56:1  When the Event happens—

56:2  Upon its onset, not a soul in denial—

56:3  Abasing and exalting.

56:4  When the earth is shaken violently

56:5  And the mountains are milled fine

56:6  So, to be dispersed dust.

56:7  And you are of three categories:

56:8  The members of the Right. What of the members of the Right!

56:9  And the members of the Left. What of the members of the Left!

56:10  And the foremost! The [truly] foremost—

56:11  Those are the ones brought ever near [to God]

56:12  in gardens of the [Real] bliss.

56:13  A deserving group from the first set [of believers]

56:14  and a sparse few from the later ones

56:15  on ornately inlaid thrones

56:16  reclined in comfort on them, facing one another—

56:17  making rounds [waiting] upon them young pages, made ever abiding,

56:18  with mugs and pitchers and a cup from a spring in plain view.

56:19  No headache from it, nor will they get intoxicated.

56:20  And delicious fruits, whichever they deem best

56:21  and flesh of fowl, whichever they may crave for

56:22  and earnest-eyed heavenly companions,

56:23  like many facets of treasured pearls

56:24  [all] a recompense for what they used to do.

56:25  They hear therein no meaningless talk nor any aspect of sin

56:26  except an exchange: “Peace [Salaam], Peace [Salaam].”

56:27  And the members of the Right. What of the members of the Right!

56:28  Amidst thornless sidr

56:29  and clustered sweet fruits and fragrant flowers

56:30  and extended shade

56:31  and water, blessedly poured

56:32  and ever abundant delicious fruit

56:33  neither cut off nor forbidden

56:34  and raised spreads.

56:35  Surely, WE have brought them into being— a [special] being

56:36  — WE have made them virgins,

56:37  loving, well-matched,

56:38  for the members of the Right—

56:39  a deserving group from the first set [of believers]

56:40  and a deserving group from the later ones.

56:41  While the members of the Left. What of the members of the Left?

56:42  In a wind bereft of mercy [samūm] and a fluid bereft of mercy [ḥamīm]

56:43  and shade from a cover bereft of mercy [yaḥmūm]

56:44  neither cool nor beneficent.

56:45  Surely, prior to that they were surrounded in luxury.

56:46  And they used to insist upon the great perjury [of lying in the face the Spiritual Truth]

56:47  And they used to say, “What! After we are dead, and have become dust and bones— will we yet be resurrected?

56:48  Along with our earliest forefathers?”

56:49  Say, “Indeed, the very first ones and the very last ones.

56:50  All necessarily gathered together, headed toward the tryst of a defined day.”

56:51  Then for certain, O you the misguided, the truth-beliers,

56:52  assured consumers of the tree of Zaqquum—

56:53  voracious fillers of the bellies from it—

56:54  Then on top of it, thirsty drinkers of Ḥamīm—

56:55  drinking the thirsty camels’ fill.

56:56  This is their reception on the Day of Surrender and Reckoning

56:57  WE have created you. So then, why do you not acknowledge the truth?

56:58  So [for as ungratefully perjurious as you are], have you seen what you emit?

56:59  Is it you who create it, or are WE the Creator?

56:60  WE— WE have precisely set the death [of each] among you, and WE are not to be outstripped

56:61  over OUR replacing your forms and bringing you to being into that which you do not know.

56:62  And you in fact have already experienced the first coming to being. So why do you not mindfully reflect?

56:63  Have you considered what you sow in the ground?

56:64  Is it you who cause it to grow or are WE the Grower?

56:65  If WE had willed, WE could have dependably made it chaff. Then [for as ungratefully perjurious as you are] would you have continued enjoying the fruit [or would you lament]:

56:66  “Surely, we are debt-ridden.

56:67  Worse! We are dispossessed.”

56:68  So [for as ungratefully perjurious as you are], have you considered the water which you drink?

56:69  Is it you who send it down from the rainclouds or is it WE WHO ever send it down?

56:70  If WE willed, WE could have rendered it bitter and salty. So why are you not grateful?

56:71  Have you considered the fire which you kindle?

56:72  Is it you—did you bring its tree into being or are WE WHO ever make it rise and grow?

56:73  WE— WE have made it [i.e., the fire] a telling reminder and a utility for those who forge.

56:74  So, contemplate and meditate upon the name of your Rabb, the Transcendent.

56:75  So, no! [Man is not his own provider.]. I swear by the instances of the stars—

56:76  – and it is indeed an awe-inspiring oath— had it been for you to know!

56:77  Surely, it is indeed a noble Quran,

56:78  in a timelessly enshrined book.

56:79  None can touch it except the ones purified.

56:80  A sending down from the Rabb of all the realms.

56:81  So, is it by this account that you are the anointers?

56:82  And you have made it your daily sustenance that you call the truth a lie.

56:83  Then why is it not that when [the parting soul] reaches the throat—

56:84  a moment when you are merely looking on

56:85  and WE are nearer to him than you, though you cannot see—

56:86  then, why do you not— if you are other than ones piled in debt [with every borrowed breath]

56:87  [Why not] bring it [i.e., the parting soul] back if you are the truthful ones?

56:88  So in case, if he [i.e., the dying person] be of the ones conferred nearness [to God]—

56:89  Then, a balmy breeze and a sweet fragrance, and a garden of bliss.

56:90  And in case, if he be of the members of the Right—

56:91  Then, “Peace [Salaam] unto you,” from the members of the Right.

56:92  And in case, if he be of the truth-beliers, the ones astray—

56:93  then a greeting offering of a fluid bereft of mercy [ḥamīm]

56:94  and the burning of jaḥīm.

56:95  Hearken! This surely is the reality of the absolutely certain.

56:96  So, contemplate and meditate upon the name of your Rabb, the Transcendent