Surah Ad-Dukhan: Thematic English Translation (Mustafa Çevik)

Ha. Mim. By this Quran, which distinguishes right from wrong and sets forth the truths plainly: We are sending it down by a command from Our presence, in the letters that form the words of your language. The night on which the Quran began to be sent down is a blessed night, on which people began once again to be reminded of the reason for their creation and of the system of life that accords with it.

Ever since We created people, We have been calling them, by sending prophets and Books, to follow the right path that is the reason for their creation. Surely Allah knows what is truest in everything and hears everything.

Allah is the Creator, Lord, and God of the heavens, the earth, and all that is between them. This is the absolute truth. It is He who gives life and brings it to an end, and there is no true god but Him. Allah is your Lord and the Lord of your forefathers.

But though those who associate partners with Allah say, “It is Allah who created us and the universe,” they keep floundering in doubt about taking Allah alone as lord and God.

Are they waiting for the day when the Last Hour comes and the sky is covered with smoke before they accept the truth and believe in what is right, to which they are invited? That smoke will envelop and engulf all people, and on That Day those who associate partners with Allah will plead, saying, “Our Lord, deliver us from this painful punishment, for now we too believe in what we were warned about and invited to”; but they will be far too late. Before this they paid no heed to the warning of the Prophet and the Book and did not believe, and they said of the Prophet, “He is a madman who repeats to us what others have taught him.”

O you who associate partners with Allah! If We were to lift the punishment from you for a while, you would at once return to your old obsessions.

After the Resurrection, on the Day of Reckoning, those who associate partners with Allah will be struck with the punishment of Hell they have deserved, and brought to what they are worthy of. Thus will Allah exact His retribution from those who associate partners with Him.

Before this, too, We sent a prophet to Pharaoh and his people and warned them with what We warn you with. Allah’s prophet, that noble messenger, had said to them: “O servants of Allah! Follow me and heed me, so as to follow the call I make in Allah’s name. I am a trustworthy messenger, whose example you should follow. Do not give yourselves airs, grow arrogant toward Allah, and turn away from His call. I have come to you with clear proofs showing that I am a prophet, yet you have accused me of lying and sorcery and threatened to kill me. I seek refuge in Allah, my Lord and your Lord, from your baseless accusations and threats. If you do not believe me, then at least get out of my way, and do not stop the Children of Israel from coming with me.”

When Pharaoh and his people would not accept Moses’ counsel and warnings and stubbornly went on rejecting them, Moses prayed to his Lord thus: “My Lord, these are a people conditioned to deny the truth; help us against them.”

And his Lord said to Moses: “O Moses! Bring those who wish to come with you out of there by night. But know that you will be pursued; when the sea parts and you have crossed to the other side, Pharaoh and his army, coming after you along that path to overtake you, will be engulfed by the water and drowned.”

Pharaoh and his men, destroyed by drowning, perished and passed away, leaving behind fine gardens, springs, fields of crops, and splendid dwellings; and then We made another people heirs to what they left behind.

No one in heaven or on earth wept for that destroyed people. Nor were they given any respite beyond the time already allowed them up to that day, for they had long since deserved this punishment.

So We saved the Children of Israel from Pharaoh’s oppression. Surely Pharaoh was a tyrant who knew no bounds whatsoever.

In the past We sent the Children of Israel prophets and Books one after another and raised them above other nations. We bestowed on them blessings and clear miracles, each of which was a means of testing them.

As in the past, those who associate partners with Allah today also say: “We do not believe that after we die we will be raised again and called to account. If you are right in this claim, let our forefathers who died before us be raised, so that we may see.”

Just as We destroyed many communities who would not accept being raised again and called to account and paid no heed to Our counsel and warnings on this, so too We destroyed the people of Tubba, who thought themselves very mighty, grew arrogant, and denied the Hereafter. Do these people who associate partners with Allah, growing arrogant like them, now think that Allah will not fulfill His word?

We did not create the heavens, the earth, and what lies between them in vain, as play and amusement. But most people do not want to reflect on why they were created, face their responsibilities, and live by fulfilling what they require.

The truth is that on the Day of Reckoning the human being will be called to account for what he did to live the system of life to which he was invited, the reason for his creation; and those who believed in the truth to which they were invited and those who rejected it and associated partners with Allah will be set apart from one another.

On That Day no one will be of any use to a friend or to a kinsman. Those who believed in Allah wholeheartedly and lived as their faith required will attain Allah’s compassion and mercy and be rewarded. Allah is most compassionate, merciful, and forgiving toward the believers.

The food in Hell of those who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth, who turn away from Allah’s call, do not believe in the Day of Reckoning, and deserve Hell, will be the fruit of the tree of Zaqqum. Its pulp will bubble and boil in their bellies like molten dross; at the same time boiling water will be poured down over their heads, and the angels of Hell, as they have been commanded, will throw them into the middle of Hell’s blazing fire. Then they will be addressed thus: “Remember how you thought yourselves so mighty and worthy, grew arrogant, and denied that you would be raised and give account? This is the day you denied.”

But those who keep away from shirk and disbelief and consciously fulfill their responsibilities toward Allah will converse with one another by springs in the gardens of Paradise, the safest place and the finest station, clothed in garments of fine satin embroidered with gold thread. Such will be the state of the people of Paradise. We will also bestow on them spouses of extraordinary beauty with large, lovely eyes, and there they will find every kind of fruit and food they desire.

In Paradise they will taste no death other than the death they tasted while in the world. Thus Allah will have protected them from the punishment of Hell and rewarded them. This is the greatest happiness, a great favor.

O Prophet! We have sent down this Quran in the language in which you speak, understand one another, and write to one another, so that it may be easily understood and reflected upon.

Continue your call with the Quran, and patiently wait for the outcome. In the end everyone will meet what he deserves.