بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ وَٱلطُّورِ

CONSIDER Mount Sinai!

وَكِتَٰبٍۢ مَّسْطُورٍۢ

Consider [God’s] revelation, inscribed

فِى رَقٍّۢ مَّنشُورٍۢ

on wide-open scrolls.

وَٱلْبَيْتِ ٱلْمَعْمُورِ

Consider the long-enduring house [of worship]!

وَٱلسَّقْفِ ٱلْمَرْفُوعِ

Consider the vault [of heaven] raised high!

وَٱلْبَحْرِ ٱلْمَسْجُورِ

Consider the surf-swollen sea!

إِنَّ عَذَابَ رَبِّكَ لَوَٰقِعٌۭ

VERILY, [O man,] the suffering decreed by thy Sustainer [for the sinners] will indeed come to pass:

مَّا لَهُۥ مِن دَافِعٍۢ

there is none who could avert it.

يَوْمَ تَمُورُ ٱلسَّمَآءُ مَوْرًۭا

[It will come to pass] on the Day when the skies will be convulsed in [a great] convulsion,

وَتَسِيرُ ٱلْجِبَالُ سَيْرًۭا

and the mountains will move with [an awesome] movement.

فَوَيْلٌۭ يَوْمَئِذٍۢ لِّلْمُكَذِّبِينَ

Woe, then, on that Day to all who give the lie to the truth –

ٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ فِى خَوْضٍۢ يَلْعَبُونَ

all those who [throughout their lives] but idly played with things vain –

يَوْمَ يُدَعُّونَ إِلَىٰ نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ دَعًّا

on the Day when they shall be thrust into the fire with [an irresistible] thrust, [and will be told:]

هَٰذِهِ ٱلنَّارُ ٱلَّتِى كُنتُم بِهَا تُكَذِّبُونَ

“This is the fire which you were wont to call a lie!

أَفَسِحْرٌ هَٰذَآ أَمْ أَنتُمْ لَا تُبْصِرُونَ

Was it, then, a delusion or is it that you failed to see [its truth]?

ٱصْلَوْهَا فَٱصْبِرُوٓا۟ أَوْ لَا تَصْبِرُوا۟ سَوَآءٌ عَلَيْكُمْ ۖ إِنَّمَا تُجْزَوْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ

Endure it [now]! But [whether you] bear yourselves with patience or without patience, it will be the same to you: you are but being requited for what you were wont to do.”

إِنَّ ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ فِى جَنَّٰتٍۢ وَنَعِيمٍۢ

[But,] verily, the God-conscious will find themselves [on that Day] in gardens and in bliss,

فَٰكِهِينَ بِمَآ ءَاتَىٰهُمْ رَبُّهُمْ وَوَقَىٰهُمْ رَبُّهُمْ عَذَابَ ٱلْجَحِيمِ

rejoicing in all that their Sustainer will have granted them: for their Sustainer will have warded off from them all suffering through the blazing fire.

كُلُوا۟ وَٱشْرَبُوا۟ هَنِيٓـًٔۢا بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ

[And they will be told:] “Eat and drink with good cheer as an outcome of what you were wont to do,

مُتَّكِـِٔينَ عَلَىٰ سُرُرٍۢ مَّصْفُوفَةٍۢ ۖ وَزَوَّجْنَٰهُم بِحُورٍ عِينٍۢ

reclining on couches [of happiness] ranged in rows!” And [in that paradise] We shall mate them with companions pure, most beautiful of eye.

وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَٱتَّبَعَتْهُمْ ذُرِّيَّتُهُم بِإِيمَٰنٍ أَلْحَقْنَا بِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَمَآ أَلَتْنَٰهُم مِّنْ عَمَلِهِم مِّن شَىْءٍۢ ۚ كُلُّ ٱمْرِئٍۭ بِمَا كَسَبَ رَهِينٌۭ

And as for those who have attained to faith and whose offspring will have followed them in faith, We shall unite them with their offspring; and We shall not let aught of their deeds go to waste: [but] every human being will be held in pledge for whatever he has earned.

وَأَمْدَدْنَٰهُم بِفَٰكِهَةٍۢ وَلَحْمٍۢ مِّمَّا يَشْتَهُونَ

And We shall bestow on them fruit and meat in abundance - whatever they may desire:

يَتَنَٰزَعُونَ فِيهَا كَأْسًۭا لَّا لَغْوٌۭ فِيهَا وَلَا تَأْثِيمٌۭ

and in that [paradise] they shall pass on to one another a cup which will not give rise to empty talk, and neither incite to sin.

۞ وَيَطُوفُ عَلَيْهِمْ غِلْمَانٌۭ لَّهُمْ كَأَنَّهُمْ لُؤْلُؤٌۭ مَّكْنُونٌۭ

And they will be waited upon by [immortal] youths, [as if they were children] of their own, [as pure] as if they were pearls hidden in their shells.

وَأَقْبَلَ بَعْضُهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍۢ يَتَسَآءَلُونَ

And they [who are thus blest] will turn to one another, asking each other [about their past lives].

قَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّا كُنَّا قَبْلُ فِىٓ أَهْلِنَا مُشْفِقِينَ

They will say: “Behold, aforetime - when we were [still living] in the midst of our kith and kin - we were full of fear [at the thought of God’s dis­pleasure]:

فَمَنَّ ٱللَّهُ عَلَيْنَا وَوَقَىٰنَا عَذَابَ ٱلسَّمُومِ

and so God has graced us with His favour, and has warded off from us all suffering through the scorching winds [of frustration].

إِنَّا كُنَّا مِن قَبْلُ نَدْعُوهُ ۖ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلْبَرُّ ٱلرَّحِيمُ

Verily, we did invoke Him [alone] ere this: [and now He has shown us] that He alone is truly benign, a true dispenser of grace!”

