The surah that opens with the emphatic oath of the Divine One swearing by the looming day of Resurrection. It takes its name from verse 1, which mentions the Day of Resurrection. The surah dealing with the Day of Resurrection and man’s denial of that Day. God’s power is convincingly described in several vignettes (verse 3 ., verse 26 . and verse 34 .). The third paragraph instructs the Prophet on appropriate reception of the revelation (verse 16 .), and thereby serves to emphasize that the Quran is indeed God’s word.The surah is also known as: Day of Resurrection, The Rising.
1
لا أُقسِمُ بِيَومِ القِيامَةِ
lā ʾuqsimu bi-yawmi l-qiyāmati
I swear by the Day of Resurrection!
2
وَلا أُقسِمُ بِالنَّفسِ اللَّوّامَةِ
wa-lā ʾuqsimu bi-n-nafsi l-lawwāmati
And I swear by the self-blaming soul!
3
أَيَحسَبُ الإِنسانُ أَلَّن نَجمَعَ عِظامَهُ
ʾa-yaḥsabu l-ʾinsānu ʾal-lan najmaʿa ʿiẓāmahū
Does man supposethat We shall not put together his bones?
4
بَلىٰ قادِرينَ عَلىٰ أَن نُسَوِّيَ بَنانَهُ
balā qādirīna ʿalā ʾan nusawwiya banānahū
Yes indeed,We are able to proportion [even] his fingertips!
5
بَل يُريدُ الإِنسانُ لِيَفجُرَ أَمامَهُ
bal yurīdu l-ʾinsānu li-yafjura ʾamāmahū
Rather man desires to go on living viciously.
6
يَسأَلُ أَيّانَ يَومُ القِيامَةِ
yasʾalu ʾayyāna yawmu l-qiyāmati
He asks, ‘When is this day of resurrection?!’
7
فَإِذا بَرِقَ البَصَرُ
fa-ʾidhā bariqa l-baṣaru
But when the eyes are dazzled,
8
وَخَسَفَ القَمَرُ
wa-khasafa l-qamaru
and the moon is eclipsed,
9
وَجُمِعَ الشَّمسُ وَالقَمَرُ
wa-jumiʿa sh-shamsu wa-l-qamaru
and the sun and the moon are brought together,
10
يَقولُ الإِنسانُ يَومَئِذٍ أَينَ المَفَرُّ
yaqūlu l-ʾinsānu yawmaʾidhin ʾayna l-mafarru
that day man will say,‘Where is the escape?’
11
كَلّا لا وَزَرَ
kallā lā wazara
No indeed! There is no refuge!
12
إِلىٰ رَبِّكَ يَومَئِذٍ المُستَقَرُّ
ʾilā rabbika yawmaʾidhin-i l-mustaqarru
That day the abode will be toward your Lord.
13
يُنَبَّأُ الإِنسانُ يَومَئِذٍ بِما قَدَّمَ وَأَخَّرَ
yunabbaʾu l-ʾinsānu yawmaʾidhin bi-mā qaddama wa-ʾakhkhara
That day man will be informedabout what he has sent ahead and left behind.
14
بَلِ الإِنسانُ عَلىٰ نَفسِهِ بَصيرَةٌ
bali l-ʾinsānu ʿalā nafsihī baṣīratun
Rather man is a witness to himself,
15
وَلَو أَلقىٰ مَعاذيرَهُ
wa-law ʾalqā maʿādhīrahū
though he should offer his excuses.
16
لا تُحَرِّك بِهِ لِسانَكَ لِتَعجَلَ بِهِ
lā tuḥarrik bihī lisānaka li-taʿjala bihī
Do not move your tongue with it to hasten it.
17
إِنَّ عَلَينا جَمعَهُ وَقُرآنَهُ
ʾinna ʿalaynā jamʿahū wa-qurʾānahū
Indeed it is up to Us to put it togetherand to recite it.
18
فَإِذا قَرَأناهُ فَاتَّبِع قُرآنَهُ
fa-ʾidhā qaraʾnāhu fa-ttabiʿ qurʾānahū
And when We have recited it, follow its recitation.
19
ثُمَّ إِنَّ عَلَينا بَيانَهُ
thumma ʾinna ʿalaynā bayānahū
Then, its exposition indeed [also] lies with Us.
