In the name
of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
1. By the break of Day
2. By the Nights twice
five;
3. By the even and
odd (contrasted);
4. And by the Night
when it passeth away;-
5. Is there (not) in
these an adjuration (or evidence) for those who understand?
6. Seest thou not how
thy Lord dealt with the 'Ad (people),-
7. Of the (city of)
Iram, with lofty pillars,
8. The like of which
were not produced in (all) the land?
9. And with the Thamud
(people), who cut out (huge) rocks in the valley?-
10. And with Pharaoh,
lord of stakes?
11. (All) these transgressed
beyond bounds in the lands,
12. And heaped therein
mischief (on mischief).
13. Therefore did thy
Lord pour on them a scourge of diverse chastisements:
14. For thy Lord is
(as a Guardian) on a watch-tower.
15. Now, as for man,
when his Lord trieth him, giving him honour and gifts, then
saith
he, (puffed up), "My Lord hath honoured me."
16. But when He trieth
him, restricting his subsistence for him, then saith he (in
despair), "My Lord hath humiliated me!"
17. Nay, nay! but ye
honour not the orphans!
18. Nor do ye encourage
one another to feed the poor!-
19. And ye devour inheritance
- all with greed,
20. And ye love wealth
with inordinate love!
21. Nay! When the earth
is pounded to powder,
22. And thy Lord cometh,
and His angels, rank upon rank,
23. And Hell, that
Day, is brought (face to face),- on that Day will man remember,
but how will that remembrance profit him?
24. He will say: "Ah!
Would that I had sent forth (good deeds) for (this) my (Future)
Life!"
25. For, that Day,
His Chastisement will be such as none (else) can inflict,
26. And His bonds will
be such as none (other) can bind.
27. (To the righteous
soul will be said:) "O (thou) soul, in (complete) rest
and satisfaction!
28. "Come back
thou to thy Lord,- well pleased (thyself), and well-pleasing
unto Him!
29. "Enter thou,
then, among My devotees!
30. "Yea, enter
thou My Heaven!