that they will be resurrected
5on a momentous day,
6a day when humankind shall stand
before the Lord of the universe?
7Indeed, the record of the wicked
is housed in Sijjin.°
8And what would make you grasp
what Sijjin is?
9—a record, inscribed.
10Woe on that day to those
who deny—
11those who deny
the day of reckoning.
12And none will deny it
but sinful transgressors.
13When Our signs are recited
to them, they exclaim,
“Tales of the ancients!”
14Their hearts are covered with rust
by all that they have done.
15On that day, they shall be
veiled from their Lord,
16then they shall burn
in the fire of hell.
17They will be told,
“This is what you denied.”
18Indeed, the record of the righteous
shall be housed in Illiyyun.°
19And what would make you grasp
what Illiyyun is?
20—a record, inscribed,
21to be witnessed by those
close to God.
22The righteous shall
be in bliss,
23on couches, observing all—
24you will know in their faces
the radiance of bliss.
25They shall be served
with pure wine, sealed,
26with the seal of musk.
Let all who strive, strive for this.
27It will be mixed
with the water of Tasnim,°
28a spring, from which those drink
who are close to God.
29Those given to sin would laugh
at those who believed,
30winking at one another
whenever they passed by them;
31and would return jesting
to their own people;
32and whenever they saw believers,
they would say,
“These are the ones who are astray.”
33But they were not sent
as custodians
over the believers
34And on this day, the believers
will laugh at the disbelievers
35on couches, observing all,
36[they will say to one another,]
“Are not the disbelievers
requited for what they did?”
SURA 84
The Splitting Asunder (Al-Inshiqaq)
An early Meccan sura of 25 verses, it opens with sky splitting asunder on the day when humans meet their Lord (vv. 1–15). There follows another invocation of the twilight, night and moon (vv. 16–18) before disbelievers face a painful punishment (vv. 19–24) while believers are rewarded (v. 25).
In the Name of God, the All Merciful, Ever Merciful
1When the sky is split
asunder,
2hearing its Lord,
as it must;
3when the earth
is spread out,
4casting out its contents,
empty,
5hearing its Lord,
as it must;
6you humans—laboring toward
your Lord—will meet Him.
7Then those given their record°
in their right hand
8will have an easy reckoning
9and will turn to their people
rejoicing.
10But those given their record
behind their backs
11will cry for their end
12and burn in blazing fire.
13They went among their people
rejoicing.
14They thought they would
never return [to Us].
15But no—their Lord was always
watching them.
16I swear by the gleaming twilight,
17by the night and what it enfolds,
18by the moon in its fullness—
19you will journey
from stage to stage.
20So why will they not believe?
21And when the Quran
is read to them,
why do they not bow down?
22But no . . . the disbelievers deny it.
23But God knows best
what they keep within themselves.
24So announce to them
a painful torment,
25except for those who believe
and do good deeds—theirs shall be
a reward without end.
SURA 85
The Constellations (Al-Buruj)
Early Meccan, this sura consists of 22 verses that begin with the constellations as witness (vv. 1–3). It evokes the story of a pit made in pre-Islamic times for the murder of Christians. The account of Pharaoh and Thamud (vv. 17–18) is a reminder that God encompasses disbelievers from all sides (vv. 19–20), and that He is custodian of “a glorious Quran, inscribed on a preserved tablet” (vv. 21–22).
In the Name of God, the All Merciful, Ever Merciful
1By the heaven, that holds
the constellations;
2by the promised day;
3by the Witness
and what is witnessed—
4may they perish who made the pit°
5with fire full of fuel
6while they sat around it,
7bearing witness to all they did
against the believers—
8whom they begrudged
only because they believed in God,
the Almighty, the Praiseworthy,
9to Whom belongs dominion
of the heavens and the earth;
God is Witness to all things.
10Those who persecute
the believing men and women
and do not then repent—
theirs shall be the torment of hell;
theirs the torment of blazing fire.
11As for those who believe
and do good deeds—
theirs shall be the gardens
with rivers flowing beneath—
that is the great triumph.
12Your Lord’s onslaught
is severe.
13It is He Who brings life
and restores life;
14for He is Forgiving, Loving,
15Lord of the glorious throne,
16Who does all that He intends.
17Have you heard the story
of the forces
18of Pharaoh and Thamud?°
19Yet the disbelievers
persist in denying.
20But God Encompasses them
from all sides.°
21For this is a glorious Quran,
22inscribed on a preserved tablet.°
SURA 86
The Night Traveler (Al-Tariq)
A Meccan sura of 17 verses, this opens with a celestial oath (vv. 1–4) before graphically depicting human creation (vv. 5–7) as a reminder that return to God is as inevitable as “the sky and its cycle of rain” (v. 11). Just as the Quran is “a decisive Word, not to be taken lightly” (vv. 13–14), so God is the ultimate schemer whom disbelievers cannot escape (vv. 15–17).
In the Name of God, the All Merciful, Ever Merciful
1By the sky and the traveler
by night—
2what would make you grasp
what the night traveler is?
3It is the star of piercing light.
4Every soul has its guardian.
5Let humans consider
from what they were created—
6from a drop of fluid, ejected,
7arising between
the backbone and the ribs.
8God indeed has the Power
to bring it back to life.
9On the day when the secrets
of humankind are exposed,
10they shall have no power,
and no helper.
