الحَاقة

The Inevitable Hour!

What is the Inevitable Hour?

How do you know what the Inevitable Hour is?

Thamūd and ‘Ād denied the Striking Calamity of the Hour1.

As for Thamūd, they were destroyed by a dreadful blast.

And as for ‘Ād, they were destroyed by a furious windstorm2

which He unleashed against them for seven successive nights and eight days, so you would see the people lying dead as if they were hollow trunks of palm trees.

Do you see any trace of them now?

Also, Pharaoh and those who came before him, and the overturned cities [of Lot] committed the grave sin,

each disobeying the messenger of their Lord, so He seized them with a severe punishment.

Indeed, when the floodwater overflowed, We carried you [O humans] in the sailing Ark3,

so that We might make it a reminder for you, and that attentive ears may take heed.

Then when the Trumpet is blown with a single blast,

and the earth and mountains are lifted up and crushed with a single blow,

on that Day the Inevitable Event will occur.

And the sky will split asunder and will be frail4 on that day,

with the angels on all its sides, and on that Day, eight [mighty angels] will bear the Throne of your Lord above them.

On that day, you will be brought forth [before Allah], and none of your secrets will remain hidden.

As for the one who is given his Record in his right hand, he will say, “Here is my Record, read it!

I was sure that I would meet my reckoning.”

So he will be in a pleasant life,

in a lofty garden,

with clustered fruit within his reach.

[They will be told,] “Eat and drink joyfully for what you did5 in the days gone by.”

As for the one who is given his Record in his left hand, he will say, “Would that I had not been given my Record,

nor had I known anything of my reckoning!

Would that it [i.e., death] had been the end of me6!

My wealth has been of no avail to me.

My authority has vanished7.”

[It will be said,] “Seize him and shackle him,

then make him burn in the Blazing Fire,

then tie him up with a chain of seventy cubits long.

For he did not believe in Allah, the Most Great,

nor did he encourage feeding the needy.

So Today he will have no close friend here,

nor any food except the discharge of wounds,

none will eat it except the sinners.”

I swear by what you can see.

and what you cannot see!

Indeed, this is the word of a noble Messenger8,

and it is not the word of a poet; little do you believe!

Nor is it the word of a soothsayer; little do you take heed!

It is a revelation from the Lord of the worlds.

If he had falsely attributed something to Us,

We would have surely seized him by the right hand9,

then severed his aorta10,

and none of you could have rescued him.

This [Qur’an] is indeed a reminder for those who are righteous.

And We surely know that some of you will be deniers,

and it11 will certainly be a source of regret for the disbelievers.

And this12 is indeed the absolute truth.

So glorify the name of your Lord, the Most Great.