Surah 52 of 114 · Makki · 49 ayat
At-Tur الطور
The Mount
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ وَٱلطُّورِ
PickthallBy the Mount,
Yusuf AliBy the Mount (of Revelation);
The agreed readingBy the Mount. The sura opens with a chain of oaths, and the commentaries of both traditions read this first one the same way: the mountain of Sinai, where God spoke to Moses.
وَكِتَٰبٍ مَّسْطُورٍ
PickthallAnd a Scripture inscribed
Yusuf AliBy a Decree inscribed
The agreed readingAnd by a Scripture set down in writing. The commentaries differ over which Scripture is meant and the reading does not choose; what they carry together is that it is a revealed Book, written and preserved.
فِى رَقٍّ مَّنشُورٍ
PickthallOn fine parchment unrolled,
Yusuf AliIn a Scroll unfolded;
The agreed readingOn fine parchment spread open. Raqq is the thin prepared skin written on; manshur is unrolled rather than closed up - a Book lying open to be read.
وَٱلْبَيْتِ ٱلْمَعْمُورِ
PickthallAnd the House frequented,
Yusuf AliBy the much-frequented Fane;
The agreed readingAnd by the frequented House. Both traditions describe a House in the heavens set opposite the Kaaba below it, visited without pause by the angels who worship there.
وَٱلسَّقْفِ ٱلْمَرْفُوعِ
PickthallAnd the roof exalted,
Yusuf AliBy the Canopy Raised High;
The agreed readingAnd by the roof raised high. The commentaries gloss the roof as the sky, raised over the earth.
وَٱلْبَحْرِ ٱلْمَسْجُورِ
PickthallAnd the sea kept filled,
Yusuf AliAnd by the Ocean filled with Swell;-
The agreed readingAnd by the sea filled to the brim. The word masjur is glossed as filled and brimming; the commentaries also carry the sense of a sea set alight, and the oath stands on either.
إِنَّ عَذَابَ رَبِّكَ لَوَٰقِعٌ
PickthallLo! the doom of thy Lord will surely come to pass;
Yusuf AliVerily, the Doom of thy Lord will indeed come to pass;-
The agreed readingThe punishment of your Lord is going to fall. Everything sworn by above is the ground of this one statement, which is what the oaths were taken for.
مَّا لَهُۥ مِن دَافِعٍ
PickthallThere is none that can ward it off.
Yusuf AliThere is none can avert it;-
The agreed readingThere is nothing that can push it back, and no one who can hold it off. The commentaries read this together with the statement before it: the punishment is not only certain to arrive, it arrives with nothing standing between it and those it is owed to.
يَوْمَ تَمُورُ ٱلسَّمَآءُ مَوْرًا
PickthallOn the day when the heaven will heave with (awful) heaving,
Yusuf AliOn the Day when the firmament will be in dreadful commotion.
The agreed readingOn the day the heaven reels and turns. The word describes violent movement, the sky no longer holding still.
وَتَسِيرُ ٱلْجِبَالُ سَيْرًا
PickthallAnd the mountains move away with (awful) movement,
Yusuf AliAnd the mountains will fly hither and thither.
The agreed readingAnd the mountains move away, going until they are scattered dust. The commentaries place this beside the reeling of the heaven and set both on the Day of Resurrection - the two fixed things a man measures the world by, the sky above him and the mountains under him, giving way in the same hour.
فَوَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْمُكَذِّبِينَ
PickthallThen woe that day unto the deniers
Yusuf AliThen woe that Day to those that treat (Truth) as Falsehood;-
The agreed readingSo woe that day to the deniers. The commentaries gloss the word woe as the severity of the punishment itself rather than a cry raised against them, and they identify the deniers as those who called the messengers liars.
ٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ فِى خَوْضٍ يَلْعَبُونَ
PickthallWho play in talk of grave matters;
Yusuf AliThat play (and paddle) in shallow trifles.
The agreed readingThose who plunge into what is false and play at it, busying themselves with it and taking it lightly.
يَوْمَ يُدَعُّونَ إِلَىٰ نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ دَعًّا
PickthallThe day when they are thrust with a (disdainful) thrust, into the fire of hell
Yusuf AliThat Day shall they be thrust down to the Fire of Hell, irresistibly.
The agreed readingOn the day they are thrust into the Fire of Hell, driven to it roughly and with force.
هَٰذِهِ ٱلنَّارُ ٱلَّتِى كُنتُم بِهَا تُكَذِّبُونَ
Pickthall(And it is said unto them): This is the Fire which ye were wont to deny.
