Chapter 91
ENTITLED, THE RENDING IN SUNDER; REVEALED AT MECCA.n
IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.
WHEN the heaven shall be rent in sunder, and shall obey its LORD, and shall be capable thereof; and when the earth shall be stretched out,o and shall cast forth that which is therein,p and shall remain empty, and shall obey its LORD, and shall be capable thereof: O man, verily laboring thou laborest to meet thy LORD, and thou shalt meet him.q And he who shall have his book given into his right hand shall be called to an easy account, and shall turn unto his familyr with joy: 10 but he who shall have his book given him behind his back,s shall invoke destruction to fall upon him, and he shall be sent into hell to be burned; because he rejoiced insolently amidst his family on earth. Verily he thought he should never return unto God: yea verily, but his LORD beheld him. Wherefore I sweart by the redness of the sky after sunset, and by the night, and the animals which it driveth together, and by the moon when she is in the full; ye shall surely be transferred successively from state to state.u 20 What aileth them, therefore, that they believe not the resurrection; and that, when the Koran is read unto them, they worship not?x Yea: the unbelievers accuse the same of imposture: but GOD well knoweth the malice which they keep hidden in their breasts. Wherefore denounce unto them a grievous punishment, except those who believe and do good works: for them is prepared a never- failing reward.
l i.e., The infidels are not commissioned by GOD to call the believers to account, or to judge of their actions. m When they shall see them ignominiously driven into hell. It is also said, that a door shall be shown the damned, opening into paradise, and they shall be bidden to go in; but when they come near the door it shall be suddenly shut, and the believers within shall laugh at them.1 n There are some who take this chapter to have been revealed at Medina. o Like a skin; every mountain and hill being levelled. p As the treasures hidden in its bowels, and the dead bodies which lie in their graves. q Or, and thou shalt meet thy labour; whether thy works be good, or whether they be evil r i.e., His relations or friends who are true believers; or rather, to his wives and servants, of the damsels and youths of paradise, who wait to receive him.2 s That is, into his left hand; for the wicked will have that hand bound behind their back, and their right hand to their neck. t Or, I will not swear. See chapter 56, p. 398, note m. u i.e., From the state of the living, to that of the dead; and from the state of the dead, to a new state of life in another world. x Or, humble not themselves.
1 Idem. 2 Idem.