AL HAQQAH (The Sure Reality)
In the Name of God,1 the Gracious, the Merciful 2
1 The sure reality!
2 What is the sure reality?
3 And what will make you realize what the sure reality is?
4 The Thamud and the Aad people disbelieved in the stunning calamity!
5 But the Thamud, they were destroyed by a terrible storm of thunder and lightning!
6 And the Aad, they were destroyed by a furious wind, exceedingly violent;
7 He made it rage against them seven nights and eight days in succession: so that you could see the people lying prostrate, as if they had been roots of hollow palm trees tumbled down!
8 Then do you see any of them left surviving?
9 And Firaun, and those before him, and the cities overthrown, committed habitual sin,
10 And disobeyed the messenger of their Lord; so he punished them with an abundant penalty.
11 When the water overflowed beyond its limits, we carried you in the floating Ark,
12 That we might make it a message to you, and that remembering ears might remember.
13 Then, when one blast is sounded on the trumpet,
14 And the earth is moved, and its mountains, and they are crushed to powder at one stroke,
15 On that day shall the event come to pass,
16 And the sky will be torn open, for it will that day be flimsy,
17 And the angels will be on its sides, and eight will, that day, bear the throne of your Lord above them.
18 That day shall you be brought to judgment: not an act of yours that you hide will be hidden.
19 Then he that will be given his record in his right hand will say: Ah here! Read my record!
20 I really understood that my account would reach me!
21 And he will be in a life of bliss,
22 In a garden on high,
23 The fruits of which are low and near.
24 Eat and drink with full satisfaction; because of what you sent before you, in the days that are gone!
25 And he that will be given his record in his left hand, will say: Ah! If only my record had not been given to me!
26 And that I had never realized how my account stood!
27 Ah! If only death had made an end of me!
28 Of no profit to me has been my wealth!
29 My power has perished from me!
30 Seize him, and bind him,
31 And burn him in the blazing fire.
32 Further, make him march in a chain, the length of which is seventy cubits!
33 This was he that would not believe in God most high,
34 And would not encourage the feeding of the indigent!
35 So no friend has he here this day.
36 Nor has he any food except the corruption from the washing of wounds,
37 Which none do eat but those in sin.
38 So I call to witness what you see,
39 And what you see not,
40 That this is truly the word of an honoured messenger;
41 It is not the word of a poet: little it is you believe!
42 Nor is it the word of a soothsayer: little admonition it is you receive.
43 A message sent down from the Lord of the universe.
44 And if the messenger were to invent any sayings in our name,
45 We should certainly seize him by his right hand,
46 And we should certainly then cut off the artery of his heart:
47 Nor could any of you save him.
48 But truly this is a message for the God-fearing.
49 And we certainly know that there are among you those that reject.
50 But truly it is a cause of sorrow for the unbelievers.
51 But truly it is truth of assured certainty.
52 So glorify the Name of your Lord most high.
- God, in Arabic allah, referring to the one true God, as opposed to an idol or “god.” It is the Arabic equivalent of elohim and eloah (Hebrew), alaha (Syriac), and theos (Greek), all of which accurately translate into English as “God.” This translation choice is consistent with respected English Quran translations including those of A. Yusuf Ali (original edition), S.H. Nasr (Study Quran), T.B. Irving, and T. Itani (Clear Quran). ↩︎
- the Gracious, the Merciful, the highlighting of God’s grace and mercy predates the Quran, coming down from the many hundreds of references in the Taurat, Zabur, and Injil. A few samples follow:
Taurat, Exodus 34:6 — …YAHWEH, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth.
Zabur 145:8 — YAHWEH is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great loving kindness.
Taurat, Joel 2:13 — Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to YAHWEH your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity.
Taurat, Yunus 4:2 — …I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent of doing harm.”
Injil, 1 Timothy 1:2 — …Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and AL-MASIH ‘ISA our Lord.
Injil, Hebrews 4:16 — Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace for help in time of need. ↩︎