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)
- Consider the long-enduring house [of worship]!3
- 3 This is a me tonym for the fact that ever since the dawn of human consciousness men have persistently - although often but dimly - realized the existence of God and have tried, spurred on by the continuous, direct revelation granted to His prophets, to come closer to Him through worship. Hence, Baydawi regards the expression al-bayt al-ma'mur as a metaphor for the heart of the believer.
- By the much-frequented Fane;5039
- 5039 See the last two notes. (3) "The much-frequented Fane" (or House) is usually understood to mean the Ka'bah, but in view of the parallelism noted in the last note, it may be taken generally to mean any Temple or House of Worship dedicated to the true God. It would then include the Tabernacle of the Israelites in the wilderness, the Temple of Solomon, the Temple in which Jesus worshipped, and the Ka'bah which the Prophet purified and rededicated to true worship. These would be only illustrations. Other concrete places of worship would be included, and in a more abstract meaning, the heart of man, which craves, with burning desire, to find and worship Allah. The Fane is "muchfrequented" as there is a universal desire in the heart of man to worship Allah, and his sacred Temples draw large crowds of devotees.
-
By the much-frequented Fane;
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
And the House frequented,
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
And the House (Kaaba) that is visited,
— M. Habib Shakir -
And by the Bait-ul-Ma'mur (the house over the heavens parable to the Ka'bah at Makkah, continuously visited by the angels);
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
By the House Frequented.
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
by the Visited House,
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
and the House inhabited,
— Ayub Khan -
And by the ever Frequented House;
— Sher Ali -
Consider the long-enduring house [of worship]!
— Muhammad Asad -
by the House inhabited
— Arthur Arberry -
by the much-frequented House,{{3}}
— Abu'l Ala Maududi