(Revealed before Hijrah)
Introductory Remarks
The Surah was revealed at Mecca about the 5th year of the Call, not later than the close of the early Meccan period. Noldeke, Muir and some other eminent authorities, assign this date to its revelation. In the preceding Surah the disbelievers were warned that Al-Haqqah (The Great Calamity) would soon overtake them if they did not repent of their sins and accept the Divine Message. The present Surah opens with mentioning the disbelievers' demand: “When will the threatened punishment come?” They are told that it would soon be upon them, nay, it is at their very door. But when it came, it would be so overwhelming and devastating that it would cause the mountains to fly like flakes of wool, and disbelievers would wish to part with their near and dear ones-their wives, children and brothers-as ransom for themselves. But then it will be too late.
Towards its close the Surah warns disbelievers again that they consider prophecies about the glorious future of Islam as only the dream of a visionary, but the time was fast approaching when, with their eyes cast down, they will hasten to the Holy Prophet to accept Islam. Then they will realize to their shame and sorrow that what the Holy Prophet had foretold about their ultimate defeat was only too true.
 بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيم
[70:1] In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.
 سَأَلَ سَائِلٌ بِعَذَابٍ وَاقِعٍ
[70:2] An inquirer[3119] inquires concerning the punishment about to fall
 لِلْكَافِرينَ لَيْسَ لَهُ دَافِعٌ
[70:3] Upon the disbelievers, which none can repel.
 مِنْ اللَّهِ ذِي الْمَعَارِجِ
[70:4] It is from Allah, Lord of great ascents.[3119A]
 تَعْرُجُ الْمَلاَئِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ إِلَيْهِ فِي يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ خَمْسِينَ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ
[70:5] The angels and the Spirit ascend to Him in a day the measure of which is fifty thousand years.[3120]
 فَاصْبِرْ صَبْرًا جَمِيلاً
[70:6] So be patient with admirable patience.
 إِنَّهُمْ يَرَوْنَهُ بَعِيدًا
[70:7] They see it to be far off,
 وَنَرَاهُ قَرِيبًا
[70:8] But We see it to be nigh.
 يَوْمَ تَكُونُ السَّمَاءُ كَالْمُهْلِ
[70:9] The day when the heaven will become like molten copper,
 وَتَكُونُ الْجِبَالُ كَالْعِهْنِ
[70:10] And the mountains will become like flakes of wool,[3121]
 وَلاَ يَسْأَلُ حَمِيمٌ حَمِيمًا
[70:11] And a friend will not inquire after a friend.
 يُبَصَّرُونَهُمْ يَوَدُّ الْمُجْرِمُ لَوْ يَفْتَدِي مِنْ عَذَابِ يَوْمِئِذٍ بِبَنِيهِ
[70:12] They will be placed in sight of one another, and the guilty one would fain ransom himself from the punishment of that day by offering his children,
 وَصَاحِبَتِهِ وَأَخِيهِ
[70:13] And his wife and his brother,
 وَفَصِيلَتِهِ الَّتِي تُؤْويهِ
[70:14] And his kinsfolk who sheltered him,
 وَمَنْ فِي الأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا ثُمَّ يُنجِيهِ
[70:15] And by offering all those who are on the earth, if only thus he might save himself.[3122]
 كَلاَّ إِنَّهَا لَظَى
[70:16] But no! surely it is a flame of Fire,
 نَزَّاعَةً لِلشَّوَى
[70:17] Stripping off the skin even to the extremities of the body.
 تَدْعُوا مَنْ أَدْبَرَ وَتَوَلَّى
[70:18] It will call him who turned his back and retreated
 وَجَمَعَ فَأَوْعَى
[70:19] And hoarded wealth, and withheld it.
 إِنَّ الإِنسَانَ خُلِقَ هَلُوعًا
[70:20] Verily, man is born[3123] impatient and miserly.
 إِذَا مَسَّهُ الشَّرُّ جَزُوعًا
[70:21] When evil touches him, he is full of lamentation,
 وَإِذَا مَسَّهُ الْخَيْرُ مَنُوعًا
[70:22] But when good falls to his lot, he is niggardly.
 إِلاَّ الْمُصَلِّينَ
[70:23] But not those who pray.
 الَّذِينَ هُمْ عَلَى صَلاَتِهِمْ دَائِمُونَ
[70:24] Those who are constant in their Prayer,
 وَالَّذِينَ فِي أَمْوَالِهِمْ حَقٌّ مَعْلُومٌ
[70:25] And those in whose wealth there is a recognized right[3124]
 لِلسَّائِلِ وَالْمَحْرُومِ
[70:26] For one who asks for help and for one who does not.[3125]
 وَالَّذِينَ يُصَدِّقُونَ بِيَوْمِ الدِّينِ
[70:27] And those who believe the Day of Judgment[3125A] to be a reality,
 وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ مِنْ عَذَابِ رَبِّهِمْ مُشْفِقُونَ
[70:28] And those who are fearful of the punishment of their Lord —
 إِنَّ عَذَابَ رَبِّهِمْ غَيْرُ مَأْمُونٍ
[70:29] Verily the punishment of their Lord is not a thing to feel secure from —
 وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ لِفُرُوجِهِمْ حَافِظُونَ
[70:30] And those who guard their private parts —
 إِلاَّ عَلَى أَزْوَاجِهِمْ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ غَيْرُ مَلُومِينَ
[70:31] Except from their wives and from those whom their right hands possess; such indeed are not to blame;
 فَمَنْ ابْتَغَى وَرَاءَ ذَلِكَ فَأُوْلَئِكَ هُمْ الْعَادُونَ
[70:32] But those who seek to go beyond that, it is these who are transgressors —
 وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ ِلأَمَانَاتِهِمْ وَعَهْدِهِمْ رَاعُونَ
[70:33] And those who are watchful of their trusts and their covenants,
 وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ بِشَهَادَاتِهِمْ قَائِمُونَ
[70:34] And those who are upright in their testimonies,
 وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ عَلَى صَلاَتِهِمْ يُحَافِظُونَ
[70:35] And those who are strict in the observance of their Prayer.
