Al-Haaqqa

The Inevitable Hour!

الْحَاقَّةُ

al-ḥāqatu

What is the Inevitable Hour?

مَا الْحَاقَّةُ

mā l-ḥāqatu

What will explain to you what the Inevitable Hour is?

وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الْحَاقَّةُ

wamā adrāka mā l-ḥāqatu

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

كَذَّبَتْ ثَمُودُ وَعَادٌ بِالْقَارِعَةِ

kadhabat thamūdu waʿādun bil-qāriʿati

Thamud was destroyed by a deafening blast;

فَأَمَّا ثَمُودُ فَأُهْلِكُوا بِالطَّاغِيَةِ

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

Ad was destroyed by a furious wind

وَأَمَّا عَادٌ فَأُهْلِكُوا بِرِيحٍ صَرْصَرٍ عَاتِيَةٍ

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

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.

سَخَّرَهَا عَلَيْهِمْ سَبْعَ لَيَالٍ وَثَمَانِيَةَ أَيَّامٍ حُسُومًا فَتَرَى الْقَوْمَ فِيهَا صَرْعَىٰ كَأَنَّهُمْ أَعْجَازُ نَخْلٍ خَاوِيَةٍ

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

Can you see any trace of them now?

فَهَلْ تَرَىٰ لَهُمْ مِنْ بَاقِيَةٍ

fahal tarā lahum min bāqiyatin

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

وَجَاءَ فِرْعَوْنُ وَمَنْ قَبْلَهُ وَالْمُؤْتَفِكَاتُ بِالْخَاطِئَةِ

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

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

فَعَصَوْا رَسُولَ رَبِّهِمْ فَأَخَذَهُمْ أَخْذَةً رَابِيَةً

faʿaṣaw rasūla rabbihim fa-akhadhahum akhdhatan rābiyatan

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

إِنَّا لَمَّا طَغَى الْمَاءُ حَمَلْنَاكُمْ فِي الْجَارِيَةِ

innā lammā ṭaghā l-māu ḥamalnākum fī l-jāriyati

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

لِنَجْعَلَهَا لَكُمْ تَذْكِرَةً وَتَعِيَهَا أُذُنٌ وَاعِيَةٌ

linajʿalahā lakum tadhkiratan wataʿiyahā udhunun wāʿiyatun

When the Trumpet is sounded a single time,

فَإِذَا نُفِخَ فِي الصُّورِ نَفْخَةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ

fa-idhā nufikha fī l-ṣūri nafkhatun wāḥidatun

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

وَحُمِلَتِ الْأَرْضُ وَالْجِبَالُ فَدُكَّتَا دَكَّةً وَاحِدَةً

waḥumilati l-arḍu wal-jibālu fadukkatā dakkatan wāḥidatan

on that Day the Great Event will come to pass.

فَيَوْمَئِذٍ وَقَعَتِ الْوَاقِعَةُ

fayawma-idhin waqaʿati l-wāqiʿatu

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

وَانْشَقَّتِ السَّمَاءُ فَهِيَ يَوْمَئِذٍ وَاهِيَةٌ

wa-inshaqqati l-samāu fahiya yawma-idhin wāhiyatun

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.

وَالْمَلَكُ عَلَىٰ أَرْجَائِهَا ۚ وَيَحْمِلُ عَرْشَ رَبِّكَ فَوْقَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ ثَمَانِيَةٌ

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

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

يَوْمَئِذٍ تُعْرَضُونَ لَا تَخْفَىٰ مِنْكُمْ خَافِيَةٌ

yawma-idhin tuʿ'raḍūna lā takhfā minkum khāfiyatun

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

فَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِيَ كِتَابَهُ بِيَمِينِهِ فَيَقُولُ هَاؤُمُ اقْرَءُوا كِتَابِيَهْ

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

I knew I would meet my Reckoning,’

إِنِّي ظَنَنْتُ أَنِّي مُلَاقٍ حِسَابِيَهْ

innī ẓanantu annī mulāqin ḥisābiyah

and so he will have a pleasant life

فَهُوَ فِي عِيشَةٍ رَاضِيَةٍ

fahuwa fī ʿīshatin rāḍiyatin

in a lofty Garden,

فِي جَنَّةٍ عَالِيَةٍ

fī jannatin ʿāliyatin

with clustered fruit within his reach.

