In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

1- When the Event will inevitably occur –

2- there is no denying that it will come –

3- it will bring down [some] (khafidah) and raise [others] (rafi?ah) / It will descend (khafidah) and rise (rafi?ah).

4- When Earth is shaken violently,

5- And the mountains are powdered to dust (bassa),

6- So they will become floating dust (haba) particles.

7- You will be (divided into) three groups.

8- The companions of the right hand, who are they?

9- The companions of the left hand, who are they?

10- And the foremost ones (as-sabiqun) will precede (everyone),

11- for they will be the ones brought nearest (muqarrabun) to God,

12- in gardens of bliss.

13- A multitude (thullah) of them will be from the past (generations),

14- and a few from later generations,

15- On well-woven (mawduna) couches,

16- Reclining on them, facing each other (mutaqabilin).

17- Everlasting youths will circle among them

18- with goblets and ewers (abariq) and a cup (ka’s) from a pure spring (ma?in)

19- that causes no headache or intoxication;

20- And whatever fruits (fakihah) they prefer;

21- And the meat of any bird they like;

22- And beautiful companions

23- Like hidden pearls

24- a reward for what they used to do.

25- They will hear no frivolous and sinful talk therein,

26- [but] only clean and wholesome speech.

27- The companions of the right hand; who are they?

28- Among them [are] thornless lote-trees (sidr)

29- and clustered acacia

30- and extended shade,

31- Constantly flowing (maksub) water,

32- abundant fruits

33- [that are] never out of season or forbidden,

34- and raised couches,

35- We have created [for] them something (new)

36- and made them virgins (abkar),

37- Loving, of matching stature,

38- For the companions of the right-hand,

39- many from the past

40- and many from later generations.

41- The companions of the left hand; who are the companions of the left (shimal)?

42- They will dwell amid scorching wind and boiling water,

43- and shadows of black smoke

44- [that are] neither cool nor refreshing.

45- Before, they overindulged in luxury (mutraf),

46- persisted in great sin (hinth),

47- and used to say (kanu ya’qulun): “When we are dead and have become dust and bones, shall we then be raised again,

48- along with our forefathers?”

49- Say [O Muhammad], “The earliest and later generations

50- will all be gathered on a predetermined Day (miqat).

51- You who have gone astray and denied the truth

52- will eat from the bitter tree (shajar) of zaqqum,

53- filling your bellies with it,

54- and drink boiling water (hamim)

55- like thirsty camels.”

56- This will be their welcome on the Day of Judgment.

The Qur’an refers to the Day of Resurrection (Yawm al-Qiyāmah) by a variety of names depending upon the context or to exhibit a particular aspect of it. Here it is referred to as “the Event” (al-Wāqiʿah). God does not invoke this sense of imminence to frighten or threaten people with punishment, butrather to warn them of something that will definitelyhappen.

[56:1] When the Event will inevitably occur –

[56:2] there is no denying that it will come –

[56:3] it will bring down [some] (khāfidah) and raise [others] (rāfiʿah) / It will descend (khāfidah) and rise (rāfiʿah).
It will descend and rise, contract and expand. The majority of commentators have understood “raise” (rāfiʿah) to mean that the Day of Resurrection will cause the righteous to be exalted and elevated, and“bring down” (khāfidah)to indicate that it will make the sinners abased and humiliated. In other words, those who had wealth, status, and power over others in this world will be brought low in the next world, and those who were weak, dispossessed, and maltreated will be ennobled and raised to a position of honor.
But this interpretation does not seem particularly convincing,for it neither fits the verse’s context nor have any relation to the verses immediately before or after it. In addition, these expressions used can be understood in another way. For example, “lowering”in khafd al-janāh (lit. to lower one’s wing) means to show affection and humility. The Qur’an uses it on three separate occasions to enjoin its audience to be dutiful toward one’s parents and kind to the faithful, invoking the image of a bird lowering its wing over its offspring to protect them, as opposed to raisingand then flapping its wings to take flight. In the past, people who were self-effacing and uninterested in showing off, whoconcealed their good deeds and virtues,were known as those who “lowered their wing.” This is the figurative meaning of khafd. Its literal meaning is to draw together and contract, as opposed to spreading out and rising. The effects of this lowering and rising on the Sun are explained in the following verse:

[56:4] When Earth is shaken violently,

[56:5] And the mountains are powdered to dust (bassā),
This event will be so terrible that even the most gigantic boulders will be smashed into powder as fine as flour. When flour is mixed with water or oil and stirredinto a soft paste, the resultant mixture is calledbasīsa. Mountains are usually seen as symbols of greatness, strength, and endurance, and so when we want to emphasize such qualities in persons or things, we compare them to a mountain. However, even these great mountains will be reduced to mere powder on this tremendous day.

