(Revealed before Hijrah)
Date of Revelation and Context
The Surah opens with a severe condemnation of the use of false measures and weights to defraud people. According to scholarly opinion, it was revealed early in the Meccan period. Noldeke and Muir assign its revelation to about the fourth year of the Call. The preceding Surah had ended with a warning to disbelievers that they will have to render account of their deeds and to make up their spiritual loss themselves, the sacrifice or intercession of no one else being of any use to them on the Day of Judgment. In that Surah man's relations with his Creator were discussed. In the present Surah, however, stress has been laid on man's dealings with his fellow-beings with special reference to the cruel exploitation by powerful nations of weaker and less developed peoples after depriving them of their liberty of action. It ends on a note of stern warning to the unjust and dishonest people that they will not be allowed to go unpunished. The Day of Reckoning awaits them in all its frightfulness and severity.
 بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيم
[1] In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.
 وَيْلٌ لِلْمُطَفِّفِينَ
[2] Woe unto those who give short measure;
 الَّذِينَ إِذَا اكْتَالُوا عَلَى النَّاسِ يَسْتَوْفُونَ
[3] Those who, when they take by measure from other people, take it full;
 وَإِذَا كَالُوهُمْ أَوْ وَزَنُوهُمْ يُخْسِرُونَ
[4] But when they give by measure to others or weigh to them, they give them less.
 أَلاَ يَظُنُّ أُولَئِكَ أَنَّهُمْ مَبْعُوثُونَ
[5] Do not such people know that they will be raised again
 لِيَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ
[6] Unto a terrible day,[3288]
 يَوْمَ يَقُومُ النَّاسُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
[7] The day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds?
 كَلاَّ إِنَّ كِتَابَ الفُجَّارِ لَفِي سِجِّينٍ
[8] Nay! the record of the wicked is in Sijjin.[3289]
 وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا سِجِّينٌ
[9] And what should make thee know what Sijjin is?
 كِتَابٌ مَرْقُومٌ
[10] It is a Book written comprehensively.[3290]
 وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِلْمُكَذِّبِينَ
[11] Woe, on that day, unto those who reject,
 الَّذِينَ يُكَذِّبُونَ بِيَوْمِ الدِّينِ
[12] Who deny the Day of Judgment.
 وَمَا يُكَذِّبُ بِهِ إلاَّ كُلُّ مُعْتَدٍ أَثِيمٍ
[13] And none denies it save every sinful transgressor,
 إِذَا تُتْلَى عَلَيْهِ آيَاتُنَا قَالَ أَسَاطِيرُ الأَوَّلِينَ
[14] Who, when Our Signs are recited unto him, says: ‘Fables of the ancients!’
 كَلاَّ بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ
[15] Nay, but that which they have earned has rusted their hearts.
 كَلاَّ إِنَّهُمْ عَنْ رَبِّهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ لَمَحْجُوبُونَ
[16] Nay, they will surely be debarred from seeing[3291] their Lord on that day.
 ثُمَّ إِنَّهُمْ لَصَالُوا الْجَحِيمِ
[17] Then, verily, they will burn in Hell,
 ثُمَّ يُقَالُ هَذَا الَّذِي كُنتُمْ بِهِ تُكَذِّبُونَ
[18] Then it will be said to them, ‘This is what you used to reject.’
 كَلاَّ إِنَّ كِتَابَ الأَبْرَارِ لَفِي عِلِّيِّينَ
[19] Nay! but the record of the virtuous is surely in ‘Illiyyin.[3292]
 وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا عِلِّيُّونَ
[20] And what should make thee know what ‘Illiyyun[3293] is?
 كِتَابٌ مَرْقُومٌ
[21] It is a Book written comprehensively.
 يَشْهَدُهُ الْمُقَرَّبُونَ
[22] The chosen ones of God will witness it.
 إِنَّ الأَبْرَارَ لَفِي نَعِيمٍ
[23] Surely the virtuous will be in bliss,
 عَلَى الأَرَائِكِ يَنظُرُونَ
[24] Seated on couches, gazing.
 تَعْرِفُ فِي وُجُوهِهِمْ نَضْرَةَ النَّعِيمِ
[25] Thou wilt find in their faces the freshness of bliss.