11By the sky
and its cycle of rain,°
12and by the earth
bursting with greenery,
13this is a decisive Word,
14not to be taken lightly.
15The disbelievers are scheming,
16but I am outscheming [them].
17So give respite
to the disbelievers;
give them respite
for a short while.
SURA 87
The Most High (Al-Aʿla)
A paean to the Most High (one of God’s Beautiful Names), this Meccan sura of 19 verses recalls creation and destruction (vv. 1–5) before commanding recitation (vv. 6–9), mindful that some will heed and others will not (vv. 10–13). Not only the Quran but “the scriptures of Abraham and Moses” are commended (v. 19).
In the Name of God, the All Merciful, Ever Merciful
1Glorify the name of your Lord,
the Most High,
2Who created and proportioned
[all things],
3Who determined [their destinies]
and guided them,
4Who brings forth pasture,
5then turns it to dark stubble.
6We shall teach you to recite
so you do not forget,
7except as God wills.
He knows what is open
and what is hidden.
8And We shall make
your path easy.
9So remind people,
if this should profit them.
10Those who fear God
will heed it.
11But the wretched will
avoid it—
12those who will burn
in the great fire,
13where they will
neither die nor live.
14But those who purify themselves
shall flourish,
15those who remember
the name of their Lord,
and pray.
16But no—you prefer the life
of this world,
17though the hereafter
is better and enduring.
18This is indeed
in previous scriptures,
19the scriptures of
Abraham and Moses.°
SURA 88
The Overshadowing Event (Al-Ghashiya)
This early Meccan sura of 26 verses is divided into two sections. The first (vv. 1–16) contrasts the fates of disbelievers and believers on “that day” (vv. 2, 8). The second part (vv. 17–26) invokes nature’s signs before underscoring Muhammad’s sole duty to remind disbelievers; it will be for God “to call them to account” (v. 26).
In the Name of God, the All Merciful, Ever Merciful
1Have you heard about
the overshadowing event?
2Some faces, that day,
will be downcast,
3laboring, weary,
4they shall burn in a blazing fire,
5given drink from a boiling spring,
6with no food but bitter thorns
7which will neither nourish
nor quell hunger.
8Other faces, that day,
will be joyful,
9pleased with their striving,
10in a lofty garden,
11where they shall hear
no idle talk;
12where there shall be
a flowing spring,
13and raised couches,
14and goblets laid out,
15with cushions arrayed
in rows,
16and carpets spread out.
17Do they not look at camels,
and how they are created?
18And at the sky, and
how it is raised high?
19At the mountains, and
how firmly fixed they are?
20At the earth, and
how it is spread wide?
21So, remind people—
you are only one who reminds.
22You don’t control
their affairs.
23But those who turn away
and deny God—
24God will punish them
with great torment.
25To Us they will return,
26then it will be for Us
to call them to account.
SURA 89
The Breaking Dawn (Al-Fajr)
Early Meccan, this sura of 30 verses begins with a nocturnal oath (vv. 1–4) that segues into a recap of how two Arab tribes, ʿAd and Thamud, along with Pharaoh, meet with torment for their transgressions (vv. 5–14). Honor and humility are lauded (vv. 15–16), and these virtues entail respecting orphans and feeding the poor (vv. 17–18). Those who neglect such directives will be punished (vv. 19–26) while others, their soul content (v. 27), will be told: “enter among My servants, enter My garden” (vv. 29–30).
In the Name of God, the All Merciful, Ever Merciful
1By the breaking dawn,
2by ten nights,°
3by the even and the odd,°
4and by the night
when it fades—
5is this oath not enough
for those who understand?
6Have you not considered
how your Lord dealt
with the people of ʿAd,
7of the city of Iram
with its towering columns,
8the likes of which
were not wrought in any city,
9and with the people of Thamud°
who hewed rocks within the valley,
10and with Pharaoh,
with his great forces?°
11All of these transgressed
in their lands
12where they spread great corruption.
13So your Lord poured upon them
a scourging torment,
14for your Lord is Ever Watchful.
15As for humankind—
whenever their Lord tries them,
honoring and favoring them,
they each say,
“My Lord honors me.”
16But when he tries them
by reducing their provisions,
they each say,
“My Lord humiliates me.”
17But no—you do not
respect orphans,
18nor do you urge one another
to feed the poor;
19rather, you greedily devour
entire inheritances,
20and you love wealth
with excessive love.
21No—when the earth
is pounded into powder,
22and your Lord comes
with His angels, row upon row,
23and hell, that day, is brought
before them—that day, humankind
will take heed, but of what use
will it be for them?
24They will each say, “If only
I had accrued good deeds
for the life to come.”°
25For on that day, He will punish
as no other could punish,
26and He will bind
as no other could bind.
27“You, serene of soul,
28“return to your Lord
well pleased, and pleasing Him,
29“enter among My servants,
30“enter My garden.”
SURA 90
The City (Al-Balad)
An Early Meccan sura, its 20 verses invoke the city to warn against the ease of abundant wealth (vv. 1–10) and to enjoin instead “the steep path’ ” (vv. 11–12), requiring right action as well as true belief, assisting others who are “on the right” (vv. 13–18), remembering that fire closes in those on the left (vv. 19–20).
In the Name of God, the All Merciful, Ever Merciful
1I swear by this city,
2this city, in which you live freely,
3I swear by parent and child,
4We have created humankind
for toil and labor.
5Do they think that none
has
