When the sun folds
and the stars are dispersed,
when the mountains are shifting
and when full-term she-camels are neglected.
When the wild beasts are gathered,
when the seas are set aflame,
when the Souls are paired,
when the female baby who was buried alive is asked
for what offense she was killed?
When the records are made public,
when the sky is stripped away
when Hell is set ablaze
when Paradise is brought into view,
every Soul will then know what it has brought with it.
I swear by the contracting planets,
the runners and sweepers,
and by the night as it recedes
and the dawn when it breathes,
this revelation is indeed the word of an honorable Messenger,
endowed with strength, secure with the Lord of the Throne,
obeyed and trustworthy.
This fellow of yours is not mad,
he has already seen him [Gabriel] in the clear horizon.
He does not withhold what is revealed to him from beyond.
And it (the Qur’an) is not the word of a devil, expelled from Heaven.
So where, then, will you go?
It is a reminder to the worlds
for whoever wills among you to go straight.
But you shall not will, unless God, the Lord of the worlds, wills.