Surah 37 of 114
سُوْرَةُ الصَّافَّاتِ
As-Saaffaat
Those drawn up in Ranks
By those ˹angels˺ lined up in ranks
and those who diligently drive ˹the clouds˺
and those who recite the Reminder
Surely your God is One
˹He is˺ the Lord of the heavens and the earth and everything in between, and the Lord of all points of sunrise
Indeed, We have adorned the lowest heaven with the stars for decoration
and ˹for˺ protection from every rebellious devil
They cannot listen to the highest assembly ˹of angels˺ for they are pelted from every side
˹fiercely˺ driven away. And they will suffer an everlasting torment
But whoever manages to stealthily eavesdrop is ˹instantly˺ pursued by a piercing flare
So ask them ˹O Prophet˺, which is harder to create: them or other marvels of Our creation? Indeed, We created them from a sticky clay
In fact, you are astonished ˹by their denial˺, while they ridicule ˹you˺
When they are reminded, they are never mindful
And whenever they see a sign, they make fun of it
saying, “This is nothing but pure magic
When we are dead and reduced to dust and bones, will we really be resurrected
And our forefathers as well?”
Say, “Yes! And you will be fully humbled.”
It will only take one Blast, then at once they will see ˹it all˺
They will cry, “Oh, woe to us! This is the Day of Judgment!”
˹They will be told,˺ “This is the Day of ˹Final˺ Decision which you used to deny.”
˹Allah will say to the angels,˺ “Gather ˹all˺ the wrongdoers along with their peers, and whatever they used to worship
instead of Allah, then lead them ˹all˺ to the path of Hell
And detain them, for they must be questioned.”
˹Then they will be asked,˺ “What is the matter with you that you can no longer help each other?”
In fact, on that Day they will be ˹fully˺ submissive
They will turn on each other, throwing blame
The misled will say, “It was you who deluded us away from what is right.”
The misleaders will reply, “No! You disbelieved on your own
We had no authority over you. In fact, you yourselves were a transgressing people
The decree of our Lord has come to pass against us ˹all˺: we will certainly taste ˹the punishment˺
We caused you to deviate, for we ourselves were deviant.”
Surely on that Day they will ˹all˺ share in the punishment
That is certainly how We deal with the wicked
For whenever it was said to them ˹in the world˺, “There is no god ˹worthy of worship˺ except Allah,” they acted arrogantly
and argued, “Should we really abandon our gods for a mad poet?”
In fact, he came with the truth, confirming ˹earlier˺ messengers
You will certainly taste the painful torment
and will only be rewarded for what you used to do
But not the chosen servants of Allah
They will have a known provision
fruits ˹of every type˺. And they will be honoured
in the Gardens of Bliss
facing each other on thrones
A drink ˹of pure wine˺ will be passed around to them from a flowing stream
crystal-white, delicious to drink
It will neither harm ˹them˺, nor will they be intoxicated by it
And with them will be maidens of modest gaze and gorgeous eyes
as if they were pristine pearls
Then they will turn to one another inquisitively
One of them will say, “I once had a companion ˹in the world˺
who used to ask ˹me˺, ‘Do you actually believe ˹in resurrection˺
When we are dead and reduced to dust and bones, will we really be brought to judgment?’”
He will ˹then˺ ask, “Would you care to see ˹his fate˺?”
Then he ˹and the others˺ will look and spot him in the midst of the Hellfire
He will ˹then˺ say, “By Allah! You nearly ruined me
Had it not been for the grace of my Lord, I ˹too˺ would have certainly been among those brought ˹to Hell˺.”
˹Then he will ask his fellow believers,˺ “Can you imagine that we will never die
except our first death, nor be punished ˹like the others˺?”
This is truly the ultimate triumph
For such ˹honour˺ all should strive
Is this ˹bliss˺ a better accommodation or the tree of Zaqqûm
We have surely made it a test for the wrongdoers
Indeed, it is a tree that grows in the depths of Hell
bearing fruit like devils’ heads
The evildoers will certainly ˹be left to˺ eat from it, filling up their bellies with it
Then on top of that they will be given a blend of boiling drink
Then they will ultimately return to ˹their place in˺ Hell
Indeed, they found their forefathers astray
so they rushed in their footsteps
And surely most of the earlier generations had strayed before them
although We had certainly sent warners among them
See then what was the end of those who had been warned
But not the chosen servants of Allah
Indeed, Noah cried out to Us, and how excellent are We in responding
We delivered him and his family from the great distress
and made his descendants the sole survivors
And We blessed him ˹with honourable mention˺ among later generations
“Peace be upon Noah among all peoples.”
Indeed, this is how We reward the good-doers
˹For˺ he was truly one of Our faithful servants
Then We drowned the others
And indeed, one of those who followed his way was Abraham
˹Remember˺ when he came to his Lord with a pure heart
and said to his father and his people, “What are you worshipping
Is it false gods that you desire instead of Allah
What then do you expect from the Lord of all worlds?”
He later looked up to the stars ˹in contemplation˺
then said, “I am really sick.”
