Surah At-Takwīr (The Overthrowing) in English

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

1. إذا الشمس كورت

   1

   When the sun is wound up,

   ʾidhā sh-shamsu kuwwirat

2. وإذا النجوم انكدرت

   2

   when the stars scatter,

   wa-ʾidhā n-nujūmu nkadarat

3. وإذا الجبال سيرت

   3

   when the mountains are set moving,

   wa-ʾidhā l-jibālu suyyirat

4. وإذا العشار عطلت

   4

   when the pregnant camels are neglected,

   wa-ʾidhā l-ʿishāru ʿuṭṭilat

5. وإذا الوحوش حشرت

   5

   when the wild beasts are mustered,

   wa-ʾidhā l-wuḥūshu ḥushirat

6. وإذا البحار سجرت

   6

   when the seas are set afire,

   wa-ʾidhā l-biḥāru sujjirat

7. وإذا النفوس زوجت

   7

   when the souls are assorted,

   wa-ʾidhā n-nufūsu zuwwijat

8. وإذا الموءودة سئلت

   8

   when the girl buried-alive will be asked

   wa-ʾidhā l-mawʾūdatu suʾilat

9. بأي ذنب قتلت

   9

   for what sin she was killed.

   bi-ʾayyi dhanbin qutilat

10. وإذا الصحف نشرت

    10

    When the records [of deeds] are unfolded,

    wa-ʾidhā ṣ-ṣuḥufu nushirat

11. وإذا السماء كشطت

    11

    when the sky is stripped off,

    wa-ʾidhā s-samāʾu kushiṭat

12. وإذا الجحيم سعرت

    12

    when hell is set ablaze,

    wa-ʾidhā l-jaḥīmu suʿʿirat

13. وإذا الجنة أزلفت

    13

    when paradise is brought near,

    wa-ʾidhā l-jannatu ʾuzlifat

14. علمت نفس ما أحضرت

    14

    then a soul shall know what it has readied [for itself].

    ʿalimat nafsun mā ʾaḥḍarat

15. فلا أقسم بالخنس

    15

    So I swear by the stars that return,

    fa-lā ʾuqsimu bi-l-khunnasi

16. الجوار الكنس

    16

    the comets,

    al-jawāri l-kunnasi

17. والليل إذا عسعس

    17

    by the night as it approaches,

    wa-l-layli ʾidhā ʿasʿasa

18. والصبح إذا تنفس

    18

    by the dawn as it breathes:

    wa-ṣ-ṣubḥi ʾidhā tanaffasa

19. إنه لقول رسول كريم

    19

    it is indeed the speech of a noble apostle,

    ʾinnahū la-qawlu rasūlin karīmin

20. ذي قوة عند ذي العرش مكين

    20

    powerful and eminent with the Lord of the Throne,

    dhī quwwatin ʿinda dhī l-ʿarshi makīnin

21. مطاع ثم أمين

    21

    one who is obeyed and is trustworthy as well.

    muṭāʿin thamma ʾamīnin

22. وما صاحبكم بمجنون

    22

    Your companion is not crazy:

    wa-mā ṣāḥibukum bi-majnūnin

23. ولقد رآه بالأفق المبين

    23

    certainly he saw him on the manifest horizon,

    wa-la-qad raʾāhu bi-l-ʾufuqi l-mubīni

24. وما هو على الغيب بضنين

    24

    and he is not miserly concerning the Unseen.

    wa-mā huwa ʿalā l-ghaybi bi-ḍanīnin

25. وما هو بقول شيطان رجيم

    25

    And it is not the speech of an outcast Satan.

    wa-mā huwa bi-qawli shayṭānin rajīmin

26. فأين تذهبون

    26

    So where are you going?

    fa-ʾayna tadhhabūna

27. إن هو إلا ذكر للعالمين

    27

    It is just a reminder for all the nations,

    ʾin huwa ʾillā dhikrun li-l-ʿālamīna

28. لمن شاء منكم أن يستقيم

    28

    for those of you who wish to walk straight;

    li-man shāʾa minkum ʾan yastaqīma

29. وما تشاءون إلا أن يشاء الله رب العالمين

    29

    but you will not wish unless it is wished by Allah, the Lord of all the worlds.

    wa-mā tashāʾūna ʾillā ʾan yashāʾa llāhu rabbu l-ʿālamīna