Surah Al-Qamar (The Moon)

1. Allah Almighty informs men of the approach of the Hour of Resurrection when life on earth will come to an end. Among the Signs of the approach of the Hour is the cracking of the moon and the disturbance of the universe. Relying on authentic Hadiths, some commentators said that the cleaving asunder of the moon had actually occurred five years before the emigration of the holy Prophet from Makkah to Medina. Anas said that the people of Makkah asked the Prophet to show them a sign, so he showed them the moon divided in two, and they saw the Hira (the mount of Makkah) between the two halves. It is reported that Ibn Mas’oud said that the moon was split in half at the time of the Messenger (peace be upon him), one half being over the mountain and the other behind it. The Prophet said: “Testify to this!” Other commentators say that the moon was not cleft asunder actually and that this event will only occur when Doomsday is near. They say that by speaking of the approach of the Hour and the division of the moon, Allah Almighty uses the past tense to emphasize that the two events are very near.

2. If those who treat your message as a lie see a proof of the truth of your prophecy, they turn away disbelieving and say: “That which we have seen is just a magic spell which Mohammad cast on us, for he practises magic every day.”

3. They denied the Truth when it came to them and followed their passions because of their ignorance and foolishness. Every matter has an appropriate ending, which is consistent with it. The end of those polytheists will be failure and humiliation on earth and eternal punishment in the Hereafter. And you, O Mohammad, you will have victory and superiority.

4. Those polytheists were informed of what happened to the ancient nations who denied their messengers, and how Allah Almighty destroyed them. This information contains an admonition and a determent from idolatry and excessive denial.

5. The news which they received concerning the fate of the ancient denying nations is a perfect wisdom for guiding to the true path those who contemplate and consider. But these warnings are of no benefit to he who is destined to be wretched and whose hearing, heart and eyes Allah has sealed? Who will guide him besides Allah?

6. So turn away from those idolaters, O Mohammad, and do not argue with them for that will be of no use. They have reached such a state of arrogance and stubbornness that they will not be convinced with argument or proof. Wait to see their fate on the Day of account and punishment, which is the Day of Resurrection. It is the Day when the Caller will call them to a terrible thing.

7. When the Caller calls, the unbelievers on that Day will rise from their graves, with their eyes humble and afraid. They will walk and scatter with such rapidity that they will be like locusts dispersed across the horizon.

8. They will follow the Caller hurriedly, without protesting or lagging. They will say to one another (or to themselves): “This is a difficult and a very horrible day.”

9. Before the polytheists among your people, O Mohammad, the people of Noah denied Our servant Noah, and accused him of insanity. They scolded, chided and threatened him, and they said to him: “If you do not desist, O Noah, you will be stoned to death,” as is mentioned in another verse.

10. Noah called out to his Lord: “Lord! my people have overcome me and I am weak and cannot resist them. So help me make Your religion victorious through a punishment from You for their disbelief in You and for treating Your messenger as a liar.”

11. So We sent from the sky an abundant downpour.

12. We commanded the earth to gush forth with springs. Thus, the water from the sky and that from the earth met for a matter decreed by Allah which was to cause a flood to destroy those perverted unbelievers.

13. We delivered Noah and his family and those who believed in him on an ark made of broad wood planks fixed with nails.

14. The ark with those on it floated on the surface of the water under Our care and protection. That was a fair recompense to Noah whose people had treated him as a liar.

15. We have left the incident of the drowning of Noah’s people and the salvation of the messenger and those who believed him on the ark, an admonition for generations to come, so they can see what Allah does to the unbelievers and therefore not follow in their steps. This verse may also mean: Allah Almighty left the ark lying on the ground for a long period of time so people could see it and consider. But is there anyone who will draw a lesson from this great miracle?

16. Allah Almighty threatens those stubborn unbelievers and tells them: “How did you find My punishment to those who disbelieved in Me, treated My messengers as liars and did not take heed of My warning? How did I help my messengers by destroying those stubborn unbelievers? My torment was severe.

17. We have made the Koran easy to understand and to pronounce, so that people can read it, understand it and be warned. But is there any that will receive admonition and turn away from his sins?