فَذَكِّرْ فَمَآ أَنتَ بِنِعْمَتِ رَبِّكَ بِكَاهِنٍۢ وَلَا مَجْنُونٍ

EXHORT, then, [O Prophet, all men:] for, by thy Sustainer’s grace, thou art neither a soothsayer nor a madman.

أَمْ يَقُولُونَ شَاعِرٌۭ نَّتَرَبَّصُ بِهِۦ رَيْبَ ٱلْمَنُونِ

Or do they say, “[He is but] a poet - let us wait what time will do unto him”?

قُلْ تَرَبَّصُوا۟ فَإِنِّى مَعَكُم مِّنَ ٱلْمُتَرَبِّصِينَ

Say thou: “Wait, [then,] hopefully; behold, I, too, shall hopefully wait with you!”

أَمْ تَأْمُرُهُمْ أَحْلَٰمُهُم بِهَٰذَآ ۚ أَمْ هُمْ قَوْمٌۭ طَاغُونَ

Is it their minds that bid them [to take] this [attitude] - or are they [simply] people filled with overweening arrogance?

أَمْ يَقُولُونَ تَقَوَّلَهُۥ ۚ بَل لَّا يُؤْمِنُونَ

Or do they say, “He himself has composed this [message]”? Nay, but they are not willing to believe!

فَلْيَأْتُوا۟ بِحَدِيثٍۢ مِّثْلِهِۦٓ إِن كَانُوا۟ صَٰدِقِينَ

But then, [if they deem it the work of a mere mortal,] let them produce another discourse like it - if what they say be true!

أَمْ خُلِقُوا۟ مِنْ غَيْرِ شَىْءٍ أَمْ هُمُ ٱلْخَٰلِقُونَ

[Or do they deny the existence of God?] Have they themselves been created without anything [that might have caused their creation]? or were they, perchance, their own creators?

أَمْ خَلَقُوا۟ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ ۚ بَل لَّا يُوقِنُونَ

[And] have they created the heavens and the earth? Nay, but they have no certainty of anything!

أَمْ عِندَهُمْ خَزَآئِنُ رَبِّكَ أَمْ هُمُ ٱلْمُصَۣيْطِرُونَ

[How could they?] Are thy Sustainer’s treasures with them? Or are they in charge [of destiny]?

أَمْ لَهُمْ سُلَّمٌۭ يَسْتَمِعُونَ فِيهِ ۖ فَلْيَأْتِ مُسْتَمِعُهُم بِسُلْطَٰنٍۢ مُّبِينٍ

Or have they a ladder by which they could [ascend to ultimate truths and] listen [to what is beyond the reach of human perception]? Let, then, any of them who have listened [to it] produce a manifest proof [of his knowledge]!

أَمْ لَهُ ٱلْبَنَٰتُ وَلَكُمُ ٱلْبَنُونَ

Or, [if you believe in God, how can you believe that] He has [chosen to have] daughters, whereas you yourselves would have [only] sons?

أَمْ تَسْـَٔلُهُمْ أَجْرًۭا فَهُم مِّن مَّغْرَمٍۢ مُّثْقَلُونَ

Or is it that [they who reject thy message, O Muhammad, fear lest] thou ask of them a reward, so that they would be burdened with debt [if they should listen to thee]?

أَمْ عِندَهُمُ ٱلْغَيْبُ فَهُمْ يَكْتُبُونَ

Or [do they think] that the hidden reality [of all that exists] is almost within their grasp, so that [in time] they can write it down?

أَمْ يُرِيدُونَ كَيْدًۭا ۖ فَٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ هُمُ ٱلْمَكِيدُونَ

Or do they want to entrap [thee in contradic­tions]? But they who are bent on denying the truth - it is they who are truly entrapped!

أَمْ لَهُمْ إِلَٰهٌ غَيْرُ ٱللَّهِ ۚ سُبْحَٰنَ ٱللَّهِ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ

Have they, then, any deity other than God? Utterly remote is God, in His limitless glory, from anything to which men may ascribe a share in His divinity!

وَإِن يَرَوْا۟ كِسْفًۭا مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ سَاقِطًۭا يَقُولُوا۟ سَحَابٌۭ مَّرْكُومٌۭ

AND YET, if they [who refuse to see the truth] were to see part of the sky falling down, they would [only] say, “[It is but] a mass of clouds!”

فَذَرْهُمْ حَتَّىٰ يُلَٰقُوا۟ يَوْمَهُمُ ٱلَّذِى فِيهِ يُصْعَقُونَ

Hence, leave them alone until they face that [Judgment] Day of theirs, when they will be stricken with terror:

يَوْمَ لَا يُغْنِى عَنْهُمْ كَيْدُهُمْ شَيْـًۭٔا وَلَا هُمْ يُنصَرُونَ

the Day when none of their scheming will be of the least avail to them, and they will receive no succour.

وَإِنَّ لِلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا۟ عَذَابًۭا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

But, verily, for those who are bent on doing evil, there is suffering in store [even] closer at hand than that [supreme suffering in the hereafter]: but most of them are not aware of it.

وَٱصْبِرْ لِحُكْمِ رَبِّكَ فَإِنَّكَ بِأَعْيُنِنَا ۖ وَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ حِينَ تَقُومُ

And so, await in patience thy Sustainer’s judgment, for thou art well within Our sight. And extol thy Sustainer’s limitless glory and praise whenever thou risest up,

وَمِنَ ٱلَّيْلِ فَسَبِّحْهُ وَإِدْبَٰرَ ٱلنُّجُومِ

and extol His glory at night, and at the time when the stars retreat.