Surah As-Saffat: Thematic English Translation (Mustafa Çevik)

By the verses sent down one after another, ranged in order, to make known to people the reason for their creation and how to live in keeping with it, and by those who stand side by side and form ranks to fulfill what these verses require: your God is Allah alone.

Allah is the one true Lord (Owner) of the heavens, the earth, and all that is between them, of the sun, and of every direction and every place where it rises and sets.

We have adorned and decked the heaven nearest the earth with stars.

The sky is not, as some of those who associate partners with Allah believe, a place where jinn-devils overhear from the angels’ conversations what will happen on earth and what will befall people, and pass it on to some people. Through the verses We send, We protect the believers from such baseless beliefs of the polytheists.

Such superstitions are being driven out by Our verses and by those who believe in them. Despite these truths, whoever says he has received news from the heavens, or believes even a scrap of it, has the fire of Hell on his heels. Without doubt Hell will be the everlasting home of punishment for such people.

O Prophet! Ask those who associate partners with Allah: “Which is harder: to create them, or to create the heavens and the earth and all that We have created between them?” Though they see this truth and bear witness to Allah’s knowledge, how can they persist in not believing that they will be raised again? You, looking in admiration at what Allah has created, are amazed that they ignore it. Yet We created the human being from sticky clay; they do not turn and look at their own creation, and when they are reminded of it, they do not reflect and take counsel.

When those who associate partners with Allah are invited, through the conveying of Allah’s verses, to live the right way of life, they mock and say, “These are nothing but words spoken to bewitch us.” And as if this were not enough, they then begin to say: “What? After we have died, become a heap of bones, and mixed with dust and earth, are we to be raised to life again? And our forefathers who died before us, are they to be raised too?” Say to them: “Yes, and because you die associating partners with Allah and denying the truth, you will all be raised despised, abased, humbled, and disgraced.”

When the Day of Raising comes, they will be raised to life by the tremendous, shattering blast of the Trumpet and come face to face with the truths, and then they will say to one another, “Alas! So the Day of Reckoning we were told of was real after all.”

On That Day they will be told, “This is the day you called a lie and did not believe in, saying, ‘Could such a thing ever be?’, the day when those who follow Allah’s call and those who do not will be told apart.”

On That Day Allah will command the angels on duty: “Gather all the deniers! Those who associate partners with Allah, and those they took as gods! Show them all the way to Hell; and when they reach the gate of Hell, stop them there, for there they will be asked: ‘Now tell us, why do you not help one another here as you did in the world?’”

Now nothing remains for them but to bow their heads and submit before the truth. But they will blame one another for having brought them here, and they will say to the leaders they followed, “You always approached us claiming to be on the side of what is right, and deceived us.” And their leaders will say to them, “No, in truth you too did not want to believe in the call made in Allah’s name through prophets and books; we had no power to compel you in this. You were already unruly, ungrateful people, puffed up with arrogance and ready to deny the truth. Now there is no use in our blaming one another; our Lord’s sentence of punishment has become final for you and for us alike, and together we will suffer the punishment we deserve. Yes, we incited you too to rebellion and unruliness, because we ourselves had gone astray.” And on that day they will all share in the punishment together.

Thus do We punish those who turn away from the Allah-centered system of life to which they were invited and choose to associate partners with Allah and deny the truth.

Whenever those who deserve the punishment were told in their worldly life, “There is no true god but Allah; come, follow Allah’s call,” they turned arrogantly against those who conveyed this message and said, “What? Are we to believe what a madman, a crazed poet, says and abandon the gods we have believed in until today?”

No, never! The truth is not as they say. The Prophet had brought them the Quran, which made known to them the reason for their creation and how they should live in keeping with it. That Quran also confirms the truths that remain from the divine books sent before it.

O you who associate partners with Allah! As the recompense for all this denial, rebellion, and ingratitude of yours, you will meet the punishment and so suffer your penalty.

