(Revealed before Hijrah)

General Remarks
The Surah, like the preceding one, was, as its subject-matter shows, among the earliest Chapters to be revealed at Mecca. It is almost wholly devoted to the subject of the inevitability of the Resurrection; and adduces the sure and certain success of the Holy Prophet against heavy odds as an argument in support of this hypothesis. As the Holy Prophet's ultimate success and the Resurrection were regarded by disbelievers as impossible, the coming to pass of the one did indeed, constitute an incontrovertible proof that the other will also take place. Thus the Surah opens with a firm and emphatic declaration that enemies of Truth shall be routed. It then proceeds to draw a parallel between the destruction of the deniers of the Divine Message and the Resurrection, and says that for disbelievers the "hour" of punishment will be most distressful and agonizing and for the believers it will be a time of perennial joy and happiness.

The Surah closes with a firm and emphatic declaration that both these events-the Resurrection and the success of the Prophet's cause, against very heavy odds and under the most unfavorable circumstances-will, most surely, come to pass, because what the Prophet says is God's own revealed Word and not the bragging of a poet, nor the idle conjectures of a soothsayer, nor a fabrication, for, if he had forged a lie against God, he would have met with certain and violent death, because a forger is never allowed to prosper.

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيم
[69:1] In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.

الْحَاقَّةُ
[69:2] The Inevitable![3107]

مَا الْحَاقَّةُ
[69:3] What is the Inevitable?

وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الْحَاقَّةُ
[69:4] And what should make thee know what the Inevitable is?

كَذَّبَتْ ثَمُودُ وَعَادٌ بِالْقَارِعَةِ
[69:5] The tribe of Thamud and the tribe of ‘Ad treated as a lie the sudden calamity.

فَأَمَّا ثَمُودُ فَأُهْلِكُوا بِالطَّاغِيَةِ
[69:6] Then, as for Thamud, they were destroyed with a violent blast.

وَأَمَّا عَادٌ فَأُهْلِكُوا بِرِيحٍ صَرْصَرٍ عَاتِيَةٍ
[69:7] And as for ‘Ad, they were destroyed by a fierce roaring wind,

سَخَّرَهَا عَلَيْهِمْ سَبْعَ لَيَالٍ وَثَمَانِيَةَ أَيَّامٍ حُسُومًا فَتَرَى الْقَوْمَ فِيهَا صَرْعَى كَأَنَّهُمْ أَعْجَازُ نَخْلٍ خَاوِيَةٍ
[69:8] Which He caused to blow against them for seven nights and eight days consecutively, so that thou mightest have seen the people therein lying prostrate, as though they were trunks of palm-trees fallen down.

فَهَلْ تَرَى لَهُمْ مِنْ بَاقِيَةٍ
[69:9] Dost thou see any remnant of them?

وَجَاءَ فِرْعَوْنُ وَمَنْ قَبْلَهُ وَالْمُؤْتَفِكَاتُ بِالْخَاطِئَةِ
[69:10] And Pharaoh, and those who were before him, and the overthrown cities persistently committed sins.

فَعَصَوْا رَسُولَ رَبِّهِمْ فَأَخَذَهُمْ أَخْذَةً رَابِيَةً
[69:11] And they disobeyed the Messenger of their Lord, therefore He seized them — a severe seizing.

إِنَّا لَمَّا طَغَى الْمَاءُ حَمَلْنَاكُمْ فِي الْجَارِيَةِ
[69:12] Verily, when the waters[3108] rose high, We bore you in the boat,

لِنَجْعَلَهَا لَكُمْ تَذْكِرَةً وَتَعِيَهَا أُذُنٌ وَاعِيَةٌ
[69:13] That We might make it a reminder for you, and that retaining ears might retain it.

فَإِذَا نُفِخَ فِي الصُّورِ نَفْخَةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ
[69:14] And when a single blast is sounded on the trumpet,[3109]

وَحُمِلَتْ الأَرْضُ وَالْجِبَالُ فَدُكَّتَا دَكَّةً وَاحِدَةً
[69:15] And the earth and the mountains are heaved up and then crushed in a single crash,[3110]

فَيَوْمَئِذٍ وَقَعَتْ الْوَاقِعَةُ
[69:16] On that day will the great Event come to pass.

وَانشَقَّتْ السَّمَاءُ فَهِيَ يَوْمَئِذٍ وَاهِيَةٌ
[69:17] And the heaven will cleave asunder, and it will become frail that day.

وَالْمَلَكُ عَلَى أَرْجَائِهَا وَيَحْمِلُ عَرْشَ رَبِّكَ فَوْقَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ ثَمَانِيَةٌ
[69:18] And the angels will be standing on the sides thereof, and above them on that day eight angels will bear the throne of thy Lord.[3111]

يَوْمَئِذٍ تُعْرَضُونَ لاَ تَخْفَى مِنْكُمْ خَافِيَةٌ
[69:19] On that day you will be presented before God; and none of your secrets will remain hidden.[3112]

فَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِيَ كِتَابَهُ بِيَمِينِهِ فَيَقُولُ هَاؤُمْ اقْرَءُوا كِتَابِي
[69:20] Then, as for him who is given his record in his right hand[3113], he will say, ‘Come, read my record.

