CHAPTER Lx.x.xII.

ENt.i.tLED, THE CLEAVING IN SUNDER; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL G.o.d.

WHEN the heaven shall be cloven in sunder; and when the stars shall be scattered; and when the seas shall be suffered to join their waters; and when the graves shall be turned upside down: every soul shall know what it hath committed, and what it hath omitted.

O man, what hath seduced thee against thy gracious LORD, who hath created thee, and put thee together, and rightly disposed thee?

In what form he pleased hath he fashioned thee.

a.s.suredly. But ye deny the last judgment as a falsehood.

10 Verily there are appointed over you guardian angels, honourable in the sight of G.o.d, writing down your actions; who know that which ye do.

The just shall surely be in a place of delight: but the wicked shall surely be in h.e.l.l; they shall be cast therein to be turned, on the day of judgment, and they shall not be absent therefrom forever.

What shall cause thee to understand what the day of judgment is?

Again, What shall cause thee to understand what the day of judgment is?

It is a day whereon one soul shall not be able to obtain anything in behalf of another soul: and the command, on that day, shall be G.o.d'S.

CHAPTER Lx.x.xIII.

ENt.i.tLED, THOSE WHO GIVE SHORT MEASURE OR WEIGHT; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL G.o.d.

WOE be unto those who give short measure or weight: who, when they receive by measure from other men, take the full; but when they measure unto them, or weigh unto them, defraud!

Do not these think they shall be raised again, at the great day, the day whereon mankind shall stand before the LORD of all creatures?

By no means. Verily the register of the actions of the wicked is surely in Sejjin.

And what shall make thee to understand what Sejjin is?

It is a book distinctly written.

10 Woe be on that day, unto those who accused the prophets of imposture; who denied the day of judgment as a falsehood!

And none denieth the same as a falsehood, except every unjust and flagitious person: who, when our signs are rehea.r.s.ed unto him, saith, They are fables of the ancients.

By no means: but rather their l.u.s.ts have cast a veil over their hearts.

By no means. Verily they shall be shut out from their LORD on that day; and they shall be sent into h.e.l.l to be burned: then shall it be said unto them by the infernal guards, This is what ye denied as a falsehood.

a.s.suredly. But the register of the actions of the righteous is Illiyyun: and what shall cause thee to understand what Illiyyun is?

20 It is a book distinctly written: those who approach near unto G.o.d are witnesses thereto.

Verily the righteous shall dwell among delights: seated on couches they shall behold objects of pleasure; thou shalt see in their faces the brightness of joy.

They shall be given to drink of pure wine, sealed; the seal whereof shall be musk: and to this let those aspire, who aspire to happiness: and the water mixed therewith shall be of Tasnim, a fountain whereof those shall drink who approach near unto the divine presence.

They who act wickedly laugh the true believers to scorn: 30 and when they pa.s.s by them, they wink at one another: and when they turn aside to their people, they turn aside making scurrilous jests; and when they see them, they say, Verily these are mistaken men.

But they are not sent to be keepers over them.

Wherefore one day the true believers, in their turn, shall laugh the infidels to scorn: lying on couches they shall look down upon them in h.e.l.l.

Shall not the infidels be rewarded for that which they have done?

CHAPTER Lx.x.xIV.

ENt.i.tLED, THE RENDING IN SUNDER; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL G.o.d.

WHEN the heaven shall be rent in sunder, and shall obey its LORD, and shall be capable thereof; and when the earth shall be stretched out, and shall cast forth that which is therein, and shall remain empty, and shall obey its LORD, and shall be capable thereof: O man, verily laboring thou laborest to meet thy LORD, and thou shalt meet him.

And he who shall have his book given into his right hand shall be called to an easy account, and shall turn unto his family with joy: 10 but he who shall have his book given him behind his back, shall invoke destruction to fall upon him, and he shall be sent into h.e.l.l to be burned; because he rejoiced insolently amidst his family on earth.

Verily he thought he should never return unto G.o.d: yea verily, but his LORD beheld him.

Wherefore I swear by the redness of the sky after sunset, and by the night, and the animals which it driveth together, and by the moon when she is in the full; ye shall surely be transferred successively from state to state.

20 What aileth them, therefore, that they believe not the resurrection; and that, when the Koran is read unto them, they worship not?

Yea: the unbelievers accuse the same of imposture: but G.o.d well knoweth the malice which they keep hidden in their b.r.e.a.s.t.s.

Wherefore denounce unto them a grievous punishment, except those who believe and do good works: for them is prepared a never- failing reward.

CHAPTER Lx.x.xV.

ENt.i.tLED, THE CELESTIAL SIGNS; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL G.o.d.

BY the heaven adorned with signs; by the promised day of judgment; by the witness, and the witnessed; cursed were the contrivers of the pit, of fire supplied with fuel; when they sat around the same, and were witnesses of what they did against the true believers: and they afflicted them for no other reason, but because they believed in the mighty, the glorious G.o.d, unto whom belongeth the kingdom of heaven and earth: and G.o.d is witness of all things.

10 Verily for those who persecute the true believers of either s.e.x, and afterwards repent not, is prepared the torment of h.e.l.l; and they shall suffer the pain of burning.

But for those who believe, and do that which is right, are destined gardens beneath which rivers flow: this shall be great felicity.

Verily the vengeance of thy LORD is severe.

He createth, and he restoreth to life: he is inclined to forgive, and gracious; the possessor of the glorious throne, who effecteth that which he pleaseth.

Hath not the story of the hosts of Pharaoh and of Thamud reached thee?

Yet the unbelievers cease not to accuse the divine revelations of falsehood: 20 but G.o.d encompa.s.seth them behind, that they cannot escape.

Verily that which they reject is a glorious Koran; the original whereof is written in a table kept in heaven.

CHAPTER Lx.x.xVI.

ENt.i.tLED, THE STAR WHICH APPEARED BY NIGHT; REVEALED AT MECCA.

IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL G.o.d.

BY the heaven, and that which appeareth by night: but what shall cause thee to understand what that which appeareth by night is?

it is the star of piercing brightness: every soul hath a guardian set over it.

Let a man consider, therefore, of what he is created.

He is created of seed poured forth, issuing from the loins, and the breastbones.