Al-Qiyaama

Laaa uqsimu bi yawmil qiyaamah

NAY! I call to witness the Day of Resurrection!

Wa laaa uqsimu bin nafsil lawwaamah

But nay! I call to witness the accusing voice of man's own conscience!

Ayahsabul insaanu al lan najm'a 'izaamah

Does man think that We cannot [resurrect him and] bring his bones together again?

Balaa qaadireena 'alaaa an nusawwiya banaanah

Yea indeed, We are able to make whole his very finger-tips!

Bal yureedul insaanu liyafjura amaamah

None the less man chooses to deny what lies ahead of him,

Yas'alu ayyyaana yawmul qiyaamah

asking [derisively], "When is that Resurrection Day to be?"

Fa izaa bariqal basar

But [on that Day,] when the eyesight is by fear confounded,

We khasafal qamar

and the moon is darkened,

Wa jumi'ash shamusu wal qamar

and the sun and the moon are brought together

Yaqoolul insaanu yaw ma 'izin aynal mafarr

on that Day will man exclaim "Whither to flee?"

Kallaa laa wazar

But nay: no refuge [for thee, O man]!

Ilaa rabbika yawma 'izinil mustaqarr

With thy Sustainer, on that Day, the journey's end will be!

Yunabba 'ul insaanu yawma 'izim bimaa qaddama wa akhkhar

Man will be apprised, on that Day, of what he has done and what he has left undone:

Balil insaanu 'alaa nafsihee baseerah

nay, but man shall against himself be an eye-witness,

Wa law alqaa ma'aazeerah

even though he may veil himself in excuses.

Laa tuharrik bihee lisaa naka lita'jala bih

MOVE NOT thy tongue in haste, [repeating the words of the revelation:]

Inna 'alainaa jam'ahoo wa qur aanah

for, behold, it is for Us to gather it [in thy heart,] and to cause it to be read [as it ought to be read].

Fa izaa qaraanaahu fattabi' qur aanah

Thus, when We recite it, follow thou its wording [with all thy mind]:

Summa inna 'alainaa bayaanah

and then, behold, it will be for Us to make its meaning clear.

Kallaa bal tuhibboonal 'aajilah

NAY, but [most of] you love this fleeting life,

Wa tazaroonal Aakhirah

and give no thought to the life to come [and to Judgment Day]!

Wujoohuny yawma 'izin naadirah

Some faces will on that Day be bright with happiness,

Ilaa rabbihaa naazirah

looking up to their Sustainer;

Wa wujoohuny yawma 'izim baasirah

and some faces will on that Day be overcast with despair,

Tazunnu any yuf'ala bihaa faaqirah

knowing that a crushing calamity is about to befall them.

Kallaaa izaa balaghatit taraaqee

NAY, but when [the last breath] comes up to the throat [of a dying man],

Wa qeela man raaq

and people ask, "Is there any wizard [that could save him]?"

Wa zanna annahul firaaq

the while he [himself] knows that this is the parting,

Waltaffatis saaqu bissaaq

and is enwrapped in the pangs of death

Ilaa rabbika yawma'izinil masaaq

at that time towards thy Sustainer does he feel impelled to turn!

Falaa saddaqa wa laa sallaa

[Useless, though, will be his repentance: for [as long as he was alive] he did not accept the truth, nor did he pray [for enlightenment],

Wa laakin kazzaba wa tawalla

but, on the contrary, he gave the lie to the truth and turned away [from it],

Summa zahaba ilaaa ahlihee yatamatta

and then went arrogantly back to what he had come from.

Awlaa laka fa awlaa

[And yet, O man, thine end comes hourly] nearer unto thee, and nearer –

Summa awlaa laka fa awla

and ever nearer unto thee, and nearer!

Ayahsabul insaanu anyytraka sudaa

DOES MAN, then, think that he is to be left to himself to go about at will?

Alam yaku nutfatam mim maniyyiny yumnaa

Was he not once a [mere] drop of sperm that had been spilt,

Summa kaana 'alaqata fakhalaq fasawwaa

and thereafter became a germ-cell - whereupon He created and formed [it] in accordance with what [it] was meant to be,

Faja'ala minhuz zawjayniz zakara wal unsaa

and fashioned out of it the two sexes, the male and the female?

Alaisa zaalika biqaadirin 'alaaa any yuhyiyal mawtaa

Is not He, then; able to bring the dead back to life?