1. By those winds sent forth in succession, which follow one another like horses following one another –

2. …by the violently gusting blasts – fierce winds;

3. …by the scatterers scattering – winds which spread the rain;

4. …by the winnowers winnowing – ayats of the Qur’an which distinguish the truth from the false and the lawful from the unlawful;

5. …by those hurling a reminder – angels who descend with Revelation to the Prophets and Messengers, who give it to their nations;

6. …excusing (read as ‘udhr and ‘udhur) or warning (read as nudhr or nudhur) from Allah Almighty –

7. …what you, unbelievers of Makka, are promised in terms of Resurrection and Punishment will certainly happen!

8. When the stars are extinguished and their light disappears;

9. …when heaven is split open;

10. …when the mountains are pulverised and become powder, and shift;

11. …when the Messengers’ time is appointed (read as uqqitat and wuqqitat);

12. …until what day is that deferred? That is a terrible day when it is time for nations to testify that the Message was conveyed to them.

13. Until the Day of Decision between creatures, when accounting will take place between them.

14. And what will teach you what the terrifying Day of Decision is?

15. On that promised Day, woe to the deniers!

16. Did We not destroy the earlier peoples for their denial? This means that Allah destroyed them,

17. …then succeed them with later ones who denied and were destroyed? A threat to the unbelievers of Makka.

18. That is how We deal with evildoers who deny and will continue to deal with those who deny in the future: they too will be destroyed.

19. On that Day, woe to the deniers!

20. Did We not create you from a base fluid, sperm,

21. …then place it in a secure repository, the womb,

22. …for a recognised term – until the day of your birth?

23. It is We who determine. What an excellent Determiner We are!

24. On that Day, woe to the deniers!

25. Did We not make the earth a receptacle – using the word kifat, from kafata which means to collect together and gather –

26. …for the living on the surface of the earth and the dead inside the earth?

27. Did We not place firmly embedded mountains in it, soaring high into the air, and give you sweet fresh water to drink?

28. On that Day, woe to the deniers! Then this will be said to the deniers on the Day of Rising.

29. Proceed to that which you denied!

30. Proceed to a shadow – the smoke of Hellfire when it rises – which forks into three because of its immensity,

31. … but gives no shade or protection from the flames: nothing shades people from the heat of that day or defends them from the Fire –

32. … the Fire shooting up great sparks the size of castles – in their size and height –

33. … like a herd of yellow camels (read as jimalat and jimalat). They are “yellow” (sufr) in appearance and colour. In a hadith we find: “The worst of people will be black like pitch.” The Arabs call black camels “yellow” because their blackness is tinged with yellow. It is said that sufr in the ayat means black, for the reason just mentioned; but it is also said that that is not the case.

34. On that Day, woe to the deniers!

35. This is the Day of Resurrection, on which they will not say a single word,

36. …nor will they be allowed to offer any excuses. There is no permission and so there is no offering of excuses.

37. On that Day, woe to the deniers!

38. ‘This is the Day of Decision. We have gathered you, deniers in this community, and the earlier peoples – the deniers before you. All of you will receive your reckoning and be punished.

39. So if you have a ploy, use it against Me now!’ If you have any stratagem by which to evade the punishment, then use it.

40. On that Day, woe to the deniers!

41. The godfearing will be amid shade of dense trees and fountains flowing with water;

42. …and have any fruits that they desire. This tells us that food and drink in the Garden will appear according to people’s desires – which is not the case in this world, where it is generally according to what people find. They will be told:

43. ‘Eat and drink with relish for what you did by way of obedience.

44. This is the way We reward good-doers – the godfearing.’

45. On that Day, woe to the deniers!

46. This is addressed to the unbelievers in this world: ‘Eat and enjoy yourselves for a little while – while you are in this world, until death. This is a threat to them. You are evildoers.’

47. On that Day, woe to the deniers!

48. When they are told to bow, they do not bow. When they are told to pray, they do not pray.

49. On that Day, woe to the deniers!

50. In what discourse after this Qur’an, then, will they believe? They cannot truly believe in other Books of Allah if they deny it, because it has the quality of inimitability which the others do not.