وَالطُّورِ
CONSIDER Mount Sinai! (1)
وَكِتَابٍ مَسْطُورٍ
Consider [God's] revelation, inscribed (2)
فِي رَقٍّ مَنْشُورٍ
on wide-open scrolls. (3)
وَالْبَيْتِ الْمَعْمُورِ
Consider the long-enduring house [of worship]! (4)
وَالسَّقْفِ الْمَرْفُوعِ
Consider the vault [of heaven] raised high! (5)
وَالْبَحْرِ الْمَسْجُورِ
Consider the surf-swollen sea! (6)
إِنَّ عَذَابَ رَبِّكَ لَوَاقِعٌ
VERILY, [O man,] the suffering decreed by thy Sustainer [for the sinners] will indeed come to pass: (7)
مَا لَهُ مِنْ دَافِعٍ
there is none who could avert it. (8)
يَوْمَ تَمُورُ السَّمَاءُ مَوْرًا
[It will come to pass] on the Day when the skies will be convulsed in [a great] convulsion, (9)
وَتَسِيرُ الْجِبَالُ سَيْرًا
and the mountains will move with [an awesome] movement. (10)
فَوَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِلْمُكَذِّبِينَ
Woe, then, on that Day to all who give the lie to the truth – (11)
الَّذِينَ هُمْ فِي خَوْضٍ يَلْعَبُونَ
all those who [throughout their lives] but idly played with things vain – (12)
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:] (13)
هَٰذِهِ النَّارُ الَّتِي كُنْتُمْ بِهَا تُكَذِّبُونَ
"This is the fire which you were wont to call a lie! (14)
أَفَسِحْرٌ هَٰذَا أَمْ أَنْتُمْ لَا تُبْصِرُونَ
Was it, then, a delusion – or is it that you failed to see [its truth]? (15)
اصْلَوْهَا فَاصْبِرُوا أَوْ لَا تَصْبِرُوا سَوَاءٌ عَلَيْكُمْ إِنَّمَا تُجْزَوْنَ مَا كُنْتُمْ 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." (16)
إِنَّ الْمُتَّقِينَ فِي جَنَّاتٍ وَنَعِيمٍ
[But,] verily, the God-conscious will find themselves [on that Day] in gardens and in bliss, (17)
فَاكِهِينَ بِمَا آتَاهُمْ رَبُّهُمْ وَوَقَاهُمْ رَبُّهُمْ عَذَابَ الْجَحِيمِ
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. (18)
كُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا هَنِيئًا بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ
[And they will be told:] "Eat and drink with good cheer as an outcome of what you were wont to do, (19)
مُتَّكِئِينَ عَلَىٰ سُرُرٍ مَصْفُوفَةٍ وَزَوَّجْنَاهُمْ بِحُورٍ عِينٍ
reclining on couches [of happiness] ranged in rows!" And [in that paradise] We shall mate them with companions pure, most beautiful of eye. (20)
وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَاتَّبَعَتْهُمْ ذُرِّيَّتُهُمْ بِإِيمَانٍ أَلْحَقْنَا بِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَمَا أَلَتْنَاهُمْ مِنْ عَمَلِهِمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ كُلُّ امْرِئٍ بِمَا كَسَبَ رَهِينٌ
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. (21)
وَأَمْدَدْنَاهُمْ بِفَاكِهَةٍ وَلَحْمٍ مِمَّا يَشْتَهُونَ
And We shall bestow on them fruit and meat in abundance – whatever they may desire: (22)
يَتَنَازَعُونَ فِيهَا كَأْسًا لَا لَغْوٌ فِيهَا وَلَا تَأْثِيمٌ
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. (23)
وَيَطُوفُ عَلَيْهِمْ غِلْمَانٌ لَهُمْ كَأَنَّهُمْ لُؤْلُؤٌ مَكْنُونٌ
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. (24)
وَأَقْبَلَ بَعْضُهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ يَتَسَاءَلُونَ
And they [who are thus blest] will turn to one another, asking each other [about their past lives]. (25)
قَالُوا إِنَّا كُنَّا قَبْلُ فِي 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]: (26)
فَمَنَّ اللَّهُ عَلَيْنَا وَوَقَانَا عَذَابَ السَّمُومِ
and so God has graced us with His favour, and has warded off from us all suffering through the scorching winds [of frustration]. (27)
إِنَّا كُنَّا مِنْ قَبْلُ نَدْعُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْبَرُّ الرَّحِيمُ
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!" (28)
- Verily, we did invoke Him [alone] ere this: [and now He has shown us16 ] that He alone is truly benign, a true dispenser of grace!"
- 16 Sc., "through our own, actual experience". This interpolation is based on the reading of the subsequent word as annahu ("that He is"), according to the Medina school, in contrast with the more conventional Kufah and Basrah reading innahu ("verily, He is"). As Tabari stresses, either of these two readings is correct; I have chosen for my rendering the former inasmuch as it points to the overwhelming, direct insight which will be granted to the blessed on resurrection.
- "Truly, we did call unto Him from of old: truly it is He, the Beneficent, the Merciful!"5062
- 5062 'Before this, we called upon Him, in faith that He is good: now we know in our inmost souls that He is indeed good-the Beneficent, the Merciful.' This is the climax of the description of Heaven.
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"Truly, we did call unto Him from of old: truly it is He, the Beneficent, the Merciful!"
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
Lo! we used to pray unto Him of old. Lo! He is the Benign, the Merciful.
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
Surely we called upon Him before: Surely He is the Benign, the Merciful.
— M. Habib Shakir -
"Verily, We used to invoke Him (Alone and none else) before. Verily, He is Al-Barr (the Most Subtle, Kind, Courteous, and Generous), the Most Merciful."
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
Verily we were wont to pray Unto Him aforetime; verily He! it is He, the Benign, the Merciful.'
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
Before, we were supplicating to Him. He is the Giving, the Most Merciful. '
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
We used to call upon Him before; surely He is the Beneficent, the Merciful.
— Ayub Khan -
We used to pray to Him before. Surely, He is the Beneficent, the Merciful.'
— Sher Ali -
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!"
— Muhammad Asad -
we were before ever calling upon Him; surely He is the All-benign, the All-compassionate.
— Arthur Arberry -
Formerly we had always prayed to Him. Surely He is Most Benign, Most Compassionate."
— Abu'l Ala Maududi