But those who believe in Allah’s call and make every effort to live in keeping with it are awaited by countless blessings prepared in Paradise. They will sit on thrones of happiness, gazing at one another with love and respect as they converse; they will be served delicious, pure drinks filled from their source; and beside them will be spouses whose eyes are turned to their own spouse alone, gazelle-eyed, gentle-natured, and pure white like ostrich eggs hidden in the sand.

As they converse with one another in Paradise, one of them says: “Once, when I was in the world, I had a friend who always used to say to me, ‘Do you really believe in the life of the Hereafter? Are we, after we have died and become heaps of bones and dust, to be raised to life again and called to account? Is that what you believe?’ Now let us look into Hell to see the state of the one who said that to me.” When they look into Hell, they see him in the midst of the fire, and the believer in Paradise calls out to him, “By Allah, had I listened to your ideas, you would have ruined me too. Had I not believed in my Lord’s call and turned to it, I would now be among those wailing in that fire,” and then, turning to his friends in Paradise, he says, “We will not die again, nor will we see the punishment of Hell; this is the true triumph and happiness; let those who would strive, strive for this.”

O people! Tell me now: which is better, to be rewarded with the blessings of Paradise and live in bliss, or to eat the fruit of the poisonous tree of Zaqqum in Hell and be condemned to the Fire? That tree of Zaqqum grows from the bottom of Hell; its buds, which are its fruit, are as hideous and repulsive as the heads of devils. This is what those who associate partners with Allah and deny the truth will eat there; there they will eat its fruit and fill their bellies with it, and then on top of it drink boiling water that tears their entrails apart.

We make known and explain that the fruit of the tree of Zaqqum will be the food of those who persist in shirk and disbelief. The final destination of those who turn their backs on the system of life to which they are invited and are ungrateful to their Lord will be Hell, and the life they will live will be punishment. These are the ones who chose to live by the systems and morality of shirk of their forefathers, and took as gods those whom their forefathers took as gods alongside Allah.

Most of the communities that came and went before them also turned away from and rejected the call the prophets made in Allah’s name with books. Look back and reflect on their ruinous end. But those who believed in the call made to them in Allah’s name and held fast to the system of life it requires attained what is right and were among the winners in this world and the Hereafter.

Long ago Noah prayed for the destruction of his people, who would not give up their shirk and disbelief. And We accepted his prayer, saved Noah and those of his family who answered his call, and destroyed the rest. We made Noah’s line continue, and ensured that among later generations Noah would be spoken of with praise, and his memory recalled with love and respect wherever his name was mentioned.

Noah was a servant of Ours, wholeheartedly devoted to his Lord, sincere in his faith, and submissive. And We saved him and those who believed with him, and drowned and destroyed those left behind.

Abraham too was among those who followed the way of his forefather Noah. He too turned to his Lord with a pure heart and carried on the struggle for His call to the end of his life.

One day Abraham called out to his father and his people: “Are you aware that, instead of taking as God Allah, who created you and so many blessings, you have taken as gods beings or objects invented by your forefathers and created just as you are? Then what of Allah’s right over you? Do you never think about why He created you?”

Then Abraham raised his head toward the sky and said to those beside him: “With your baseless, fabricated inventions you make even the stars, the moon, and the sun that Allah created tools of your superstitions; this attitude of yours has made me sick.” At this, those beside him moved away from Abraham. Left alone, Abraham thought of showing his people their idolatry in another way, and he got up and went to the idols. Seeing also the food the idolatrous people had set before them, he grew thoroughly angry and said to the idols, “Go on, help yourselves; why do you not eat? What is the matter with you; why do you not speak?” and he fell upon them and, striking hard, smashed the idols to pieces. Many of his people, hearing what had happened, came running there. Abraham turned to them and said, “Do you expect the solution to your problems from these idols of yours, the statues you carved with your own hands of those who have departed this world, who were powerless even to protect themselves from me and are of no use to you at all? Yet it is Allah who created both what you have made into idols and you.”

