Surah An-Nāzi`āt (Those who drag forth) in English

1. إذ ناداه ربه بالواد المقدس طوى

   16

   when his Lord called out to him in the holy valley of Tuwa?

   ʾidh nādāhu rabbuhū bi-l-wādi l-muqaddasi ṭuwan-i

2. اذهب إلى فرعون إنه طغى

   17

   [And said,] ‘Go to Pharaoh, for indeed he has rebelled,

   idhhab ʾilā firʿawna ʾinnahū ṭaghā

3. فقل هل لك إلى أن تزكى

   18

   and say, ‘‘Would you purify yourself?

   fa-qul hal laka ʾilā ʾan tazakkā

4. وأهديك إلى ربك فتخشى

   19

   I will guide you to your Lord, that you may fear [Him]?’’ ’

   wa-ʾahdiyaka ʾilā rabbika fa-takhshā

5. فأراه الآية الكبرى

   20

   Then he showed him the greatest sign.

   fa-ʾarāhu l-ʾāyata l-kubrā

6. فكذب وعصى

   21

   But he denied, and disobeyed.

   fa-kadhdhaba wa-ʿaṣā

7. ثم أدبر يسعى

   22

   Then he turned back, walking swiftly,

   thumma ʾadbara yasʿā

8. فحشر فنادى

   23

   and gathered [the people] and proclaimed,

   fa-ḥashara fa-nādā

9. فقال أنا ربكم الأعلى

   24

   saying, ‘I am your exalted lord!’

   fa-qāla ʾana rabbukumu l-ʾaʿlā

10. فأخذه الله نكال الآخرة والأولى

    25

    So Allah seized him with the punishment of this life and the Hereafter.

    fa-ʾakhadhahu llāhu nakāla l-ʾākhirati wa-l-ʾūlā

11. إن في ذلك لعبرة لمن يخشى

    26

    There is indeed a moral in that for someone who fears!

    ʾinna fī dhālika la-ʿibratan li-man yakhshā

12. أأنتم أشد خلقا أم السماء بناها

    27

    Is your creation more prodigious or that of the heaven He has built?

    ʾa-ʾantum ʾashaddu khalqan ʾami s-samāʾu banāhā

13. رفع سمكها فسواها

    28

    He raised its vault and fashioned it,

    rafaʿa samkahā fa-sawwāhā

14. وأغطش ليلها وأخرج ضحاها

    29

    and darkened its night, and brought forth its forenoon.

    wa-ʾaghṭasha laylahā wa-ʾakhraja ḍuḥāhā

15. والأرض بعد ذلك دحاها

    30

    Thereafter He spread out the earth,

    wa-l-ʾarḍa baʿda dhālika daḥāhā

16. أخرج منها ماءها ومرعاها

    31

    brought forth from it its water and pastures,

    ʾakhraja minhā māʾahā wa-marʿāhā

17. والجبال أرساها

    32

    setting firm the mountains,

    wa-l-jibāla ʾarsāhā

18. متاعا لكم ولأنعامكم

    33

    as a [place of] sustenance for you and your livestock.

    matāʿan lakum wa-li-ʾanʿāmikum

19. فإذا جاءت الطامة الكبرى

    34

    When the Greatest Catastrophe befalls

    fa-ʾidhā jāʾati ṭ-ṭāmmatu l-kubrā

20. يوم يتذكر الإنسان ما سعى

    35

    —the day when man will remember his endeavours

    yawma yatadhakkaru l-ʾinsānu mā saʿā

21. وبرزت الجحيم لمن يرى

    36

    and hell is brought into view for those who can see—

    wa-burrizati l-jaḥīmu li-man yarā

22. فأما من طغى

    37

    as for him who has been rebellious

    fa-ʾammā man ṭaghā

23. وآثر الحياة الدنيا

    38

    and preferred the life of this world,

    wa-ʾāthara l-ḥayāta d-dunyā

24. فإن الجحيم هي المأوى

    39

    his refuge will indeed be hell.

    fa-ʾinna l-jaḥīma hiya l-maʾwā

25. وأما من خاف مقام ربه ونهى النفس عن الهوى

    40

    But as for him who is awed to stand before his Lord and restrains his soul from [following] desires,

    wa-ʾammā man khāfa maqāma rabbihī wa-nahā n-nafsa ʿani l-hawā

26. فإن الجنة هي المأوى

    41

    his refuge will indeed be paradise.

    fa-ʾinna l-jannata hiya l-maʾwā

27. يسألونك عن الساعة أيان مرساها

    42

    They ask you concerning the Hour, “When will it set in,

    yasʾalūnaka ʿani s-sāʿati ʾayyāna mursāhā

28. فيم أنت من ذكراها

    43

    considering your frequent mention of it?”

    fī-ma ʾanta min dhikrāhā

29. إلى ربك منتهاها

    44

    Its outcome is with your Lord.

    ʾilā rabbika muntahāhā

30. إنما أنت منذر من يخشاها

    45

    You are only a warner for those who are afraid it.

    ʾinnamā ʾanta mundhiru man yakhshāhā

31. كأنهم يوم يرونها لم يلبثوا إلا عشية أو ضحاها

    46

    The day they see it, it shall be as if they had not stayed [in the world] except for an evening or forenoon.

    ka-ʾannahum yawma yarawnahā lam yalbathū ʾillā ʿashiyyatan ʾaw ḍuḥāhā