2
when the stars are dimmed,
3
when the mountains are dissolved,
4
when the ten-month [pregnant] she-camels are left unattended,
5
when the beasts huddle together,
6
when the seas boil over,
7
when the souls are sorted out,
8
when the infant-girl buried alive is asked
9
for what crime she has been slain,
10
when the Scrolls are unrolled,
11
when the sky is uncovered,
12
when Hell is set ablaze,
13
when Paradise approaches,
14
then each soul shall know what her hands have brought forth.
15
I swear by the receding planets,
16
as they rise and as they set,
17
by the night, as it darkens,
18
by the dawn, as it breathes!
19
Verily, this is the Word of a noble Envoy,
20
who has power and eminence in the eyes of the Lord of the Throne.
21
He is obeyed and trusted.
22
Your companion is not demented!
23
He has really seen [the Envoy] on the clear horizon,
24
and he is not cagey about the Unseen.
25
These are not the words of Satan, the stoned one!
26
Then where are you going?
27
Verily, this is but a Warning to the Worlds,
28
to those of you who want to be upright.
29
But you can will only what God wills, the Lord of the Worlds.