Surah Qaf: Thematic English Translation (Mustafa Çevik)

Qaf... By this glorious and noble Quran, sent down in the letters (qaf) that make up the words of your own language: that Prophet is inviting you to what is most right.

Those who would not believe that Allah was sending them the Quran through someone He had chosen from among them opposed it in astonishment and raised objections. They also reacted against the warning the Prophet made known through the Quran, that after death they would be raised to life and called to account for whom and what they had followed in living their worldly lives, and began to say, “How astonishing! To be raised to life again after dying and mingling with the soil is not something that can happen.”

Yet Allah, who laid down the law by which the soil makes their bodies decay and disappear, is certainly able to create them again. It is Allah who made the law of death and the law of resurrection alike. But those who do not wish to know Allah as He deserves meet this with astonishment and call it a lie.

Do they never look at the sky and reflect on how We built it, adorned it flawlessly with stars, and established its order?

And do they not see how We made the earth firm and grew on it every kind of plant, and still fail to grasp what Allah is able to do?

All of these are clear proofs for the human being who wishes to understand the greatness of Allah’s knowledge and power and to turn to Him.

Allah, who sends down water from the sky and with it makes gardens grow green, and grants people trees heavy with clusters of fruit, and grains, as provision: just as He brings dead soil back to life and revives it with the water He sends down, so He will raise you to life after your death.

Long before those who persist in refusing to believe this, the people of Noah, the People of the Rass, the people of Thamud, the people of Ad, Pharaoh’s people, the people of Lot, and the people of Tubba also refused to believe these truths their prophets brought and called them lies, and in the end they met the punishment they deserved.

Did We have difficulty and grow weary in creating the human being the first time, that We should have difficulty creating him after death? But those who do not wish to see and understand the superiority, greatness, and boundlessness of Allah’s knowledge and power persist in refusing to accept the life of the Hereafter, because they cannot bring themselves to accept being raised to life and giving account, and they doubt it.

The truth is that it is We who created the human being. We know full well what passes through his mind and what his intentions are, for We are closer to him than his jugular vein.

Moreover, there are two angels, on the right and on the left of every human being. They record what a person says and does.

The human being, every detail of whose life is known and recorded, at last comes face to face with inevitable death. Then he is told, “This is the truth you did not want to think about and shrank from accepting.”

And when the day comes, the Trumpet (Sur) will be blown for the resurrection, and the Day of Reckoning, whose coming has been promised, will arrive.

On that Day every human being is brought before Allah to give an account of whether he used his reason and will in turning toward Allah’s call or in turning toward beings created like himself, and he is told, “Although you were warned of this day you would face, you paid it no heed and kept away from preparing for it. But today the veil over your eyes has been lifted; you will come face to face with the truth you did not care about.” At this, the angel who was always by his side as a witness to his deeds will say, “Here is the record of deeds in which all he did is recorded; it is all written here.”

Thereupon Allah will command the angel charged with Hell, saying: “Although We created them, endowed them with so many blessings, and then invited them to live a life in keeping with the reason for their creation, they were ungrateful and turned away from Our call: cast them into Hell. For not only did they hinder every kind of good, they also made people doubt Allah’s call, and they took other lords and gods besides Allah. So cast them into the most severe part of the punishment of Hell.”

This person, facing the punishment he deserves, will at once put forward the excuse that Satan pushed him onto this path. But Satan will say, “My Lord, it was not I who led him into transgression and astray. He made his choice by his own will; neither I nor anyone else forced him to make this choice.”

Allah will say to them, “Do not keep quarreling with one another in My presence! I warned you long ago that these days would come; My ruling of punishment concerning those who associate partners with Me and the disbelievers never changes. I do not punish My servants without reason.”

On that day, each time We ask Hell, “Are you full?”, it will answer, “No! Is there no one else to enter?”

And on that Day, the believers who believed in Allah’s call and fulfilled what it requires will be brought near to Paradise, and they will be told: “This is the Paradise promised to you. Enter Paradise, the home of happiness, peace, and security promised to those who turn to Allah, obey Him and submit to Him, and are devoted to Him with sincerity and deep reverence.”

In Paradise they will attain everything they desire, and even more.

O Prophet! We also destroyed peoples of the past who associated partners with Allah and disbelieved, and who were mightier than those who reject the call you make in Allah’s name, and We condemned them to the punishment of the Hereafter. Surely there are lessons in this for those who reflect.

We created the heavens, the earth, and all that is between them in six days (stages), and no weariness touched Us.

O Prophet! For now, be patient with those who resist your call with stubbornness and ingratitude and do not know Allah’s knowledge, strength, and power as they deserve. Before the rising of the sun and before its setting, prostrate to your Lord with praise, and give thanks to Him for showing you the right path and leading you to it.

During part of the night, too, continue to praise Him and to prostrate before His greatness.

O people! Listen to the warner who is telling you that you will soon be called to death and, after death, to be raised to life and give account. On that day of resurrection, at a dreadful sound, everyone will spring up from their graves with a start; and without any doubt it is We who give life and take it, and it is before Us that all will be gathered.

To raise people to life again on the Day of Resurrection and to gather them before Us on the Day of Reckoning is certainly very easy for Us.

O Prophet! We know full well what those who do not believe that the Day of Resurrection and Reckoning will come think about this, and what they say. You are not charged with forcing them to believe these truths. You can only warn those who listen to Allah’s warnings through the Quran, who turn to Allah wholeheartedly or wish to turn to Him; so keep on giving them counsel through the Quran.