89. Sūrat Al-Fajr · The Dawn

By the dawn,

By the Dawn

CONSIDER the daybreak

By the Dawn;

By the emerging dawn (that dispels the darkness of night),

and the ten nights,

And ten nights,

and the ten nights!

And by the ten nights;

And by the ten (blessed) nights,

and the even and the odd,

And the Even and the Odd,

Consider the multiple and the One!

And by the even and the odds

And by the even and the odd,

and the night when it passes!

And the night when it departeth,

Consider the night as it runs its course!

And by the night when it departs,

And by the night as it departs. (Every night or particularly the night of Muzdalifa or the night of Qadr.

Is all this ˹not˺ a sufficient oath for those who have sense?

There surely is an oath for thinking man.

Considering all this - could there be, to anyone endowed with reason, a [more] solemn evidence of the truth?

Is there not in it an oath for man of understanding?

Surely, in that is a mighty oath for the wise

Did you not see how your Lord dealt with ’Ȃd—

Dost thou not consider how thy Lord dealt with (the tribe of) A'ad,

ART THOU NOT aware of how thy Sustainer has dealt with [the tribe of] ‘Ad,

Have you not seen, what did your Lord with Aad?

Have you not seen how your Lord treated (the people of ‘Ad)

˹the people˺ of Iram—with ˹their˺ great stature,

With many-columned Iram,

[the people of] Iram the many-pillared,

The people of Iram excessively tall,

(They) were (the people) of Iram (and) were (tall like) lofty columns (possessing towering castles)

unmatched in any other land;

The like of which was not created in the lands;

the like of whom has never been reared in all the land? –

The like of whom have not been created in cities.

The like of which has not (at all) been created in the countries (of the world)

and Thamûd who carved ˹their homes into˺ the rocks in the ˹Stone˺ Valley;

And with (the tribe of) Thamud, who clove the rocks in the valley;

and with [the tribe of] Thamud, who hollowed out rocks in the valley? –

And with Thamud who hewed out rocks in the valley.

And (what treatment was given to) Thamud, who carved rocks (and constructed hundreds of cities) in the (Qura) valley

and the Pharaoh of mighty structures?

And with Pharaoh, firm of might,

and with Pharaoh of the [many] tent-poles?

And with Firawn (Pharoah) who pilloried.

And (how was) Pharaoh (dealt with), who wielded large armies (and used to punish victims with stakes)

They all transgressed throughout the land,

Who (all) were rebellious (to Allah) in these lands,

[It was they] who transgressed all bounds of equity all over their lands,

Those who transgressed in the cities.

(They were) the people who perpetrated tyranny in their (respective) countries

spreading much corruption there.

And multiplied iniquity therein?

and brought about great corruption therein:

And spread mischief therein

And spread great mischief and corruption there

So your Lord unleashed on them a scourge of punishment.

Therefore thy Lord poured on them the disaster of His punishment.

and therefore thy Sustainer let loose upon them a scourge of suffering:

Therefore your Lord let down upon them the whip of torment with force.

Then your Lord unleashed the scourge of punishment on them

˹For˺ your Lord is truly vigilant.

Lo! thy Lord is ever watchful.

for, verily, thy Sustainer is ever on the watch!

Undoubtedly, nothing is absent from the sight of Your Lord.

Indeed, your Lord is Ever-Watchful (over the tyrant transgressors)

Now, whenever a human being is tested by their Lord through ˹His˺ generosity and blessings, they boast, “My Lord has ˹deservedly˺ honoured me!”

As for man, whenever his Lord trieth him by honouring him, and is gracious unto him, he saith: My Lord honoureth me.

BUT AS FOR man, whenever his Sustainer tries him by His generosity and by letting him enjoy a life of ease, he says, "My Sustainer has been [justly] generous towards me";

But man, when his Lord tries him and honours him and bestows favour on him, he says, 'my Lord has honoured me'.

But as for man, when his Lord tests him (by providing him pleasure and comfort) and honours him and gives him bounties, he says: ‘My Lord has honoured me.

But when He tests them by limiting their provision, they protest, “My Lord has ˹undeservedly˺ humiliated me!”

But whenever He trieth him by straitening his means of life, he saith: My Lord despiseth me.

whereas, whenever He tries him by straitening his means of livelihood, he says, "My Sustainer has disgraced me!"