[56:6] So they will become floating dust (habā) particles.
Habārefers to fineair-borne particles of dust. When any matter explodes, the resulting fragments, no matter how small, will fall to the ground. However, this particular explosion will be so intense that these mountains will be reduced to dust particles resembling those motes of dust we see when a beam of sunlight shines into a dark and dusty room.
The Qur’an states that the mountains will be “like carded wool” (101:5) and “set in motion” (81:3). Broken down and driven forth, they will collapse into themselves so completely that they will flow just like a river flows. They will be “levelled” all at once“with a single blow”(69:14)and will resemblemassive “dunes of shifting sand” (73:14). In short, it will be as though they had never been joined together as a solid whole.
A minor example of this is the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, a volcano in Washington State thatspewed molten rock as high as 400 meters – this materiallanded as far as fifteen miles away. Now imagine what would happen if the world’s physical order broke down? The Qur’an says that “the seas will be set ablaze on this day” (81:6). We know that a water molecule consists of oxygen and hydrogen, both of which are extremely flammable substances.
The Qur’an says: “When the sun is rolled up, when the stars are dimmed, when the mountains are set in motion …” (81:1-3), and “When the sky is cleft asunder, when the stars are scattered …” (82:1-2). This means that these stars will fall away whenthe gravity holdingthem together like a thread iscut. Meanwhile, chapter 101 states: “The Great Calamity, what is this Calamity?” (101:1-2).
“The Great Calamity” (al-Qāriʿah), from the root Q-R-ʿ (lit. to strike), is another name for the Day of Resurrection. The Qur’an states: “When Earth is shaken violently in its quaking and will discharge her burdens” (99:1-2). Likewise, this chapter compares this day to a sudden and unexpected blow, strike, or explosion. This suggests that volcanic eruptions will eject all ofour planet’s underground molten matter and that,given its vast weight and force, Earth’s surface willbe broken apart. As many as fifteen Qur’anic chapters begin with such expressions and images. Some of thesepassages discuss the ensuing physical changes that will be wrought upon Earth.
But why, one wonders, does God tell us about these terrible events? And why does the Qur’an devote so many verses to such things? Surprisingly, almost half of the verses revealed during the first two years of the Prophet’s mission are about the Day of Resurrection, a concept thatheld no appeal for the pre-Islamic “Age of Ignorance”Arabs and thatapparently was given very little thought. If the Prophet was seeking power and authority over others as well as to enlist followers,as his opponents claimed – as they still do – then why did he not speak about those things inwhich his people were interested? Instead, this concept caused great confusion among them, for it was utterly unfamiliar. How could such a simple and uninformed tribal people possibly comprehend his words when they knew so little of how the cosmos functioned?
It therefore seems obvious thatGod had a special underlying purpose here – to rouse these people from their slumber and capture their attention, just like some movies open with a shocking scene to seize and, most importantly, hold the viewer’s attention. In a similar way, for the first three or four years the Qur’anic discourse focused on the Resurrection to jolt people out of their daily thought patterns, draw their attention away fromtheir everyday routines, and force them to notice what was happening around them.
As we know,those who arepreoccupied with worldly affairs, fettered to material things, and think only about meeting their own needs have neither the time nor the energy to reflect upon or even comprehend monotheism, morality, religion, or prophethood. The purpose of this world only becomes clear when people accept that they are travelers on the long road to eternity and that this life is but a brief, temporary resting place on the way to their real destination.When we ask “How can we prepare ourselves and what is our duty here?” these otherworldly concepts and values acquire a sudden urgency.
The verses dealing with divine unity reached their apex only thirteen years after the emigration to Madinah, whereas the Resurrection was focused on from day one.Monotheism was mentioned – after all, these themes and verses are to a certain extent inseparable from each other – butnot emphasized.The book Siyār-e Taḥavvol-e Qurʾān contains a chart that illustrates the early chapters’ focus on the Resurrection and the later ones’ discussions of divine unity, then stories of past prophets and their nations, and, in the Prophet’s final years, matters of religious law in the form of legal verses (āyāt-ul-ahkām).If this were not the case, Islam’s most foundational teachings (i.e., divine unity andresurrection), would not have been firmly established and the edifice of religion would have beenunsteady. If there is no afterlife, then why should I sacrifice for the less fortunate? If there is no Hereafter, noreward, and no final accounting of the world and its inhabitants, then why should I die for a higher cause?
From a rational and philosophical perspective, on what basis would good be preferable to evil? In fact, what meaning would good and evil even have, andwhy should I choose the former if I could derive some benefit from the latter? Without belief in the Hereafter, there is no genuinely persuasive answer to these questions. If we put the Day of Resurrection and Final Judgement aside, then everything would be permitted. Do we really think that the pressure of man-made laws or our “better nature”could constrain the forces of evil and tyranny? The Qur’an thus opens with the Hereafter and the Day of Resurrection because everything else follows from the fact of their reality.
After this brief digression, we now return to the above-mentioned “descending and rising.” The most common understanding is that on the Day of Resurrection the normal state of affairs will be inverted, forthe downtrodden will be placed overthe powerful. However, paying attention to the entire passage offers a more likely reading, one that connects it to the tremendous physical and material changes taking place. “Descending” refers to contraction, and “rising” refers to expansion. As science has shown, each star dies when its own gravity causes its core to collapse into itself while its outer layers expand outward – in today’s terms, when it becomes a supernova.
Astronomers have argued that the particles dispersed throughout the heavens are constantly moving closer to each other due to the cosmos’ rotation and gradually heating upbecause they are being compressed together. Eventually, they will reach a supercritical density. For example, the Sun’s core temperature of about 15 million degrees centigrade, the result of 500 million tons of hydrogen being converted into helium via nuclear fusion every second. The resultantamount of energy is equivalent to a gigantic nuclear warhead exploding every second. However, the Sun remains stable because the pressure generated by these reactions is countered by the gravity of its own mass.When the star’s reserves of hydrogen (i.e., its fuel) are expended,this gravity initiates the collapse of its core. At the same time, the star’s outer layers begin to expand outward, as if the star is expanding to several thousand times its own size. This all takes place due to the force of an unimaginable explosion, onefully capable of reducingour planet’s mountains to dust. As already mentioned, these prophecies are designed to inform humanity that there is no point to becoming attached to anything here because this world is no more than a temporary place fordoing good deeds and growing in spirituality.

