What is Islam

AL WAQI`AH (The Inevitable).

1 When the Event inevitable Cometh to pass,
2 Then will no (soul) entertain falsehood concerning its coming.
3 (Many) will it bring low; (many) will it exalt;
4 When the earth shall be shaken to its depths,
5 And the mountains shall be crumbled to atoms,
6 Becoming dust scattered abroad,
7 And ye shall be sorted out into three classes.
8 Then (there will be) the Companions of the Right Hand; what will be the Companions of the Right Hand?
9 And the Companions of the Left Hand, what will be the Companions of the Left Hand?
10 And those Foremost (in Faith) will be foremost (in the Hereafter).
11 These will be those Nearest to Allah:
12 In Gardens of Bliss:
13 A number of people from those of old,
14 And a few from those of later times.
15 (They will be) on Thrones encrusted (with gold and precious stones),
16 Reclining on them, facing each other.
17 Round about them will (serve) youths of perpetual (freshness),
18 With goblets, (shining) beakers, and cups (filled) out of Clear flowing fountains:
19 No after ache will they receive therefrom, nor will they suffer intoxication:
20 And with fruits, any that they may select;
21 And the flesh of fowls, any that they may desire.
22 And (there will be) Companions with beautiful, big, and lustrous eyes,
23 Like unto Pearls well guarded.
24 A Reward for the Deeds of their past (Life).
25 No frivolity will they hear therein, nor any taint of ill,
26 Only the saying, Peace! Peace.
27 The companions of the Right Hand, what will be the Companions of the Right Hand?
28 (They will be) among Lote trees without thorns,
29 Among Talh trees with flowers (or fruits) piled one above another,
30 In shade long extended,
31 By water flowing constantly,
32 And fruit in abundance.
33 Whose season is not limited, nor (supply) forbidden,
34 And on Thrones (of Dignity), raised high.
35 We have created (their Companions) of special creation.
36 And made them virgin pure (and undefiled),
37 Beloved (by nature), equal in age,
38 For the Companions of the Right Hand.
39 A (goodly) number from those of old,
40 And a (goodly) number from those of later times.
41 The Companions of the Left Hand, what will be the Companions of the Left Hand?
42 (They will be) in the midst of a fierce Blast of Fire and in Boiling Water,
43 And in the shades of Black Smoke:
44 Nothing (will there be) to refresh, nor to please:
45 For that they were wont to be indulged, before that, in wealth (and luxury),
46 And persisted obstinately in wickedness supreme!
47 And they used to say, What! when we die and become dust and bones, shall we then indeed be raised up again?
48 (We) and our fathers of old?
49 Say: Yea, those of old and those of later times,
50 All will certainly be gathered together for the meeting appointed for a Day well known.
51 Then will ye truly, O ye that go wrong, and treat (Truth) as Falsehood!
52 Ye will surely taste of the Tree of Zaqqum.
53 Then will ye fill your insides therewith,
54 And drink Boiling Water on top of it:
55 Indeed ye shall drink like diseased camels raging with thirst!
56 Such will be their entertainment on the Day of Requital!
57 It is We Who have created you: why will ye not witness the Truth?
58 Do ye then see? The (human Seed) that ye throw out,
59 Is it ye who create it, or are We the Creators?
60 We have decreed Death to be your common lot, and We are not to be frustrated
61 From changing your Forms and creating you (again) in (Forms) that ye know not.
62 And ye certainly know already the first form of creation: why then do ye not celebrate His praises?
63 See ye the seed that ye sow in the ground?
64 Is it ye that cause it to grow, or are We the Cause?
65 Were it Our Will, We could crumble it to dry powder, and ye would be left in wonderment,
66 (Saying), We are indeed left with debts (for nothing):
67 Indeed are we shut out (of the fruits of our labour).
68 See ye the water which ye drink?
69 Do ye bring it Down (in rain) from the Cloud or do We?
70 Were it Our Will, We could make it salt (and unpalatable): then why do ye not give thanks?
71 See ye the Fire which ye kindle?
72 Is it ye who grow the tree which feeds the fire, or do We grow it?
73 We have made it a memorial (of Our handiwork), and an article of comfort and convenience for the denizens of deserts.
74 Then celebrate with praises the name of thy Lord, the Supreme!
75 Furthermore I call to witness the setting of the Stars,
76 And that is indeed a mighty adjuration if ye but knew,
77 That this is indeed a Quran most honourable,
78 In a Book well guarded,
79 Which none shall touch but those who are clean:
80 A Revelation from the Lord of the Worlds.
81 Is it such a Message that ye would hold in light esteem?
82 And have ye made it your livelihood that ye should declare it false?
83 Then why do ye not (intervene) when (the soul of the dying man) reaches the throat,
84 And ye the while (sit) looking on,
85 But We are nearer to him than ye, and yet see not,
86 Then why do ye not, if you are exempt from (future) account,
87 Call back the soul, if ye are true (in your claim of Independence)?
88 Thus, then, if he be of those Nearest to Allah,
89 (There is for him) Rest and Satisfaction, and a Garden of Delights.
90 And if he be of the Companions of the Right Hand,
91 (For him is the salutation), Peace be unto thee, from the Companions of the Right Hand.
92 And if he be of those who treat (Truth) as Falsehood, who go wrong,
93 For him is Entertainment with Boiling Water,
94 And burning in Hell Fire.
95 Verily, this is the Very Truth and Certainty.
96 So celebrate with praises the name of thy Lord, the Supreme.

