الانشِقَاقِ
- Meccan
- 25 verses
- Surah 84 of 114
Introduction to Surah Al-Inshiqaq
Twenty-five verses, Meccan, eighty-fourth in the written order. It is one of the surahs at whose end reciters traditionally prostrate.
The opening
The sky is split, and the surah adds a phrase about it that has no equivalent elsewhere: that it listens to its Lord, as in truth it must. The same is said of the earth when it is spread out and casts forth what is within it and becomes empty — it listens to its Lord, as in truth it must.
The clause is repeated because the surah is about to describe a creature for whom the same thing is not automatically true.
The line it is known for
O thou man! Verily thou art ever toiling on towards thy Lord- painfully toiling,- but thou shalt meet Him. (84:6)
The word rendered here as toiling carries the sense of hard, wearing labour. The verse makes no distinction between kinds of life: everyone is working toward the same meeting, and the work is described as difficult for all of them.
The two receipts
Then the record, given either in the right hand — followed by an easy reckoning and a return to one’s people in joy — or from behind the back, followed by a call for destruction. Of the second the surah says something quiet and damning: that he used to be happy among his people, and that he thought he would never return.
The failure named is not cruelty. It is an assumption.
How it ends
On three oaths — by the red glow of sunset, by the night and what it gathers, by the moon when it is full — and then a promise that people shall travel from stage to stage. The last verses ask what is the matter with them that they do not believe, and that when the Qur’an is read to them they do not bow down.
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيم
إِذَا ٱلسَّمَآءُ ٱنشَقَّتْ
Izas samaaa’un shaqqat
When the sky is rent asunder,
When the heaven is split asunder
وَأَذِنَتْ لِرَبِّهَا وَحُقَّتْ
Wa azinat li Rabbihaa wa huqqat
And hearkens to (the Command of) its Lord, and it must needs (do so);-
And attentive to her Lord in fear,
وَإِذَا ٱلْأَرْضُ مُدَّتْ
Wa izal ardu muddat
And when the earth is flattened out,
And when the earth is spread out
وَأَلْقَتْ مَا فِيهَا وَتَخَلَّتْ
Wa alqat maa feehaa wa takhallat
And casts forth what is within it and becomes (clean) empty,
And hath cast out all that was in her, and is empty
وَأَذِنَتْ لِرَبِّهَا وَحُقَّتْ
Wa azinat li Rabbihaa wa huqqat
And hearkens to (the Command of) its Lord,- and it must needs (do so);- (then will come Home the full reality).
And attentive to her Lord in fear!
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ إِنَّكَ كَادِحٌ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ كَدْحًۭا فَمُلَٰقِيهِ
Yaaa ayyuhal insaanu innaka kaadihun ilaa Rabbika kad han famulaaqeeh
O thou man! Verily thou art ever toiling on towards thy Lord- painfully toiling,- but thou shalt meet Him.
Thou, verily, O man, art working toward thy Lord a work which thou wilt meet (in His presence).
فَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِىَ كِتَٰبَهُۥ بِيَمِينِهِۦ
Fa ammaa man ootiya kitaabahoo biyameenih
Then he who is given his Record in his right hand,
Then whoso is given his account in his right hand
فَسَوْفَ يُحَاسَبُ حِسَابًۭا يَسِيرًۭا
Fasawfa yuhaasabu hi saabai yaseeraa
Soon will his account be taken by an easy reckoning,
He truly will receive an easy reckoning
وَيَنقَلِبُ إِلَىٰٓ أَهْلِهِۦ مَسْرُورًۭا
Wa yanqalibu ilaaa ahlihee masrooraa
And he will turn to his people, rejoicing!
And will return unto his folk in joy.
وَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِىَ كِتَٰبَهُۥ وَرَآءَ ظَهْرِهِۦ
Wa ammaa man ootiya kitaabahoo waraaa’a zahrih
But he who is given his Record behind his back,-
But whoso is given his account behind his back,
فَسَوْفَ يَدْعُوا۟ ثُبُورًۭا
Fasawfa yad’oo subooraa
Soon will he cry for perdition,
He surely will invoke destruction
وَيَصْلَىٰ سَعِيرًا
Wa yaslaa sa’eeraa
And he will enter a Blazing Fire.
And be thrown to scorching fire.
إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ فِىٓ أَهْلِهِۦ مَسْرُورًا
Innahoo kaana feee ahlihee masrooraa
Truly, did he go about among his people, rejoicing!
He verily lived joyous with his folk,
إِنَّهُۥ ظَنَّ أَن لَّن يَحُورَ
Innahoo zanna al lai yahoor
Truly, did he think that he would not have to return (to Us)!
He verily deemed that he would never return (unto Allah).
بَلَىٰٓ إِنَّ رَبَّهُۥ كَانَ بِهِۦ بَصِيرًۭا
Balaaa inna Rabbahoo kaana bihee baseeraa
Nay, nay! for his Lord was (ever) watchful of him!
Nay, but lo! his Lord is ever looking on him!
فَلَآ أُقْسِمُ بِٱلشَّفَقِ
Falaaa uqsimu bishshafaq
So I do call to witness the ruddy glow of Sunset;
Oh, I swear by the afterglow of sunset,
وَٱلَّيْلِ وَمَا وَسَقَ
Wallaili wa maa wasaq
The Night and its Homing;
And by the night and all that it enshroudeth,
وَٱلْقَمَرِ إِذَا ٱتَّسَقَ
Walqamari izat tasaq
And the Moon in her fullness:
And by the moon when she is at the full,
لَتَرْكَبُنَّ طَبَقًا عَن طَبَقٍۢ
Latarkabunna tabaqan ‘an tabaq
Ye shall surely travel from stage to stage.
That ye shall journey on from plane to plane.
فَمَا لَهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ
Famaa lahum laa yu’minoon
What then is the matter with them, that they believe not?-
What aileth them, then, that they believe not
وَإِذَا قُرِئَ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلْقُرْءَانُ لَا يَسْجُدُونَ ۩
Wa izaa quri’a ‘alaihimul Quraanu laa yasjudoon
And when the Qur’an is read to them, they fall not prostrate,
And, when the Qur’an is recited unto them, worship not (Allah)?
بَلِ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ يُكَذِّبُونَ
Balil lazeena kafaroo yukazziboon
But on the contrary the Unbelievers reject (it).
Nay, but those who disbelieve will deny;
وَٱللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا يُوعُونَ
Wallaahu a’lamu bimaa yoo’oon
But Allah has full knowledge of what they secrete (in their breasts)
And Allah knoweth best what they are hiding.
فَبَشِّرْهُم بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ
Fabashshirhum bi’azaabin aleem
So announce to them a Penalty Grievous,
So give them tidings of a painful doom,
إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ لَهُمْ أَجْرٌ غَيْرُ مَمْنُونٍۭ
Illal lazeena aamanoo wa ‘amilus saalihaati lahum ajrun ghairu mamnoon
Except to those who believe and work righteous deeds: For them is a Reward that will never fail.
Save those who believe and do good works, for theirs is a reward unfailing.
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.