When Abraham said this, those gathered there said, “Gather firewood, and let us burn this Abraham and be rid of him, punishing him for this disrespect he has shown our idols.” But We brought their plan to nothing, disappointed them, and so disgraced and humiliated them.

When We had saved Abraham from the hands of those wrongdoers, Abraham prayed, “My Lord, guide me to a place where I can live by the system of life that is the reason for my creation, and wherever You guide me, I will go. My Lord, grant me righteous children too.”

After Abraham’s prayer, We gave him the good news of a son, good-natured, tolerant, and gentle.

When the boy reached the age of maturity, when he could tell right from wrong, Abraham asked him, “My dear son, I see in my dream that I am sacrificing you; think it over: what do you say to this?” And his son said to his father, “Do what you have seen in your dream; if Allah wills, you will find me one who does not object to it but is patient.” Then, when both had submitted to what they took to be Allah’s command, Abraham laid his son down, face to the ground. At that moment We revealed to him: “O Abraham! You have now set about carrying out what you saw in your dream. We protect Our servants whose submission We know from making mistakes.” This was a mistaken and very hard trial in which Abraham put himself to the test. In place of sacrificing his son, We gave him a great sacrifice as ransom, commanded him to slaughter it, and saved him from his mistake. And among those who came after him We exalted Abraham’s name.

(Among future generations Abraham will also be remembered for Allah’s correcting this mistake of his.)

Peace be upon Abraham. We come to the aid of those who are wholeheartedly devoted to their Lord and strive with all their might for His call to be lived and kept alive, in their hard times; We deliver them from their distress and reward them. Abraham was one of such servants of Ours.

We also gave Abraham the good news of a son, Isaac, who would be a prophet from among Our righteous servants.

And We bestowed blessings on Abraham and Isaac and made them blessed. Among their descendants there were those who submitted to Allah wholeheartedly and hastened to His call, and there were also ungrateful people, people who associated partners with Allah, deniers of the truth, and wrongdoers who opposed the call made in Allah’s name.

We also granted Moses and Aaron the blessing of prophethood, and saved them both, together with their people, from a great calamity, from Pharaoh’s tyranny. With Our help it was they who prevailed in the end. We had also given them a divine Book that separates right from wrong, and so guided them to the right path.

Peace be upon Moses and Aaron... We deliver from every hardship and reward those who strive to fulfill their responsibilities toward their Lord consciously and diligently. Moses and Aaron too were believers who invited people with all their might, in Allah’s name, to the reason for their creation.

Elijah too, without doubt, was a servant of Ours whom We sent as a prophet to his people. He called out to his people: “Do you never consider that you have responsibilities toward Allah, who created you and endowed you with so many blessings? Will you abandon Allah, who created the universe and all that is in it in the most perfect way, established its order, and keeps it alive, and go on following the way of the idols your forefathers called Baal? Yet Allah is the true Lord and God of you, of your forefathers before you, and of the idols you call Baal.”

Sadly, his people called Elijah a liar too and rejected the call he made in Allah’s name. They too will certainly give account for this when they are brought before Allah, and be punished as they deserve. Allah will reward those who believe in the reason for their creation to which they are invited and do their utmost to live by it.

We made Elijah too one of Our servants spoken of with praise among later generations. Peace be upon those who strive to follow his way.

Lot too was one of Our messengers. We saved him and the believers of his family from destruction; but his old wife, who associated partners with Allah, stayed behind with her people, who associated partners with Allah, and was destroyed. And so We wiped out that unruly and wrongdoing people too, root and branch.

Morning and evening you pass by near the lands of these destroyed peoples. Should you not learn lessons from what befell them? Will you still not use your reason?

Jonah too was a prophet We sent to his own people. Despairing of his people, who turned away from his call, he fled like a runaway slave, boarding a ship. When the ship was caught in a storm, those who believed there was someone of ill omen on board drew lots among the passengers to decide who would be thrown into the sea, and the lot fell on Jonah. So they threw him into the sea. And as he struggled in the water, remorseful at having abandoned and fled the duty Allah had given him, he was swallowed by a fish. Had he not been one who was wholeheartedly devoted to Allah, never let His greatness slip from his mind, and strove to call people to their Lord, the belly of the fish would have been his grave, and he would have remained there until the Resurrection.