قُطُوفُهَا دَانِيَةٌ

quṭūfuhā dāniyatun

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

كُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا هَنِيئًا بِمَا أَسْلَفْتُمْ فِي الْأَيَّامِ الْخَالِيَةِ

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

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

وَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِيَ كِتَابَهُ بِشِمَالِهِ فَيَقُولُ يَا لَيْتَنِي لَمْ أُوتَ كِتَابِيَهْ

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

and knew nothing of my Reckoning.

وَلَمْ أَدْرِ مَا حِسَابِيَهْ

walam adri mā ḥisābiyah

How I wish death had been the end of me.

يَا لَيْتَهَا كَانَتِ الْقَاضِيَةَ

yālaytahā kānati l-qāḍiyata

My wealth has been no use to me,

مَا أَغْنَىٰ عَنِّي مَالِيَهْ ۜ

mā aghnā ʿannī māliyah

and my power has vanished.’

هَلَكَ عَنِّي سُلْطَانِيَهْ

halaka ʿannī sul'ṭāniyah

‘Take him, put a collar on him,

خُذُوهُ فَغُلُّوهُ

khudhūhu faghullūhu

lead him to burn in the blazing Fire,

ثُمَّ الْجَحِيمَ صَلُّوهُ

thumma l-jaḥīma ṣallūhu

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

ثُمَّ فِي سِلْسِلَةٍ ذَرْعُهَا سَبْعُونَ ذِرَاعًا فَاسْلُكُوهُ

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

he would not believe in Almighty God,

إِنَّهُ كَانَ لَا يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ الْعَظِيمِ

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

he never encouraged feeding the hungry,

وَلَا يَحُضُّ عَلَىٰ طَعَامِ الْمِسْكِينِ

walā yaḥuḍḍu ʿalā ṭaʿāmi l-mis'kīni

so today he has no real friend here,

فَلَيْسَ لَهُ الْيَوْمَ هَاهُنَا حَمِيمٌ

falaysa lahu l-yawma hāhunā ḥamīmun

and the only food he has is the filth

وَلَا طَعَامٌ إِلَّا مِنْ غِسْلِينٍ

walā ṭaʿāmun illā min ghis'līnin

that only sinners eat.’

لَا يَأْكُلُهُ إِلَّا الْخَاطِئُونَ

lā yakuluhu illā l-khāṭiūna

So I swear by what you can see

فَلَا أُقْسِمُ بِمَا تُبْصِرُونَ

falā uq'simu bimā tub'ṣirūna

and by what you cannot see:

وَمَا لَا تُبْصِرُونَ

wamā lā tub'ṣirūna

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

إِنَّهُ لَقَوْلُ رَسُولٍ كَرِيمٍ

innahu laqawlu rasūlin karīmin

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

وَمَا هُوَ بِقَوْلِ شَاعِرٍ ۚ قَلِيلًا مَا تُؤْمِنُونَ

wamā huwa biqawli shāʿirin qalīlan mā tu'minūna

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

وَلَا بِقَوْلِ كَاهِنٍ ۚ قَلِيلًا مَا تَذَكَّرُونَ

walā biqawli kāhinin qalīlan mā tadhakkarūna

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

تَنْزِيلٌ مِنْ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

tanzīlun min rabbi l-ʿālamīna

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

وَلَوْ تَقَوَّلَ عَلَيْنَا بَعْضَ الْأَقَاوِيلِ

walaw taqawwala ʿalaynā baʿḍa l-aqāwīli

We would certainly have seized his right hand

لَأَخَذْنَا مِنْهُ بِالْيَمِينِ

la-akhadhnā min'hu bil-yamīni

and cut off his lifeblood,

ثُمَّ لَقَطَعْنَا مِنْهُ الْوَتِينَ

thumma laqaṭaʿnā min'hu l-watīna

and none of you could have defended him.

فَمَا مِنْكُمْ مِنْ أَحَدٍ عَنْهُ حَاجِزِينَ

famā minkum min aḥadin ʿanhu ḥājizīna

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

وَإِنَّهُ لَتَذْكِرَةٌ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ

wa-innahu latadhkiratun lil'muttaqīna

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

وَإِنَّا لَنَعْلَمُ أَنَّ مِنْكُمْ مُكَذِّبِينَ

wa-innā lanaʿlamu anna minkum mukadhibīna

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

وَإِنَّهُ لَحَسْرَةٌ عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ

wa-innahu laḥasratun ʿalā l-kāfirīna

but it is in fact the certain Truth.

وَإِنَّهُ لَحَقُّ الْيَقِينِ

wa-innahu laḥaqqu l-yaqīni

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

فَسَبِّحْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الْعَظِيمِ

fasabbiḥ bi-is'mi rabbika l-ʿaẓīmi