— 40 verses
Nay, I swear by the Day of Resurrection
and nay, I swear by the self-reproaching soul
Does man imagine that We will not be able to bring his bones together again
Yes indeed; We have the power to remould even his finger-tips
But man desires to persist in his evil ways
He asks: "When will the Day of Resurrection be?"
When the sight is dazed
and the moon is eclipsed
and the sun and the moon are joined together
on that Day will man say: "Whither the refuge?"
No, there is no refuge
With your Lord alone will be the retreat that Day
On that Day will man be apprised of his deeds, both the earlier and the later
But lo, man is well aware of himself
even though he might make up excuses
(O Prophet), do not stir your tongue hastily (to commit the Revelation to memory)
Surely it is for Us to have you commit it to memory and to recite it
And so when We recite it, follow its recitation attentively
then it will be for Us to explain it
Nay; the truth is that you love ardently (the good of this world) that can be obtained hastily
and are oblivious of the Hereafter
Some faces on that Day will be fresh and resplendent
and will be looking towards their Lord
and some faces on that Day will be gloomy
believing that a crushing calamity is about to strike them
Nay; when a man´s soul reaches up to the throat
and it is said: "Is there any enchanter who can step forward and help (by his chanting)?"
and he realises that the hour of parting is come
and calf is inter-twined with calf
On that Day you will be driven to your Lord
But he did not verify the Truth, nor did he observe Prayer
on the contrary, he gave the lie to the Truth and turned his back upon it
then he went back to his kinsfolk, elated with pride
This (attitude) is worthy of you, altogether worthy
again, it is worthy of you, altogether worthy
Does man think that he will be left alone, unquestioned
Was he not a drop of ejaculated semen
then he became a clot, and then Allah made it into a living body and proportioned its parts
and then He made of him a pair, male and female
Does He, then, not have the power to bring back the dead to life