Islam
Surah Al-Haaqqa (69)"The Reality", 52 verses, revealed in Mecca
Text
The Reality!
What is the Reality?
Ah, what will convey unto thee what the reality is!
(The tribes of) Thamud and A'ad disbelieved in the judgment to come.
As for Thamud, they were destroyed by the lightning.
And as for A'ad, they were destroyed by a fierce roaring wind,
Which He imposed on them for seven long nights and eight long days so that thou mightest have seen men lying overthrown, as they were hollow trunks of palm-trees.
Canst thou (O Muhammad) see any remnant of them?
And Pharaoh and those before him, and the communities that were destroyed, brought error,
And they disobeyed the messenger of their Lord, therefor did He grip them with a tightening grip.
Lo! when the waters rose, We carried you upon the ship
That We might make it a memorial for you, and that remembering ears (that heard the story) might remember.
And when the trumpet shall sound one blast
And the earth with the mountains shall be lifted up and crushed with one crash,
Then, on that day will the Event befall.
And the heaven will split asunder, for that day it will be frail.
And the angels will be on the sides thereof, and eight will uphold the Throne of thy Lord that day, above them.
On that day ye will be exposed; not a secret of you will be hidden.
Then, as for him who is given his record in his right hand, he will say: Take, read my book!
Surely I knew that I should have to meet my reckoning.
Then he will be in blissful state
In a high garden
Whereof the clusters are in easy reach.
(And it will be said unto those therein): Eat and drink at ease for that which ye sent on before you in past days.
But as for him who is given his record in his left hand, he will say: Oh, would that I had not been given my book
And knew not what my reckoning!
Oh, would that it had been death!
My wealth hath not availed me,
My power hath gone from me.
(It will be said): Take him and fetter him
And then expose him to hell-fire
And then insert him in a chain whereof the length is seventy cubits.
Lo! He used not to believe in Allah the Tremendous,
And urged not on the feeding of the wretched.
Therefor hath he no lover here this day,
Nor any food save filth
Which none but sinners eat.
But nay! I swear by all that ye see
And all that ye see not
That it is indeed the speech of an illustrious messenger.
It is not poet's speech - little is it that ye believe!
Nor diviner's speech - little is it that ye remember!
It is a revelation from the Lord of the Worlds.
And if he had invented false sayings concerning Us,
We assuredly had taken him by the right hand
And then severed his life-artery,
And not one of you could have held Us off from him.
And lo! it is a warrant unto those who ward off (evil).
And lo! We know that some among you will deny (it).
And lo! it is indeed an anguish for the disbelievers.
And lo! it is absolute truth.
So glorify the name of thy Tremendous Lord.
English: Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (1930), public domain, via alquran.cloud.
✦ Connected Across Traditions
The Golden Rule
Matthew 7:12
“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.”
Leviticus 19:18
“Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
Mahabharata 5.1517
“One should never do to another what one regards as injurious to oneself.”
Dhammapada 129 (trans. Bhikkhu Sujato)
“All tremble at the rod, all fear death. Treating others like oneself, neither kill nor incite to kill.”
Impermanence & Letting Go
Dhammapada 20:277 (trans. F. Max Müller)
“‘All created things perish,’ he who knows and sees this becomes passive in pain; this is the way to purity.”
Tao Te Ching 76 (trans. James Legge)
“Man at his birth is supple and weak; at his death, firm and strong. (So it is with) all things. Trees and plants, in their early growth, are soft and brittle; at their death, dry and withered.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2 (trans. Edwin Arnold)
“Nay, but as when one layeth His worn-out robes away, And taking new ones, sayeth, "These will I wear to-day!" So putteth by the spirit Lightly its garb of flesh, And passeth to inherit A residence afresh.”
Good vs Evil / Light vs Darkness
Yasna 30:3
“Now the two primal Spirits, who reveal themselves as Twins, are the Better and the Bad, in thought and word and action.”
John 1:5
“And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”
Dhammapada 2 (trans. Bhikkhu Sujato)
“Intention is the leader of things; intention is first, they’re made by intention. If with pure intent you speak or act, happiness follows you like a shadow that never leaves.”
Genesis 1:3
“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”