077. The Emissaries – Al-Mursalaat

I swear by the emissary winds, sent one after another (for men’s benefit),
By the raging hurricanes,
Which scatter clouds to their destined places,
Then separate them one from another,
Then I swear by the angels who bring down the revelation,
To clear or to warn.
Most surely what you are threatened with must come to pass.
So when the stars are made to lose their light,
And when the heaven is rent asunder,
And when the mountains are carried away as dust,
And when the apostles are gathered at their appointed time
To what day is the doom fixed?
To the day of decision.
And what will make you comprehend what the day of decision is?
Did We not destroy the former generations?
Then did We follow them up with later ones.
Even thus shall We deal with the guilty.
Did We not create you from contemptible water?
Then We placed it in a secure resting-place,
Till an appointed term,
So We proportion it– how well are We at proportioning (things).
Have We not made the earth to draw together to itself,
The living and the dead,
Walk on to the covering having three branches,
Neither having the coolness of the shade nor availing against the flame.
Surely it sends up sparks like palaces,
As if they were tawny camels.
This is the day on which they shall not speak,
And permission shall not be given to them so that they should offer excuses.
This is the day of decision: We have gathered you and those of yore.
So if you have a plan, plan against Me (now).
Surely those who guard (against evil) shall be amid shades and fountains,
And fruits such as they desire.
Surely thus do We reward the doers of good.
Eat and enjoy yourselves for a little; surely you are guilty.
And where it is said to them: Bow down, they do not bow down.
In what announcement, then, after it, will they believe?