18. The people of ‘Ad denied their messenger Hud and what he brought from his Lord, as the people of Noah had done. So how was My punishment for those who disbelieved in Me, denied My messengers and took no heed of My warning? How did I help my messengers and destroy those stubborn unbelievers. My torment was grievous.

19. We sent to ‘Ad, when they exceeded all bounds in their disbelief and tyranny, a violent glacial wind on days of evil omen and ill-luck for them. It blew for seven nights and eight days continuously until they were all destroyed.

20. The wind plucked out the men and threw them down dead like the trunks of palm trees uprooted and thrown down on the ground.

21. Allah Almighty menaces those stubborn unbelievers and tells them: “How did you find My punishment of those who disbelieved in Me, denied My messengers, and did not heed My warning? How did I help my messengers by destroying those stubborn unbelievers? My punishment was severe.

22. We made the Quran easy to understand and to pronounce, so that people can read it, understand it, and be warned. But is there anyone who will receive admonition and turn away from sin?

23. Thamud also denied their messenger Saleh, who came to them to warn them of Allah’s punishment if they insisted on their tyranny and disbelief. He who denies a messenger has denied all messengers.

24. If we follow a man from among ourselves (they said), submit to him as a leader, and believe in what he calls us to, then we have strayed from the straight path and would be totally mad.

25. Has the revelation descended upon him of all people, and has Allah chosen him from among us to be a messenger, while he is but a man from among us and not an angel? How can that be? He is undoubtedly a liar and a transgressor. He wants to have authority over us and dominate us by claiming to be a prophet who has received the revelation from Allah Almighty.

26. Allah Almighty answers those unbelievers threateningly and says: “You will know when the punishment descends upon you tomorrow who is the insolent liar. Is it Saleh, the messenger of Allah, who came with no desire for any compensation or reward or money, calling you to believe in Allah Alone without associates, or is it you, the arrogant unbelievers, who are too haughty to believe the Truth?”

27. We will draw out the she-camel from the rock just as they asked their prophet Saleh, so that it is a Sign for them and a proof of Saleh’s truth, and a test for them. Will they believe in Allah, follow His messenger and abandon their disbelief and sins on earth or will they turn away? Endure patiently their harm until Allah’s order comes to destroy them all and deliver you and the believers with you.

28. Allah Almighty tells His messenger Saleh to inform his people that the water from the well in the city was to be shared between them and the she-camel, a day for the she-camel and a day for the people. Each should come on the day designated for him to take his share of the water. Thus, the she-camel would come one day, and the people the next. (It was said that the animals of the town stayed away from the she-camel and did not approach the water when the she-camel was there. The people found that very difficult for them to accept.)

29. The people of Thamud were tired of this division and wanted to put an end to it. They called the most criminal among them and urged him to kill the she-camel. He carried out this terrible deed and slaughtered the she-camel after having struck her legs and thrown her to the ground.

30. (Allah Almighty warns those stubborn unbelievers and tells them): “How did you find My punishment of those who disbelieved in Me, denied My messengers, and did not take heed of My warning? And how did I help My messengers and destroy those stubborn unbelievers? My punishment was severe.

31. We sent against them a single cry, and they were all destroyed and lay on the ground like dry grass collected by the barn keeper for his sheep.

32. We have made the Quran easy to understand and to pronounce so that people can read it, understand it and be warned. But is there anyone who will receive admonition and cease from committing sins?

33. The people of Lot denied their prophet Lot and what he brought to them concerning the Signs from their Lord and the warning of His punishment.

34. We punished them by unleashing a wind of pebbles on them until they were all destroyed except for Lot’s family. Allah Almighty had commanded them to leave the town by dawn. So they left at the end of the night and were all saved from destruction.

35. Our deliverance of Lot’s family from the destruction that came upon the people was a grace from Us. Thus We reward those who show their appreciation of Our favours by obeying Our laws.

36. Lot warned them that Allah would send against them His wrath and torture if they proceeded with their disbelief and corruption, and rejected what their prophet brought to them. But they did not care for what he told them and they doubted him and persisted in their sins and tyranny.

37. The people of Lot came to him when they heard about his handsome guests, and asked him to turn them over to them so they may commit atrocities with these men. When they insisted, Allah blinded their eyes so they could not see anything, and they went back to their homes unable to see their path. And We told them: “Taste My punishment which I warned you against through My messenger. But you doubted what he said, and you were not admonished.”

