The surah that opens with the oath of the Divine One swearing by The Mount of Sinai, where the Torah was revealed to Moses. It takes its name from “the mount” (ṭūr) mentioned in verse 1. The surah which addresses many of the arguments put to the Prophet by the disbelievers of Mecca (verse 29 .). The bliss that will be enjoyed by the believers is contrasted to the torments of Hell, and the Prophet is urged to bide his time, to continue to deliver his message, and to wait with confidence for God’s judgement. God swears by, among other things, Mount Sinai, that the Day of Judgement is inevitable.The surah is also known as: Mount Tur, The Mountain.
1
وَالطّورِ
wa-ṭ-ṭūri
By the Mount [Sinai],
2
وَكِتابٍ مَسطورٍ
wa-kitābin masṭūrin
by the Book inscribed
3
في رَقٍّ مَنشورٍ
fī raqqin manshūrin
on an unrolled parchment;
4
وَالبَيتِ المَعمورِ
wa-l-bayti l-maʿmūri
by the House greatly frequented;1The Holy Kaʿbah, or its counterpart, in the fourth (or the seventh) heaven, frequented by the angels.
5
وَالسَّقفِ المَرفوعِ
wa-s-saqfi l-marfūʿi
by the vault raised high,
6
وَالبَحرِ المَسجورِ
wa-l-baḥri l-masjūri
by the surging sea:1Or ‘the sea set afire.’
7
إِنَّ عَذابَ رَبِّكَ لَواقِعٌ
ʾinna ʿadhāba rabbika la-wāqiʿun
indeed your Lord’s punishment will surely befall.
8
ما لَهُ مِن دافِعٍ
mā lahū min dāfiʿin
There is none who can avert it.
9
يَومَ تَمورُ السَّماءُ مَورًا
yawma tamūru s-samāʾu mawran
On the day when the sky whirls violently,
10
وَتَسيرُ الجِبالُ سَيرًا
wa-tasīru l-jibālu sayran
and the mountains move with an awful motion:
11
فَوَيلٌ يَومَئِذٍ لِلمُكَذِّبينَ
fa-waylun yawmaʾidhin li-l-mukadhdhibīna
woe to the deniers on that day
12
الَّذينَ هُم في خَوضٍ يَلعَبونَ
alladhīna hum fī khawḍin yalʿabūna
—those who play around in vain talk,
13
يَومَ يُدَعّونَ إِلىٰ نارِ جَهَنَّمَ دَعًّا
yawma yudaʿʿūna ʾilā n-nāri jahannama daʿʿan
the day when they will be shovedtoward the fire of hellforcibly,
14
هٰذِهِ النّارُ الَّتي كُنتُم بِها تُكَذِّبونَ
hādhihi n-nāru llatī kuntum bihā tukadhdhibūna
[and told:] ‘This is the Fire whichyou used to deny!’
15
أَفَسِحرٌ هٰذا أَم أَنتُم لا تُبصِرونَ
ʾa-fa-siḥrun hādhā ʾam ʾantum lā tubṣirūna
Is this then magic,or is it you who do not perceive?
16
اصلَوها فَاصبِروا أَو لا تَصبِروا سَواءٌ عَلَيكُم ۖ إِنَّما تُجزَونَ ما كُنتُم تَعمَلونَ
iṣlawhā fa-ṣbirū ʾaw lā taṣbirū sawāʾun ʿalaykum ʾinnamā tujzawna mā kuntum taʿmalūna
‘Enter it,and whether you are patient or impatientit will be the same for you.You are only being requitedfor what you used to do.’
17
إِنَّ المُتَّقينَ في جَنّاتٍ وَنَعيمٍ
ʾinna l-muttaqīna fī jannātin wa-naʿīmin
Indeed the Godwary will be amid gardensand bliss,
18
فاكِهينَ بِما آتاهُم رَبُّهُم وَوَقاهُم رَبُّهُم عَذابَ الجَحيمِ
fākihīna bi-mā ʾātāhum rabbuhum wa-waqāhum rabbuhum ʿadhāba l-jaḥīmi
rejoicing because of what their Lord has given them,and that their Lord has saved themfrom the punishment of hell.
19
كُلوا وَاشرَبوا هَنيئًا بِما كُنتُم تَعمَلونَ
kulū wa-shrabū hanīʾan bi-mā kuntum taʿmalūna
[They will be told:] ‘Enjoy your food and drink,[as a reward] for what you used to do.’
20
مُتَّكِئينَ عَلىٰ سُرُرٍ مَصفوفَةٍ ۖ وَزَوَّجناهُم بِحورٍ عينٍ
muttakiʾīna ʿalā sururin maṣfūfatin wa-zawwajnāhum bi-ḥūrin ʿīnin
They will be reclining on arrayed couches,and We will wed them to big-eyed houris.
