When the Event happens—
Upon its onset, not a soul in denial—
Abasing and exalting.
When the earth is shaken violently
And the mountains are milled fine
So, to be dispersed dust.
And you are of three categories:
The members of the Right. What of the members of the Right!
And the members of the Left. What of the members of the Left!
And the foremost! The [truly] foremost—
Those are the ones brought ever near [to God]
in gardens of the [Real] bliss.
A deserving group from the first set [of believers]
and a sparse few from the later ones
on ornately inlaid thrones
reclined in comfort on them, facing one another—
making rounds [waiting] upon them young pages, made ever abiding,
with mugs and pitchers and a cup from a spring in plain view.
No headache from it, nor do they get intoxicated.
And delicious fruits, whichever they deem best
and flesh of fowl, whichever they may crave for
and earnest-eyed heavenly companions,
like many facets of treasured pearls
[all] a recompense for what they used to do.
They hear therein no meaningless talk nor any aspect of sin
except an exchange: “Peace [Salaam], Peace [Salaam].”
And the members of the Right. What of the members of the Right!
Amidst thornless sidr
and clustered sweet fruits and fragrant flowers
and extended shade
and water, blessedly poured
and ever abundant delicious fruit
neither cut off nor forbidden
and raised spreads.
Surely, WE have brought them into being— a [special] being
— WE have made them virgins,
loving, well-matched,
for the members of the Right—
a deserving group from the first set [of believers]
and a deserving group from the later ones.
While the members of the Left. What of the members of the Left?
In a wind bereft of mercy [samūm] and a fluid bereft of mercy [ḥamīm]
and shade from a cover bereft of mercy [yaḥmūm]
neither cool nor beneficent.
Surely, prior to that they were surrounded in luxury.
And they used to insist upon the great perjury [of lying in the face the Spiritual Truth]
And they used to say, “What! After we are dead, and have become dust and bones— will we yet be resurrected?
Along with our earliest forefathers?”
Say, “Indeed, the very first ones and the very last ones.
All necessarily gathered together, headed toward the tryst of a defined day.”
Then for certain, O you the misguided, the truth-beliers,
assured consumers of the tree of Zaqquum—
voracious fillers of the bellies from it—
Then on top of it, thirsty drinkers of Ḥamīm—
drinking the thirsty camels’ fill.
This is their reception on the Day of Surrender and Reckoning
WE have created you. So then, why do you not acknowledge the truth?
So [for as ungratefully perjurious as you are], have you seen what you emit?
Is it you who create it, or are WE the Creator?
WE— WE have precisely set the death [of each] among you, and WE are not to be outstripped
over OUR replacing your forms and bringing you to being into that which you do not know.
And you in fact have already experienced the first coming to being. So why do you not mindfully reflect?
Have you considered what you sow in the ground?
Is it you who cause it to grow or are WE the Grower?
If WE had willed, WE could have dependably made it chaff. Then [for as ungratefully perjurious as you are] would you have continued enjoying the fruit [or would you lament]:
“Surely, we are debt-ridden.
Worse! We are dispossessed.”
So [for as ungratefully perjurious as you are], have you considered the water which you drink?
Is it you who send it down from the rainclouds or is it WE WHO ever send it down?
If WE willed, WE could have rendered it bitter and salty. So why are you not grateful?
Have you considered the fire which you kindle?
Is it you—did you bring its tree into being or are WE WHO ever make it rise and grow?
WE— WE have made it [i.e., the fire] a telling reminder and a utility for those who forge.
So, contemplate and meditate upon the name of your Rabb, the Transcendent.
So, no! [Man is not his own provider.]. I swear by the instances of the stars—
– and it is indeed an awe-inspiring oath— had it been for you to know!
Surely, it is indeed a noble Quran,
in a timelessly enshrined book.
None can touch it except the ones purified.
A sending down from the Rabb of all the realms.
So, is it by this account that you are the anointers?
And you have made it your daily sustenance that you call the truth a lie.
Then why is it not that when [the parting soul] reaches the throat—
a moment when you are merely looking on
and WE are nearer to him than you, though you cannot see—
then, why do you not— if you are other than ones piled in debt [with every borrowed breath]
[Why not] bring it [i.e., the parting soul] back if you are the truthful ones?
So in case, if he [i.e., the dying person] be of the ones conferred nearness [to God]—
Then, a balmy breeze and a sweet fragrance, and a garden of bliss.
And in case, if he be of the members of the Right—
Then, “Peace [Salaam] unto you,” from the members of the Right.
And in case, if he be of the truth-beliers, the ones astray—
then a greeting offering of a fluid bereft of mercy [ḥamīm]
and the burning of jaḥīm.
Hearken! This surely is the reality of the absolutely certain.
So, contemplate and meditate upon the name of your Rabb, the Transcendent