89.The Dawn

  1. By the Daybreak
  2. by the Ten Nights
  3. by the even and the odd
  4. by the passing night––
  5. is this oath strong enough for a rational person
  6. Have you [Prophet] considered how your Lord dealt with [the people] of 'Ad
  7. of Iram, [the city] of lofty pillars
  8. whose like has never been made in any land
  9. and the Thamud, who hewed into the rocks in the valley
  10. and the mighty and powerful Pharaoh
  11. All of them committed excesses in their lands
  12. and spread corruption there
  13. your Lord let a scourge of punishment loose on them
  14. Your Lord is always watchful
  15. [The nature of] man is that, when his Lord tries him through honour and blessings, he says, ‘My Lord has honoured me,’
  16. but when He tries him through the restriction of his provision, he says, ‘My Lord has humiliated me.’
  17. No indeed! You [people] do not honour orphans
  18. you do not urge one another to feed the poor
  19. you consume inheritance greedily
  20. and you love wealth with a passion
  21. No indeed! When the earth is pounded to dust, pounded and pounded
  22. when your Lord comes with the angels, rank upon rank
  23. when Hell is that Day brought near- on that Day man will take heed, but what good will that be to him then
  24. He will say, ‘Would that I had provided for this life to come!’
  25. On that Day, no one will punish as He punishes
  26. and no one will bind as He binds
  27. ‘[But] you, soul at peace
  28. return to your Lord well pleased and well pleasing
  29. go in among My servants
  30. and into My Garden.’