OH, THE LAYING-BARE of the truth!

How awesome that laying-bare of the truth!

And what could make thee conceive what that laying-bare of the truth will be?

THE LIE gave [the tribes of] Thamud and ‘Ad to [all tidings of] that sudden calamity!

Now as for the Thamud - they were destroyed by a violent upheaval [of the earth];

and as for the ‘Ad - they were destroyed by a storm wind furiously raging,

which He willed against them for seven nights and eight days without cease, so that in the end thou couldst see those people laid low [in death], as though they were so many [uprooted] trunks of hollow palm trees:

and dost thou now see any remnant of them?

And there was Pharaoh, too, and [many of] those who lived before him, and the cities that were overthrown - [all of them] indulged in sin upon sin

and rebelled against their Sustainer's apostles: and so He took them to task with a punishing grasp exceedingly severe!

[And] behold: when the waters [of Noah's flood] burst beyond all limits, it was We who caused you to be borne [to safety] in that floating ark,

so that We might make all this a [lasting] reminder to you all, and that every wide-awake ear might consciously take it in.

Hence, [bethink yourselves of the Last Hour,] when the trumpet [of judgment] shall be sounded with a single blast,

and the earth and the mountains shall be lifted up and crushed with a single stroke!

And so, that which must come to pass will on that day have come to pass;

and the sky will be rent asunder - for, frail will it have become on that Day -;

and the angels [will appear] at its ends, and, above them, eight will bear aloft on that Day the throne of thy Sustainer’s almightiness…

On that Day you shall be brought to judgment: not [even] the most hidden of your deeds will remain hidden.

Now as for him whose record shall be placed in his right hand, he will exclaim: "Come you all!" Read this my record!

Behold, I did know that [one day] I would have to face my account!

And so he will find himself in a happy state of life,

in a lofty paradise,

with its fruits within easy reach.

[And all who are thus blest will be told:] "Eat and drink with good cheer in return for all [the good deeds] that you have sent ahead in days gone by!"

But as for him whose record shall be placed in his left hand, he will exclaim: "Oh, would that I had never been shown this my record,

and neither known this my account!

Oh, would that this [death of mine] had been the end of me!

Of no avail to me is all that I have [ever] possessed,

[and] all my power of argument has died away from me!"

Thereupon the command will go forth:] "Lay hold of him, and shackle him,

and then let him enter hell,

and then thrust him into a chain [of other sinners like him - a chain] the length whereof is seventy cubits:

for, behold, he did not believe in God, the Tremendous,

and did not feel any urge to feed the needy:

and so, no friend has here today,

nor any food save the filth

which none but the sinners eat!"

BUT NAY! I call to witness an that you can see,

as well as all that you cannot see!

Behold, this [Qur’an] is indeed the [inspired] word of a noble apostle,

and is not – however little you may [be prepared to] believe it - the word of a poet;

and neither is it - however little you may [be prepared to] take it to heart - the word of a soothsayer:

[it is] a revelation from the Sustainer of all the worlds.

Now if he [whom We have entrusted with it] had dared to attribute some [of his own] sayings unto Us,

We would indeed have seized him by his right hand,

and would indeed have cut his life-vein.

and none of you could have saved him!

And, verily, this [Qur’an] is a reminder to all the God-conscious!

And, behold, well do We know that among you are such as will give the lie to it:

yet, behold, this [rejection] will indeed become a source of bitter regret for all who deny the truth [of God's revelation] –

for, verily, it is truth absolute!