الواقعة
The Inevitable
Explanations are simplified from tafsirs by Ibn Kathir, Mufti Muhammad Shafi, and Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Spot an inaccuracy? Let us know.
wa-aṣḥābu l-shimāli mā aṣḥābu l-shimāli
And the companions of the left - what are the companions of the left?
fī samūmin waḥamīmin
[They will be] in scorching fire and scalding water
waẓillin min yaḥmūmin
And a shade of black smoke,
lā bāridin walā karīmin
Neither cool nor beneficial.
innahum kānū qabla dhālika mut'rafīna
Indeed they were, before that, indulging in affluence,
wakānū yuṣirrūna ʿalā l-ḥinthi l-ʿaẓīmi
And they used to persist in the great violation,
wakānū yaqūlūna a-idhā mit'nā wakunnā turāban waʿiẓāman a-innā lamabʿūthūna
And they used to say, "When we die and become dust and bones, are we indeed to be resurrected?
awaābāunā l-awalūna
And our forefathers [as well]?"
qul inna l-awalīna wal-ākhirīna
Say, [O Muḥammad], "Indeed, the former and later peoples
lamajmūʿūna ilā mīqāti yawmin maʿlūmin
Are to be gathered together for the appointment of a known Day."
thumma innakum ayyuhā l-ḍālūna l-mukadhibūna
Then indeed you, O those astray [who are] deniers,
laākilūna min shajarin min zaqqūmin
Will be eating from trees of zaqqūm
famāliūna min'hā l-buṭūna
And filling with it your bellies
fashāribūna ʿalayhi mina l-ḥamīmi
And drinking on top of it from scalding water.
fashāribūna shur'ba l-hīmi
And will drink as the drinking of thirsty camels.
hādhā nuzuluhum yawma l-dīni
That is their accommodation on the Day of Recompense.
naḥnu khalaqnākum falawlā tuṣaddiqūna
We have created you, so why do you not believe?
afara-aytum mā tum'nūna
Have you seen that which you emit?
a-antum takhluqūnahu am naḥnu l-khāliqūna
Is it you who creates it, or are We the Creator?
naḥnu qaddarnā baynakumu l-mawta wamā naḥnu bimasbūqīna
We have decreed death among you, and We are not to be outdone