[56:7] You will be (divided into) three groups.

[56:8] The companions of the right hand, who are they?
These are the successful and happy ones, those who are associated with goodness and blessings. It may even be that the political terms “right-wing” and “left-wing” have their origins in this sort of terminology.

[56:9] The companions of the left hand, who are they?
In contrast, these people are associated with failure and bad “luck,”of preparing a wretched life for themselves in the Hereafter. The Qur’an sometimes refers to them as the “companions of the left (shimāl).”

[56:10] And the foremost ones (as-sābiqūn) will precede (everyone),

[56:11] for they will be the ones brought nearest (muqarrabūn) to God,

[56:12] in gardens of bliss.
These “foremost ones”(as-sābiqūn)comprise the first peoplewho believed in monotheism, embraced the divine religion (i.e., the trailblazing prophets and true saints [awliyā]), and led others to that path. They were on the frontlines of the battle between truth and falsehood.Note, however, that “brought near” (muqarrabūn)implies the person’s station in terms of moral refinement and virtue, not his or her physical proximity to God. They are in the gardens of paradise, which are filled with God’s blessings.

[56:13] A multitude (thullah) of them will be from the past (generations),

[56:14] and a few from later generations,
But why should the bulk (thullah) of the muqarrabūn be drawn from the ancients? Is it because the world is slowly declining and there are fewer great godly people among its inhabitants? It appears that long-ago peoples did not have the same ability to understandand accept spiritual truths as we do today. Therefore, it was necessary to send more spiritual guides and moral teachers to guide them to the right path. But this need for the institution of prophethood ended with Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets, who brought God’s final revelation to humanity.

