? Glory be to God, above that which they associate
Even if they saw lumps falling from heaven, they would say, 'A massed cloud!
Then leave them, till they encounter their day wherein they shall be thunderstruck
the day when their guile shall avail them naught, and they shall not be helped
And there surely awaits the evildoers a chastisement beyond even that, but most of them know it not
And be thou patient under the judgment of thy Lord; surely thou art before Our eyes. And proclaim the praise of thy Lord when thou arisest
and proclaim the praise of thy Lord in the night, and at the declining of the stars