 أُوْلَئِكَ فِي جَنَّاتٍ مُكْرَمُونَ
[70:36] These will be in the Gardens, duly honoured.
 فَمَالِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا قِبَلَكَ مُهْطِعِينَ
[70:37] But what is the matter with those who disbelieve, that they come hastening towards thee,
 عَنْ الْيَمِينِ وَعَنْ الشِّمَالِ عِزِينَ
[70:38] From the right hand and from the left, in different parties?[3126]
 أَيَطْمَعُ كُلُّ امْرِئٍ مِنْهُمْ أَنْ يُدْخَلَ جَنَّةَ نَعِيمٍ
[70:39] Does every man among them hope to enter the Garden of Bliss?
 كَلاَّ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاهُمْ مِمَّا يَعْلَمُونَ
[70:40] Never! We have created them of that which[3127] they know.
 فَلاَ أُقْسِمُ بِرَبِّ الْمَشَارِقِ وَالْمَغَارِبِ إِنَّا لَقَادِرُونَ
[70:41] But nay! I swear by the Lord of the easts and of the wests, that We have the power
 عَلَى أَنْ نُبَدِّلَ خَيْرًا مِنْهُمْ وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمَسْبُوقِينَ
[70:42] To bring in their place others better than they[3128], and We cannot be frustrated in Our plans.
 فَذَرْهُمْ يَخُوضُوا وَيَلْعَبُوا حَتَّى يُلاَقُوا يَوْمَهُمْ الَّذِي يُوعَدُونَ
[70:43] So leave them alone to indulge in idle talk and play until they meet that day of theirs which they are promised,
 يَوْمَ يَخْرُجُونَ مِنْ الأَجْدَاثِ سِرَاعًا كَأَنَّهُمْ إِلَى نُصُبٍ يُوفِضُونَ
[70:44] The day when they will come forth from their graves hastening, as though they were racing to a target,
 خَاشِعَةً أَبْصَارُهُمْ تَرْهَقُهُمْ ذِلَّةٌ ذَلِكَ الْيَوْمُ الَّذِي كَانُوا يُوعَدُونَ
[70:45] With their eyes cast down; and disgrace will cover them[3129]. Such is the day which they are promised.
3119. "The inquirer" in the verse is taken by some Commentators to refer to Nadr bin AI-Harith, or Abu Jahl. But it need not refer to any particular person. It may refer to all disbelievers because all of them repeatedly challenged the Holy Prophet to bring down upon them the threatened punishment (8:33; 21 :39; 27:72; 32:29; 34:30; 36:49; 67:26).
3119A. God grants to His votaries very exalted ranks.
3120. Al-Ruh meaning human soul, the verse may signify that the development and progress of the human soul will know no end. Or, the verse may mean that Divine plans and programs take thousands of years to mature. Or, the reference may be to a specific cycle of fifty thousand years in which some particular great change is decreed to take place, because Divine prophecies have their fixed periods, epochs and cycles in which they are fulfilled.
3121. In this age of atom and hydrogen bombs the flying of mountains like flakes of wool is quite a possible occurrence.
3122. What an awe-inspiring picture of the Day of Judgment is given in these verses! Face to face with a calamity man is prepared to part with everything, even to sacrifice his dearest and nearest ones, if only by doing so he can save his own skin.
3123. Man, by nature, is impatient and miserly. For this meaning of Khuliqa see 21:38; 30:55.
3124. All things in the universe being the common property of the whole of mankind, there can be no absolute ownership of anything vesting in any individual; the poor have a share in the wealth of the rich as of right.
3125. The word Mahrum means, those who, because of some physical infirmity or from a sense of dignity, would not ask for alms. It includes animals also.
3125A. There could be no real sense of responsibility without a true and living belief in the Hereafter. This belief is the second cardinal belief of Islam, next to belief in the existence of God.
3126. This and the preceding verse give a prophetic description of the coming triumph of Islam when the pagan tribes of Arabia, from every part of the country, hastened to wait in deputations upon the Holy Prophet, begging to be taken into the fold of Islam. Or, the verses may refer to the highly alluring offers made by the leaders of the Quraish to the Holy Prophet, if only he should give up preaching against their idols. By some authorities, however, the verses have been taken to refer to the dangerous attacks that were made on the Holy Prophet in different forms and from different directions by his opponents.
3127. The word Mimma signifies, natural powers and faculties with which God has endowed man.
3128. The opponents of the Holy Prophet are told that old order will vanish and from its ruins will emerge a new and better order and other people will take their place.
3129. This verse and the preceding one contain a graphic picture of the leaders of the Quraish, after the Fall of Mecca, when they came to the Holy Prophet completely dejected, dispirited and dismayed, their eyes cast down, and disappointment and a sense of guilt and regret writ large on their faces.
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