إِذَا السَّمَاءُ انْفَطَرَتْ
WHEN THE SKY is cleft asunder, (1)
وَإِذَا الْكَوَاكِبُ انْتَثَرَتْ
and when the stars are scattered, (2)
وَإِذَا الْبِحَارُ فُجِّرَتْ
and when the seas burst beyond their bounds, (3)
وَإِذَا الْقُبُورُ بُعْثِرَتْ
and when the graves are overturned – (4)
عَلِمَتْ نَفْسٌ مَا قَدَّمَتْ وَأَخَّرَتْ
every human being will [at last] comprehend what he has sent ahead and what he has held back [in this world]. (5)
يَا أَيُّهَا الْإِنْسَانُ مَا غَرَّكَ بِرَبِّكَ الْكَرِيمِ
O MAN! What is it that lures thee away from thy bountiful Sustainer, (6)
الَّذِي خَلَقَكَ فَسَوَّاكَ فَعَدَلَكَ
who has created thee, and formed thee in accordance with what thou art meant to be, and shaped thy nature in just proportions, (7)
فِي أَيِّ صُورَةٍ مَا شَاءَ رَكَّبَكَ
having put thee together in whatever form He willed [thee to have]? (8)
كَلَّا بَلْ تُكَذِّبُونَ بِالدِّينِ
Nay, [O men,] but you [are lured away from God whenever you are tempted to] give the lie to [God's] Judgment! (9)
وَإِنَّ عَلَيْكُمْ لَحَافِظِينَ
And yet, verily, there are ever-watchful forces over you, (10)
كِرَامًا كَاتِبِينَ
noble, recording, (11)
يَعْلَمُونَ مَا تَفْعَلُونَ
aware of whatever you do! (12)
إِنَّ الْأَبْرَارَ لَفِي نَعِيمٍ
Behold, [in the life to come] the truly virtuous will indeed be in bliss, (13)
وَإِنَّ الْفُجَّارَ لَفِي جَحِيمٍ
whereas, behold, the wicked will indeed be in a blazing fire – (14)
يَصْلَوْنَهَا يَوْمَ الدِّينِ
[a fire] which they shall enter on Judgment Day, (15)
وَمَا هُمْ عَنْهَا بِغَائِبِينَ
and which they shall not [be able to] evade. (16)
وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا يَوْمُ الدِّينِ
And what could make thee conceive what that Judgment Day will be? (17)
ثُمَّ مَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا يَوْمُ الدِّينِ
And once again: What could make thee conceive what that Judgment Day will be? (18)
يَوْمَ لَا تَمْلِكُ نَفْسٌ لِنَفْسٍ شَيْئًا وَالْأَمْرُ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِلَّهِ
[It will be] a Day when no human being shall be of the least avail to another human being: for on that Day [it will become manifest that] all sovereignty is God's alone. (19)
- every human being will [at last] comprehend, what he has sent ahead and what he has held back [in this world].2
- 2 I.e., what he has done and what he has omitted to do. An alternative rendering would be "what he has placed forward and what he has placed behind", i.e., what he prized more and what less in his erstwhile, subjective valuation. Thus, at the moment of resurrection man will suddenly understand the true motivations and moral implications of whatever he did - or consciously refrained from doing - during his life in this world: and this applies to all the good deeds he did and the sins he refrained from, as well as to all the sins he committed and the good deeds he failed to do.
- (Then) shall each soul know what it hath sent forward6002 and (what it hath) kept back.
- 6002 Sent Forward and kept back: may mean: the deeds of commission and omission in this life. Or the Arabic words may also be translated: sent forward and left behind: i.e., the spiritual possibilities which it sent forward for its other life, and the physical things on which it prided itself in this life, but which it had to leave behind in this life. Or else, the things it put first and the things it put last in importance may change places in the new world of Reality. "The first shall be last and the last shall be first".
-
(Then) shall each soul know what it hath sent forward and (what it hath) kept back.
— Abdullah Yusuf Ali -
A soul will know what it hath sent before (it) and what left behind.
— Marmaduke Pickthall -
Every soul shall know what it has sent before and held back.
— M. Habib Shakir -
(Then) a person will know what he has sent forward and (what he has) left behind (of good or bad deeds).
— Taqiuddin Hilali and M. Mohsin Khan -
Each soul shall know that which it sent afore and that which it left behind.
— Abdul-Majid Daryabadi -
the soul shall know what it has done, the former and the latter.
— Hasan Qaribullah and Ahmed Darwish -
a soul shall know what it forwarded, and what it left behind;
— Ayub Khan -
Every soul shall then know what it has sent forth and what it has kept back,
— Sher Ali -
every human being will [at last] comprehend what he has sent ahead and what he has held back [in this world].
— Muhammad Asad -
then a soul shall know its works, the former and the latter.
— Arthur Arberry -
everyone shall know all his deeds, both the earlier and the later.{{3}}
— Abu'l Ala Maududi