The Splitting Open

and he shall roast at a Blaze.

When heaven is rent asunder

and gives ear to its Lord, and is fitly disposed;

when earth is stretched out

and casts forth what is in it, and voids itself,

and gives ear to its Lord, and is fitly disposed!

O Man! Thou art labouring unto thy Lord laboriously, and thou shalt encounter Him.

Then as for him who is given his book in his right hand,

he shall surely receive an easy reckoning

and he will return to his family joyfully.

But as for him who is given his book behind his back,

he shall call for destruction

He once lived among his family joyfully;

he surely thought he would never revert.

Yes indeed; his Lord had sight of him.

No! I swear by the twilight

and the night and what it envelops

and the moon when it is at the full,

you shall surely ride stage after stage.

Then what ails them, that they believe not,

and when the Koran is recited to them they do not bow?

Nay, but the unbelievers are crying lies,

and God knows very well what they are secreting.

So give them good tidings of a painful chastisement,

except those that believe, and do righteous deeds -- theirs shall be a wage unfailing.