21
وَالَّذينَ آمَنوا وَاتَّبَعَتهُم ذُرِّيَّتُهُم بِإيمانٍ أَلحَقنا بِهِم ذُرِّيَّتَهُم وَما أَلَتناهُم مِن عَمَلِهِم مِن شَيءٍ ۚ كُلُّ امرِئٍ بِما كَسَبَ رَهينٌ
wa-lladhīna ʾāmanū wa-ttabaʿathum dhurriyyatuhum bi-ʾīmānin ʾalḥaqnā bihim dhurriyyatahum wa-mā ʾalatnāhum min ʿamalihim min shayʾin kullu mriʾin bi-mā kasaba rahīnun
The faithfuland their descendants who followed them in faith—We will make their descendants join them,and We will not stintanything from [the reward of] their deeds.Every man is a hostage to what he has earned.
22
وَأَمدَدناهُم بِفاكِهَةٍ وَلَحمٍ مِمّا يَشتَهونَ
wa-ʾamdadnāhum bi-fākihatin wa-laḥmin mimmā yashtahūna
We will provide them with fruits and meat,such as they desire.
23
يَتَنازَعونَ فيها كَأسًا لا لَغوٌ فيها وَلا تَأثيمٌ
yatanāzaʿūna fīhā kaʾsan lā laghwun fīhā wa-lā taʾthīmun
There they will pass from hand to hand a cupwherein there will be neither any vain talknor sinful speech.
24
۞ وَيَطوفُ عَلَيهِم غِلمانٌ لَهُم كَأَنَّهُم لُؤلُؤٌ مَكنونٌ
wa-yaṭūfu ʿalayhim ghilmānun lahum ka-ʾannahum luʾluʾun maknūnun
They will be waited upon by youths, their own,as if they were guarded pearls.
25
وَأَقبَلَ بَعضُهُم عَلىٰ بَعضٍ يَتَساءَلونَ
wa-ʾaqbala baʿḍuhum ʿalā baʿḍin yatasāʾalūna
They will turn to one another,questioning each other.
26
قالوا إِنّا كُنّا قَبلُ في أَهلِنا مُشفِقينَ
qālū ʾinnā kunnā qablu fī ʾahlinā mushfiqīna
They will say, ‘Indeed, aforetime, we used to beapprehensive about our families.
27
فَمَنَّ اللَّهُ عَلَينا وَوَقانا عَذابَ السَّمومِ
fa-manna llāhu ʿalaynā wa-waqānā ʿadhāba s-samūmi
But Allah showed us favourand He saved usfrom the punishment of the [infernal] miasma;
28
إِنّا كُنّا مِن قَبلُ نَدعوهُ ۖ إِنَّهُ هُوَ البَرُّ الرَّحيمُ
ʾinnā kunnā min qablu nadʿūhu ʾinnahū huwa l-barru r-raḥīmu
indeed we used to supplicate Him aforetime.Indeed He is the All-benign, the All-merciful.’
29
فَذَكِّر فَما أَنتَ بِنِعمَتِ رَبِّكَ بِكاهِنٍ وَلا مَجنونٍ
fa-dhakkir fa-mā ʾanta bi-niʿmati rabbika bi-kāhinin wa-lā majnūnin
So admonish.By your Lord’s blessing, you are not a soothsayer,nor mad.
30
أَم يَقولونَ شاعِرٌ نَتَرَبَّصُ بِهِ رَيبَ المَنونِ
ʾam yaqūlūna shāʿirun natarabbaṣu bihī rayba l-manūni
Do they say, ‘[He is] a poet,for whom we await a fatal accident’?
31
قُل تَرَبَّصوا فَإِنّي مَعَكُم مِنَ المُتَرَبِّصينَ
qul tarabbaṣū fa-ʾinnī maʿakum mina l-mutarabbiṣīna
Say, ‘Wait!I too am waiting along with you.’
32
أَم تَأمُرُهُم أَحلامُهُم بِهٰذا ۚ أَم هُم قَومٌ طاغونَ
ʾam taʿmuruhum ʾaḥlāmuhum bi-hādhā ʾam hum qawmun ṭāghūna
Is it their intellect which prompts themto [say] this,or are they a rebellious lot?
33
أَم يَقولونَ تَقَوَّلَهُ ۚ بَل لا يُؤمِنونَ
ʾam yaqūlūna taqawwalahū bal lā yuʾminūna
Do they say, ‘He has improvised it [himself]?’Rather they have no faith!
34
فَليَأتوا بِحَديثٍ مِثلِهِ إِن كانوا صادِقينَ
fa-l-yaʾtū bi-ḥadīthin mithlihī ʾin kānū ṣādiqīna
Let them bring a discourse like it,if they are truthful.
35
أَم خُلِقوا مِن غَيرِ شَيءٍ أَم هُمُ الخالِقونَ
ʾam khuliqū min ghayri shayʾin ʾam humu l-khāliqūna
Were they created from nothing?Or are they [their own] creators?
