Surah Al-Waqi'ah: Thematic English Translation (Mustafa Çevik)

When the Day of Resurrection, whose coming is certain, arrives, there will be no denying it. With the Resurrection some will be brought low and some raised high.

On That Day the earth will be shaken violently, the mountains will be ground to dust and scattered, and people will be divided into three classes. One class are the happy ones who believed in what they were invited to and followed a middle course in striving to live by it, and who will be given their record of deeds from the right; another class are those who rejected the system of life to which they were invited in Allah’s name and chose to live in the swamp of shirk and disbelief. These will be given their record of deeds from the left, and when they see what they deserve they will be ruined and miserable. And then there are those who strove (waged jihad) with their wealth and their lives to live the life to which they were invited, whose limits Allah has set, and to keep it alive. These are the ones who are foremost in the race and who have come nearest to Allah.

These, who run at the very front and lead the way, will live amid blessings in the finest places of Paradise prepared for them. Many of them will be from the earlier communities, and a few from the later ones.

In those Gardens they will sit facing one another on thrones inlaid with jewels, sharing indescribable joys; there they will remain immortal and ever young, and they will be served drinks poured into ewers from the purest springs, which will neither make their heads spin nor intoxicate them. They will be rewarded with every kind of fruit they like, the flesh of any bird they crave, and pure, flawless-eyed spouses, like pearls in their shells. There they will hear neither idle talk nor any word that leads to sin; they will know only the inner peace of having attained Paradise.

And those who believe in the system of life to which they are invited and follow a middle course in their desire and effort to live by it will take their ease in fragrant gardens of Paradise filled with every kind of fruit tree, by the banks of rivers, in the shade, and will sit in bliss on soft raised couches. There We will grant them too pure, harmonious spouses of their own age, whose eyes see none but their own spouse and whose hearts are full of love for them. Of those who follow the middle course, too, some are from the earlier generations and some from the later.

As for the wretched ones who are given their record of deeds from the left, those ungrateful, obstinate people will be made to drink boiling water while being scorched by the searing heat of Hell; they will live in suffocating, pitch-black smoke and burn on in a heart-searing despair. For while they were in the world they had used the blessings Allah granted them without measure, for the life of this world alone; they had been ungrateful to Allah and run wild and, recognizing none of His limits, had set up systems, laid down rulings, and drawn up limits of their own.

What is more, they had called a lie and denied the day when, after death, Allah will raise people to life again and call them to account, and the truth of that day, mocking it and saying, “What? After we die and our bones rot and mix with the soil, are we to be raised to life again? Are our forefathers before us to be raised too?”

O Prophet! Say to those who deserve to be wretched: “Those who lived before and those who came later, have no doubt that you will all be raised to life and gathered together when the day whose time Allah has fixed arrives. Then you, O you who lived your worldly lives associating partners with Allah and denying the truth! You will eat of the fruit of the tree of Zaqqum in Hell; you will fill your bellies with that fruit of Hell and on top of it drink boiling water, drinking it the way camels parched with thirst fall upon water.”

This is what those who turned their backs on Allah’s call, paid it no heed, and ignored the life of the Hereafter will face on the Day of Reckoning, and they will remain in Hell forever.

O people! It is We who created you; will you still not reflect on this truth, grasp it, and return to the system of life that is the reason for your creation? Do you never consider the semen you emit into wombs? Is it you who clothe that drop of fluid with flesh and bone and turn it into a human being, or is it We? It is We who have ordained death for you, and no one can prevent it.

O people! If We wish, We can do away with you and bring others in your place. Had We willed, We would have created you in a form and with qualities whose nature even you could not know; by Our boundless knowledge and power We are certainly able to do whatever We will.

In truth, you are well aware of the perfect knowledge and power that the reality of the first creation reveals. Why, then, do you shy away from believing that you will be created again and from accepting the Day of Reckoning?

Turn and look at the seed you sow in the soil, and think: is it you who make that seed sprout and grow there, or is it We? Had We willed, We would not have sent down water from the sky, and We would have turned it into dry chaff. Then you would have kept lamenting helplessly, “Alas! We are ruined,” and there would have been nothing you could do.

And what of the water you drink: have you ever thought about it? Is it you who send it down from the clouds, or is it We? Had We willed, We could have made that water salty or bitter instead of sweet. In return for being endowed with so many blessings, should you not use your reason and turn to Allah’s call?

Look at the fire you kindle: is it you who created the tree it comes from, or is it We? With its fire you both warm yourselves and meet many other needs at the same time. So reflect on what your Lord has created for you and on the perfect order by which these things work, respond to His call, and give thanks.

O people! By the places where the stars rise and set, this Quran calls you to live the life that is the reason for your creation. If you but knew, this is a mighty oath and a warning.

The Quran is a most precious Book that places responsibilities on those it addresses, and its original is in a guarded Book. Those who are pure, with a deep sense of responsibility toward their Lord, have carried it. That Book contains the divine messages that come from your Lord.

O you who turn away from Allah’s call! What will you gain by setting out to malign and belittle this Book being sent down from your Lord, depriving yourselves of such a blessing?

When a person’s soul rises to his throat, while those around him look on with helpless eyes, even then We are near to him, but you cannot see or understand. If you do not believe that you owe your life to Us, come then, bring it back, and let us see.

If the one who dies believed in Allah and made every effort to live the system of life to which he was invited, indescribable peace and the never-ending blessings of Paradise await him in the Hereafter. These people, who have been given their record of deeds from the right, will be welcomed there with warmth and love, with the words, “Peace be upon you, O fortunate ones!”

But those who are ungrateful to Allah, ignore the blessings He has given, and turn away from the truth will be thrown into the Fire they deserve and writhe in heart-searing despair.

These, then, are truths beyond doubt. So, O human being! You too, choose to live the divine system of life these truths require, turn to it, and live by it, so that you may be among those who are saved.