Sūrah al-Dhāriyāt

Fierce winds which scatter dust bear witness, then lift the burden of [rain-laden clouds], then glide gently, then distribute matters differently. [They bear witness] and the striped sky too that the scourge you are being threatened with is undeniably certain and reward and punishment is bound to take place.

This is a fact that you are in a state of absolute contradiction. Only he who has lost his senses can evade this threat of Ours. Accursed be those who wildly guess about it, who sleep in neglect, totally unaware. They ask: “When will the Day of Judgement come?” It will come on the day when they will be baked in the fire. Now taste the flavour of your mischief in which you were involved. This is the very thing you had sought to hasten.

However, the righteous on that day will be among orchards and springs, receiving what has been bestowed on them by their Lord. Before this, they were thorough in their deeds. They would sleep very little at night and in its final hours would seek forgiveness [from their Lord,] and in their wealth was a share for those who ask and for the deprived.

[Not only in the winds and the clouds,] for those who want to have conviction there are signs in the earth also and in yourselves too. Do you then not see? And there is in the heavens your sustenance also and that too about which you are being threatened with. Thus, by the Lord of the heavens and the earth, its advent is as certain as the way you speak. (20-23).

[Signs of this also exist in history.] Has the tale of the honoured guests of Abraham reached you? When they came to him, they said: “Peace be to you!” “Peace be to you too,” he answered – “These folks seem to be strangers.” He then secretively went to his family and brought [for them] the roasted meat of a fatted calf and placed it before them. [But they refrained from eating it.] He said: “Why are you people not eating?” Then, [seeing their hesitation,] he felt some fear from them in his heart. “Fear not,” said they and gave him glad tidings of a son blessed with knowledge. Hearing this, his wife came forward in astonishment, smote her forehead, and cried: “An old barren woman will produce a child?” “This is precisely what your Lord has said,” they replied. He is All-Wise and All-Knowing. [Abraham] asked: “Then O Messengers! What at present is your mission?” They replied: “We have been sent to a sinful people so that we may hurl upon them stones of clay, marked by your Lord for those who exceed limits. Then as We evacuated from that settlement all the believers, We found there but one house of those who were Muslims. [Then We unleashed the stones,] and We left in it a great sign [as a lesson] for those who fear a grievous penalty.”

In the tale of Moses also is this very sign when We sent him forth to the Pharaoh with a proof manifest; yet he turned his back in arrogance and cried: “He is a sorcerer or one possessed.” The result of this was that We seized him and his forces and threw them into the sea, and he ended up blameworthy.

And in the tale of the ‘Ād too there is this very sign, when We unleashed on them a devastating dry wind; it reduced to powder everything over which it swept.

And this same sign is in the tale of the Thamūd also when it was said to them: “Enjoy yourselves for a while.” But [even after this warning,] they turned away and defied; so, they were struck by a thunder bolt whilst they looked on. Then they were neither able to get up nor could they save themselves.

Before this, We similarly seized the folks of Noah too. Certainly, they too were a disobedient people.

[Then what is the difficulty for Us to re-create them? Do you not see that] We have built the heavens with Our enormous might, and We have a lot of capacity. And We have spread out the earth; so, how excellently do We spread out! And We have created everything in pairs so that you may receive a reminder; therefore, run towards God. I am from Him an open warner for you. And set up no deity besides God. [When the Day of Judgement comes, none of them will be of avail to you.] I am from Him an open warner [of this fact too].¹

[Rest assured, O Prophet!] This has continued to happen. Whenever a messenger came to their predecessors, they similarly called him: “A sorcerer or one possessed.” Have they been making the same will to one another? No! In fact, they are but a people rebellious; so, ignore them. There is no blame on you now. And keep on reminding because reminding benefits those who believe.

[Leave these rebellious people to themselves now.] I have created the jinn and men only for My worship [and this is what is required of them as well]. I seek no sustenance from them nor do I want that they should feed Me. God Himself is the Provider, the Almighty and the extremely Powerful.

[Give them some respite] because for these wrongdoers also, there is a time fixed like that of their [earlier] companions; so, they should not ask Me to hasten it. For these disbelievers, there is great destruction at last on account of their day of which they are being warned.