So they turned their backs on him and went away
Then he ˹stealthily˺ advanced towards their gods, and said ˹mockingly˺, “Will you not eat ˹your offerings˺
What is wrong with you that you cannot speak?”
Then he swiftly turned on them, striking ˹them˺ with his right hand
Later, his people came rushing towards him ˹furiously˺
He argued, “How can you worship what you carve ˹with your own hands˺
when it is Allah Who created you and whatever you do?”
They said ˹to one another˺, “Build him a furnace and cast him into the blazing fire.”
And so they sought to harm him, but We made them inferior
He later said, “I am leaving ˹in obedience˺ to my Lord. He will guide me
My Lord! Bless me with righteous offspring.”
So We gave him good news of a forbearing son
Then when the boy reached the age to work with him, Abraham said, “O my dear son! I have seen in a dream that I ˹must˺ sacrifice you. So tell me what you think.” He replied, “O my dear father! Do as you are commanded. Allah willing, you will find me steadfast.”
Then when they submitted ˹to Allah’s Will˺, and Abraham laid him on the side of his forehead ˹for sacrifice˺
We called out to him, “O Abraham
You have already fulfilled the vision.” Indeed, this is how We reward the good-doers
That was truly a revealing test
And We ransomed his son with a great sacrifice
and blessed Abraham ˹with honourable mention˺ among later generations
“Peace be upon Abraham.”
This is how We reward the good-doers
He was truly one of Our faithful servants
We ˹later˺ gave him good news of Isaac—a prophet, and one of the righteous
We blessed him and Isaac as well. Some of their descendants did good, while others clearly wronged themselves
And We certainly showed favour to Moses and Aaron
and delivered them and their people from the great distress
We helped them so it was they who prevailed
We gave them the clear Scripture
and guided them to the Straight Path
And We blessed them ˹with honourable mention˺ among later generations
“Peace be upon Moses and Aaron.”
Indeed, this is how We reward the good-doers
They were truly ˹two˺ of Our faithful servants
And Elias was indeed one of the messengers
˹Remember˺ when he said to his people, “Will you not fear ˹Allah˺
Do you call upon ˹the idol of˺ Ba’l and abandon the Best of Creators—
Allah, your Lord and the Lord of your forefathers?”
But they rejected him, so they will certainly be brought ˹for punishment˺
But not the chosen servants of Allah
We blessed him ˹with honourable mention˺ among later generations
“Peace be upon Elias.”
Indeed, this is how We reward the good-doers
He was truly one of Our faithful servants
And Lot was indeed one of the messengers
˹Remember˺ when We delivered him and all of his family
except an old woman, who was one of the doomed
Then We ˹utterly˺ destroyed the rest
You ˹Meccans˺ certainly pass by their ruins day
and night. Will you not then understand
And Jonah was indeed one of the messengers
˹Remember˺ when he fled to the overloaded ship
Then ˹to save it from sinking,˺ he drew straws ˹with other passengers˺. He lost ˹and was thrown overboard˺
Then the whale engulfed him while he was blameworthy
Had he not ˹constantly˺ glorified ˹Allah˺
he would have certainly remained in its belly until the Day of Resurrection
But We cast him onto the open ˹shore˺, ˹totally˺ worn out
and caused a squash plant to grow over him
We ˹later˺ sent him ˹back˺ to ˹his city of˺ at least one hundred thousand people
who then believed ˹in him˺, so We allowed them enjoyment for a while
Ask them ˹O Prophet˺ if your Lord has daughters, while the pagans ˹prefer to˺ have sons
Or ˹ask them˺ if We created the angels as females right before their eyes
Indeed, it is one of their ˹outrageous˺ fabrications to say
“Allah has children.” They are simply liars
Has He chosen daughters over sons
What is the matter with you? How do you judge
Will you not then be mindful
Or do you have ˹any˺ compelling proof
Then bring ˹us˺ your scripture, if what you say is true
They have also established a ˹marital˺ relationship between Him and the jinn. Yet the jinn ˹themselves˺ know well that such people will certainly be brought ˹for punishment˺
Glorified is Allah far above what they claim
But not the chosen servants of Allah
Surely you ˹pagans˺ and whatever ˹idols˺ you worship
can never lure ˹anyone˺ away from Him
except those ˹destined˺ to burn in Hell
˹The angels respond,˺ “There is not one of us without an assigned station ˹of worship˺
We are indeed the ones lined up in ranks ˹for Allah˺
And we are indeed the ones ˹constantly˺ glorifying ˹His praise˺.”
They certainly used to say
“If only we had a Reminder like ˹those of˺ earlier peoples
we would have truly been Allah’s devoted servants.”
But ˹now˺ they reject it, so they will soon know
Our Word has already gone forth to Our servants, the messengers
that they would surely be helped
and that Our forces will certainly prevail
So turn away from the deniers for a while ˹O Prophet˺
You will see ˹what will happen to˺ them, and they too will see
Do they ˹really˺ wish to hasten Our punishment
Yet when it descends upon them: how evil will that morning be for those who had been warned
And turn away from them for a while
You will see, and they too will see
Glorified is your Lord—the Lord of Honour and Power—above what they claim
Peace be upon the messengers
And praise be to Allah—Lord of all worlds