الْحَاقَّةُ
OH, THE LAYING-BARE of the truth! (1)
مَا الْحَاقَّةُ
How awesome that laying-bare of the truth! (2)
وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الْحَاقَّةُ
And what could make thee conceive what that laying-bare of the truth will be? (3)
كَذَّبَتْ ثَمُودُ وَعَادٌ بِالْقَارِعَةِ
THE LIE gave [the tribes of] Thamūd and 'ād to [all tidings of] that sudden calamity! (4)
فَأَمَّا ثَمُودُ فَأُهْلِكُوا بِالطَّاغِيَةِ
Now as for the Thamūd – they were destroyed by a violent upheaval [of the earth]; (5)
وَأَمَّا عَادٌ فَأُهْلِكُوا بِرِيحٍ صَرْصَرٍ عَاتِيَةٍ
and as for the 'ād – they were destroyed by a stormwind furiously raging, (6)
سَخَّرَهَا عَلَيْهِمْ سَبْعَ لَيَالٍ وَثَمَانِيَةَ أَيَّامٍ حُسُومًا فَتَرَى الْقَوْمَ فِيهَا صَرْعَىٰ كَأَنَّهُمْ أَعْجَازُ نَخْلٍ خَاوِيَةٍ
which He willed against them for seven nights and eight days without cease, so that in the end thou couldst see those people laid low [in death], as though they were so many [uprooted] trunks of hollow palm trees: (7)
فَهَلْ تَرَىٰ لَهُمْ مِنْ بَاقِيَةٍ
and dost thou now see any remnant of them? (8)
وَجَاءَ فِرْعَوْنُ وَمَنْ قَبْلَهُ وَالْمُؤْتَفِكَاتُ بِالْخَاطِئَةِ
And there was Pharaoh, too, and [many of] those who lived before him, and the cities that were overthrown – [all of them] indulged in sin upon sin (9)
فَعَصَوْا رَسُولَ رَبِّهِمْ فَأَخَذَهُمْ أَخْذَةً رَابِيَةً
and rebelled against their Sustainer's apostles: and so He took them to task with a punishing grasp exceedingly severe! (10)
إِنَّا لَمَّا طَغَى الْمَاءُ حَمَلْنَاكُمْ فِي الْجَارِيَةِ
[And] behold: when the waters [of Noah's flood] burst beyond all limits, it was We who caused you to be borne [to safety] in that floating ark, (11)
لِنَجْعَلَهَا لَكُمْ تَذْكِرَةً وَتَعِيَهَا أُذُنٌ وَاعِيَةٌ
so that We might make all this a [lasting] reminder to you all, and that every wide-awake ear might consciously take it in. (12)
فَإِذَا نُفِخَ فِي الصُّورِ نَفْخَةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ
Hence, [bethink yourselves of the Last Hour,] when the trumpet [of judgment] shall be sounded with a single blast, (13)
وَحُمِلَتِ الْأَرْضُ وَالْجِبَالُ فَدُكَّتَا دَكَّةً وَاحِدَةً
and the earth and the mountains shall be lifted up and crushed with a single stroke! (14)
فَيَوْمَئِذٍ وَقَعَتِ الْوَاقِعَةُ
And so, that which must come to pass will on that Day have come to pass; (15)
وَانْشَقَّتِ السَّمَاءُ فَهِيَ يَوْمَئِذٍ وَاهِيَةٌ
and the sky will be rent asunder – for frail will it have become on that Day (16)
وَالْمَلَكُ عَلَىٰ أَرْجَائِهَا وَيَحْمِلُ عَرْشَ رَبِّكَ فَوْقَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ ثَمَانِيَةٌ
and the angels [will appear] at its ends, and, above them, eight will bear aloft on that Day the throne of thy Sustainer's almightiness.... (17)
يَوْمَئِذٍ تُعْرَضُونَ لَا تَخْفَىٰ مِنْكُمْ خَافِيَةٌ
On that Day you shall be brought to judgment: not [even] the most hidden of your deeds will remain hidden. (18)
فَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِيَ كِتَابَهُ بِيَمِينِهِ فَيَقُولُ هَاؤُمُ اقْرَءُوا كِتَابِيَهْ
Now as for him whose record shall be placed in his right hand, he will exclaim: "Come you all! Read this my record! (19)
إِنِّي ظَنَنْتُ أَنِّي مُلَاقٍ حِسَابِيَهْ
Behold, I did know that [one day] I would have to face my account!" (20)
فَهُوَ فِي عِيشَةٍ رَاضِيَةٍ
And so he will find himself in a happy state of life, (21)
فِي جَنَّةٍ عَالِيَةٍ
in a lofty paradise, (22)
قُطُوفُهَا دَانِيَةٌ
with its fruits within easy reach. (23)
كُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا هَنِيئًا بِمَا أَسْلَفْتُمْ فِي الْأَيَّامِ الْخَالِيَةِ
[And all who are thus blest will be told:] "Eat and drink with good cheer in return for all [the good deeds] that you have sent ahead in days gone by!" (24)
وَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِيَ كِتَابَهُ بِشِمَالِهِ فَيَقُولُ يَا لَيْتَنِي لَمْ أُوتَ كِتَابِيَهْ
But as for him whose record shall be placed in his left hand, he will exclaim: "Oh, would that I had never been shown this my record, (25)