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Explination of the Surah

Name The Surah takes its name from the word al-waqi'ah of the very first verse. Period of Revelation According to the chronological order that Hadrat Abdullah bin Abbas has given of the Surahs, first Surah Ta Ha was sent down, then Al-Waqi'ah and then Ash-Shuara. The same sequence has been reported from Ikrimah. This is supported also by the story that Ibn Hisham has related from Ibn Ishaq about the affirmation of the Faith by Hadrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). It say's that when Hadarat Umar entered his sister's house, Surah Ta Ha was being recited. Hearing his voice the people of the house hid the pages of the Qur'an. Hadrat Umar first seized his brother-in-law and then his sister rose in defense of her husband, he hit her also and wounded her on the head. When Umar saw blood on his sister, he was sorry for what he had done, and said to her: "Show me the manuscript that you have concealed so that I may see what it contains. " The sister said: "You are unclean because of your polytheism: "Only a clean person can touch it. " So, Hadrat Umar rose and washed himself, and then took up the manuscript to read it. This shows that Sarah Al-Waqi'ah had been sent down by that time for it contains the verse: La yamassu hu ill al mutahharun; and it had been established historically that Hadrat Umar embraced Islam after the first migration to Habash, in the fifth year of the Prophethood. Theme and Subject Matter Its theme is the Hereafter, Tauhid and refutation of the Makkan disbelievers' suspicions about the Qur'an. What they regarded as utterly incredible was that Resurrection would ever take place, then the entire system of the earth and heavens would be upset, and when all the dead would be resurrected and called to account, after which the righteous would be admitted to Paradise and the wicked cast into Hell. They regarded all this as imaginary, which could not possibly happen in actual fact. In answer to this, it was said: "When the inevitable event will take place, there will be none to belie its happening, nor will anyone have the Power to avert it, nor prove it to, be an unreal happening. At that time all peoples will be divided into three classes: (1) The foremost in rank and position; (2) the common righteous people and (3) those who denied the Hereafter and persisted in disbelief and polytheism and major sins till the last. " How these three classes of the people will be rewarded and punished has been described in detail in vv. 7-56. Then, in vv. 57-74 arguments have been given, one after the other, to prove the truth of the two basic doctrines of Islam, which the disbelievers were refusing to accept, viz. the doctrines of Tauhid and the Hereafter. In these arguments, apart from every thing else that exists in the earth and heavens, man's attention has been drawn to his own body and to the food that he eats and to the water that he drinks and to the fire on which he cooks his food, and he has been invited to ponder the question : What right do you have to behave independently of, or serve any other than, the God Whose creative power has brought you into being, and Whose provisions sustain you And how can you entertain the idea that after having once brought you into existence He has become so helpless and powerless that He cannot recreate you once again even if he wills to? Then, in vv. 75-82 their suspicions in respect of the Qur'an have been refuted and they have been made to realize how fortunate they are that instead of deriving any benefit from the great blessing that the Qur'an is, they are treating it with scant attention and have set only this share of theirs in it that they deny it. If one seriously considers this matchless argument that has been presented in two brief sentences about the truth of the Qur'an, one will find in it the same kind of firm and stable system as exists among the stars and planets of the Universe, and the same is the proof of the fact that its Author is the same Being Who has created the Universe. Then the disbelievers have been told that this Book is inscribed in that Writ of Destiny which is beyond the reach of the creatures, as if to say "You think it is brought down by the devils to Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), whereas none but the pure angels has any access to the means by which it reaches Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) from the well guarded Tablet. " In conclusion, man has been warned, as if to say: "You may brad and boast as you like and may shut your eyes to the truths in your arrogance of independence, but death is enough to open your eyes. At death you become helpless: you cannot save your own parents; you cannot save your children; you cannot save your religious guided and beloved leaders. They all die in front of your vary eyes while you look on helplessly. If there is no supreme power ruling over you, and your this assumption is correct that you are all in all in the world, and there is no God, then why don't you restore to the dying person his soul? Just as you are helpless in this, so it is also beyond your power to stop Allah from calling the people to account and mete out rewards and punishments to them. You may or may not believe it, but every dying person will surely see his own end after death. If he belongs to those nearest to God, he will see the good end meant for them if he be from among the righteous, he will see the end prepared for the righteous; and if he be from among the deniers of the truth, he will see the end destined for the criminals.