 يُسْقَوْنَ مِنْ رَحِيقٍ مَخْتُومٍ
[26] They will be given to drink of a pure sealed beverage,[3294]
 خِتَامُهُ مِسْكٌ وَفِي ذَلِكَ فَلْيَتَنَافَسِ الْمُتَنَافِسُونَ
[27] The sealing of it will be with musk — for this let the aspirants aspire —
 وَمِزَاجُهُ مِنْ تَسْنِيمٍ
[28] And it will be tempered with the water of Tasnim,
 عَيْنًا يَشْرَبُ بِهَا الْمُقَرَّبُونَ
[29] A spring of which the chosen ones will drink.
 إِنَّ الَّذِينَ أَجْرَمُوا كَانُوا مِنْ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا يَضْحَكُونَ
[30] Those who were guilty used to laugh[3295] at those who believed;
 وَإِذَا مَرُّوا بِهِمْ يَتَغَامَزُونَ
[31] And when they passed by them, they winked at one another.
 وَإِذَا انقَلَبُوا إِلَى أَهْلِهِمُ انقَلَبُوا فَكِهِينَ
[32] And when they returned to their families they returned exulting;
 وَإِذَا رَأَوْهُمْ قَالُوا إِنَّ هَؤُلاَءِ لَضَالُّونَ
[33] And when they saw them they said, ‘These indeed are the lost ones!’
 وَمَا أُرْسِلُوا عَلَيْهِمْ حَافِظِينَ
[34] But they were not sent as keepers over them.
 فَالْيَوْمَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْ الْكُفَّارِ يَضْحَكُونَ
[35] This day, therefore, it is the believers who will laugh at the disbelievers,
 عَلَى الأَرَائِكِ يَنظُرُونَ
[36] Seated on couches[3296], gazing.
 هَلْ ثُوِّبَ الْكُفَّارُ مَا كَانُوا يَفْعَلُونَ
[37] Are not the disbelievers duly paid for what they did?
3288. There is a Day of Reckoning in the after-life when men shall have to render account of their actions to their Lord and Master, but a day of reckoning also comes upon a people in this very life when their evil doings exceed legitimate bounds and they meet their Nemesis.
3289. Sijjin is wrongly considered by some Commentators of the Qur'an as a non-Arabic word, but according to such eminent authorities as Farra', Zajajj Abu 'Ubaidah and Mubarrad, it is an Arabic word derived from Sajana. Lisan considers it as equivalent to Sijn (prison). Sijjin is a Register or Book in which the record of evil deeds of the wicked is said to be kept in the next world. The word also means, anything hard, vehement and severe; continuous, lasting or everlasting (Lane).
3290. The name Sijjin signifies that the punishment for the wicked disbelievers will be severe and lasting. Or, the verse may mean that the wicked will be kept in a place of disgrace and ignominy and this is an irrevocable decision. Or, Sijjin and 'Illiyyin may be the names of two portions of the Qur'an, the former dealing with the rejectors of the Divine Message and the punishments to be meted out to them, and the latter with the righteous servants of God and the rewards which will be bestowed upon them. Thus the meaning of the verse would be that the verdicts recorded in these two portions cannot be altered or changed.
3291. The sight of God is granted to a believer in two stages. The initial stage is that of belief, when he acquires firm faith in Divine attributes. The second or the higher stage consists in his being granted realization of the Divine Being. The sinners, on account of their sins, will remain deprived of the realization of the Divine Being on the Day of Judgment-they will not see the face of God.
3292. 'Illi'yyun, considered by some to have been derived from 'Ala, which means, it was or became high, signifies the most exalted ranks which the righteous believers will enjoy. According to Mufradat 'Illijyyun are those select righteous believers who will enjoy spiritual precedence over others. The word may also stand for those parts of the Qur'an which contain prophecies about the great progress and prosperity of believers. According to Ibn 'Abbas the word signifies Paradise (Kathir), while Imam Raghib considers it to be the name of the dwellers thereof.
3293. Sijjin, being singular and 'Illi'yyun plural, it appears that while the punishment of evil-doers will be static; i.e., stationary in one place, the spiritual progress of the righteous will be continuous without interruption, assuming different forms. They will go from one rank to another higher rank.
3294. If 'pure beverage' may refer to the Qur'an; Tasnim may be considered as revelations vouchsafed to the chosen ones of God-the righteous followers of the Holy Prophet.
3295. Disbelievers used to laugh in their sleeves at the prophecies about the rapid spread and triumph of Islam, made at a time when it was fighting a seemingly losing battle for its very existence.
3296. The words mean: (1) Seated on the thrones of dignity the believers will witness the sad fate of the arrogant disbelievers; or, (2) seated on the thrones of authority they will administer justice to men; or; (3) they will pay due regard to the needs of others, this also being the meaning of Nazara (Lane).
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