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[1] OH, THE LAYING-BARE of the truth!
[2] How awesome that laying-bare of the truth!
[3] And what could make thee conceive what that laying-bare of the truth will be?
[4] THE LIE gave [the tribes of] Thamud and ‘Ad to [all tidings of] that sudden calamity!
[5] Now as for the Thamud - they were destroyed by a violent upheaval [of the earth];
[6] and as for the ‘Ad - they were destroyed by a storm wind furiously raging,
[7] which He willed against them for seven nights and eight days without cease, so that in the end thou couldst see those people laid low [in death], as though they were so many [uprooted] trunks of hollow palm trees:
[8] and dost thou now see any remnant of them?
[9] And there was Pharaoh, too, and [many of] those who lived before him, and the cities that were overthrown - [all of them] indulged in sin upon sin
[10] and rebelled against their Sustainer's apostles: and so He took them to task with a punishing grasp exceedingly severe!
[11] [And] behold: when the waters [of Noah's flood] burst beyond all limits, it was We who caused you to be borne [to safety] in that floating ark,
[12] so that We might make all this a [lasting] reminder to you all, and that every wide-awake ear might consciously take it in.
[13] Hence, [bethink yourselves of the Last Hour,] when the trumpet [of judgment] shall be sounded with a single blast,
[14] and the earth and the mountains shall be lifted up and crushed with a single stroke!
[15] And so, that which must come to pass will on that day have come to pass;
[16] and the sky will be rent asunder - for, frail will it have become on that Day -;
[17] and the angels [will appear] at its ends, and, above them, eight will bear aloft on that Day the throne of thy Sustainer’s almightiness…
[18] On that Day you shall be brought to judgment: not [even] the most hidden of your deeds will remain hidden.
[19] Now as for him whose record shall be placed in his right hand, he will exclaim: "Come you all!" Read this my record!
[20] Behold, I did know that [one day] I would have to face my account!
[21] And so he will find himself in a happy state of life,
[22] in a lofty paradise,
[23] with its fruits within easy reach.
[24] [And all who are thus blest will be told:] "Eat and drink with good cheer in return for all [the good deeds] that you have sent ahead in days gone by!"
[25] But as for him whose record shall be placed in his left hand, he will exclaim: "Oh, would that I had never been shown this my record,
[26] and neither known this my account!
[27] Oh, would that this [death of mine] had been the end of me!
[28] Of no avail to me is all that I have [ever] possessed,
[29] [and] all my power of argument has died away from me!"
[30] Thereupon the command will go forth:] "Lay hold of him, and shackle him,
[31] and then let him enter hell,
[32] and then thrust him into a chain [of other sinners like him - a chain] the length whereof is seventy cubits:
[33] for, behold, he did not believe in God, the Tremendous,
[34] and did not feel any urge to feed the needy:
[35] and so, no friend has here today,
[36] nor any food save the filth
[37] which none but the sinners eat!"
[38] BUT NAY! I call to witness an that you can see,
[39] as well as all that you cannot see!
[40] Behold, this [Qur’an] is indeed the [inspired] word of a noble apostle,
[41] and is not – however little you may [be prepared to] believe it - the word of a poet;
[42] and neither is it - however little you may [be prepared to] take it to heart - the word of a soothsayer:
[43] [it is] a revelation from the Sustainer of all the worlds.
[44] Now if he [whom We have entrusted with it] had dared to attribute some [of his own] sayings unto Us,
[45] We would indeed have seized him by his right hand,
[46] and would indeed have cut his life-vein.
[47] and none of you could have saved him!
[48] And, verily, this [Qur’an] is a reminder to all the God-conscious!
[49] And, behold, well do We know that among you are such as will give the lie to it:
[50] yet, behold, this [rejection] will indeed become a source of bitter regret for all who deny the truth [of God's revelation] –
[51] for, verily, it is truth absolute!
[52] Extol, then the limitless glory of thy Sustainer's mighty name!