اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانْشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ
THE LAST HOUR draws near, and the moon is split asunder! (1)
وَإِنْ يَرَوْا آيَةً يُعْرِضُوا وَيَقُولُوا سِحْرٌ مُسْتَمِرٌّ
But if they [who reject all thought of the Last Hour] were to see a sign [of its approach], they would turn aside and say, "An ever-recurring delusion!" – (2)
وَكَذَّبُوا وَاتَّبَعُوا أَهْوَاءَهُمْ وَكُلُّ أَمْرٍ مُسْتَقِرٌّ
for they are bent on giving it the lie being always wont to follow their own desires. Yet everything reveals its truth in the end. (3)
وَلَقَدْ جَاءَهُمْ مِنَ الْأَنْبَاءِ مَا فِيهِ مُزْدَجَرٌ
And withal, there has come unto them many a tiding that should have restrained [their arrogance]: (4)
حِكْمَةٌ بَالِغَةٌ فَمَا تُغْنِ النُّذُرُ
far-reaching wisdom [was held out to them]: but [since] all warnings have been of no avail, (5)
فَتَوَلَّ عَنْهُمْ يَوْمَ يَدْعُ الدَّاعِ إِلَىٰ شَيْءٍ نُكُرٍ
turn thou away from them. On the Day when the Summoning Voice will summon [man] unto something that the mind cannot. conceive, (6)
خُشَّعًا أَبْصَارُهُمْ يَخْرُجُونَ مِنَ الْأَجْدَاثِ كَأَنَّهُمْ جَرَادٌ مُنْتَشِرٌ
they will come forth from their graves, with their eyes downcast, [swarming about] like locusts scattered [by the wind], (7)
مُهْطِعِينَ إِلَى الدَّاعِ يَقُولُ الْكَافِرُونَ هَٰذَا يَوْمٌ عَسِرٌ
running in confusion towards the Summoning Voice; [and] those who [now] deny the truth will exclaim, "Calamitous is this Day!" (8)
كَذَّبَتْ قَبْلَهُمْ قَوْمُ نُوحٍ فَكَذَّبُوا عَبْدَنَا وَقَالُوا مَجْنُونٌ وَازْدُجِرَ
[LONG] BEFORE those [who now deny resurrection] did Noah's people call it a lie; and they gave the lie to Our servant and said, "Mad is he!" – and he was repulsed. (9)
فَدَعَا رَبَّهُ أَنِّي مَغْلُوبٌ فَانْتَصِرْ
Thereupon he called out to his Sustainer, "Verily, I am defeated; come Thou, then, to my succour!" (10)
فَفَتَحْنَا أَبْوَابَ السَّمَاءِ بِمَاءٍ مُنْهَمِرٍ
And so We caused the gates of heaven to open with water pouring down in torrents, (11)
وَفَجَّرْنَا الْأَرْضَ عُيُونًا فَالْتَقَى الْمَاءُ عَلَىٰ أَمْرٍ قَدْ قُدِرَ
and caused the earth to burst forth with springs, so that the waters met for a purpose pre-ordained: (12)
وَحَمَلْنَاهُ عَلَىٰ ذَاتِ أَلْوَاحٍ وَدُسُرٍ
but him We bore on that [vessel] made of [mere] planks and nails, (13)
تَجْرِي بِأَعْيُنِنَا جَزَاءً لِمَنْ كَانَ كُفِرَ
and it floated under Our eyes: a recompense for him who had been rejected with ingratitude. (14)
وَلَقَدْ تَرَكْنَاهَا آيَةً فَهَلْ مِنْ مُدَّكِرٍ
And, indeed, We have caused such [floating vessels] to remain forever a sign [of Our grace unto man]: who, then, is willing to take it to heart? (15)
فَكَيْفَ كَانَ عَذَابِي وَنُذُرِ
And how severe is the suffering which I inflict when My warnings are disregarded! (16)
وَلَقَدْ يَسَّرْنَا الْقُرْآنَ لِلذِّكْرِ فَهَلْ مِنْ مُدَّكِرٍ
Hence, indeed, We made this Qur'ān easy to bear in mind: who, then, is willing to take it to heart? (17)
كَذَّبَتْ عَادٌ فَكَيْفَ كَانَ عَذَابِي وَنُذُرِ
TO THE TRUTH gave the lie [the tribe of] 'ād: and how severe was the suffering which I inflicted when My warnings were disregarded! (18)
إِنَّا أَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ رِيحًا صَرْصَرًا فِي يَوْمِ نَحْسٍ مُسْتَمِرٍّ
Behold, We let loose upon them a raging stormwind on a day of bitter misfortune: (19)
تَنْزِعُ النَّاسَ كَأَنَّهُمْ أَعْجَازُ نَخْلٍ مُنْقَعِرٍ
it swept the people away as though they were palm-trunks uprooted: (20)
فَكَيْفَ كَانَ عَذَابِي وَنُذُرِ
for how severe is the suffering which I inflict when My warnings are disregarded! (21)
وَلَقَدْ يَسَّرْنَا الْقُرْآنَ لِلذِّكْرِ فَهَلْ مِنْ مُدَّكِرٍ
Hence, indeed, We made this Qur'ān easy to bear in mind: who, then, is willing to take it to heart? (22)
- THE LAST HOUR draws near, and the moon is I split asunder!1
