English Translation and Commentary of the Holy Quran (2010)
by Maulana Muhammad Ali
Chapter 75: Al-Qiyamah — The Resurrection (Revealed at Makkah: 2 sections, 40 verses)
Section 1 (Verses 75:1–75:30): The Truth of the Resurrection
Translation:
بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
لَاۤ اُقۡسِمُ بِیَوۡمِ الۡقِیٰمَۃِ ۙ﴿۱﴾
75:1 No, I swear by the day of Resurrection!1
وَ لَاۤ اُقۡسِمُ بِالنَّفۡسِ اللَّوَّامَۃِ ؕ﴿۲﴾
75:2 No, I swear by the self-accusing spirit!2
اَیَحۡسَبُ الۡاِنۡسَانُ اَلَّنۡ نَّجۡمَعَ عِظَامَہٗ ؕ﴿۳﴾
75:3 Does man think that We shall not gather his bones?3
بَلٰی قٰدِرِیۡنَ عَلٰۤی اَنۡ نُّسَوِّیَ بَنَانَہٗ ﴿۴﴾
75:4 Indeed, We are Powerful to make complete his whole make.4
بَلۡ یُرِیۡدُ الۡاِنۡسَانُ لِیَفۡجُرَ اَمَامَہٗ ۚ﴿۵﴾
75:5 But man desires to go on doing evil in front of him.
یَسۡـَٔلُ اَیَّانَ یَوۡمُ الۡقِیٰمَۃِ ؕ﴿۶﴾
75:6 He asks: When is the day of Resurrection?
فَاِذَا بَرِقَ الۡبَصَرُ ۙ﴿۷﴾
75:7 So when the sight is confused,5
وَ خَسَفَ الۡقَمَرُ ۙ﴿۸﴾
75:8 and the moon becomes dark,
وَ جُمِعَ الشَّمۡسُ وَ الۡقَمَرُ ۙ﴿۹﴾
75:9 and the sun and the moon are brought together6 —
یَقُوۡلُ الۡاِنۡسَانُ یَوۡمَئِذٍ اَیۡنَ الۡمَفَرُّ ﴿ۚ۱۰﴾
75:10 man will say on that day: Where to flee?
کَلَّا لَا وَزَرَ ﴿ؕ۱۱﴾
75:11 No! There is no refuge!
اِلٰی رَبِّکَ یَوۡمَئِذِۣ الۡمُسۡتَقَرُّ ﴿ؕ۱۲﴾
75:12 With your Lord on that day is the place of rest.
یُنَبَّؤُا الۡاِنۡسَانُ یَوۡمَئِذٍۭ بِمَا قَدَّمَ وَ اَخَّرَ ﴿ؕ۱۳﴾
75:13 Man will that day be informed of what he sent on ahead and what he put off.7
بَلِ الۡاِنۡسَانُ عَلٰی نَفۡسِہٖ بَصِیۡرَۃٌ ﴿ۙ۱۴﴾
75:14 Indeed, man is evidence against himself,
وَّ لَوۡ اَلۡقٰی مَعَاذِیۡرَہٗ ﴿ؕ۱۵﴾
75:15 though he put up excuses.
لَا تُحَرِّکۡ بِہٖ لِسَانَکَ لِتَعۡجَلَ بِہٖ ﴿ؕ۱۶﴾
75:16 (O Prophet) Do not move your tongue therewith to make haste with it.8
اِنَّ عَلَیۡنَا جَمۡعَہٗ وَ قُرۡاٰنَہٗ ﴿ۚۖ۱۷﴾
75:17 Surely on Us rests the collecting of it and the reciting of it.9
فَاِذَا قَرَاۡنٰہُ فَاتَّبِعۡ قُرۡاٰنَہٗ ﴿ۚ۱۸﴾
75:18 So when We recite it, follow its recitation.
ثُمَّ اِنَّ عَلَیۡنَا بَیَانَہٗ ﴿ؕ۱۹﴾
75:19 Again on Us rests the explaining of it.
کَلَّا بَلۡ تُحِبُّوۡنَ الۡعَاجِلَۃَ ﴿ۙ۲۰﴾
75:20 No, but you love the present life,
وَ تَذَرُوۡنَ الۡاٰخِرَۃَ ﴿ؕ۲۱﴾
75:21 and neglect the Hereafter.
