81. Sūrat At-Takwir · The Overthrowing

When the sun is put out,

When the sun is overthrown,

WHEN THE SUN is shrouded in darkness,

When the sunshine is folded up,

When the sun will be folded up and extinguished

and when the stars fall down,

And when the stars fall,

and when the stars lose their light,

And when the stars fall off,

And the stars will fall (from their galaxies)

and when the mountains are blown away,

And when the hills are moved,

and when the mountains are made to vanish,

And when the mountains are made to move,

And when the mountains, (after having changed into dust,) will be set in motion (into the atmosphere)

and when pregnant camels are left untended,

And when the camels big with young are abandoned,

and when she-camels big with young, about to give birth, are left untended,

And when the pregnant she camels are abandoned.

And when the she-camels heavy with young will be left neglected and discarded (i.e., no one will tend them)

and when wild beasts are gathered together,

And when the wild beasts are herded together,

and when all beasts are gathered together,

And when the beasts are gathered together,

And when (fear-stricken) wild beasts will be herded together

and when the seas are set on fire,

And when the seas rise,

and when the seas boil over,

And when the seas are kindled,

And when (all) oceans and rivers will be made to rise and swell

and when the souls ˹and their bodies˺ are paired ˹once more˺,

And when souls are reunited,

and when all human beings are coupled [with their deeds],

And when the souls are paired.

And when souls will be united (with their bodies)

and when baby girls, buried alive, are asked

And when the girl-child that was buried alive is asked

and when the girl-child that was buried alive is made to ask

And when the female buried alive is questioned about.

And when the infant girl buried alive will be asked

for what crime they were put to death,

For what sin she was slain,

for what crime she had been slain,

For what crime was she killed?

For what crime was she slain

and when the records ˹of deeds˺ are laid open,

And when the pages are laid open,

and when the scrolls [of men's deeds] are unfolded,

And when the sheets of actions are opened,

And when the records of deeds will be laid open

and when the sky is stripped away,

And when the sky is torn away,

and when heaven is laid bare,

And when the heaven is taken off from its place,

And when the layers of heaven will be torn asunder and moved away from their places

and when the Hellfire is fiercely flared up,

And when hell is lighted,

and when the blazing fire [of hell] is kindled bright,

And when the Hell is caused to flare up,

And when (the Fire of) Hell will be burnt ablaze

and when Paradise is brought near—

And when the Garden is brought nigh,

and when paradise is brought into view:

And when the Paradise is brought, near,

And when Paradise will be brought up close

˹on that Day˺ each soul will know what ˹deeds˺ it has brought along.

(Then) every soul will know what it hath made ready.

[on that Day] every human being will come to know what he has prepared [for himself].

(Then) each soul shall know what it has brought forward.

Everyone will come to know what he has brought forth

I do swear by the receding stars

Oh, but I call to witness the planets,

BUT NAY! I call to witness the revolving stars,

Then I swear by those that recede;

So I swear by (the heavenly spheres) which recede (after appearing)

which travel and hide,

The stars which rise and set,

the planets that run their course and set,

More straight and then stop.

Which revolve freely, (then) hide (after appearing)

and the night as it falls

And the close of night,

and the night as it darkly falls,

And by the night when it departs.

And by the night when its darkness tapers off

and the day as it breaks!

And the breath of morning

and the morn as it softly breathes:

And by the morning when it breathes.

And by the morning when its light dawns

Indeed, this ˹Quran˺ is the Word of ˹Allah delivered by Gabriel,˺ a noble messenger-angel,

That this is in truth the word of an honoured messenger,

behold, this [divine writ] is indeed the [inspired] word of a noble apostle,

Undoubtedly, this is the recitation of a noble Messenger.

Indeed, this (Qur’an) is the Word (communicated) by a glorious and most venerable Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him)

full of power, held in honour by the Lord of the Throne,

Mighty, established in the presence of the Lord of the Throne,

with strength endowed, secure with Him who in almightiness is enthroned

Who is powerful, dignified in the presence of the Lord of the Throne.

Who is mighty and strong (in calling to the truth, preaching the faith in Messengership and spiritual competence, and) is held in extreme reverence and veneration (and splendour and glory) in the presence of the Lord of the Throne

obeyed there ˹in heaven˺, and trustworthy.

(One) to be obeyed, and trustworthy;

[the word] of one to be heeded, and worthy of trust!

There He is obeyed, He is trustworthy.

Entitled to obligatory obedience (by all the worlds because obedience to him is obedience to Allah) and faithful to His trust (possesses Revelation and all divine secrets of the heavens and the earth)

And your fellow man is not insane.

And your comrade is not mad.

For, this fellow-man of yours is not a madman:

And your companion is not mad.

And, (O people,) he who blesses you with his (holy) companionship (Muhammad [blessings and peace be upon him]) is not mad. (Whatever he communicates is the truth.

And he did see that ˹angel˺ on the clear horizon,

Surely he beheld Him on the clear horizon.

he truly beheld [the angel - beheld] him on the clear horizon;

And undoubtedly, he saw him on the bright horizon.

And he has indeed seen (the absolute beauty of the Lord of the Throne) on the effulgent horizon (of the realm of Divinity).

and he does not withhold ˹what is revealed to him of˺ the unseen.

And he is not avid of the Unseen.

and he is not one to begrudge others the knowledge [of whatever has been revealed to him] out of that which is beyond the reach of human Perception.

And he is not niggardly as to the disclosing of unseen.

And he (the glorious Messenger [blessings and peace be upon him]) is not at all miserly in (disclosing) the unseen. (The Lord of the Throne has not left for him any deficiency.

And this ˹Quran˺ is not the word of an outcast devil.

Nor is this the utterance of a devil worthy to be stoned.

Nor is this [message] the word of any satanic force accursed.

And the Quran is not the recitation of satan (Devil) the accursed.

Nor is that (Qur’an) the utterance of any accursed Satan

So what ˹other˺ path would you take?

Whither then go ye?

Whither, then, will you go?

Whither, then, are you going?

Then, (O you doomed,) where are you going (disregarding such a valuable treasure)

Surely this ˹Quran˺ is only a reminder to the whole world—

This is naught else than a reminder unto creation,

This [message] is no less than a reminder to all mankind –

This is not but an admonition to the entire world.

This (Qur’an) is but admonition (revealed) for all the worlds

to whoever of you wills to take the Straight Way.

Unto whomsoever of you willeth to walk straight.

to everyone of you who wills to walk a straight way.

For him among you who desire to be straight.

Every one of you who aspires to tread the straight path (can take guidance from this source spring)

But you cannot will ˹to do so˺, except by the Will of Allah, the Lord of all worlds.

And ye will not, unless (it be) that Allah willeth, the Lord of Creation.

But you cannot will it unless God, the Sustainer of all the worlds, wills [to show you that way].

And what you desire, but only this that Allah the Lord of the world desires

And you can aspire only to what Allah intends, Who is the Sustainer of all the worlds