38. Early on the morrow, a persistent punishment seized them until they were all destroyed and none was left on the land.

39. So taste the immediate punishment as a reward for your deeds after the warning.

40. We have made the Quran easy to understand and to pronounce so that people can read it, understand it and be warned. But is there anyone who will receive admonition and cease from committing sins?

41. Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh and his people with clear Signs and splendid miracles (they were nine miracles: the hand, the staff, the flood, the grasshoppers, etc.) to warn them if they persisted in their disbelief, tyranny and corruption on earth.

42. They denied all these Signs, so Allah punished them for their tyranny and disbelief. It was a punishment from the All-Powerful, the Invincible, the Irresistible, Who is neither weak nor impotent.

43. Are your unbelievers, O polytheists of Quraish, better than the unbelievers of past generations whom Allah destroyed? Or do you enjoy impunity from Allah that He will not descend upon you His torment? And do you rely on that exemption and are assured by it?

44. Or do those who give associates to Allah say: “We are confident of our strength and the power of our united word. No one can harm us.”

45. Allah Almighty responds to the sayings and arguments of those idolaters and says that they will be defeated and conquered, and they will turn their backs in flight when they meet the believers, the army of Allah. They were badly defeated at the Battle of Badr.

46. The Hour of Resurrection is the promised time when they will receive their recompense. The punishment that will befall them on the Day of Judgement is more grievous and more bitter than the punishment that they see on earth.

47. Those polytheists have strayed from the straight path and do not see the path of guidance on earth. Their fate will be in Hellfire on the Day of Judgement.

48. On Judgement Day, they will be tortured in the Fire. They will be dragged on their faces, and will be told rebukingly: “Suffer the heat of the fire and its pain as a recompense for your disbelief, for treating your Lord’s messengers as liars and denying your Lord’s Message and His Signs.”

49. Allah Almighty advises of His power over His creatures. He says: “We have created all creatures in due proportion and measure according to a perfect wisdom and law which We have placed in the universe.” This is similar to what Allah Almighty says in chapter 25- Al-Furqan (The Criterion), 2: “And He created all things and ordered them in due proportion.” And in an authentic Hadith the Prophet says: “Seek refuge in Allah and do not despair. If a mishap befalls you, say, ‘Allah decreed this and He does what He wills.’ Do not say, ‘If I had done this and that, such and such a thing would have happened,’ for ‘if’ opens the door for the devil.”

50. Allah Almighty speaks of His great power over His creatures and says: “If We will a matter to be We say ‘Be!’ and it is in a twinkling of an eye, without hesitation or delay. Our command does not require any repetition.”

51. O people of Quraish, We have destroyed unbelievers like you among the previous nations and We uprooted them. So is there none among you who will draw a lesson from the punishment and destruction that We sent down upon them, and the humiliation that We ordained for them? Who will turn to his Lord and submit to Him before a similar punishment befall him?

52. Everything they do is noted in the registers which are entrusted into the hands of the noble obeying angels who are in charge of them. They will be accountable for them.
And on the Day of Judgement they will find their registers there so that they are judged according to them.

53. The noble angels do not forget to consign to their registers all their deeds both great and small. When the unbelievers see the register of their deeds on the Day of Judgement, they will say: “Woe to us, this Book has not left out any deed great or small but has taken account of it.” (Allah’s Messenger said to his wife Aisha, may Allah be satisfied with her: “O Aisha! Avoid venial sins as Allah will ask you about them.”) (Reported by Ahmad and Al-Nissa’i).

54. After having spoken of the state of the criminals in the previous verses and of the torture they will receive and how they will be dragged face down to the Fire, Allah Almighty mentions here the state of the righteous and says that the pious believers will be in the gardens of heaven leading a life of ease in leafy shades, where they enjoy tasty foods and sweet drinks and scenes of gushing water and running rivers in Paradise.

55. They will be in an abode honoured by Allah and surrounded by His satisfaction, His consent, His favour, His benevolence and His generosity. They will be with the Great Sovereign Who created everything and made His creation beautiful. He is Omnipotent and nothing incapacitates Him.