Yusuf Ali"This:, it will be said, "Is the Fire,- which ye were wont to deny!
The agreed readingAnd it is said to them: this is the Fire you used to deny. The commentaries mark the tone of it - the words are said by way of rebuke, the thing they refused to believe in now standing in front of them and named.
أَفَسِحْرٌ هَٰذَآ أَمْ أَنتُمْ لَا تُبْصِرُونَ
PickthallIs this magic, or do ye not see?
Yusuf Ali"Is this then a fake, or is it ye that do not see?
The agreed readingIs this sorcery, then, or do you not see? It is put to them in their own word: sorcery is what they called the revelation in the world, and now the punishment stands in front of them under the same name.
ٱصْلَوْهَا فَٱصْبِرُوٓا۟ أَوْ لَا تَصْبِرُوا۟ سَوَآءٌ عَلَيْكُمْ إِنَّمَا تُجْزَوْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ
PickthallEndure the heat thereof, and whether ye are patient of it or impatient of it is all one for you. Ye are only being paid for what ye used to do.
Yusuf Ali"Burn ye therein: the same is it to you whether ye bear it with patience, or not: Ye but receive the recompense of your (own) deeds."
The agreed readingBurn in it. Bear it patiently or do not - it is the same for you now, because patience no longer changes anything. You are only being repaid for what you were doing.
إِنَّ ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ فِى جَنَّٰتٍ وَنَعِيمٍ
PickthallLo! those who kept their duty dwell in gardens and delight,
Yusuf AliAs to the Righteous, they will be in Gardens, and in Happiness,-
The agreed readingThose who guard themselves are in gardens and delight - set directly against the punishment of the others, which is how the sura moves.
فَٰكِهِينَ بِمَآ ءَاتَىٰهُمْ رَبُّهُمْ وَوَقَىٰهُمْ رَبُّهُمْ عَذَابَ ٱلْجَحِيمِ
PickthallHappy because of what their Lord hath given them, and (because) their Lord hath warded off from them the torment of hell-fire.
Yusuf AliEnjoying the (Bliss) which their Lord hath bestowed on them, and their Lord shall deliver them from the Penalty of the Fire.
The agreed readingEnjoying what their Lord has given them, and their Lord has guarded them from the punishment of the Fierce Fire. The commentaries note that being kept from the punishment is named as part of the delight, not apart from it.
كُلُوا۟ وَٱشْرَبُوا۟ هَنِيٓـًٔۢا بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ
Pickthall(And it is said unto them): Eat and drink in health (as a reward) for what ye used to do,
Yusuf Ali(To them will be said:) "Eat and drink ye, with profit and health, because of your (good) deeds."
The agreed readingEat and drink in health. The commentaries gloss the word as ease carried with the eating - food and drink that bring no sickness and leave nothing behind them - and they read the reason given as a cause rather than a wage: this comes to them because of what they used to do.
مُتَّكِـِٔينَ عَلَىٰ سُرُرٍ مَّصْفُوفَةٍ وَزَوَّجْنَٰهُم بِحُورٍ عِينٍ
PickthallReclining on ranged couches. And we wed them unto fair ones with wide, lovely eyes.
Yusuf AliThey will recline (with ease) on Thrones (of dignity) arranged in ranks; and We shall join them to Companions, with beautiful big and lustrous eyes.
The agreed readingReclining on couches ranged in rows, and We pair them with companions of wide and lovely eyes.
وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَٱتَّبَعَتْهُمْ ذُرِّيَّتُهُم بِإِيمَٰنٍ أَلْحَقْنَا بِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَمَآ أَلَتْنَٰهُم مِّنْ عَمَلِهِم مِّن شَىْءٍ كُلُّ ٱمْرِئٍۭ بِمَا كَسَبَ رَهِينٌ
PickthallAnd they who believe and whose seed follow them in faith, We cause their seed to join them (there), and We deprive them of nought of their (life's) work. Every man is a pledge for that which he hath earned.
Yusuf AliAnd those who believe and whose families follow them in Faith,- to them shall We join their families: Nor shall We deprive them (of the fruit) of aught of their works: (Yet) is each individual in pledge for his deeds.
The agreed readingAnd those who believed and whose offspring followed them in faith - We join their offspring to them, and take nothing away from their own work. Every man is held in pledge for what he has earned. Both traditions carry the same report here: God raises the children of a believer to his rank, though their own deeds fall short of it, so that his eye is gladdened by them.