Then We had Jonah cast up on the shore, exhausted, and made a broad-leaved tree grow over him to shelter him from the sun. When he had recovered, We sent him again to his people, whom he had despaired of and abandoned, and who numbered more than a hundred thousand; and he went on calling his people again to the truth that is the reason for their creation. This time his people believed him and began to live by faith in the call. And We let them enjoy the blessings of this world in abundance.

O Prophet! Ask those who do not believe that they will be raised again and give account, and who believe that the angels are Allah’s daughters: “If daughters are our Lord’s children, are sons to be given to them, then? Or were they witnesses when We created the angels whom they believe to be female?”

Those who associate partners with Allah slander Allah, saying, “Allah has children; He too has offspring.” This is one of the lies they have invented, the product of their own empty, meaningless, baseless fantasies.

Say: “O you who associate partners with Allah! Are you aware of what you are saying? Allah is far above these slanders of yours. How, on what basis, with what audacity can you utter such slanders against Allah? You do not know Allah as He deserves, nor wish to know Him, nor do you use your reason and reflect on the verses of Allah made known to you. If you have any proof of what you say, produce it!”

As if all these slanders and lies were not enough, some of those who associate partners with Allah even establish a kinship by descent between Allah and the jinn, and try to see and present them as members of Allah’s family. Yet the angels and the jinn know very well that those who make these baseless claims will be punished on the Day of Reckoning. Allah is far above everything those who associate partners with Him invent out of their fantasies; He is beyond every definition and conception of theirs, the One Exalted. The believers who believe wholeheartedly in Allah’s revealed verses and His prophets, and take no lord and god other than Him, do not believe as the polytheists do, nor make such claims.

O you who associate partners with Allah! Neither you nor those you deify and worship can drag anyone along behind you by force; only those who wish to go astray come running after you.

Those who believe in Allah’s call and strive heart and soul to live by the divine system and morality and keep them alive say: “Each one of us has a fine place and station with our Lord, according to our effort. We are those who, to fulfill consciously our responsibilities toward our Lord, have stood back to back, ranged side by side, turned to Him, grasped His greatness, and submitted to Him.”

Before the Quran was sent, those who associated partners with Allah used to say: “Had a divine book been sent to us, as to earlier peoples, and Allah’s messages reached us, or had such a book been left to us as an inheritance from our forefathers, we too would have been among His servants, pure of heart, who obey Allah’s commands, keep away from His prohibitions, and are devoted to Him wholeheartedly.” But now, when the divine Book that invites them to the truth has come, they would not accept it, and rejected it. They will certainly understand that this attitude of theirs was wrong when they meet the punishment they deserve.

We have a promise of help to Our servants whom We have sent as prophets, and to those who believe with them and strive to live the life their faith requires; and in the end Our army will surely prevail.

O Prophet! “For now, turn away from those who associate partners with Allah for a while, and wait for what will befall them; they will see the penalty for opposing the call and understand.”

They want the punishment they have been warned of to befall them at once; but they do not know that when the punishment befalls them, Our warnings will no longer be of any use to them, and their remorse will avail them nothing.

O Prophet! “Patiently, paying no heed to their attacks, keep on staying away from their systems of shirk and disbelief, and never compromise your stand and give in to their demands. Their defeat is near, and you will witness it.”

Those who associate partners with Allah do not wish to grasp, as He deserves, Allah’s power, might, majesty, and greatness, or to understand that He is the true and only God of people.

Allah is far above, and exalted beyond, their baseless attributions and fanciful inventions. Allah is the Lord of all the worlds.

May Allah’s peace be upon His prophets and upon those who follow them.

Allah alone, the Lord and God of all the worlds, is worthy of thanks and praise.