The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

a
they will be invited to prostrate themselves
but will be prevented
b
from doing so, 
43and their eyes will be down-
cast and they will be overwhelmed with shame: they were invited to
prostrate themselves when they were safe [but refused].
44So [Prophet] leave those who reject this revelation to Me: We
shall lead them on, step by step, in ways beyond their knowledge; 
45I
will allow them more time, for My plan is powerful. 
46Do you
demand some reward from them that would burden them with debt?
47Do they have knowledge of the unseen that enables them to write it
down? 
48Wait patiently [Prophet] for your Lord’s judgement: do not
be like the man in the whale who called out in distress: 
49if his Lord’s
grace had not reached him, he would have been left, abandoned and
blameworthy, on the barren shore, 
50but his Lord chose him and
a
This is the meaning of the Arabic expression ‘when shins are bared’.
b
Baydawi suggests that this is because the time for obedience is over, or because they
are somehow unable to do so (Tafsir).
The Pen
385
68: 50

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made him one of the Righteous. 
51The disbelievers almost strike you
down with their looks when they hear the Qur
an. They say, ‘He
must be mad!’
52but truly it is nothing other than a Reminder for all
peoples.
The Qur
an
386
68: 51

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69. THE INEVITABLE HOUR
A Meccan sura that describes punishment in this life (verses 
4–12) and the next
(verses 
13–18). The bliss to be enjoyed by the believers is eloquently contrasted
with the torments of hell (verses 
19–37). From verse 38 onwards, God affirms
the Truth of the Qur
an and the Prophet.
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy
1The Inevitable Hour! 2What is the Inevitable Hour? 3What will
explain to you what the Inevitable Hour is?
4The people of Thamud and  Ad denied that the crashing blow
a
would come: 
5Thamud was destroyed by a deafening blast; 6  Ad was
destroyed by a furious wind 
7that God let loose against them for
seven consecutive nights, eight consecutive days, so that you could
have seen its people lying dead like hollow palm-trunks. 
8Can you
see any trace of them now? 
9Pharaoh, too, and those before him, and
the ruined cities: these people committed grave sins and disobeyed
the messenger of their Lord, so He seized them with an ever-
tightening grip. 
10But when the Flood rose high, 11We saved you in
the
floating ship, 12making that event a reminder for you: attentive
ears may take heed.
13When the Trumpet is sounded a single time, 14when the earth
and its mountains are raised high and then crushed with a single
blow, 
15on that Day the Great Event will come to pass. 16The sky will
be torn apart on that Day, it will be so frail. 
17The angels will be on
all sides of it and, on that Day, eight of them will bear the throne of
your Lord above them. 
18On that Day you will be brought to judge-
ment and none of your secrets will remain hidden. 
19Anyone who is
given his Record in his right hand will say, ‘Here is my Record, read
it.
20I knew I would meet my Reckoning,’ 21and so he will have a
pleasant life 
22in a lofty Garden, 23with clustered fruit within his
reach. 
24It will be said, ‘Eat and drink to your heart’s content as a
reward for what you have done in days gone by.’ 
25But anyone who is
given his Record in his left hand will say, ‘If only I had never been
a
Cf. the sura of this name (Sura 
101).

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given any Record 
26and knew nothing of my Reckoning. 27How I
wish death had been the end of me. 
28My wealth has been no use to
me, 
29and my power has vanished.’ 30‘Take him, put a collar on him,
31lead him to burn in the blazing Fire, 32and [bind him] in a chain
seventy metres
a
long: 
33he would not believe in Almighty God, 34he
never encouraged feeding the hungry, 
35so today he has no real
friend here, 
36and the only food he has is the filth 37that only sinners
eat.’
38So I swear by what you can see 39and by what you cannot see:
40this [Quran] is the speech of an honoured messenger, 41not the
words of a poet –
– how little you believe! –
–
42nor the words of a sooth-
sayer –
– how little you re
flect! 43This [Quran] is a message sent down
from the Lord of the Worlds: 
44if [the Prophet] had attributed some
fabrication to Us, 
45We would certainly have seized his right hand
46and cut off his lifeblood,