وَلَمْ أَدْرِ مَا حِسَابِيَهْ
and neither known this my account! (26)
يَا لَيْتَهَا كَانَتِ الْقَاضِيَةَ
Oh, would that this [death of mine] had been the end of me! (27)
مَا أَغْنَىٰ عَنِّي مَالِيَهْ
Of no avail to me is all that I have [ever] possessed, (28)
هَلَكَ عَنِّي سُلْطَانِيَهْ
[and] all my power of argument has died away from me!" (29)
خُذُوهُ فَغُلُّوهُ
[Thereupon the command will go forth:] "Lay hold of him, and shackle him, (30)
ثُمَّ الْجَحِيمَ صَلُّوهُ
and then let him enter hell, (31)
ثُمَّ فِي سِلْسِلَةٍ ذَرْعُهَا سَبْعُونَ ذِرَاعًا فَاسْلُكُوهُ
and then thrust him into a chain [of other sinners like him – a chain] the length whereof is seventy cubits: (32)
إِنَّهُ كَانَ لَا يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ الْعَظِيمِ
for, behold, he did not believe in God, the Tremendous, (33)
وَلَا يَحُضُّ عَلَىٰ طَعَامِ الْمِسْكِينِ
and did not feel any urge to feed the needy: (34)
فَلَيْسَ لَهُ الْيَوْمَ هَاهُنَا حَمِيمٌ
and so, no friend has he here today, (35)
وَلَا طَعَامٌ إِلَّا مِنْ غِسْلِينٍ
nor any food save the filth (36)
لَا يَأْكُلُهُ إِلَّا الْخَاطِئُونَ
which none but the sinners eat! (37)
- And there was Pharaoh, too, and [many of] those who lived before him, and the cities that were overthrown5 - [all of them] indulged in sin upon sin
- 5 I.e., Sodom and Gomorrah, the cities of Lot's people (see 11:69-83).
- And Pharaoh,5642 and those before him,5643 and the Cities Overthrown,5644 committed habitual Sin.
- 5642 Pharaoh's Messenger was Moses. See the story in 7:103-137 and the notes there. Pharaoh was inordinately proud, and his fall was proportionately great: it gradually extended to his dynasty and his people: See Appendix V of S. 7.
- 5643 If we follow the sequence of peoples whose sins destroyed them, as mentioned in 7:59-158, we begin with Noah, then have Ad, and Thamud, then the Cities of the Plain, then Midian, then the people whose prophet was Moses (who occupies a central place in the canvas), and then the Pagan Quraysh, to whom came the last and the greatest of the prophets, our Prophet Muhammad. This is the chronological sequence. Here there is no detail, nor even complete mention. But Noah is alluded to last, and 'Ad and Thamud mentioned first, because the latter two belong to Arab tradition, and this is specially addressed to the Pagans of Makkah. Pharaoh is mentioned rather than Moses for the same reason, and any others are "those before Pharaoh".
- 5644 The Cities Overthrown: Sodom and Gomorrah, Cities of the Plain, to whom Lot preached see 9:70, n. 1330; and 7:80-84, n. 1049.
-
And Pharaoh, and those before him, and the Cities Overthrown, committed habitual Sin.
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
And Pharaoh and those before him, and the communities that were destroyed, brought error,
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
And Firon and those before him and the overthrown cities continuously committed sins.
— M. Habib Shakir -
And Fir'aun (Pharaoh), and those before him, and the cities overthrown [the towns of the people of [Lout (Lot)] committed sin,
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
And Fir'awn and those before him and the overturned cities committed sin.
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
Similarly, Pharaoh, and those before him, and the ruined villages, sinned
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
And Pharaoh, and those before him, and the subverted cities, committed wrong things.
— Ayub Khan -
And Pharaoh and those who were before him, and the overthrown cities persistently committed sins.
— Sher Ali -
And there was Pharaoh, too, and [many of] those who lived before him, and the cities that were overthrown – [all of them] indulged in sin upon sin
— Muhammad Asad -
Pharaoh likewise, and those before him, and the Subverted Cities -- they committed error,
— Arthur Arberry -
Pharaoh and those before him and the people of the overturned habitations{{6}} all engaged in the same great sin.
— Abu'l Ala Maududi