التَّكۡوِيرِ
- Meccan
- 29 verses
- Surah 81 of 114
Introduction to Surah At-Takwir
Twenty-nine verses, Meccan, eighty-first in the written order. The first half is a single sentence spread across twelve lines, each beginning with when, and the main clause does not arrive until the thirteenth.
The list
When the sun (with its spacious light) is folded up; (81:1)
Then the stars losing their light, the mountains moved, and — in a line that only makes sense to people who owned camels — the she-camels ten months pregnant left untended, which is to say the most valuable property anyone had, abandoned where it stood. Wild animals herded together. The seas boiling over. Souls sorted. The scrolls laid open, the sky stripped away, the blaze kindled, the garden brought near. And then the main clause: every soul will know what it has put forward.
The verse in the middle of it
When the female (infant), buried alive, is questioned – For what crime she was killed; (81:8–9)
The practice referred to was real in pre-Islamic Arabia, and the Qur’an mentions it in several places. What is unusual here is the grammar. Among eleven cosmic events, one human item is inserted — and the person questioned is not the one who did it. She is asked what she was killed for, and the question has no answer, which is the point of asking her rather than him.
The second half
The rest of the surah defends the source of the message, swearing by the stars that recede and by the night as it departs and by the dawn as it breathes. It states that this is the word of a most honourable messenger, endowed with power, held in honour with the Lord of the throne, obeyed and trustworthy — understood by most commentators as Gabriel — and that the Prophet is not possessed, and that he saw him on the clear horizon.
It denies that this is the speech of a devil accursed, and then asks where, then, the listeners are going. The last verse says it is nothing but a reminder to all the worlds, for whoever among you wills to walk straight.
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيم
إِذَا ٱلشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ
Izash shamsu kuwwirat
When the sun (with its spacious light) is folded up;
When the sun is overthrown,
وَإِذَا ٱلنُّجُومُ ٱنكَدَرَتْ
Wa izan nujoomun kadarat
When the stars fall, losing their lustre;
And when the stars fall,
وَإِذَا ٱلْجِبَالُ سُيِّرَتْ
Wa izal jibaalu suyyirat
When the mountains vanish (like a mirage);
And when the hills are moved,
وَإِذَا ٱلْعِشَارُ عُطِّلَتْ
Wa izal ‘ishaaru ‘uttilat
When the she-camels, ten months with young, are left untended;
And when the camels big with young are abandoned,
وَإِذَا ٱلْوُحُوشُ حُشِرَتْ
Wa izal wuhooshu hushirat
When the wild beasts are herded together (in the human habitations);
And when the wild beasts are herded together,
وَإِذَا ٱلْبِحَارُ سُجِّرَتْ
Wa izal bihaaru sujjirat
When the oceans boil over with a swell;
And when the seas rise,
وَإِذَا ٱلنُّفُوسُ زُوِّجَتْ
Wa izan nufoosu zuwwijat
When the souls are sorted out, (being joined, like with like);
And when souls are reunited,
وَإِذَا ٱلْمَوْءُۥدَةُ سُئِلَتْ
Wa izal maw’oodatu su’ilat
When the female (infant), buried alive, is questioned –
And when the girl-child that was buried alive is asked
بِأَىِّ ذَنۢبٍۢ قُتِلَتْ
Bi ayyi zambin qutilat
For what crime she was killed;
For what sin she was slain,
وَإِذَا ٱلصُّحُفُ نُشِرَتْ
Wa izas suhufu nushirat
When the scrolls are laid open;
And when the pages are laid open,
وَإِذَا ٱلسَّمَآءُ كُشِطَتْ
Wa izas samaaa’u kushitat
When the world on High is unveiled;
And when the sky is torn away,
وَإِذَا ٱلْجَحِيمُ سُعِّرَتْ
Wa izal jaheemu su’-‘irat
When the Blazing Fire is kindled to fierce heat;
And when hell is lighted,
وَإِذَا ٱلْجَنَّةُ أُزْلِفَتْ
Wa izal jannatu uzlifat
And when the Garden is brought near;-
And when the Garden is brought nigh,
عَلِمَتْ نَفْسٌۭ مَّآ أَحْضَرَتْ
‘Alimat nafsum maaa ahdarat
(Then) shall each soul know what it has put forward.