[56:15] On well-woven (mawdūna) couches,
From this verse onward, God describes what has been promised to the inhabitants of paradise. But remember that all verses about paradise and hell are only allegorical or symbolic (mutashābihāt). The Qur’an did not come down in a language specific to revelation, but in the language and vocabulary of that time’s desert-dwelling Arabs. In short, He used the original audience’s everyday language to help its members understand the higher realities Many of theinhabitants of Makkah, Madinah, and other towns who were closer to civilized societies did not always understand the words used and thushad to ask the desert-dwelling Bedouins to clarify them. In fact, the Qur’an’s language and vocabulary is almost entirely that of the simple Bedouins.
As no human words can accurately depict the enjoyments of paradise and the tribulations of hell, allegories are employed to make them intelligible. There is also an additional reason for this approach:If these promises and warnings merely referred to things with which we were already familiar – even if this were done in the best possible way – then how could the Qur’an make the following promise to the righteous: “No one knows what has been kept hidden for them [in paradise] of comfort as a reward for what they used to do” (32:17).
God promises the faithful a paradise “whose breadth is the heavens and Earth” (3:133).People will surely attain in the Hereafter whatever they pursue in this world. However, as theirknowledge and understanding of the world increase, the level of their desires and wants also increase. Many of the things that the Qur’an promises seem to be within easy reach today. However, we should pay attention to the distinction made between their essential and incidental aspects. Dr. Abdolkarem Soroush (b. 1945) has discussed such things in detail in his own writings. The essential aspects are part of the Qur’an’s core meaning and, if absent,would cause its message to be about something other than divine unity or submission, whereas the other things are no more than vessels that convey these realities. This is exactly like a cup for water, which in the past may have been made of clay or wood but is today made of ceramic, glass, or plastic. Of course the only thing that matters is whetherthe cup canhold the water we need to quench our thirst.As regards the Qur’an, one such incidental detail is that it was composed in Arabic. If it had been sent down to another people somewhere else, it would have been revealed in their language. This ishighly significant for our understanding of the imagery employed by the Qur’an to give us even a vague idea of what awaits the faithful in paradise.
The Qur’an says that the muqarrabūn will recline “on well-woven couches.” You might recall that in the past, people would place a raised wooden dais in the corner of a garden and, when they wanted to relax, would spray the garden with water, lay a rug over the dais, and then sit on it while drinking tea, eating fruit, and talking with each other. And so a “couch” (sarīr) can be considered a place where friends gather to rest, relax, and enjoy themselves. We do not need to debate its meaning or think about it in terms of a contemporary couch. “Brocaded” (mawdūna) means something that has been firmly woven together, something strong and stable. Thus the place of the muqarrabūn is steady, firm, and enduring.

[56:16] Reclining on them, facing each other (mutaqābilīn).
Mutaqābilīn means that the atmosphere surrounding them isamicable, friendly, and intimate.

[56:17] Everlasting youths will circle among them
In those days, it was the epitome of comfort and luxury to sit and be served by youths bearing trays of sweets, fruits, and other items. This image is, of course, merely an allusion to the kind of service and luxury that we, who still dwell in this world, cannot even begin to imagine.

[56:18] with goblets and ewers (abārīq) and a cup (ka’s) from a pure spring (maʿīn)
Abārīq(pl.ibrīq) refers to a vessel with a handle and a spout. A kaʾs is a cup that is filled with something to drink, and maʿīn means a flowing spring. Therefore, it seems that this kaʾs min maʿīn is a kind of vessel that is forever refilled, onethat will never be empty of the wine of paradise. In chapter 76 we read“for which they determine a precise measure” (76:16).In a general sense, the container’s physical size as well as the amount of liquid that it can hold are determined by what the drinker did while in this world.

[56:19] that causes no headache or intoxication;
The wine of paradise is not a fermented grape drink that deprives one of his or her self-control or good sense.

[56:20] And whatever fruits (fākihah) they prefer;
Fruits gladden the human being, forfakāhah, derived from the same root as “fruits” (fākihah), means to be glad and cheerful.

[56:21] And the meat of any bird they like;

[56:22] And beautiful companions

[56:23] Like hidden pearls –
All these words – goblets, ewers, cup, fruits, flesh of birds, etc. – appear in the indefinite form to indicate that they are of a variety and a quality unknown to us. At the same time, the indefinite form can be used to magnify something.In this case, it reflects the wondrousness of paradise’s blessings.

[56:24] a reward for what they used to do.
This is the result of their deeds and achievements.

[56:25] They will hear no frivolous and sinful talktherein,

[56:26] [but] only clean and wholesome speech.
It is truly a great blessing for the righteous to be in an environment that is free of vain talk and profane speech. People naturally want to feel an affinity with what they are saying and hearing in a conversation, as opposed to talking with someone who wastes their time and/or drains their energy.
These are all merely glimpses of a world beyond the grasp of the human mind and imagination. We understand that more or less all human beings have these inclinations and needs, for they are not specific to any specifictime or place. Of course some people might assert that such things do not matter to them; however, the rest of us are aware that these are the things we pursue in this life. Given that 99 percent of our energies are expended in satisfying these natural desires, which are deep and instinctive urges within us, why should the Qur’an not invoke them? However, we must always remember that while this language appeals to our nature as human beings, it is ultimately symbolic and contains deeper meanings.
As for the second group:

[56:27] The companions of the right hand; who are they?

