The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

c
50that it was He
who destroyed, in their entirety, ancient 
 Ad 51and Thamud, 52and
before them the people of Noah who were even more unjust
and insolent; 
53that it was He who brought down the ruined cities
54and enveloped them in the punishment He ordained for them?
55Which then of your Lord’s blessings do you
d
deny?
a
The disbelievers claimed that they worshipped their goddesses in order that these
might intercede for them with God, or bring them closer to Him. Cf. 
6: 94; 39: 3.
b
Cf. 
32: 10; 50: 4.
c
The star worshipped by the pagan Arabs.
d
The man who turned away (verse 
33).
The Qur
an
53: 24
348

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56This is a warning just like the warnings sent in former times.
57The imminent Hour draws near 58and only God can disclose it.
59Do you [people] marvel at this? 60Why do you laugh instead of
weeping? 
61Why do you pay no heed? 62Bow down before God and
worship.
The Star
349
53: 62

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54. THE MOON
A Meccan sura dealing mainly with the punishment dealt out to previous
generations of disbelievers. These are presented as a warning to the disbelievers
of Mecca, with the refrain ‘Will anyone take heed?’ running throughout the
sura. Finally the treatment of the disbelievers on the Day of Judgement is
contrasted to the everlasting bliss the believers will enjoy. The title is taken from
verse 
1 and is a reference to the Day of Resurrection.
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy
1The Hour draws near; the moon is split in two.
a
2Whenever the disbelievers see a sign, they turn away and say,
‘Same old sorcery!’ 
3They reject the truth and follow their own
desires –– everything is recorded
b
––
4although warning tales that
should have restrained them have come down to them ––
5far-reaching
wisdom –– but these warnings do not help: 
6so [Prophet] turn away
from them. On the Day the Summoner will summon them to a
horri
fic event, 7eyes downcast, they will come out of their graves like
swarming locusts 
8rushing towards the Summoner. The disbelievers
will cry, ‘This is a stern day!’
9The people of Noah rejected the truth before them: they rejected
Our servant, saying, ‘He is mad!’ Noah was rebuked, 
10and so he
called upon his Lord, ‘I am defeated: help me!’ 
11So We opened the
gates of the sky with torrential water, 
12burst the earth with gushing
springs: the waters met for a preordained purpose.
13We carried him
along on a vessel of planks and nails 
14that floated under Our
watchful eye, a reward for the one who had been rejected. 
15We have
left this
c
as a sign: will anyone take heed? 
16How [terrible] was My
punishment and [the ful
filment of] My warnings! 17We have made it
easy to learn lessons from the Qur
an: will anyone take heed?
a
One of the signs of the Day of Judgement. The Arabic uses the past tense, as if that
Day were already here, to help the reader/listener imagine how it will be. Some trad-
itional commentators hold the view that this describes an actual event at the time of the
Prophet, but it clearly refers to the end of the world: cf. the same expression with
reference to the sky, 
55: 37; 84: 1.
b
Literally ‘
fixed’ in the divine records.