إِنِّي ظَنَنتُ أَنِّي مُلاَقٍ حِسَابِيَه
[69:21] ‘Surely, I knew that I would meet my reckoning.’

فَهُوَ فِي عِيشَةٍ رَاضِيَةٍ
[69:22] So he will have a delightful life,

فِي جَنَّةٍ عَالِيَةٍ
[69:23] In a lofty Garden,

قُطُوفُهَا دَانِيَةٌ
[69:24] Whereof clusters of fruit will be within easy reach.

كُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا هَنِيئًا بِمَا أَسْلَفْتُمْ فِي الأَيَّامِ الْخَالِيَةِ
[69:25] ‘Eat and drink joyfully because of the good deeds you did in days gone by.’

وَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِيَ كِتَابَهُ بِشِمَالِهِ فَيَقُولُ يَا لَيْتَنِي لَمْ أُوتَ كِتَابِيهْ
[69:26] But as for him who is given his record in his left hand[3114], he will say, ‘O would that I had not been given my record!

وَلَمْ أَدْرِ مَا حِسَابِيهْ
[69:27] ‘Nor known what my reckoning was!

يَا لَيْتَهَا كَانَتْ الْقَاضِيَةَ
[69:28] ‘O would that death had made an end of me![3115]

مَا أَغْنَى عَنِّي مَالِيهْ
[69:29] ‘My wealth has been of no avail to me.

هَلَكَ عَنِّي سُلْطَانِيهْ
[69:30] ‘My power has perished from me.’

خُذُوهُ فَغُلُّوهُ
[69:31] ‘Seize him and fetter him,

ثُمَّ الْجَحِيمَ صَلُّوهُ
[69:32] ‘Then cast him into Hell.

ثُمَّ فِي سِلْسِلَةٍ ذَرْعُهَا سَبْعُونَ ذِرَاعًا فَاسْلُكُوهُ
[69:33] ‘Then put him into a chain the length of which is seventy[3116] cubits;

إِنَّهُ كَانَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ الْعَظِيمِ
[69:34] ‘Verily, he did not believe in Allah, the Great,

وَلاَ يَحُضُّ عَلَى طَعَامِ الْمِسْكِينِ
[69:35] ‘And he did not urge the feeding of the poor.

فَلَيْسَ لَهُ الْيَوْمَ هَاهُنَا حَمِيمٌ
[69:36] ‘No friend, therefore, has he here this day;

وَلاَ طَعَامٌ إِلاَّ مِنْ غِسْلِينٍ
[69:37] ‘Nor any food save blood mixed with water,

لاَ يَأْكُلُهُ إِلاَّ الْخَاطِئُونَ
[69:38] ‘Which none but the sinners eat.’

فَلاَ أُقْسِمُ بِمَا تُبْصِرُونَ
[69:39] But nay, I swear by all that you see,

وَمَا لاَ تُبْصِرُونَ
[69:40] And by all that you see not,[3117]

إِنَّهُ لَقَوْلُ رَسُولٍ كَرِيمٍ
[69:41] That it is surely the word brought by a noble Messenger;

وَمَا هُوَ بِقَوْلِ شَاعِرٍ قَلِيلاً مَا تُؤْمِنُونَ
[69:42] And it is not the word of a poet; little is it that you believe!

وَلاَ بِقَوْلِ كَاهِنٍ قَلِيلاً مَا تَذَكَّرُونَ
[69:43] Nor is it the word of a soothsayer; little is it that you heed!

تَنزِيلٌ مِنْ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
[69:44] It is a revelation from the Lord of the worlds.

وَلَوْ تَقَوَّلَ عَلَيْنَا بَعْضَ الأَقَاوِيلِ
[69:45] And if he had forged and attributed any sayings to Us,

لَأَخَذْنَا مِنْهُ بِالْيَمِينِ
[69:46] We would surely have seized him by the right hand,

ثُمَّ لَقَطَعْنَا مِنْهُ الْوَتِينَ
[69:47] And then surely We would have severed his life-artery,

فَمَا مِنْكُمْ مِنْ أَحَدٍ عَنْهُ حَاجِزِينَ
[69:48] And not one of you could have held Us off from him.[3118]

وَإِنَّهُ لَتَذْكِرَةٌ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ
[69:49] And verily it is a reminder for the righteous.

وَإِنَّا لَنَعْلَمُ أَنَّ مِنْكُمْ مُكَذِّبِينَ
[69:50] And, surely, We know that there are some among you who reject Our Signs.

وَإِنَّهُ لَحَسْرَةٌ عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ
[69:51] And, verily, it will be a source of regret for the disbelievers.