[56:28] Among them [are] thornless lote-trees (sidr)
What a wonderful and noble people they are.Asidr or ziziphus tree, whichis specific to warm climates, may grow as tall as forty meters and live for a long time – even, according to some, for two millennia.These trees, which have small leaves, call to mind a tall and shady tree.For the pre-Islamic Arabs, the only problem with this tree was that it had thorns. Apparently,this will not be the case in paradise.

[56:29] and clustered acacia
The acaciatree has long, denselyarranged green leaves.These verses illustrate the different kinds of trees and vegetation found in paradise.

[56:30] and extended shade,
This description confirms what we have alreadysaid above about how the Qur’an reflects the Arabian Peninsula’s environment, geography, and climate and that its core message is revealed in the outer vessel of that specific culture. But if you were to tell people who live in Scandinavia that paradise is full of shady trees, they would reply that this would not suit them because all Scandinavians want to feel the warmth of the Sun.But for the peninsula’s inhabitants, who lived and labored in scorching heat, paradise was a place filled with trees that would provide them with shade evenas the Sun moved across the sky.

[56:31] Constantly flowing (maksūb) water,
Maskūb means water that falls from a height; so, paradise is a garden with a waterfall surrounded by the shade of trees, a placethat contains every imaginable kind of blessing.

[56:32] abundant fruits
Keep in mind that the paradise being described here belongs to the “companions of the right” and is a level beneath that reserved for the muqarrabūn. For the latter, God said “and whatever fruits they prefer,” but here He simply says “abundant fruits.”

[56:33] [that are]never out of season or forbidden,
None of these fruits and blessings are ever exhausted, withheld, or reserved. Notice how all of these descriptions are given in a language that is easy for the Prophet’s contemporaries to understand. Ask yourself if100 years ago even thethought of a device that would let you talk with someone on the other side on the planet without any wires or cables, or that the sender’s signal would leave Earth and be received by the other party in less than a second, would have been possible. Therefore, when it is difficult – if not impossible – for us to conceive of what our own future even in this worldwill be like, what language can God use to do justice to the wonders of paradise?

[56:34] and raised couches,
“Raised” means “valuable.”

[56:35]We have created [for] them something (new)

[56:36] and made forthem virgins (abkār),
This new “something” has been made specifically for this situation. The use of “virgin” (bikr, pl. abkār), which can be applied to both men and women, is significant because it implies that each person has his or her own spouse (male or female). The same is true here in the sense that, in general, everyone has a condition and an environment that belongs only to himself or herself.

[56:37] Loving, of matching stature,
These spouses are mutually compatible, of equal status, and approve of each other.

[56:38] For the companions of the right-hand,

[56:39] many from the past

[56:40] and many from later generations.
All of this applies to the “people of the right-hand,” who consist of a group from the first generations and a group from the later generations. So while the muqarrabūn were more numerous in the earlier generations, the “people of the right-hand”have always been equally numerous.
As for the third group:

[56:41] The companions of the left hand; who are the companions of the left (shimāl)?
These “left-leaning”people are those morally polluted individuals who have corrupted their own selves.

[56:42] They will dwell amid scorching wind and boiling water,
Samūm, whichcomes from the root samm(lit.to penetrate or pierce), is something that penetrates the skin’s pores and thus refers to a scorching wind whose heat penetrates the skin. Poison is calledsamm because it spreads throughout one’s body. Therefore, the “people of the left-hand” live in a placethat offers no protection against this samūm, whose harm and toxicity penetrates to the very core of their being.

[56:43] and shadows of black smoke
This smoke is as thick and as black as tar. They live beneath the shadow cast by the smoke from the fires they lit while they were alive in this world. Ironically, “shadow” alsoalludes to shelter or protection.

[56:44] [that are] neither cool nor refreshing.
This shade has absolutely no benefits, for it neither cools the air nor brings relief.

[56:45] Before, they overindulged in luxury (mutraf),
Mutraf describesan individual whose wealth and happiness have taken away his/her good sense and goaded him/her into arrogance and rebellion. This is not merely someone who is affluent, but whose prosperity and enjoyment of life have led him/her to forget or reject what is true and real and, no doubt, infringe upon the rights of others. So, these people were both wealthy and arrogant.

