The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

e
who hewed into
the rocks in the valley, 
10and the mighty and powerful
f
Pharaoh?
11All of them committed excesses in their lands, 12and spread cor-
ruption there: 
13your Lord let a scourge of punishment loose on
them.
14Your Lord is always watchful.
15[The nature of] man
g
is that, when his Lord tries him through
honour and blessings, he says, ‘My Lord has honoured me,’ 
16but
when He tries him through the restriction of his provision, he says,
‘My Lord has humiliated me.’ 
17No indeed! You [people] do not
honour orphans, 
18you do not urge one another to feed the poor,
a
This refers to the 
first ten nights of the month of Dhu ’l-Hijjah, sacred before and
after the Prophet’s time, which culminate in the Hajj pilgrimage.
b
This has been interpreted in many ways: as a reference to numbers (as translated
here); or e.g. as the multiple (God’s creation) and the One (God Himself).
c
The complement of this oath is left unmentioned, to be understood from what
follows. The commentators use this to complete the oath with ‘they will be punished’
based on the context of what follows. The omission reinforces the oath, as one has to
think more carefully in order to grasp it, a device known in Arabic rhetoric as hadhf
al-jawab (cf. 
38: 1; 50: 1).
d
See
26: 123 ff.
e
See
26: 141 ff.
f
Dhu’l-awtad, ‘of the stakes’, is explained as a Bedouin expression conveying
strength and power. Another interpretation is that Pharaoh used stakes as implements of
torture.
g
Insan ‘man’ occurs sixty-
five times in the Quran. It applies to both men and
women, as of course does the generic ‘man’ in English.
(
420)

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19you consume inheritance
a
greedily, 
20and you love wealth with a
passion. 
21No indeed! When the earth is pounded to dust, pounded
and pounded, 
22when your Lord comes with the angels, rank upon
rank, 
23when Hell is that Day brought near–– on that Day man will
take heed, but what good will that be to him then? 
24He will say,
‘Would that I had provided for this life to come!’
25On that Day, no
one will punish as He punishes, 
26and no one will bind as He binds.
27‘[But] you, soul at peace:
b
28return to your Lord well pleased and
well pleasing; 
29go in among My servants; 30and into My Garden.’
a
This could refer to the inheritance of orphans (see 
4: 2 and 4: 10) or inheritance
generally.
b
At peace through remembering God in this life and the next (cf. 
13: 28), unlike the
disbeliever who only takes heed on the Day of Judgement, when it will not bene
fit him.
There is iltifat here: the sinners are mentioned in the third person while the honoured
are addressed directly by their Lord.
421
89: 30
Daybreak

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90. THE CITY
Revealed in Mecca. The point of this sura is that man is created to work and
be judged. He should therefore seek to do good deeds rather than indulge in
arrogance and wastefulness.
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy
1I swear by this city
a
––
2and you [Prophet] are an inhabitant
b
of this
city ––
3[I swear] by parent and offspring, 4that We have created man
for toil and trial. 
5Does he think that no one will have power over
him?
6‘I have squandered great wealth,’ he says. 7Does he think no
one observes him? 
8Did We not give him eyes, 9a tongue, lips, 10and
point out to him the two clear ways [of good and evil]? 
11Yet he has
not attempted the steep path. 
12What will explain to you what the
steep path is? 
13It is to free a slave, 14to feed at a time of hunger 15an
orphaned relative 
16or a poor person in distress, 17and to be one of
those who believe and urge one another to steadfastness and compas-
sion. 
18Those who do this will be on the right-hand side, 19but those
who disbelieve in Our revelations will be on the left-hand side, 
20and
the Fire will close in on them.