36
أَم خَلَقُوا السَّماواتِ وَالأَرضَ ۚ بَل لا يوقِنونَ
ʾam khalaqū s-samāwāti wa-l-ʾarḍa bal lā yūqinūna
Did they create the heavens and the earth?Rather they have no certainty!
37
أَم عِندَهُم خَزائِنُ رَبِّكَ أَم هُمُ المُصَيطِرونَ
ʾam ʿindahum khazāʾinu rabbika ʾam humu l-muṣayṭirūna
Do they possess the treasuries of your Lord?Or are they the controllers [of their dispensation]?
38
أَم لَهُم سُلَّمٌ يَستَمِعونَ فيهِ ۖ فَليَأتِ مُستَمِعُهُم بِسُلطانٍ مُبينٍ
ʾam lahum sullamun yastamiʿūna fīhi fa-l-yaʾti mustamiʿuhum bi-sulṭānin mubīnin
Do they have a ladder [leading up to heaven]whereby they eavesdrop?1If so let their eavesdropper producea manifest authority.That is, on the conversation of the angels.
39
أَم لَهُ البَناتُ وَلَكُمُ البَنونَ
ʾam lahu l-banātu wa-lakumu l-banūna
Does He have daughters while you have sons?1Cf. 4:117; 16:57-59; 17:40; 37:149-154; 43:16-19; 53:21-23, 27.
40
أَم تَسأَلُهُم أَجرًا فَهُم مِن مَغرَمٍ مُثقَلونَ
ʾam tasʾaluhum ʾajran fa-hum min maghramin muthqalūna
Do you ask them for a reward,so that they are weighed down with debt?
41
أَم عِندَهُمُ الغَيبُ فَهُم يَكتُبونَ
ʾam ʿindahumu l-ghaybu fa-hum yaktubūna
Do they have [access to] the Unseen,which they write down?
42
أَم يُريدونَ كَيدًا ۖ فَالَّذينَ كَفَروا هُمُ المَكيدونَ
ʾam yurīdūna kaydan fa-lladhīna kafarū humu l-makīdūna
Do they seek to outmaneuver [Allah]?But it is the faithlesswho are the outmaneuvered ones!
43
أَم لَهُم إِلٰهٌ غَيرُ اللَّهِ ۚ سُبحانَ اللَّهِ عَمّا يُشرِكونَ
ʾam lahum ʾilāhun ghayru llāhi subḥāna llāhi ʿammā yushrikūna
Do they have any god other than Allah?Clear is Allahof any partners that they may ascribe [to Him]!
44
وَإِن يَرَوا كِسفًا مِنَ السَّماءِ ساقِطًا يَقولوا سَحابٌ مَركومٌ
wa-ʾin yaraw kisfan mina s-samāʾi sāqiṭan yaqūlū saḥābun markūmun
Were they to seea fragment falling from the sky,they would say, ‘A cumulous cloud.’
45
فَذَرهُم حَتّىٰ يُلاقوا يَومَهُمُ الَّذي فيهِ يُصعَقونَ
fa-dharhum ḥattā yulāqū yawmahumu lladhī fīhi yuṣʿaqūna
So leave them until they encounter their dayon which they will be thunderstruck;
46
يَومَ لا يُغني عَنهُم كَيدُهُم شَيئًا وَلا هُم يُنصَرونَ
yawma lā yughnī ʿanhum kayduhum shayʾan wa-lā hum yunṣarūna
the day when their guile will not avail themin any way,nor will they be helped.
47
وَإِنَّ لِلَّذينَ ظَلَموا عَذابًا دونَ ذٰلِكَ وَلٰكِنَّ أَكثَرَهُم لا يَعلَمونَ
wa-ʾinna li-lladhīna ẓalamū ʿadhāban dūna dhālika wa-lākinna ʾaktharahum lā yaʿlamūna
Indeed for those who do wrong,there is a punishment besides that,but most of them do not know.
48
وَاصبِر لِحُكمِ رَبِّكَ فَإِنَّكَ بِأَعيُنِنا ۖ وَسَبِّح بِحَمدِ رَبِّكَ حينَ تَقومُ
wa-ṣbir li-ḥukmi rabbika fa-ʾinnaka bi-ʾaʿyuninā wa-sabbiḥ bi-ḥamdi rabbika ḥīna taqūmu
So submit patiently to the judgement of your Lord,for indeed you fare before Our eyes.And celebrate the praise of your Lordwhen you rise [at dawn],
49
وَمِنَ اللَّيلِ فَسَبِّحهُ وَإِدبارَ النُّجومِ
wa-mina l-layli fa-sabbiḥhu wa-ʾidbāra n-nujūmi
and also glorify Him during the nightand at the receding of the stars.