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 surf-swollen sea!4
- 4 I.e., "Consider the immensity and wonderful configuration of the visible universe as an evidence of a conscious Creator."
- And by the Ocean5041 filled with Swell;-5042
- 5041 (5) The Ocean?the vast, limitless, all encircling Ocean?is the material symbol of the universal, unlimited, comprehensive nature of the invisible spiritual world. It is expressed to be masjur, full of a mighty swell, boiling over, poured forth all over the earth, as if overwhelming all landmarks; Cf. 81:6-a fitting description of the final disappearance of our temporal world in the supreme establishment of the Reality behind it.
- 5042 This completes the five Signs or Symbols by which man may know for certain of the Judgement to come. Note that they are in a descending order?the highest, or most remote from man's consciousness, being mentioned first, and that nearest to man's consciousness being mentioned last. The truth of Revelation; its embodiment in a Prophet's Message given in human language; the universal appeal of divine worship; the starry world above; and the encircling Ocean, full of life and motion below?all are evidences that the Day of Allah will finally come, and nothing can avert it. (R).
-
And by the Ocean filled with Swell;-
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
And the sea kept filled,
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
And the swollen sea
— M. Habib Shakir -
And by the sea kept filled (or it will be fire kindled on the Day of Resurrection).
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
By the sea overflowing.
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
and the sea that is full
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
and the Sea poured forth,
— Ayub Khan -
And by the Swollen Sea;
— Sher Ali -
Consider the surf-swollen sea!
— Muhammad Asad -
and the sea swarming,
— Arthur Arberry -
and by the swelling sea:{{5}}
— Abu'l Ala Maududi