Al-Haqqah

al-ḥāqatu

The Inevitable Hour!

mā l-ḥāqatu

What is the Inevitable Hour?

wamā adrāka mā l-ḥāqatu

What will explain to you what the Inevitable Hour is?

kadhabat thamūdu waʿādun bil-qāriʿati

The people of Thamud and 'Ad denied that the crashing blowwould come:

fa-ammā thamūdu fa-uh'likū bil-ṭāghiyati

Thamud was destroyed by a deafening blast;

wa-ammā ʿādun fa-uh'likū birīḥin ṣarṣarin ʿātiyatin

Ad was destroyed by a furious wind

sakharahā ʿalayhim sabʿa layālin wathamāniyata ayyāmin ḥusūman fatarā l-qawma fīhā ṣarʿā ka-annahum aʿjāzu nakhlin khāwiyatin

that God let loose against them for seven consecutive nights, eight consecutive days, so that you could have seen its people lying dead like hollow palm-trunks.

fahal tarā lahum min bāqiyatin

Can you see any trace of them now?

wajāa fir'ʿawnu waman qablahu wal-mu'tafikātu bil-khāṭi-ati

And there came Pharaoh and those before him and the overturned cities with sin.

faʿaṣaw rasūla rabbihim fa-akhadhahum akhdhatan rābiyatan

these people committed grave sins and disobeyed the messenger of their Lord, so He seized them with an ever-tightening grip.

innā lammā ṭaghā l-māu ḥamalnākum fī l-jāriyati

But when the Flood rose high, We saved you in the floating ship,

linajʿalahā lakum tadhkiratan wataʿiyahā udhunun wāʿiyatun

making that event a reminder for you: attentive ears may take heed.

fa-idhā nufikha fī l-ṣūri nafkhatun wāḥidatun

When the Trumpet is sounded a single time,

waḥumilati l-arḍu wal-jibālu fadukkatā dakkatan wāḥidatan

when the earth and its mountains are raised high and then crushed with a single blow,

fayawma-idhin waqaʿati l-wāqiʿatu

on that Day the Great Event will come to pass.

wa-inshaqqati l-samāu fahiya yawma-idhin wāhiyatun

The sky will be torn apart on that Day, it will be so frail.

wal-malaku ʿalā arjāihā wayaḥmilu ʿarsha rabbika fawqahum yawma-idhin thamāniyatun

The angels will be on all sides of it and, on that Day, eight of them will bear the throne of your Lord above them.

yawma-idhin tuʿ'raḍūna lā takhfā minkum khāfiyatun

On that Day you will be brought to judgement and none of your secrets will remain hidden.

fa-ammā man ūtiya kitābahu biyamīnihi fayaqūlu hāumu iq'raū kitābiyah

Anyone who is given his Record in his right hand will say, ‘Here is my Record, read it.

innī ẓanantu annī mulāqin ḥisābiyah

I knew I would meet my Reckoning,’

fahuwa fī ʿīshatin rāḍiyatin

and so he will have a pleasant life

fī jannatin ʿāliyatin

in a lofty Garden,

quṭūfuhā dāniyatun

with clustered fruit within his reach.

kulū wa-ish'rabū hanīan bimā aslaftum fī l-ayāmi l-khāliyati

It will be said, ‘Eat and drink to your heart’s content as a reward for what you have done in days gone by.’

wa-ammā man ūtiya kitābahu bishimālihi fayaqūlu yālaytanī lam ūta kitābiyah

But anyone who is given his Record in his left hand will say, ‘If only I had never been given any Record

walam adri mā ḥisābiyah

and knew nothing of my Reckoning.

yālaytahā kānati l-qāḍiyata

How I wish death had been the end of me.

mā aghnā ʿannī māliyah

My wealth has been no use to me,

halaka ʿannī sul'ṭāniyah

and my power has vanished.’

khudhūhu faghullūhu

‘Take him, put a collar on him,

thumma l-jaḥīma ṣallūhu

lead him to burn in the blazing Fire,

thumma fī sil'silatin dharʿuhā sabʿūna dhirāʿan fa-us'lukūhu

and [bind him] in a chain seventy metres long:

innahu kāna lā yu'minu bil-lahi l-ʿaẓīmi

he would not believe in Almighty God,

walā yaḥuḍḍu ʿalā ṭaʿāmi l-mis'kīni

he never encouraged feeding the hungry,

falaysa lahu l-yawma hāhunā ḥamīmun

so today he has no real friend here,

walā ṭaʿāmun illā min ghis'līnin

and the only food he has is the filth

lā yakuluhu illā l-khāṭiūna

that only sinners eat.’

falā uq'simu bimā tub'ṣirūna

So I swear by what you can see

wamā lā tub'ṣirūna

and by what you cannot see:

innahu laqawlu rasūlin karīmin

this [Quran] is the speech of an honoured messenger,

wamā huwa biqawli shāʿirin qalīlan mā tu'minūna

not the words of a poet- how little you believe!-

walā biqawli kāhinin qalīlan mā tadhakkarūna

nor the words of a soothsayer- how little you reflect!

tanzīlun min rabbi l-ʿālamīna

This [Quran] is a message sent down from the Lord of the Worlds:

walaw taqawwala ʿalaynā baʿḍa l-aqāwīli

if [the Prophet] had attributed some fabrication to Us,

la-akhadhnā min'hu bil-yamīni

We would certainly have seized his right hand

thumma laqaṭaʿnā min'hu l-watīna

and cut off his lifeblood,

famā minkum min aḥadin ʿanhu ḥājizīna

and none of you could have defended him.

wa-innahu latadhkiratun lil'muttaqīna

This [Quran] is a reminder for those who are aware of God.

wa-innā lanaʿlamu anna minkum mukadhibīna

We know that some of you consider it to be lies-

wa-innahu laḥasratun ʿalā l-kāfirīna

this will be a source of bitter regret for the disbelievers-

wa-innahu laḥaqqu l-yaqīni

but it is in fact the certain Truth.

fasabbiḥ bi-is'mi rabbika l-ʿaẓīmi

So [Prophet] glorify the name of your Lord, the Almighty.