— 52 verses
The indubitable event
And what is that indubitable event
And what do you know what that indubitable event is
The Thamud and the Ad denied the (possibility of a) sudden calamity, calling it false
Then the Thamud were destroyed by an awesome upheaval
and the Ad were destroyed by a furiously raging wind-stor
which He let loose upon them for seven nights and eight days in succession; so that (if you had been there) you might have seen people lying prostrate, as though they were uprooted trunks of hollowed palm trees
Do you now see any trace of them
Pharaoh and those before him and the people of the overturned habitations all engaged in the same great sin
They did not follow the Messenger of their Lord, and so He seized them with a severe grip
Verily when the water rose to great heights, We bore you upon a floating vessel (i.e. the Ark
so that We might make it an instructive event for you, and retentive ears might preserve its memory
So when the Trumpet is blown with a single blas
and the earth and the mountains are carried aloft and are crushed to bits at one stroke
on that Day shall that indubitable event come to pass
when the sky will be rent asunder, the grip holding it together having loosened on that Day
and the angels will stand on the sides, with eight of them bearing aloft the Throne of your Lord on that Day
That will be the Day when you shall be brought forth (before Allah) and no secret of yours shall remain hidden
On that Day, he whose Record is given to him in his right hand will say: "Lo! Read my Record
Verily I was sure that I would be handed over my account."
Then he shall find himself in a life of bliss
in a lofty Garde
the clusters of whose fruit will be hanging low to be within reach (of the inmates of Paradise)
(They will be told): "Eat and drink with good cheer as a reward for the good deeds you did in the days that have passed by."
As for him whose Record will be given to him in his left hand, he will exclaim: "Would that I had never been given my Record
and had not known my account
Oh! Would that the death that came to me in the world had made an end of me
My riches have not availed me
and my authority has vanished."
(A command will be issued): "Seize him and shackle him
then cast him in the Fire
then fasten him with a chain, seventy cubits long
He would not believe in Allah, the Most Great
nor would he urge the feeding of the poor
Today he has been left here friendless
and has no food except the filth from the washing of wounds
which only the sinners will eat."
But no; I swear by what you see
and by what you do not see
that this is the speech of an honourable Messenger
not the speech of a poet. Little do you believe
Nor is this the speech of a soothsayer. Little do you reflect
It has been revealed by the Lord of the Universe
And if he [i.e., the Prophets] had forged this Discourse and thereafter ascribed it to Us
We would surely have seized him by the right hand
and then severed his life vein
and not one of you would have been able to withhold Us from doing so
Surely it is a Good Counsel for the God-fearing
We certainly know that some among you will give the lie to it
and surely it will be a cause of regret for the unbelievers
Certainly it is a Truth of absolute certainty
So glorify the name of your Lord Most Great