وَأَمْدَدْنَٰهُم بِفَٰكِهَةٍ وَلَحْمٍ مِّمَّا يَشْتَهُونَ
PickthallAnd We provide them with fruit and meat such as they desire.
Yusuf AliAnd We shall bestow on them, of fruit and meat, anything they shall desire.
The agreed readingAnd We supply them with fruit and with meat of whatever they desire, given again and again, beyond what they ask for.
يَتَنَٰزَعُونَ فِيهَا كَأْسًا لَّا لَغْوٌ فِيهَا وَلَا تَأْثِيمٌ
PickthallThere they pass from hand to hand a cup wherein is neither vanity nor cause of sin.
Yusuf AliThey shall there exchange, one with another, a (loving) cup free of frivolity, free of all taint of ill.
The agreed readingThere they pass a cup from hand to hand in which there is no idle talk and nothing that brings sin - unlike the wine of this world, which brings both.
وَيَطُوفُ عَلَيْهِمْ غِلْمَانٌ لَّهُمْ كَأَنَّهُمْ لُؤْلُؤٌ مَّكْنُونٌ
PickthallAnd there go round, waiting on them menservants of their own, as they were hidden pearls.
Yusuf AliRound about them will serve, (devoted) to them, young male servants (handsome) as Pearls well-guarded.
The agreed readingAnd youths of their own go round them, like hidden pearls - kept safe in the shell, which is where a pearl is finest.
وَأَقْبَلَ بَعْضُهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ يَتَسَآءَلُونَ
PickthallAnd some of them draw near unto others, questioning,
Yusuf AliThey will advance to each other, engaging in mutual enquiry.
The agreed readingAnd they turn to one another, asking. The commentaries fill in what is asked: each questions the other about what they were before and what they have come to now, taking pleasure in the telling and acknowledging whose favour it was.
قَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّا كُنَّا قَبْلُ فِىٓ أَهْلِنَا مُشْفِقِينَ
PickthallSaying: Lo! of old, when we were with our families, we were ever anxious;
Yusuf AliThey will say: "Aforetime, we were not without fear for the sake of our people.
The agreed readingSaying: before this, among our family, we lived in fear - afraid of the punishment of God.
فَمَنَّ ٱللَّهُ عَلَيْنَا وَوَقَىٰنَا عَذَابَ ٱلسَّمُومِ
PickthallBut Allah hath been gracious unto us and hath preserved us from the torment of the breath of Fire.
Yusuf Ali"But Allah has been good to us, and has delivered us from the Penalty of the Scorching Wind.
The agreed readingSo God was gracious to us and guarded us from the punishment of the scorching heat, the fire that enters at every pore.
إِنَّا كُنَّا مِن قَبْلُ نَدْعُوهُ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلْبَرُّ ٱلرَّحِيمُ
PickthallLo! we used to pray unto Him of old. Lo! He is the Benign, the Merciful.
Yusuf Ali"Truly, we did call unto Him from of old: truly it is He, the Beneficent, the Merciful!"
The agreed readingWe used to call on Him before. He is the Good, who does good and is true to what He promises, and the Merciful.
فَذَكِّرْ فَمَآ أَنتَ بِنِعْمَتِ رَبِّكَ بِكَاهِنٍ وَلَا مَجْنُونٍ
PickthallTherefor warn (men, O Muhammad). By the grace of Allah thou art neither soothsayer nor madman.
Yusuf AliTherefore proclaim thou the praises (of thy Lord): for by the Grace of thy Lord, thou art no (vulgar) soothsayer, nor art thou one possessed.
The agreed readingSo remind them, and keep at it. By the favour of your Lord you are neither a soothsayer nor a madman - the two names they were putting on him.
أَمْ يَقُولُونَ شَاعِرٌ نَّتَرَبَّصُ بِهِۦ رَيْبَ ٱلْمَنُونِ
PickthallOr say they: (he is) a poet, (one) for whom we may expect the accident of time?
Yusuf AliOr do they say:- "A Poet! we await for him some calamity (hatched) by Time!"
The agreed readingOr do they say: a poet, and we will wait for the turns of fate to take him? The commentaries gloss the phrase as the accidents of time, and as death itself.
قُلْ تَرَبَّصُوا۟ فَإِنِّى مَعَكُم مِّنَ ٱلْمُتَرَبِّصِينَ
PickthallSay (unto them): Except (your fill)! Lo! I am with you among the expectant.
