Al-Tur — The Mountain

This chapter delivers an urgent call to mindfulness, presenting a series of rhetorical questions that challenge critics to explain the true origin of the cosmos and the Qur’an if they believe it is a lie. The title is drawn from the first verse, which swears an oath by the mountain (Mount Sinai), where God famously spoke to Moses.

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

1By the mountain,

2By a Scripture inscribed

3In unrolled parchment,

4By the much-visited House,

5By the raised canopy,

6By the ocean ever filled,

7[Prophet], your Lord’s punishment is coming —

8It cannot be put off —

9On the Day when the sky sways back and forth

10And the mountains float away.

11Woe on that Day to those who deny the Truth,

12Who amuse themselves with idle chatter:

13On that Day they will be thrust into the Fire of Hell.

14“This is the Fire you used to deny.

15So is this sorcery? Do you still not see it?

16Burn in it — it makes no difference whether you bear it patiently or not — you are only being repaid for what you have done.”

17Those who were mindful of God are in Gardens and in bliss,

18Rejoicing in their Lord’s gifts: He has saved them from the torment of the Blaze,

19“Eat and drink with healthy enjoyment as a reward for what you have done.”

20They are comfortably seated on couches arranged in rows; We pair them with beautiful-eyed maidens —

21We unite the believers with their offspring who followed them in faith — We do not deny them any of the rewards for their deeds: each person is in pledge for his own deeds —

22We provide them with any fruit or meat they desire.

23They pass around a cup which does not lead to any idle talk or sin.

24Devoted youths like hidden pearls wait on them.

25They turn to one another and say,

26“When we were still with our families [on earth] we used to live in fear —

27God has been gracious to us and saved us from the torment of intense heat —

28We used to pray to Him: He is the Good, the Merciful One.”

29So [Prophet] remind [people]. By the grace of your Lord [Prophet], you are neither oracle nor madman.

30If they say, “He is only a poet: we shall await his fate,”

31Say, “Wait if you wish; I too am waiting” —

32Does their reason really tell them to do this, or are they simply insolent people?

33If they say, “He has made it up himself” — they certainly do not believe —

34Let them produce one like it, if what they say is true.

35Were they created without any agent? Were they the creators?

36Did they create the heavens and the earth? No! They do not have faith.

37Do they possess your Lord’s treasures or have control over them?

38Do they have a ladder to climb, in order to eavesdrop [on Heaven’s secrets]? Let their eavesdropper produce clear proof.

39Does God have daughters while you have sons?

40Do you [Prophet] demand a payment from them that would burden them with debt?

41Do they have [access to] the unseen? Could they write it down?

42Do they think they can ensnare you? It is the disbelievers who have been ensnared.

43Do they really have another god besides God? God is far above anything they set alongside Him.

44Even if they saw a piece of heaven falling down on them, they would say, “Just a heap of clouds,”

45So leave them, Prophet, until they face the Day when they will be thunderstruck,

46The Day when their snares will be of no use to them, when they will get no help.

47Another punishment awaits the evildoers, though most of them do not realize it.

48Wait patiently [Prophet] for your Lord’s judgement: you are under Our watchful eye. Celebrate the praise of your Lord when you rise.

49Glorify Him at night and at the fading of the stars.

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