I swear by the Day of Resurrection!

And I swear by the self-reproaching soul!

Does man think that We will not assemble his bones?

Verily, We are able to fashion his fingertips.

The truth is, man intends to continue unrestrained;

He asks: “When is the Day of Resurrection?”

Then when the sight is dazzled,

And the moon is eclipsed,

And sun and moon are joined,

Man will say: — that day — “Whither to flee?”

No, indeed! There is no sanctuary.

To thy Lord, that day, is the destination.

Man will be informed, that day, of what he sent before and held back.

The truth is, man is, against his soul, an eye-witness

And were he to offer his excuses.

(Move thou not thy tongue with it to hasten it.

Upon Us is its gathering and its recitation.

And when We recite it, follow thou the recitation thereof.

Then upon Us is its clarification.)

No, indeed! The truth is, you love this fleeting life

And leave the Hereafter.

(Faces, that day, will be radiant,

Looking upon their Lord.

And faces, that day, will be scowling,

Thinking that a crushing calamity is upon them.)

No, indeed! When it reaches the collar-bone,

And it is said: “Who is a healer?”

(And he thinks that it is the departing,

And leg is wound about leg.)

To thy Lord, that day, will be the driving.

For he neither gave credence, nor performed the duty,

But denied and turned away

Then went to his household in arrogance.

(Nearer to Thee and nearer!

Then nearer to Thee and nearer!)

Does man think that he is left to no purpose?

Was he not a sperm-drop from semen emitted?

Then he was a clinging thing — and He created, and fashioned,

And made of it two kinds, the male and the female.

Is then He not able to give life to the dead?