Yusuf AliSay thou: "Await ye!- I too will wait along with you!"
The agreed readingSay: wait, then. I am waiting alongside you. The commentaries read it as the challenge handed back - they are waiting for time to finish him, and he is told to wait with them for what is coming to them instead.
أَمْ تَأْمُرُهُمْ أَحْلَٰمُهُم بِهَٰذَآ أَمْ هُمْ قَوْمٌ طَاغُونَ
PickthallDo their minds command them to do this, or are they an outrageous folk?
Yusuf AliIs it that their faculties of understanding urge them to this, or are they but a people transgressing beyond bounds?
The agreed readingOr do their own minds command them this, or are they a people grown insolent? The commentaries of both traditions notice the contradiction buried in the charge: a soothsayer is sharp-witted, a madman has his reason covered over, a poet composes measured speech - and no one man can be all three.
أَمْ يَقُولُونَ تَقَوَّلَهُۥ بَل لَّا يُؤْمِنُونَ
PickthallOr say they: He hath invented it? Nay, but they will not believe!
Yusuf AliOr do they say, "He fabricated the (Message)"? Nay, they have no faith!
The agreed readingOr do they say: he has made it up himself? No - they will not believe, and that is the whole of the reason.
فَلْيَأْتُوا۟ بِحَدِيثٍ مِّثْلِهِۦٓ إِن كَانُوا۟ صَٰدِقِينَ
PickthallThen let them produce speech the like thereof, if they are truthful.
Yusuf AliLet them then produce a recital like unto it,- If (it be) they speak the truth!
The agreed readingThen let them bring a discourse like it, if they are telling the truth. The demand is put to men counted among the most eloquent of the Arabs.
أَمْ خُلِقُوا۟ مِنْ غَيْرِ شَىْءٍ أَمْ هُمُ ٱلْخَٰلِقُونَ
PickthallOr were they created out of naught? Or are they the creators?
Yusuf AliWere they created of nothing, or were they themselves the creators?
The agreed readingOr were they created out of nothing, or are they the creators? Nothing made comes without a maker, and nothing that does not exist can make itself.
أَمْ خَلَقُوا۟ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ بَل لَّا يُوقِنُونَ
PickthallOr did they create the heavens and the earth? Nay, but they are sure of nothing!
Yusuf AliOr did they create the heavens and the earth? Nay, they have no firm belief.
The agreed readingOr did they create the heavens and the earth? No - they hold nothing with certainty.
أَمْ عِندَهُمْ خَزَآئِنُ رَبِّكَ أَمْ هُمُ ٱلْمُصَۣيْطِرُونَ
PickthallOr do they own the treasures of thy Lord? Or have they been given charge (thereof)?
Yusuf AliOr are the Treasures of thy Lord with them, or are they the managers (of affairs)?
The agreed readingOr do they hold the treasuries of your Lord, or are they the ones in control - so that prophethood and provision would be theirs to assign to whom they pleased?
أَمْ لَهُمْ سُلَّمٌ يَسْتَمِعُونَ فِيهِ فَلْيَأْتِ مُسْتَمِعُهُم بِسُلْطَٰنٍ مُّبِينٍ
PickthallOr have they any stairway (unto heaven) by means of which they overhear (decrees). Then let their listener produce some warrant manifest!
Yusuf AliOr have they a ladder, by which they can (climb up to heaven and) listen (to its secrets)? Then let (such a) listener of theirs produce a manifest proof.
The agreed readingOr do they have a ladder up which they listen in on what is said in the heavens? Then let the one who listened bring a clear authority for it.
أَمْ لَهُ ٱلْبَنَٰتُ وَلَكُمُ ٱلْبَنُونَ
PickthallOr hath He daughters whereas ye have sons?
Yusuf AliOr has He only daughters and ye have sons?
The agreed readingOr does He have the daughters while you have the sons? They had said the angels were God's daughters, and the question hands their own claim back to them.
أَمْ تَسْـَٔلُهُمْ أَجْرًا فَهُم مِّن مَّغْرَمٍ مُّثْقَلُونَ
PickthallOr askest thou (Muhammad) a fee from them so that they are plunged in debt?
Yusuf AliOr is it that thou dost ask for a reward, so that they are burdened with a load of debt?-
The agreed readingOr do you ask them a fee for this, so that they are weighed down by the debt of it?
أَمْ عِندَهُمُ ٱلْغَيْبُ فَهُمْ يَكْتُبُونَ
PickthallOr possess they the Unseen so that they can write (it) down?