(Then) every soul will know what it hath made ready.
فَلَآ أُقْسِمُ بِٱلْخُنَّسِ
Falaaa uqsimu bil khunnas
So verily I call to witness the planets – that recede,
Oh, but I call to witness the planets,
ٱلْجَوَارِ ٱلْكُنَّسِ
Al jawaaril kunnas
Go straight, or hide;
The stars which rise and set,
وَٱلَّيْلِ إِذَا عَسْعَسَ
Wallaili izaa ‘as’as
And the Night as it dissipates;
And the close of night,
وَٱلصُّبْحِ إِذَا تَنَفَّسَ
Wassubhi izaa tanaffas
And the Dawn as it breathes away the darkness;-
And the breath of morning
إِنَّهُۥ لَقَوْلُ رَسُولٍۢ كَرِيمٍۢ
Innahoo laqawlu rasoolin kareem
Verily this is the word of a most honourable Messenger,
That this is in truth the word of an honoured messenger,
ذِى قُوَّةٍ عِندَ ذِى ٱلْعَرْشِ مَكِينٍۢ
Zee quwwatin ‘inda zil ‘arshi makeen
Endued with Power, with rank before the Lord of the Throne,
Mighty, established in the presence of the Lord of the Throne,
مُّطَاعٍۢ ثَمَّ أَمِينٍۢ
Mutaa’in samma ameen
With authority there, (and) faithful to his trust.
(One) to be obeyed, and trustworthy;
وَمَا صَاحِبُكُم بِمَجْنُونٍۢ
Wa maa saahibukum bimajnoon
And (O people!) your companion is not one possessed;
And your comrade is not mad.
وَلَقَدْ رَءَاهُ بِٱلْأُفُقِ ٱلْمُبِينِ
Wa laqad ra aahu bilufuqil mubeen
And without doubt he saw him in the clear horizon.
Surely he beheld Him on the clear horizon.
وَمَا هُوَ عَلَى ٱلْغَيْبِ بِضَنِينٍۢ
Wa maa huwa ‘alal ghaibi bidaneen
Neither doth he withhold grudgingly a knowledge of the Unseen.
And he is not avid of the Unseen.
وَمَا هُوَ بِقَوْلِ شَيْطَٰنٍۢ رَّجِيمٍۢ
Wa maa huwa biqawli shaitaanir rajeem
Nor is it the word of an evil spirit accursed.
Nor is this the utterance of a devil worthy to be stoned.
إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا ذِكْرٌۭ لِّلْعَٰلَمِينَ
In huwa illaa zikrul lil’aalameen
Verily this is no less than a Message to (all) the Worlds:
This is naught else than a reminder unto creation,
لِمَن شَآءَ مِنكُمْ أَن يَسْتَقِيمَ
Liman shaaa’a minkum ai yastaqeem
(With profit) to whoever among you wills to go straight:
Unto whomsoever of you willeth to walk straight.
وَمَا تَشَآءُونَ إِلَّآ أَن يَشَآءَ ٱللَّهُ رَبُّ ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ
Wa maa tashaaa’oona illaaa ai yashaaa ‘al laahu Rabbul ‘Aalameen
But ye shall not will except as Allah wills,- the Cherisher of the Worlds.
And ye will not, unless (it be) that Allah willeth, the Lord of Creation.
Sources. Arabic text: Tanzil Uthmani edition. Translations: Abdullah Yusuf Ali (original edition, 1934–1938) and Marmaduke Pickthall (1930), both in the public domain. Any introduction above is original writing and is not part of any translation.