وُجُوۡہٌ یَّوۡمَئِذٍ نَّاضِرَۃٌ ﴿ۙ۲۲﴾
75:22 (Some) faces that day will be bright,
اِلٰی رَبِّہَا نَاظِرَۃٌ ﴿ۚ۲۳﴾
75:23 looking to their Lord.10
وَ وُجُوۡہٌ یَّوۡمَئِذٍۭ بَاسِرَۃٌ ﴿ۙ۲۴﴾
75:24 And (other) faces that day will be gloomy,
تَظُنُّ اَنۡ یُّفۡعَلَ بِہَا فَاقِرَۃٌ ﴿ؕ۲۵﴾
75:25 knowing that a great disaster will be made to befall them.11
کَلَّاۤ اِذَا بَلَغَتِ التَّرَاقِیَ ﴿ۙ۲۶﴾
75:26 Indeed, when (the soul) comes up to the throat,
وَ قِیۡلَ مَنۡ ٜ رَاقٍ ﴿ۙ۲۷﴾
75:27 and it is said: Who will ascend (with it)?12
وَّ ظَنَّ اَنَّہُ الۡفِرَاقُ ﴿ۙ۲۸﴾
75:28 and he is sure that it is the parting,
وَ الۡتَفَّتِ السَّاقُ بِالسَّاقِ ﴿ۙ۲۹﴾
75:29 and affliction is combined with affliction —
اِلٰی رَبِّکَ یَوۡمَئِذِۣ الۡمَسَاقُ ﴿ؕ٪۳۰﴾
75:30 to your Lord on that day is the driving.
Commentary:
- By the resurrection is here meant the spiritual resurrection of the Arabs, to be brought about through the Prophet. The primary significance of qiyāmah is only rising, the rising of a man all at once. Al-qiyāmah is now a term which is synonymous with the great Resurrection, but it has not lost its original significance, and means also the rising to life of those who are spiritually dead. The lā (“no”) in the beginning of v. 1 and v. 2 is used to give emphasis to the oath. ↩
- For the “self-accusing spirit” see the introductory note above. ↩
- The gathering of the bones stands for a new life. ↩
- God, Who made a complete man out of nothing, we are here told, has also the power to give life to bones or to raise him a second time. ↩
- Some great calamity is implied which would perplex the opponents. Some commentators take these to be the signs of the approach of the death of a person. ↩
- This implies the disappearance of the light of both. ↩
- What he sent on ahead implies the evil deeds which he did but ought not to have done; what he put off being the good deeds which he failed to do but which he ought to have done. ↩
- The preceding verses speak of the distress which must befall those who do not forsake the wrong course. The Prophet naturally desired to make it clear to them, and therefore, he was anxious that the warning should be given immediately in plainer words. So, he is told not to make haste with it. Hence the statement made in the verses that follow, namely, that the recitation and collection of the whole of the Quran, together with its effective explanation to the opponents, were matters which Allah had decided to bring about, and the Prophet should have no anxiety on that account. Compare 20:113–114. ↩
- There can be no clearer evidence that the collection of the verses into chapters and of the chapters into one whole is here claimed by the Quran to be a matter which, like its revelation, was to be entirely carried out under Divine guidance by the Holy Prophet himself. The Holy Book was thus from the first intended to be arranged and collected into one whole. Note that if the order of revelation were to be followed in the arrangement of its parts, its collection would not have been spoken of as something distinct from its revelation, which is implied in the word recitation. ↩
- As that day represents both the day of the breathing of the life spiritual here and the day of the Resurrection, the words looking to their Lord have also a double significance, indicating looking to the Lord for their reward in the former case, and, the highest bliss of all, the sight of the Lord in the Hereafter. It should be noted that the sight of the Lord does not imply that the Lord will have a body; it is not with the material eye that the Lord will be seen, but by the spiritual eye, which the righteous will possess on the day of Resurrection. ↩
- Note that this great disaster also befell them in this life, and thus it demonstrated the truth of the Hereafter. ↩
- Will the angels of mercy ascend with it or the angels of punishment? ↩