In the name of God, Most Gracious,
Most Merciful
1. When the sun
(With its spacious light)
Is folded up;
2. When the stars
Fall, losing their lustre;
3. When the mountains vanish
(Like a mirage);
4. When the she-camels,
Ten months with young,
Are left untended;
5. When the wild beasts
Are herded together
(In human habitations);
6. When the oceans
Boil over with a swell;
7. When the souls
Are sorted out,
(Being joined, like with like);
8. When the female (infant),
Buried alive, is questioned—
9. For what crime
She was killed;
10. When the Scrolls
Are laid open;
11. When the World on High
Is unveiled;
12. When the Blazing Fire
Is kindled to fierce heat;
13. And when the Garden
Is brought near;—
14. (Then) shall each soul know
What it has put forward.
15. So verily I call
To witness the Planets—
That recede,
16. Go straight, or hide;
17. And the Night
As it dissipates;
18. And the Dawn
As it breathes away
The darkness;—
19. Verily this is the word
Of a most honourable Messenger,
20. Endued with Power,
With rank before
The Lord of the Throne,
21. With authority there,
(And) faithful to his trust.
22. And (O people!)
Your Companion is not
One possessed;
23. And without doubt he saw him
In the clear horizon.
24. Neither doth he withhold
Grudgingly a knowledge
Of the Unseen.
25. Nor is it the word
Of an evil spirit accursed!
26. When whither go ye?
27. Verily this is no less
Than a Message
To (all) the Worlds:
28. (With profit) to whoever
Among you wills
To go straight:
29. But ye shall not will
Except as God wills,—
The Cherisher of the Worlds.