[56:46] persisted in great sin (hinth),
In addition, they were openly insolent, forhinthliterally means to be false or to violate an oath. Thus the “companions of the left-hand” were extremely corrupt.
To understand this better, consider the following:Perhaps one day someone you love is critically ill in the hospital, possibly close to death. You therefore break the speed limit to get there in time, something you would not normally insist upon doing. In fact, if someone pointed out that you had endangered other drivers, you would probably agree and apologize. But if you felt that you could drive as you please, whether there is an emergency or not,you would be guilty ofhinth – deliberately trampling on the very idea of being subject to the law, which is possibly one of the worst sins a person could commit.
God says to the human being: I blessed you with intellect and made an agreement with you: “Did I not exhort you, O Children of Adam, saying, ‘Do not worship Satan. He is indeed your manifest enemy. Worship Me. That is a straight path’”? (36:60-61).By “Worship Me,” God means that the person accepts the higher truths, willingly pursues godly behavior, and seeks to embody godly attributes. That is the straight path.
The human capacity for perception, thought, and comprehension is like the individual’s signature on this contract. Do you want to break this contract, to knowingly and willfully oppose the truth, to cast aside everything that is good and right, to do away with trust and honesty? Truly, such wants are unreasonable and unjust.

[56:47] and used to say (kānū ya’qūlūn): “When we are dead and have become dust and bones, shall we then be raised again,

[56:48] along with our forefathers?”
“They used to say” indicates that they denied the truth so many times that it became part of who they were. Thinking only of themselves and their interests, they regarded all whom they hurt or the crimes they committed as irrelevant. They would ask, incredulously: “Do you expect us to believe that we and our forefathers will come back to life after we have died?”

[56:49] Say [O Muhammad], “The earliest and later generations

[56:50] will all be gathered on a predeterminedDay (mīqāt).
Interestingly, God uses mīqāt here –which is derived from the same root as this chapter’s name (al-Wāqiʿah) – a word that isalso usedin the context of the hajj:something that occurs at a known place and time. Equally, the Hereafter is a mīqāt because it is the time and place of a meeting that exists in God’s foreknowledge.

[56:51] You who have gone astray and denied the truth

[56:52] will eat from the bitter tree (shajar) of zaqqūm,
Here, God directly addresses the “people of the left-hand”who led themselves and others astray by denying the truth that was sent to them. Previously, we saw how shajarcould refer to something other than a tree, such as a galaxy(55:5-6).In fact, this word can be used to denote any complex system or network. Zaqqūm is something bitter, unpleasant, and stinking. Now, insofar as eating and nutrition cause a person to grow and live andwe do not know exactly what this thing in hell represents, it could be that God has used familiar words as a point of reference to help us understand what they will be eating.

[56:53] filling your bellies with it,
This is an allegory for the illicit gains with which they filled their bellies. The Qur’an says those who consume the property of orphans wrongfully, thereby ingesting fire into their bellies, will soon enter the blazing fire (4:10).Of course this also applies to those “pious” charlatans who distort the divine religions to gain followers and thereby enrich themselves. In reality, the condition described here is nothing butgiving their present lifeitsphysical reality.

[56:54] and drink boiling water (hamīm)

[56:55] like thirsty camels.”

[56:56] This will be their welcome on the Day of Judgment.
They eat so much that they are unable to quench their all-consumingthirst. Hence the Qur’an says that they will fill their bellies by eating zaqqūm and will drink,but nevertheless remain eternally thirsty. Could there be any clearer metaphor for human lust and greed?
This chapter, about three quarters of which concerns the Day of Resurrection, refers to God only as the Lord (Rabb) with the attribute of greatness (ʿazīm). This is no accident, for this chapter describes the great and terrible transformations that will occur at the end of the world.
From verse 57 onward, the Qur’an undertakes to answer those who, in verses 47 and 48, deny the Resurrection and the Hereafter.The ensuing series of arguments seeks to help people understand what these concepts mean.None of these arguments are remotely philosophical, jurisprudential, theological, mystical, or literary. On the contrary, God calls attention tothe very basic, practical phenomena of birth, dust, fire, and water to encourage us to examine our surroundings so that we might begin to comprehend life after death.

Translator: Alexander Hainy (Khaleeli)
Editor: Hamid Mavani