And ordained the day for gaining livelihood,
And built above you seven solid2 heavens,
And placed therein a burning lamp;
And we send down water in abundance from the rain-clouds,
That we may bring forth by it corn and herbs,
And gardens thick with trees.
Lo! the day of Severance is fixed;
The day when there shall be a blast on the trumpet, and ye shall come in crowds,
And the heaven shall be opened and be full of portals,
And the mountains shall be set in motion, and melt into thin vapour.
h.e.l.l truly shall be a place of snares,
The home of transgressors,
To abide therein ages;
No coolness shall they taste therein nor any drink,
Save boiling water and running sores;
Meet recompense!
For they looked not forward to their account;
And they gave the lie to our signs, charging them with falsehood;
But we noted and wrote down all:
"Taste this then: and we will give you increase of nought but torment."
But, for the G.o.d-fearing is a blissful abode,
Enclosed gardens and vineyards;
And damsels with swelling b.r.e.a.s.t.s, their peers in age,
And a full cup:
There shall they hear no vain discourse nor any falsehood:
A recompense from thy Lord-sufficing gift!-
Lord of the heavens and of the earth, and of all that between3 them lieth-the G.o.d of Mercy! But not a word shall they obtain from Him.
On the day whereon the Spirit4 and the Angels shall be ranged in order, they shall not speak: save he whom the G.o.d of Mercy shall permit, and who shall say that which is right.
This is the sure day. Whoso then will, let him take the path of return to his Lord.
Verily, we warn you of a chastis.e.m.e.nt close at hand:
The day on which a man shall see the deeds which his hands have sent before him; and when the unbeliever shall say, "Oh! would I were dust!"
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1 Of the Resurrection. With regard to the date of this Sura, we can only be guided (I) by the general style of the earlier portion (to verse 37, which is a.n.a.logous to that of the early Meccan Suras; (2) by verse 17, which pre- supposes lxxvii. 12; (3) by the obviously later style of verse 37 to the end.
2 See Sura ii. 27. This is the t.i.tle given by the Talmudists to the fifth of the seven heavens.
3 This phrase is of constant recurrence in the Talmud. Maimonides, Yad Hach.
i. 3, makes it one of the positive commands of the Rabbins to believe "that there exists a first Being ... and that all things existing, Heaven and Earth, and whatever is between them, exist only through the truth of his existence."
4 Gabriel.
SURA Lx.x.xVIII.-THE OVERSHADOWING [x.x.xVIII.]
MECCA.-26 Verses
In the Name of G.o.d, the Compa.s.sionate, the Merciful
Hath the tidings of the day that shall OVERSHADOW, reached thee?
Downcast on that day shall be the countenances of some,
Travailing and worn,
Burnt at the scorching fire,
Made to drink from a fountain fiercely boiling.
No food shall they have but the fruit of Darih,1
Which shall not fatten, nor appease their hunger.
Joyous too, on that day, the countenances of others,
Well pleased with their labours past,