- 1 Most of the commentators see in this verse a reference to a phenomenon said to have been witnessed by several of the Prophet's contemporaries. As described in a number of reports going back to some companions, the moon appeared one night as if split into two distinct parts. While there is no reason to doubt the subjective veracity of these reports, it is possible that what actually happened was an unusual kind of partial lunar eclipse, which produced anequally unusual optical illusion. But whatever the nature of that phenomenon, it is practically certain that the above Qur'an-verse does not refer to it but, rather, to a future event: namely, to what will happen when the Last Hour approaches. (The Qur'an frequently employs the past tense to denote the future, and particularly so in passages which speak of the coming of the Last Hour and of Resurrection Day; this use of the past tense is meant to stress the certainty of the happening to which the verb relates.) Thus, Raghib regards it as fully justifiable to interpret the phrase inshaqqa 'l-qamar ("the moon, is split asunder") as bearing on the cosmic cataclysm - the end of the world as we know it - that will occur before the coming of Resurrection Day (see art. shaqq in the Mufradat). As mentioned by Zamakhshari, this interpretation has the support of some of the earlier commentators; and it is, to my mind, particularly convincing in view of the juxtaposition, in the above Qur'an-verse, of the moon's "splitting asunder" and the approach of the Last Hour. (In this connection we must bear in mind the fact that none of the Qur'anic allusions to the "nearness" of the Last Hour and the Day of Resurrection is based on the human concept of "time".)
- The Hour (of Judgment)5127 is nigh, and the moon is cleft asunder.5128
- 5127 See paragraph 2 of the Introduction to S. 53. The idea of the judgement being nigh at the beginning of this Surah connects it with the same idea at the end of the last Surah (verse 57), though the actual words used in the two cases are different.
- 5128 Three explanations are given in the Mufradat, and perhaps all three apply here: (1) that the moon once appeared cleft asunder in the valley of Makkah within sight of the Prophet, his Companions, and some Unbelievers; (2) that the prophetic past tense indicates the future, the cleaving asunder of the moon being a Sign of the Judgement approaching; and (3) that the phrase is metaphorical, meaning that the matter has become clear as the moon. That the first was noticed by contemporaries, including Unbelievers, is clear from verse 2. The second is an incident of the disruption of the solar system at the New Creation: Cf. 75:8-9. And the third might well be implied as in eastern allegory, based on the other two.
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The Hour (of Judgment) is nigh, and the moon is cleft asunder.
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
The hour drew nigh and the moon was rent in twain.
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
The hour drew nigh and the moon did rend asunder.
— M. Habib Shakir -
The Hour has drawn near, and the moon has been cleft asunder (the people of Makkah requested Prophet Muhammad SAW to show them a miracle, so he showed them the splitting of the moon).
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
The Hour hath drawn nigh, and the moon hath been rent in sunder.. And if they behold a sign, they turn away and say: magic continuous.
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
The Hour is drawing near, and the moon is split (in two).
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
The Hour has drawn near, and the moon is split.
— Ayub Khan -
The Hour has drawn nigh, and the moon is rent asunder.
— Sher Ali -
THE LAST HOUR draws near, and the moon is split asunder!
— Muhammad Asad -
The Hour has drawn nigh: the moon is split.
— Arthur Arberry -
The Hour of Resurrection drew near and the moon split asunder.{{1}}
— Abu'l Ala Maududi