By the dawn,
And ten nights,
And the even and the odd,
And the night as it journeys on (towards an end).
Is there not in that a solemn oath for one endowed with reason (to reflect upon, so that it may guide him to the truth and keep him away from evils)?
Have you not considered how your Lord dealt with the (tribe of) ‘Ad,
(The people of) Iram with many-columned (i.e. monumental) buildings,
The like of which had not been created in the land?
And with (the tribe of) Thamud, who hewed rocks in the valley (to make dwellings)?
And with the Pharaoh, who had formidable strongholds?
(All of) these rebelled (and transgressed all bounds) in the lands (where they lived);
And increased manifold disorder and corruption therein.
Therefore your Lord let loose on them a scourge of punishment (coming in different forms).
Your Lord is ever on the watch (over human and tests him in the blessings with which He favors him).
And so, human – when his Lord tries him by bestowing favors on him – says: "My Lord has honored me."
But whenever He tries him by straitening his means of livelihood, then he says, "My Lord has humiliated me."
No indeed! You (O people) do not treat the orphan with kindness and generosity;
And do not urge one another to feed the destitute.
And you consume inheritance (belonging to you or others) with greed (without distinction of the lawful and unlawful);
And you love wealth with a boundless ardor for it and for hoarding.
No indeed! When the earth is pounded to dust with pounding after pounding;
And your Lord comes (unveils His Power and Majesty), and the angels in row upon row;
And on that Day Hell is brought (forward); on that Day human will come to understand (what being favored with bounties meant and how he should have responded), but what will that understanding (then) avail him?
He will say: "Would that I had forwarded (some good deeds) for my life (to come)!"
None can punish as He will punish on that Day;
And none can bind as He will bind (on that Day).
(But to the righteous God will say:) "O you soul at rest (content with the truths of faith and God’s commands and His treatment of His creatures)!
"Return to your Lord, well-pleased (with Him and His treatment of you), and well-pleasing to Him.
"Enter, then, among My servants (fully content with servanthood to Me)!
"And enter my Paradise!"