20
كَلّا بَل تُحِبّونَ العاجِلَةَ
kallā bal tuḥibbūna l-ʿājilata
No Indeed! Rather you love this transitory life
21
وَتَذَرونَ الآخِرَةَ
wa-tadharūna l-ʾākhirata
and forsake the Hereafter.
22
وُجوهٌ يَومَئِذٍ ناضِرَةٌ
wujūhun yawmaʾidhin nāḍiratun
Some faces will be fresh on that day,
23
إِلىٰ رَبِّها ناظِرَةٌ
ʾilā rabbihā nāẓiratun
looking at their Lord,
24
وَوُجوهٌ يَومَئِذٍ باسِرَةٌ
wa-wujūhun yawmaʾidhin bāsiratun
and some faces will be scowling on that day,
25
تَظُنُّ أَن يُفعَلَ بِها فاقِرَةٌ
taẓunnu ʾan yufʿala bihā fāqiratun
knowing that they will be dealt outa punishment breaking the spine.
26
كَلّا إِذا بَلَغَتِ التَّراقِيَ
kallā ʾidhā balaghati t-tarāqiya
No indeed!When the soul reaches up to the collar bones,
27
وَقيلَ مَن ۜ راقٍ
wa-qīla man rāqin
and it is said, ‘Who will take him up?’1That is, by the angels of mercy and the angels of wrath present at the side of the dying person, as to which of them will take charge of him. Or those who are present by the side of the dying person say, ‘Where is the medicine man?’
28
وَظَنَّ أَنَّهُ الفِراقُ
wa-ẓanna ʾannahu l-firāqu
and he knows that it is the [time of] parting,
29
وَالتَفَّتِ السّاقُ بِالسّاقِ
wa-ltaffati s-sāqu bi-s-sāqi
and each shank clasps the other shank,1An idiom suggesting a time of great hardship, or, metaphorically, death throes.
30
إِلىٰ رَبِّكَ يَومَئِذٍ المَساقُ
ʾilā rabbika yawmaʾidhin-i l-masāqu
that day he shall be driven toward your Lord.
31
فَلا صَدَّقَ وَلا صَلّىٰ
fa-lā ṣaddaqa wa-lā ṣallā
He neither confirmed [the truth], nor prayed,
32
وَلٰكِن كَذَّبَ وَتَوَلّىٰ
wa-lākin kadhdhaba wa-tawallā
but denied [it] and turned away,
33
ثُمَّ ذَهَبَ إِلىٰ أَهلِهِ يَتَمَطّىٰ
thumma dhahaba ʾilā ʾahlihī yatamaṭṭā
and went swaggering to his family.
34
أَولىٰ لَكَ فَأَولىٰ
ʾawlā laka fa-ʾawlā
So woe to you! Woe to you!
35
ثُمَّ أَولىٰ لَكَ فَأَولىٰ
thumma ʾawlā laka fa-ʾawlā
Again, woe to you! Woe to you!
36
أَيَحسَبُ الإِنسانُ أَن يُترَكَ سُدًى
ʾa-yaḥsabu l-ʾinsānu ʾan yutraka sudan
Does man supposethat he would be abandoned to futility?
37
أَلَم يَكُ نُطفَةً مِن مَنِيٍّ يُمنىٰ
ʾa-lam yaku nuṭfatan min maniyyin yumnā
Was he not a drop of emitted semen?
38
ثُمَّ كانَ عَلَقَةً فَخَلَقَ فَسَوّىٰ
thumma kāna ʿalaqatan fa-khalaqa fa-sawwā
Then he became a clinging mass;then He created [him] and proportioned [him],
39
فَجَعَلَ مِنهُ الزَّوجَينِ الذَّكَرَ وَالأُنثىٰ
fa-jaʿala minhu z-zawjayni dh-dhakara wa-l-ʾunthā
and made of him the two sexes,the male and the female.
40
أَلَيسَ ذٰلِكَ بِقادِرٍ عَلىٰ أَن يُحيِيَ المَوتىٰ
ʾa-laysa dhālika bi-qādirin ʿalā ʾan yuḥyiya l-mawtā
Is not such a one ableto revive the dead?