AL DUKHAN (The Smoke)
In the Name of God,1 the Gracious, the Merciful 2
1 Ha Mim.3
2 By the clear book;4
3 We sent it down during a blessed night: for we wish to warn.
4 In it is made distinct every affair of wisdom,
5 By command from our presence. For we send it,
6 As a mercy from your Lord: for he hears and knows all things;
7 The Lord of the heavens and the earth and all between them, if you have an assured faith.
8 There is no god but he: it is he who gives life and gives death, the Lord to you and your earliest ancestors.
9 Yet they play about in doubt.
10 Then watch for the day when the sky will bring forth a kind of smoke plainly visible,
11 Enveloping the people: this will be a penalty grievous.
12 They will say: Our Lord! Remove the penalty from us, for we do really believe!
13 How shall the message be for them, seeing that a messenger explaining things clearly has come to them.
14 Yet they turn away from him and say: Tutored, but a man possessed!
15 We shall indeed remove the penalty for a while, but truly you will revert to your ways.
16 One day we shall seize you with a mighty onslaught. We will indeed exact retribution!
17 We did, before them, try the people of Firaun: there came to them a messenger most honourable,
18 Saying: “Restore to me the servants of God: I am to you a messenger worthy of all trust;
19 “And be not arrogant as against God: for I come to you with clear authority.
20 “For me, I have sought safety with my Lord and your Lord, against your injuring me.
21 “If you believe me not, at least keep yourselves away from me.”
22 Then he cried to his Lord: “These are indeed a people given to sin.”
23 “March forth with my servants by night: for you are sure to be pursued.
24 “And leave the sea as a furrow: for they are a host to be drowned.”
25 How many were the gardens and springs they left behind,
26 And corn fields and noble buildings,
27 And wealth wherein they had taken such delight!
28 Thus we made other people inherit those things!
29 And neither heaven nor earth shed a tear over them: nor were they given a respite.
30 We did deliver aforetime Bani-Israel from humiliating punishment,
31 Inflicted by Firaun, for he was arrogant among inordinate transgressors.
32 And we chose them aforetime above the nations, knowingly,
33 And granted them signs in which there was a clear trial.
34 As to these people, they say:
35 There is nothing beyond our first death, and we shall not be raised again.
36 Bring back our forefathers, if what you say is true!
37 Are they better than the people of Tubba’ and those who were before them? We destroyed them because they were guilty of sin.
38 We created not the heavens, the earth, and all between them, merely in sport:
39 We created them not except for just ends: but most of them do not understand.
40 Truly the day of sorting out is the time appointed for all of them,
41 The day when no protector can avail his client in anything, and no help can they receive,
42 Except such as receive God’s mercy: for he is exalted in might, most merciful.
43 Truly the tree of Zaqqum
44 Will be the food of the sinful,
45 Like molten brass; it will boil in their insides,
46 Like the boiling of scalding water,
47 Seize him and drag him into the midst of the blazing fire!
48 Then pour over his head the penalty of boiling water.
49 Taste this! Truly were you mighty, full of honour!
50 Truly this is what you used to doubt!
51 As to the righteous, they will be in a position of security,
52 Among gardens and springs;
53 Dressed in fine silk and in rich brocade, they will face each other;
54 So it is, and we shall join them to companions with beautiful, big and lustrous eyes.
55 There can they call for every kind of fruit in peace and security;
56 Nor will they there taste death, except the first death; and he will preserve them from the penalty of the blazing fire,
57 As a bounty from your Lord! That will be the supreme achievement!
58 Truly, we have made this easy, in your tongue, in order that they may give heed.
59 So wait and watch; for they are waiting.
- 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. ↩︎ - 44:1 meaning unknown. ↩︎
- 44:2 By the clear book, probably the Taurat being used to swear that the new Quranic verses come from God. ↩︎