إِذَا السَّمَاءُ انْشَقَّتْ

WHEN THE SKY is split asunder, (1)

وَأَذِنَتْ لِرَبِّهَا وَحُقَّتْ

obeying its Sustainer, as in truth it must; (2)

وَإِذَا الْأَرْضُ مُدَّتْ

and when the earth is levelled, (3)

وَأَلْقَتْ مَا فِيهَا وَتَخَلَّتْ

and casts forth whatever is in it, and becomes utterly void, (4)

وَأَذِنَتْ لِرَبِّهَا وَحُقَّتْ

obeying its Sustainer, as in truth it must: (5)

يَا أَيُّهَا الْإِنْسَانُ إِنَّكَ كَادِحٌ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ كَدْحًا فَمُلَاقِيهِ

[then,] O man – thou [that] hast, verily, been toiling towards thy Sustainer in painful toil – then shalt thou meet Him! (6)

فَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِيَ كِتَابَهُ بِيَمِينِهِ

And as for him whose record shall be placed in his right hand, (7)

فَسَوْفَ يُحَاسَبُ حِسَابًا يَسِيرًا

he will in time be called to account with an easy accounting, (8)

وَيَنْقَلِبُ إِلَىٰ أَهْلِهِ مَسْرُورًا

and will [be able to] turn joyfully to those of his own kind. (9)

وَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِيَ كِتَابَهُ وَرَاءَ ظَهْرِهِ

But as for him whose record shall be given to him behind his back, (10)

فَسَوْفَ يَدْعُو ثُبُورًا

he will in time pray for utter destruction: (11)

وَيَصْلَىٰ سَعِيرًا

but he will enter the blazing flame. (12)

إِنَّهُ كَانَ فِي أَهْلِهِ مَسْرُورًا

Behold, [in his earthly life] he lived joyfully among people of his own kind – (13)

إِنَّهُ ظَنَّ أَنْ لَنْ يَحُورَ

for, behold, he never thought that he would have to return [to God]. (14)

بَلَىٰ إِنَّ رَبَّهُ كَانَ بِهِ بَصِيرًا

Yea indeed! His Sustainer did see all that was in him! (15)

فَلَا أُقْسِمُ بِالشَّفَقِ

BUT NAY! I call to witness the sunset's [fleeting] afterglow, (16)

وَاللَّيْلِ وَمَا وَسَقَ

and the night, and what it [step by step] unfolds, (17)

وَالْقَمَرِ إِذَا اتَّسَقَ

and the moon, as it grows to its fullness: (18)

لَتَرْكَبُنَّ طَبَقًا عَنْ طَبَقٍ

[even thus, O men,] are you bound to move onward from stage to stage. (19)

فَمَا لَهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ

What, then, is amiss with them that they will not believe [in a life to come]? – (20)

وَإِذَا قُرِئَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْقُرْآنُ لَا يَسْجُدُونَ ۩

and [that], when the Qur'ān is read unto them, they do not fall down in prostration? (21)

بَلِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا يُكَذِّبُونَ

Nay, but they who are bent on denying the truth give the lie [to this divine writ]! (22)

وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا يُوعُونَ

Yet God has full knowledge of what they conceal [in their hearts]. (23)

فَبَشِّرْهُمْ بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ

Hence, give them the tiding of grievous suffering [in the life to come] – (24)