Yusuf AliOr that the Unseen in it their hands, and they write it down?
The agreed readingOr do they hold the unseen, so that they write it down? The commentaries put the question in its place: they were disputing the raising of the dead and what comes after it, and to speak on that a man would need the record itself in front of him, to copy from and to tell out.
أَمْ يُرِيدُونَ كَيْدًا فَٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ هُمُ ٱلْمَكِيدُونَ
PickthallOr seek they to ensnare (the messenger)? But those who disbelieve, they are the ensnared!
Yusuf AliOr do they intend a plot (against thee)? But those who defy Allah are themselves involved in a Plot!
The agreed readingOr do they intend a plot? Then those who refuse are themselves the ones plotted against, and their plot falls back on them.
أَمْ لَهُمْ إِلَٰهٌ غَيْرُ ٱللَّهِ سُبْحَٰنَ ٱللَّهِ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ
PickthallOr have they any god beside Allah? Glorified be Allah from all that they ascribe as partner (unto Him)!
Yusuf AliOr have they a god other than Allah? Exalted is Allah far above the things they associate with Him!
The agreed readingOr do they have a god other than God? Glory be to God, far above what they set up as partners with Him.
وَإِن يَرَوْا۟ كِسْفًا مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ سَاقِطًا يَقُولُوا۟ سَحَابٌ مَّرْكُومٌ
PickthallAnd if they were to see a fragment of the heaven falling, they would say: A heap of clouds.
Yusuf AliWere they to see a piece of the sky falling (on them), they would (only) say: "Clouds gathered in heaps!"
The agreed readingAnd if they saw a piece of the sky falling on them they would say: clouds heaped up. The commentaries put the same reading on it - the refusal has gone so far that a punishment arriving in front of them would be explained away as weather.
فَذَرْهُمْ حَتَّىٰ يُلَٰقُوا۟ يَوْمَهُمُ ٱلَّذِى فِيهِ يُصْعَقُونَ
PickthallThen let them be (O Muhammad), till they meet their day, in which they will be thunder-stricken,
Yusuf AliSo leave them alone until they encounter that Day of theirs, wherein they shall (perforce) swoon (with terror),-
The agreed readingSo leave them until they meet their day, the day they will be struck down. Both traditions gloss the word as dying - they are felled where they stand - and relate it to the first blast, at which everything living is destroyed.
يَوْمَ لَا يُغْنِى عَنْهُمْ كَيْدُهُمْ شَيْـًٔا وَلَا هُمْ يُنصَرُونَ
PickthallA day in which their guile will naught avail them, nor will they be helped.
Yusuf AliThe Day when their plotting will avail them nothing and no help shall be given them.
The agreed readingThe day their plotting will do nothing for them, and they will not be helped. The commentaries of both traditions gloss the second half the same way: no one will step in to hold the punishment off them.
وَإِنَّ لِلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا۟ عَذَابًا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ
PickthallAnd verily, for those who do wrong, there is a punishment beyond that. But most of them know not.
Yusuf AliAnd verily, for those who do wrong, there is another punishment besides this: But most of them understand not.
The agreed readingAnd for those who do wrong there is a punishment besides that one, but most of them do not know it.
وَٱصْبِرْ لِحُكْمِ رَبِّكَ فَإِنَّكَ بِأَعْيُنِنَا وَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ حِينَ تَقُومُ
PickthallSo wait patiently (O Muhammad) for thy Lord's decree, for surely thou art in Our sight; and hymn the praise of thy Lord when thou uprisest,
Yusuf AliNow await in patience the command of thy Lord: for verily thou art in Our eyes: and celebrate the praises of thy Lord the while thou standest forth,
The agreed readingSo wait patiently for the judgement of your Lord, and do not let your heart be narrowed - you are before Our eyes, seen and kept. And glorify your Lord with praise when you rise.
وَمِنَ ٱلَّيْلِ فَسَبِّحْهُ وَإِدْبَٰرَ ٱلنُّجُومِ
PickthallAnd in the night-time also hymn His praise, and at the setting of the stars.
Yusuf AliAnd for part of the night also praise thou Him,- and at the retreat of the stars!
The agreed readingAnd in the night glorify Him, and at the setting of the stars, when they fade at the coming of dawn. The commentaries carry two senses together and do not set them against each other: the words command the remembrance of God in those hours, and they are also read as the prayers that fall in them - the prayers of the night, and the prayer at daybreak.