1. When the sun is compacted in blackness – it is wound up and its light disappears;

2. …when the stars go out and fall to the earth in rapid succession;

3. …when the mountains are set in motion and become dust, and vanish from the face of the earth;

4. …when the camels in foal are neglected – when pregnant camels are left without a shepherd or milk camels are left unmilked, when people are in shock because of what is happening. There is no type of property dearer to the Arabs than these;

5. …when the wild beasts are all herded together after the Resurrection so that they can take retaliation from one another before turning to dust;

6. …when the oceans surge (read as sujjirat and sujirat) into each other – when they are mixed and set on fire;

7. …when the souls are arranged into classes – one meaning of this is that it is when they are rejoined to their bodies;

8. …when the baby girl buried alive out of fear of shame and poverty is asked – to rebuke her killer

9. … for what crime she was killed (read as qutilat and quttilat) – she will say, “I was not killed for any crime”;

10. …when the Pages of actions are opened up (read as nushirat and nushirrat);

11. …when the Heaven is peeled away from its place;

12. …when the Fire is set ablaze (read as su‘‘irat and su‘irat);

13. …when the Garden is brought up close to those destined for it so that they may enter it;

14. …then each soul will know what it has done. At the time when these things happen, which is the Day of Rising, every self will know whatever good or evil it has done.

15. No! I swear by the planets with their retrograde motion,

16. …swiftly moving, self-concealing – these are the five planets: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Mercury. “Retrograde” means that they appear to move backwards, in that sometimes you will see a planet at the end of a constellation and then it will go back to the beginning of it. They hide themselves when they go into occultation in various places, at which time they are no longer visible,

17. …and by the night when it draws in – comes with its darkness, or when it withdraws,

18. …and by the dawn when it exhales – expands until it becomes clear daylight!

19. Truly it (the Qur’an) is the speech of a noble Messenger from Allah Almighty. This is a reference to Jibrıl and is ascribed to him because he is the one who brought it down,

20. …possessing great strength, securely placed with the Lord of the Throne – he has a high position before Allah Almighty,

21. …obeyed there, trustworthy. The angels in the heavens obey Jibril and He is entrusted with the Revelation.

22. Your companion is not mad. This is the subject of the earlier oath. Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is not mad as you claim.

23. He (Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace) saw him (Jibril) in the form in which he was created, on the clear horizon – the highest horizon towards the east.

24. Nor is he (Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace) miserly with the Unseen. He does not conceal the Revelation. There are two readings in this ayat: One is danin, meaning he is not miserly in conveying what has been conveyed to him by concealing it. The second is ÷anın, meaning that he does not doubt it.

25. Nor is it (the Qur’an) the word of an accursed Shaytan which he overheard.

26. Where, then, are you going? What path are you travelling in your denial of the Qur’an and turning away from it?

27. It is nothing but a Reminder to all the worlds – to jinn and mankind –

28. …to whoever among you – whether from the jinn or from mankind – wishes to go straight and follow the Truth.

29. But you will not wish to go straight unless Allah wills you to go straight, the Lord of all the Worlds – all creatures.