52al-ṬūrMount Sinaiسُورَةُ الطور

By Mount Sinai,

[And] by an inscribed Scripture,

On displayed scrolls!

By the full vibrant house [of dedication, the Ka‘bah],

[And] by the upper limit [of the universe] raised ever higher,

[And] by the tidal-wave [tumultuous] sea!

Verily, [O people], the painful punishment of your Sustainer will come about:

There is none who can stop it from happening.

[It will happen on] a Day when the skies become wobbly and tremble,

And the mountains will dislodge and be in motion.

Woe, then, on that Day to those who attributed lies [to the prophets],

Those who amused themselves by plunging into [worldly] futility:

That Day, they will be shoved into the fire with a thrust, [and will be told],

“This is the Fire that you were always disputing!

“Is this the magic [ — the magic you yourselves said it was, when you were in the world]? Or was it you who failed to comprehend its meaning?

“Swelter in it; whether you are patient [in it] or not patient [it does not matter now for] it will all be the same for you: you are now repaid for what you did [when you were back in the world].”

Surely, those who avoided Allah’s “power for justice” will be in gardens and delight [on that Day],

Serene within all that their Sustainer will have given them — for [by then], their Sustainer would have spared them the torment of the unfathomable Fire;

[And will be told], “Eat and drink, cheers to you on account of the good you did [while you were alive in a world of the past]”;

[And] reclining on couches [of pleasure] arranged in rows! And We will couple them with mates whose wide eyes are of instantaneous mystifying attraction.

And as for those who committed themselves [to Allah] and whose offspring will have followed them in honor of their divine commitment, We shall unite them with their offspring; and We shall not skimp an iota in rewarding them for their [good] deeds: for, every person is a captive of his own deeds.

And We shall provide them with fruit, and meat of whatever they may desire;

And in that [setting] they shall pass among themselves a cup [of non-intoxitcating wine] free of any hallucinating afteraffects and free of any [enticement to] unbecoming behavior;

And they will be periodically served by [immortal] youths assigned to them, as if they were concealed gems [not yet seen by anyone].

And some of them [in this state of blissful pleasure] will approach others, asking [about what may have been of concern to them in their life in the past].

[And] they will say [to one another], “Surely, in times past, we commiserated for our kith and kin [fearing they would not join us here in Paradise],

“But then Allah graced us with His favor and spared us the suffering of a body-penetrating torment.

“Verily, we did indeed invoke Him in the past [for now He has shown us that], indeed, He is the Truly Benevolent, the Exceptionally Merciful.”

[Regardless of the mushriks’ machinations], you [O Prophet] should [continue to] press on with raising [public] awareness; for, by your Sustainer’s grace you are neither a [religious] teller of tales nor a madman.

Or do they say, “[He is only] a poet — let us wait until the unknown developments of time wear him out!”

Say [O Muhammad], “[Okay], wait! I shall confidently wait with you [for what I know from Allah will certainly happen in the course of time]!”

Or is it their reservations [qualms] that compel them into this [attitude], or is it [this way] because they are people exceeding all norms?

Or are they saying that he [Muhammad] concocted it [the Qur’an]? More accurately, they are people who do not commit [voluntarily to Allah].

But then, [as they, the mushriks, consider this Qur’an a fabrication by the Prophet] let them produce a similar speech composition — if they are true [to their assertion].

[Remind them as they express their derogatories]: were they created without anything [being measured, quantified, and wisely designed]? Or [do they think] they are [their own] creators?

Or is it they who created the heavens and the earth? To be more precise, they have no certainty [of any of these matters]!

Or do they have [ownership of] the treasures of your Sustainer [so as to do anything they want] with them? Or do they think they are in charge [of life, existence, and the universe]?

Or do they have a [sky-high] ladder they can use [to access divinity and listen in]? [And if that is the case] let their listener produce manifest proof [of his access to divine secrets].

Or [in their confused and culturally biased minds, how is it that they impute] to Him [begotten] daughters and to you [humans, begotten] sons?

Or is it that [they feel burdened lest] you ask them for monetary compensation [for your mission], and then they would have to strain themselves to pay you [for your prophethood]?

Or [do they think] they are privy to the unknown [the concealed world beyond human senses] and thus they can record [its facts]?

Or do they want to conspire [against you, O Muhammad]? [While the fact of the matter is that] the deniers of Allah are the dupes [of their own conspiracies].

Or [do they think] they have a god other than Allah? Uniquely exalted is Allah from anything that is ascribed to Him [by such mushriks].

And still, if they [the God-deniers] were to see part of the sky falling down, they would remark, “Gases and gravity!”

Hence, leave them alone, for [in time] they will come upon the Day in which they will be traumatized —

The Day when their conspiracy will be of no redeeming value at all and they will not be aided.

Surely, those who do injustice will have [to endure their share of] suffering before [the advent of] that [Day], but most of them are not aware of it.

And await, uncomplainingly, for your Sustainer’s judgement, as you [O Muhammad] are indeed within Our attentive sight. And extol your Sustainer’s singular splendor whenever you take a stand [and rise up],

And during the night, do extol His singular splendor, and at the time when the stars fade away.