Surah “The Reality, The Inevitable”

as rendered by Aisha Bewley — 52 verses

69:1
The Undeniable!
69:2
What is the Undeniable?
69:3
What will convey to you what the Undeniable is?
69:4
Thamud and ´Ad denied the Crushing Blow.
69:5
Thamud were destroyed by the Deafening Blast.
69:6
´Ad were destroyed by a savage howling wind.
69:7
Allah subjected them to it for seven whole nights and eight whole days without a break. You could see the people flattened in their homes just like the hollow stumps of uprooted palms.
69:8
Do you see any remnant of them left?
69:9
Pharaoh and those before him and the Overturned Cities made a great mistake.
69:10
They disobeyed the Messenger of their Lord so He seized them in an ever-tightening grip.
69:11
When the waters rose We carried you in the ship
69:12
to make it a reminder for you and something to be retained by retentive ears.
69:13
So when the Trumpet is blown with a single blast,
69:14
and the earth and the mountains are lifted and crushed with a single blow,
69:15
On that Day, the Occurrence will occur
69:16
and Heaven will be split apart, for that Day it will be very frail.
69:17
The angels will be gathered round its edge. On that Day, eight will bear the Throne of their Lord above their heads.
69:18
On that Day you will be exposed — no concealed act you did will stay concealed.
69:19
As for him who is given his Book in his right hand, he will say, ´Here, come and read my Book!
69:20
I counted on meeting my Reckoning.´
69:21
He will have a very pleasant life
69:22
in an elevated Garden,
69:23
its ripe fruit hanging close to hand.
69:24
´Eat and drink with relish for what you did before in days gone by!´
69:25
But as for him who is given his Book in his left hand, he will say, ´If only I had not been given my Book
69:26
and had not known about my Reckoning!
69:27
If only death had really been the end!
69:28
My wealth has been of no use to me.
69:29
My power has vanished.´
69:30
´Seize him and truss him up.
69:31
Then roast him in the Blazing Fire.
69:32
Then bind him in a chain which is seventy cubits long.
69:33
He used not to have iman in Allah the Magnificent,
69:34
nor did he urge the feeding of the poor.
69:35
Therefore here today he has no friend
69:36
nor any food except exuding pus
69:37
which no one will eat except those who were in error.´
69:38
I swear both by what you see
69:39
and what you do not see,
69:40
that this is the word of a noble Messenger.
69:41
It is not the word of a poet — how little iman you have!
69:42
Nor the word of a fortune-teller — how little heed you pay!
69:43
It is a revelation from the Lord of all the worlds.
69:44
If he had made up any sayings and ascribed them to Us,
69:45
We would have seized him by force,
69:46
and then We would have cut off his life-blood
69:47
and not one of you could have protected him.
69:48
It is a reminder to the people with taqwa.
69:49
We know that some of you will deny it.
69:50
It is a cause of great distress to those who are kafir.
69:51
And it is undeniably the Truth of Certainty.
69:52
Glorify then the name of your Lord, the Magnificent.