English - Chapter 56 - Al-Waqiah

WHEN the day that must come shall have come suddenly

None shall treat that sudden coming as a lie

Day that shall abase! Day that shall exalt

When the earth shall be shaken with a shock

And the mountains shall be crumbled with a crumbling

And shall become scattered dust

And into three bands shall ye be divided

Then the people of the right hand - Oh! how happy shall be the people of the right hand

And the people of the left hand - Oh! how wretched shall be the people of the left hand

And they who were foremost on earth - the foremost still

These are they who shall be brought nigh to God

In gardens of delight

A crowd of the former

And few of the latter generations

On inwrought couches

Reclining on them face to face

Aye-blooming youths go round about to them

With goblets and ewers and a cup of flowing wine

Their brows ache not from it, nor fails the sense

And with such fruits as shall please them best

And with flesh of such birds, as they shall long for

And theirs shall be the Houris, with large dark eyes

like pearls hidden in their shells

In recompense of their labours past

No vain discourse shall they hear therein, nor charge of sin

But only the cry, "Peace! Peace

And the people of the right hand - oh! how happy shall be the people of the right hand

Amid thornless sidrahs

And tall trees clad with fruit

And in extended shade

And by flowing waters

And with abundant fruits

Unfailing, unforbidden

And on lofty couches

Of a rare creation have we created the Houris

And we have made them ever virgins

Dear to their spouses, of equal age with them

For the people of the right hand

And a crowd of the latter generations

But the people of the left hand - oh! how wretched shall be the people of the left hand

Amid pestilential winds and in scalding water

And in the shadow of a black smoke

Not cool, and horrid to behold

For they truly, ere this, were blessed with worldly goods

But persisted in heinous sin

And were wont to say, "What! after we have died, and become dust and bones, shall we be raised

And our fathers, the men of yore

SAY: Aye, the former and the latter

Gathered shall they all be for the time of a known day

Then ye, O ye the erring, the gainsaying

Shall surely eat of the tree Ez-zakkoum

And fill your bellies with it

And thereupon shall ye drink boiling water

And ye shall drink as the thirsty camel drinketh

This shall be their repast in the day of reckoning

We created you, will ye not credit us

What think ye? The germs of life

Is it ye who create them? or are we their creator

It is we who have decreed that death should be among you

Yet are we not thereby hindered from replacing you with others, your likes, or from producing you again in a form which ye know not

Ye have known the first creation: will ye not then reflect

What think ye? That which ye sow

Is it ye who cause its upgrowth, or do we cause it to spring forth

If we pleased we could so make your harvest dry and brittle that ye would ever marvel and say

Truly we have been at cost

yet are we forbidden harvest

What think ye of the water ye drink

Is it ye who send it down from the clouds, or send we it down

Brackish could we make it, if we pleased: will ye not then be thankful

What think ye? The fire which ye obtain by friction

Is it ye who rear its tree, or do we rear it

It is we who have made it for a memorial and a benefit to the wayfarers of the desert

Praise therefore the name of thy Lord, the Great

It needs not that I swear by the setting of the stars

And it is a great oath, if ye knew it

That this is the honourable Koran

Written in the preserved Book

Let none touch it but the purified

It is a revelation from the Lord of the worlds

Such tidings as these will ye disdain

Will ye make it your daily bread to gainsay them

Why, at the moment when the soul of a dying man shall come up into his throat

And when ye are gazing at him

Though we are nearer to him than ye, although ye see us not

Why do ye not, if ye are to escape the judgment

Cause that soul to return? Tell me, if ye speak the truth

But as to him who shall enjoy near access to God

His shall be repose, and pleasure, and a garden of delights

Yea, for him who shall be of the people of the right hand

Shall be the greeting from the people of the right hand - "Peace be to thee

But for him who shall be of those who treat the prophets as deceivers, And of the erring

His entertainment shall be of scalding water

And the broiling of hell-fire

Verily this is a certain truth

Praise therefore the name of thy Lord, the Great