When the Event will come to pass
– and then there will be no one to deny its occurrence –
(a calamitous Event) that shall turn things upside down:
when the earth will suddenly shake with a terrible shaking,
and the mountains will crumble
and will scatter abroad into fine dust.
You shall then become three groups.
The People on the Right: and how fortunate will be the People on the Right!
And the People on the Left: and how miserable will be the People on the Left!
As for the Foremost, they will be the foremost!
They shall be near-stationed (to their Lord),
A throng of the ancients,
and a few from later times.
They (will be seated) on gold-encrusted couches,
reclining on them, arrayed face to face;
immortal youths shall go about them
with goblets and ewers and a cup filled with a drink drawn from a running spring,
a drink by which their minds will not be clouded nor will it cause drunkenness;
they will also go about them with the fruits of which they may choose,
and with the flesh of any fowl that they may desire to eat;
and there shall be wide-eyed maidens,
beautiful as pearls hidden in their shells.
All this shall be theirs as a reward for their deeds.
There they shall hear no idle talk nor any sinful speech.
All talk will be sound and upright.
As for the People on the Right, how fortunate shall be the people on the Right!
They shall be in the midst of thornless lote trees,
never-ending and unforbidden.
They shall be on upraised couches,
and their spouses We shall have brought them into being afresh,
and shall have made them virgins,
intensely loving and of matching age.
All this will be for the People on the Right;
a large throng from the ancients,
and also a large throng from those of later times.
As for the People on the Left: how miserable will be the People on the Left!
They will be in the midst of scorching wind and boiling water,
and a shade of thick, pitch-black smoke,
which will neither be cool nor soothing.
Surely they had lived before in luxury,
and had persisted in the Great Sin.
They used to say: “What! Once we are dead and are reduced to dust and bones, shall we still be raised to a new life from the dead?
(We) and our fore-fathers of yore?”
Tell them, (O Prophet): “The earlier ones and the later ones
shall all be brought together on an appointed Day.
Then you, the erring ones and those that gave the lie to the Truth,
shall all eat from the Tree of al-Zaqqum,
filling your bellies with it;
and thereupon you shall drink boiling water,
drinking it as thirsty camels do.”
Thus shall they be entertained on the Day of Recompense.
We have created you, then why would you not confirm it?
Did you ever consider the sperm that you emit?
Do you create a child out of it, or are We its creators?
It is We Who ordained death upon you and We are not to be frustrated.
Had We so wished, nothing could have hindered Us from replacing you by others like yourselves, or transforming you into beings you know nothing about.
You are well aware of the first creation; then, do you learn no lesson from it?
Have you considered the seeds you till?
Is it you or We Who make them grow?
If We so wished, We could have reduced your harvest to rubble, and you would have been left wonder-struck to exclaim:
nay; we have been undone!”
Did you cast a good look at the water that you drink?
Is it you who brought it down from the clouds or is it We Who brought it down?
If We had so pleased, We could have made it bitter. So why would you not give thanks?
Did you consider the fire which you kindle?
Did you make its tree grow or was it We Who made it grow?
We made it a reminder and a provision for the needy.
Glorify, then, (O Prophet), the name of your Great Lord.
No! I swear by the positions of the stars –
and this is indeed a mighty oath, if only you knew –
that this indeed is a noble Qur'an,
inscribed in a well-guarded Book,
which none but the pure may touch;
a revelation from the Lord of the Universe.
Do you, then, take this discourse in light esteem,
and your portion in it is simply that you denounce it as false?
Why, then, when the soul leaps up to the throat,
the while you are helplessly watching that he is on the verge of death,
– at that moment when We are closer to him than you, although you do not see (Us)
if you are not subject to anyone's authority,
why are you then not able to bring them back to life if you are truthful?
So if he is one of those who are near-stationed (to Allah),
then happiness and delight and Gardens of Bliss are his.
And if he is one of the People on the Right,
he will be welcomed by the words: “Peace to you” from the People on the Right.
And if he is one of those who give the lie (to this Message) and go astray,
then he will be served boiling water,
and will be scorched by the Fire.
That indeed is the absolute truth.
So glorify the name of your Great Lord.