But when He tries him and straitens his livelihood, he says, 'my Lord has disgraced me.

But when He tries him (by afflicting him with pain and discomfort) and limits his means of sustenance, he says: ‘My Lord has humiliated me.

Absolutely not! In fact, you are not ˹even˺ gracious to the orphan,

Nay, but ye (for your part) honour not the orphan

But nay, nay, [O men, consider all that you do and fail to do:] you are not generous towards the orphan,

Not so, but you do not honour the orphan.

No indeed! But (the truth is that after you gain honour and good fortune), you do not give honour and care to orphans

nor do you urge one another to feed the poor.

And urge not on the feeding of the poor.

and you do not urge one another to feed the needy,

And you urge not one another to feed the poor,

Nor do you inspire one another (in society) to promote the feeding of the destitute (i.e., the poor and the needy)

And you devour ˹others’˺ inheritance greedily,

And ye devour heritages with devouring greed.

and you devour the inheritance [of others] with devouring greed,

And devour the heritage of others greedily,

And you lay hand on the inherited wealth and devour it (yourselves and do not pay the poverty-stricken their due)

and love wealth fervently.

And love wealth with abounding love.

and you love wealth with boundless love!

And you love wealth exceedingly.

And you love wealth and riches inordinately

Enough! When the earth is entirely crushed over and over,

Nay, but when the earth is ground to atoms, grinding, grinding,

Nay, but [how will you fare on Judgment Day,] when the earth is crushed with crushing upon crushing,

Yes, when the earth is completely broken into pieces.

Assuredly, when the earth will be cleft asunder and crushed to dust particles

and your Lord comes ˹to judge˺ with angels, rank upon rank,

And thy Lord shall come with angels, rank on rank,

and [the majesty of] thy Sustainer stands revealed, as well as [the true nature of] the angels; rank upon rank?

And the Command of your Lord comes and also the angels in rows after rows,

And your Lord will unveil His Light and the angels will appear (before His presence) rank upon rank

and Hell is brought forth on that Day—this is when every ˹disbelieving˺ person will remember ˹their own sins˺. But what is the use of remembering then?

And hell is brought near that day; on that day man will remember, but how will the remembrance (then avail him)?

And on that Day hell will be brought [within sight]; on that Day man will remember [all that he did and failed to do]: but what will that remembrance avail him?

And Hell is brought that day, on that day man will think, but now where is the time for thinking?

And that Day, Hell will be brought forth. On that Day man will come to understand, but how will admonition (avail him then)

They will cry, “I wish I had sent forth ˹something good˺ for my ˹true˺ life.”

He will say: Ah, would that I had sent before me (some provision) for my life!

He will say, "Oh, would that I had. provided beforehand for my life [to come]!"

He will say, O would that I had sent forward some good works in my life.

He will say: ‘Would that I had sent (something) ahead of me for my (real) life (which would have helped me Today)!

On that Day He will punish ˹them˺ severely, like no other,

None punisheth as He will punish on that day!

For, none can make suffer as He will make suffer [the sinners] on that Day,

So on that day none torments any like His torment.

But that Day no one will be able to torment like His torment

and bind ˹them˺ tightly, like no other.

None bindeth as He then will bind.

and none can bind with bonds like His.

And nor anyone binds like His binding.

And no one will be able to bind as He binds

˹Allah will say to the righteous,˺ “O tranquil soul!

But ah! thou soul at peace!

[But unto the righteous God will say,] "O thou human being that hast attained to inner peace!

'O you peaceful soul.'

O contented (pleased) self

Return to your Lord, well pleased ˹with Him˺ and well pleasing ˹to Him˺.

Return unto thy Lord, content in His good pleasure!

Return thou unto thy Sustainer, well-pleased [and] pleasing [Him]:

Return to your Lord well pleased with Him, and He well pleased with you.

Return to your Lord in such a state that you are both the aspirant to, and the aspired of, His pleasure (i.e., you seek His pleasure and He seeks yours)

So join My servants,

Enter thou among My bondmen!

enter, then, together with My [other true] servants –

So, enter you among My chosen bondmen.

So join My (perfect) servants

and enter My Paradise.”

Enter thou My Garden!

yea, enter thou My paradise!"

And come to My Garden

And enter My Paradise (of nearness and sight)