AL TAKWIR (The Folding Up)
In the Name of God,1 the Gracious, the Merciful 2
1 When the sun is folded up;
2 When the stars fall, losing their lustre;
3 When the mountains vanish;
4 When the she-camels, ten months with young, are left untended;
5 When the wild beasts are herded together;
6 When the oceans boil over with a swell;
7 When the souls are sorted out;
8 When the female buried alive, is questioned
9 For what crime she was killed;
10 When the scrolls are laid open;
11 When the world on high is unveiled;
12 When the blazing fire is kindled to fierce heat;
13 And when the garden is brought near;
14 Each soul shall know what it has put forward.
15 So truly I call to witness the planets that recede,
16 Go straight, or hide;
17 And the night as it dissipates;
18 And the dawn as it breathes away the darkness;
19 Truly this is the word of a most honourable messenger,
20 Endued with power, with rank before the Lord of the throne,
21 With authority there, faithful to his trust.
22 Your companion is not one possessed;
23 And without doubt he saw him in the clear horizon.
24 Neither does he withhold grudgingly a knowledge of the unseen.
25 Nor is it the word of an evil spirit accursed.
26 Then where are you going?
27 Truly this is no less than a message to the universe:
28 To whomever among you wants to go straight:
29 But you shall not want except what God wills, Lord of the universe.
- God, in Arabic allah, referring to the one true God, as opposed to an idol or “god.” It is the Arabic equivalent of elohim and eloah (Hebrew), alaha (Syriac), and theos (Greek), all of which accurately translate into English as “God.” This translation choice is consistent with respected English Quran translations including those of A. Yusuf Ali (original edition), S.H. Nasr (Study Quran), T.B. Irving, and T. Itani (Clear Quran). ↩︎
- the Gracious, the Merciful, the highlighting of God’s grace and mercy predates the Quran, coming down from the many hundreds of references in the Taurat, Zabur, and Injil. A few samples follow:
Taurat, Exodus 34:6 — …YAHWEH, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness and truth.
Zabur 145:8 — YAHWEH is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great loving kindness.
Taurat, Joel 2:13 — Tear your heart, and not your garments, and turn to YAHWEH your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and relents from sending calamity.
Taurat, Yunus 4:2 — …I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and you relent of doing harm.”
Injil, 1 Timothy 1:2 — …Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and AL-MASIH ‘ISA our Lord.
Injil, Hebrews 4:16 — Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace for help in time of need. ↩︎