Ali Quli Qarai, The Qur’ān with a Phrase-by-Phrase English Translation (2005)
56. Sūrat al-Wāqi‘ah 1
the All-beneficent, the All-merciful.
1 When the Imminent 2 [Hour] befalls
2 — there is no denying that it will befall —
3 [it will be] lowering, exalting.3
4 When the earth is shaken violently,
5 and the mountains are shattered into bits
6 and become scattered dust,
7 you will be three groups:
8 The People of the Right Hand
— and what are the People of the Right Hand?
9 And the People of the Left Hand
— and what are the People of the Left Hand?
10 And the Foremost Ones are the foremost ones:4
11 they are the ones brought near [to Allah],
12 [who will reside] in the gardens of bliss.
13 A multitude from the former [generations]5
14 and a few from the latter ones.
15 On brocaded couches
16 reclining on them, face to face.
17 They will be waited upon by immortal youths,
1 The sūrah takes its name from verse 1, which mentions al-wāqi‘ah (the Imminent Hour, i.e., the Day of Resurrection).
2 That is, the Day of Resurrection and Judgement.
3 That is, abasing the faithless and raising the faithful in station.
4 Cf. 2:148, 5:48, 23:61, 35:32, 57:21.
5 That is, from the communities of the former prophets.
