Surah Al-'Inshiqāq (The Sundering) in English

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

1. إذا السماء انشقت

   1

   When the sky is split open

   ʾidhā s-samāʾu nshaqqat

2. وأذنت لربها وحقت

   2

   and gives ear to its Lord as it should.

   wa-ʾadhinat li-rabbihā wa-ḥuqqat

3. وإذا الأرض مدت

   3

   When the earth is spread out

   wa-ʾidhā l-ʾarḍu muddat

4. وألقت ما فيها وتخلت

   4

   and throws out what is in it, emptying itself,

   wa-ʾalqat mā fīhā wa-takhallat

5. وأذنت لربها وحقت

   5

   and gives ear to its Lord as it should.

   wa-ʾadhinat li-rabbihā wa-ḥuqqat

6. يا أيها الإنسان إنك كادح إلى ربك كدحا فملاقيه

   6

   O man! You are labouring toward your Lord laboriously, and you will encounter Him.

   yā-ʾayyuhā l-ʾinsānu ʾinnaka kādiḥun ʾilā rabbika kadḥan fa-mulāqīhi

7. فأما من أوتي كتابه بيمينه

   7

   Then, as for him who is given his record [of deeds] in his right hand,

   fa-ʾammā man ʾūtiya kitābahū bi-yamīnihī

8. فسوف يحاسب حسابا يسيرا

   8

   he will receive an easy reckoning,

   fa-sawfa yuḥāsabu ḥisāban yasīran

9. وينقلب إلى أهله مسرورا

   9

   and he will return to his folks joyfully.

   wa-yanqalibu ʾilā ʾahlihī masrūran

10. وأما من أوتي كتابه وراء ظهره

    10

    But as for him who is given his record from behind his back,

    wa-ʾammā man ʾūtiya kitābahū warāʾa ẓahrihī

11. فسوف يدعو ثبورا

    11

    he will pray for annihilation

    fa-sawfa yadʿū thubūran

12. ويصلى سعيرا

    12

    and enter the Blaze.

    wa-yaṣlā saʿīran

13. إنه كان في أهله مسرورا

    13

    Indeed he used to be joyful among his folk,

    ʾinnahū kāna fī ʾahlihī masrūran

14. إنه ظن أن لن يحور

    14

    and he thought that he would never return.

    ʾinnahū ẓanna ʾan lan yaḥūra

15. بلى إن ربه كان به بصيرا

    15

    Yes, his Lord had been watching him.

    balā ʾinna rabbahū kāna bihī baṣīran

16. فلا أقسم بالشفق

    16

    I swear by the evening glow,

    fa-lā ʾuqsimu bi-sh-shafaqi

17. والليل وما وسق

    17

    by the night and what it is fraught with,

    wa-l-layli wa-mā wasaqa

18. والقمر إذا اتسق

    18

    by the moon when it blooms full:

    wa-l-qamari ʾidhā ttasaqa

19. لتركبن طبقا عن طبق

    19

    you will surely fare from stage to stage.

    la-tarkabunna ṭabaqan ʿan ṭabaqin

20. فما لهم لا يؤمنون

    20

    What is the matter with them that they will not believe,

    fa-mā lahum lā yuʾminūna

21. Recommended prostration

    وإذا قرئ عليهم القرآن لا يسجدون

    21

    and will not prostrate when the Quran is recited to them?

    wa-ʾidhā quriʾa ʿalayhimu l-qurʾānu lā yasjudūna

22. بل الذين كفروا يكذبون

    22

    Indeed, the faithless impugn [the Apostle],

    bali lladhīna kafarū yukadhdhibūna

23. والله أعلم بما يوعون

    23

    and Allah knows best what they keep to themselves.

    wa-llāhu ʾaʿlamu bi-mā yūʿūna

24. فبشرهم بعذاب أليم

    24

    So inform them of a painful punishment,

    fa-bashshirhum bi-ʿadhābin ʾalīmin

25. إلا الذين آمنوا وعملوا الصالحات لهم أجر غير ممنون

    25

    excepting such as are faithful and do righteous deeds: for them there will be an everlasting reward.

    ʾillā lladhīna ʾāmanū wa-ʿamilū ṣ-ṣāliḥāti lahum ʾajrun ghayru mamnūnin