فَالْحَامِلَاتِ وِقْرًا

and those that carry the burden [of heavy clouds], (2)

فَالْجَارِيَاتِ يُسْرًا

and those that speed along with gentle ease, (3)

فَالْمُقَسِّمَاتِ أَمْرًا

and those that apportion [the gift of life] at [God's] behest! (4)

إِنَّمَا تُوعَدُونَ لَصَادِقٌ

Verily, that which you are promised is true indeed, (5)

وَإِنَّ الدِّينَ لَوَاقِعٌ

and, verily, judgment is bound to come! (6)

وَالسَّمَاءِ ذَاتِ الْحُبُكِ

CONSIDER the firmament full of starry paths! (7)

إِنَّكُمْ لَفِي قَوْلٍ مُخْتَلِفٍ

Verily, [O men,] you are deeply at variance as to what to believe: (8)

يُؤْفَكُ عَنْهُ مَنْ أُفِكَ

perverted in his views thereon is he who would deceive himself! (9)

قُتِلَ الْخَرَّاصُونَ

They but destroy themselves, they who are given to guessing at what they cannot ascertain (10)

الَّذِينَ هُمْ فِي غَمْرَةٍ سَاهُونَ

they who blunder along, in ignorance lost (11)

يَسْأَلُونَ أَيَّانَ يَوْمُ الدِّينِ

they who [mockingly] ask, "When is that Day of Judgment to be?" (12)

يَوْمَ هُمْ عَلَى النَّارِ يُفْتَنُونَ

[It will be] a Day when they will be sorely tried by the fire, (13)

ذُوقُوا فِتْنَتَكُمْ هَٰذَا الَّذِي كُنْتُمْ بِهِ تَسْتَعْجِلُونَ

[and will be told:] "Taste this your trial! It is this that you were so hastily asking for!" (14)

إِنَّ الْمُتَّقِينَ فِي جَنَّاتٍ وَعُيُونٍ

[But,] behold, the God-conscious will find themselves amid gardens and springs, (15)

آخِذِينَ مَا آتَاهُمْ رَبُّهُمْ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا قَبْلَ ذَٰلِكَ مُحْسِنِينَ

enjoying all that their Sustainer will have granted them [because], verily, they were doers of good in the past: (16)

كَانُوا قَلِيلًا مِنَ اللَّيْلِ مَا يَهْجَعُونَ

they would lie asleep during but a small part of the night, (17)

وَبِالْأَسْحَارِ هُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ

and would pray for forgiveness from their innermost hearts; (18)

وَفِي أَمْوَالِهِمْ حَقٌّ لِلسَّائِلِ وَالْمَحْرُومِ

and [would assign] in all that they possessed a due share unto such as might ask [for help] and such as might suffer privation. (19)

وَفِي الْأَرْضِ آيَاتٌ لِلْمُوقِنِينَ

AND ON EARTH there are signs [of God's existence, visible] to all who are endowed with inner certainty, (20)

وَفِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ أَفَلَا تُبْصِرُونَ

just as [there are signs thereof] within your own selves: can you not, then, see? (21)

وَفِي السَّمَاءِ رِزْقُكُمْ وَمَا تُوعَدُونَ

And in heaven is [the source of] your sustenance [on earth] and [of] all that you are promised [for your life after death]: (22)

فَوَرَبِّ السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ إِنَّهُ لَحَقٌّ مِثْلَ مَا أَنَّكُمْ تَنْطِقُونَ

for, by the Sustainer of heaven and earth, this [life after death] is the very truth – as true as that you are endowed with speech! (23)