وَإِنَّهُ لَحَقُّ الْيَقِينِ
[69:52] And surely, it is the true certainty.

فَسَبِّحْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الْعَظِيمِ
[69:53] So glorify the name of thy Lord, the Great.

3107.  An established or inevitable fact; a catastrophe which is sure to happen; the final overthrow of disbelief.

3108. The reference in the verse is to Noah's Flood.

3109.  The Holy Prophet's march on Mecca was so swift and sudden that the Meccans were taken completely by surprise. It came, as it were; a bolt from the blue for them. The verse may also apply to the Day of Resurrection, when with the blowing of the trumpet both the righteous and the guilty will stand before God's Great Judgment Seat to render an account of their deeds.

3110. The whole of Arabia was shaken from one end to the other; the leaders of Arab aristocracy and the common folk felt the strong impact of the conquests of Islam and of the great and violent change it brought about in their lives-al-Jibal signifying leaders of men, and al-Ard common folk.

3111. 'Arsh (Throne) represents God's transcendent attributes which are His exclusive prerogative. These attributes are manifested through God's attributes of similitude which have been described in the verse as the bearers of His Throne ('Arsh). These latter attributes are Rabb, Rahman; Rahim and Malik Yaum al-Din and are the basic Divine attributes by which the world subsists and which mainly concern man's life and destiny. In view of their majesty, awfulness and greatness these four Divine attributes will have double manifestation on the Day of Judgment. Or, the words may mean that on that day, along with these four attributes of similitude, the four corresponding transcendent attributes will also come into operation. And as Divine attributes are manifested through angels; therefore eight angels are mentioned, as being the bearers of the Throne of God on that Great Day. It is a mistaken view that because 'Arsh is stated in the verse as being "borne" by angels, it must be something material. But the word Hamala is used in the Qur'an not merely to denote the bearing of a thing in the physical sense but also figuratively. In 33:73 man is spoken of as 'bearing the Law' or the Shari'ah, but the Shari'ah is not a material thing. Similarly, the bearing of the 'Arsh by angels signifies that the reality of Divine attributes is
disclosed and manifested through them. We cannot understand and realize the transcendent attributes of God (His 'Arsh) except through His attributes of similitude. Thus God's attributes of similitude are, as it were, the bearers of His transcendent attributes (His 'Arsh). Again it is said that 'Arsh is spoken of as 'being on water' (11:8); which is a created element, therefore it must also be a created thing. But "water' in the language of revealed Scriptures often signifies the Word of God. In this sense the verse (11:8) signifies that the 'Throne of God' rests on the 'Word of God, which means that man cannot fully comprehend and realize the majesty and glory of God except with the help of the Word of God. That the 'Arsh represents the transcendent attributes of God is also clear from 23:117. See also 986.

3112.  Besides the meaning given in the text, the verse signifies that on the day of the Fall of Mecca. falsity of the idolatrous beliefs and practices of the Meccans will stand completely exposed.

3113. To be given one's record in one's right hand is a Quranic metaphor for passing the test successfully.

3114.  To be given one's record in one's left hand, in Quranic terminology, signifies failure in the test.

3115. Disbelievers would wish death to be the end of all things so that there should be no other life and no rendering of account of their actions before God.

3116. It has repeatedly been explained in the Qur'an that Life after death is not a new life but only an image and representation of the facts of the present life. In these verses the spiritual torture of the present world has been represented as the physical punishment in the next. The chain to be put round the neck, for instance, represents the desires of this world and it is these desires that will assume the form of fetters in the life to come. Similarly, the entanglements of this world will be seen as chains on the feet. The heart-burning of this world will, likewise, appear as the flames of burning fire. The limit of man's age may generally be fixed at seventy, excluding the periods of childhood and decrepitude. These seventy years, the wicked disbeliever wastes away in the entanglements of the world and in satisfying his sensual passions. He does not try to free himself from the chain of desires, and, therefore, in the  world the chain of desires, which he indulged in for seventy years, shall be embodied in a chain of the length of seventy cubits, every cubit representing a year, with which the wicked shall be fettered.

3117. The things which we see working in the physical world, i.e., the visible facts of life and the things which are hidden from our view, i.e., human reason and conscience, have been cited in the verses (39, 40) as evidences to establish the Divine origin of the Qur'an. Or; the verses may mean that the great Signs which disbelievers in the Holy Prophet's time witnessed with their own eyes, and the prophecies about the bright future of Islam which yet await fulfillment constitute an irrefutable argument that the Qur'an is God's own Word which He has revealed to His noble Prophet Muhammad. It deals with the hard facts of life and is not a poet's fond dream, nor the groping in the dark of a soothsayer.

3118. In this and in the preceding three verses the argument is given that if the Holy Prophet had been a forger of lies; God's strong hand would have seized him by the throat and he would, certainly, have met with a violent death and his whole work and mission would have gone to pieces, as such is the fate of a false prophet. The claim and the arguments contained in these verses seem to be an exact reproduction of the biblical statement in Deut. 18:20.