Al-Haqqah الحاقة
The Reality
Al-Haqqah opens by naming the Day of Judgement "the Reality" (al-Haqqah) and asking twice, in quick rhetorical succession, what it is and what could make you know what it is — a construction the Quran uses to signal something beyond ordinary description. It then surveys destroyed peoples as historical proof of God's seizing power: Thamud and 'Ad, destroyed by a screaming, violent wind that left them lying like uprooted palm trunks; Pharaoh and those before him; and the people of Nuh — all overturned, the surah says, so that a remembering ear might retain the lesson. It moves to the Day itself — a single trumpet blast, the earth and mountains crushed to powder, the sky split open, and the same right-hand-or-left-hand division of judgement records used elsewhere, with the right-hand recipient inviting others to read his record joyfully and the left-hand recipient wishing he had never been given it. It closes by defending the Quran's authenticity against the era's stock accusations — it is not a poet's word or a soothsayer's word, but a sent-down revelation from the Lord of the worlds, and had the Prophet ﷺ fabricated sayings against God, his life's vein would have been cut.
ٱلْحَآقَّةُ
The Inevitable Hour!
مَا ٱلْحَآقَّةُ
What is the Inevitable Hour?
وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا ٱلْحَآقَّةُ
What will explain to you what the Inevitable Hour is?
كَذَّبَتْ ثَمُودُ وَعَادٌۢ بِٱلْقَارِعَةِ
The people of Thamud and 'Ad denied that the crashing blow would come:
فَأَمَّا ثَمُودُ فَأُهْلِكُوا۟ بِٱلطَّاغِيَةِ
Thamud was destroyed by a deafening blast;
وَأَمَّا عَادٌ فَأُهْلِكُوا۟ بِرِيحٍ صَرْصَرٍ عَاتِيَةٍ
Ad was destroyed by a furious wind
سَخَّرَهَا عَلَيْهِمْ سَبْعَ لَيَالٍ وَثَمَـٰنِيَةَ أَيَّامٍ حُسُومًا فَتَرَى ٱلْقَوْمَ فِيهَا صَرْعَىٰ كَأَنَّهُمْ أَعْجَازُ نَخْلٍ خَاوِيَةٍ
that God let loose against them for seven consecutive nights, eight consecutive days, so that you could have seen its people lying dead like hollow palm-trunks.
فَهَلْ تَرَىٰ لَهُم مِّنۢ بَاقِيَةٍ
Can you see any trace of them now?
وَجَآءَ فِرْعَوْنُ وَمَن قَبْلَهُۥ وَٱلْمُؤْتَفِكَـٰتُ بِٱلْخَاطِئَةِ
And there came Pharaoh and those before him and the overturned cities with sin.
فَعَصَوْا۟ رَسُولَ رَبِّهِمْ فَأَخَذَهُمْ أَخْذَةً رَّابِيَةً
these people committed grave sins and disobeyed the messenger of their Lord, so He seized them with an ever-tightening grip.
إِنَّا لَمَّا طَغَا ٱلْمَآءُ حَمَلْنَـٰكُمْ فِى ٱلْجَارِيَةِ
But when the Flood rose high, We saved you in the floating ship,
لِنَجْعَلَهَا لَكُمْ تَذْكِرَةً وَتَعِيَهَآ أُذُنٌ وَٰعِيَةٌ
making that event a reminder for you: attentive ears may take heed.
فَإِذَا نُفِخَ فِى ٱلصُّورِ نَفْخَةٌ وَٰحِدَةٌ
When the Trumpet is sounded a single time,
وَحُمِلَتِ ٱلْأَرْضُ وَٱلْجِبَالُ فَدُكَّتَا دَكَّةً وَٰحِدَةً
when the earth and its mountains are raised high and then crushed with a single blow,
فَيَوْمَئِذٍ وَقَعَتِ ٱلْوَاقِعَةُ
on that Day the Great Event will come to pass.
وَٱنشَقَّتِ ٱلسَّمَآءُ فَهِىَ يَوْمَئِذٍ وَاهِيَةٌ
The sky will be torn apart on that Day, it will be so frail.
وَٱلْمَلَكُ عَلَىٰٓ أَرْجَآئِهَا ۚ وَيَحْمِلُ عَرْشَ رَبِّكَ فَوْقَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ ثَمَـٰنِيَةٌ
The angels will be on all sides of it and, on that Day, eight of them will bear the throne of your Lord above them.
يَوْمَئِذٍ تُعْرَضُونَ لَا تَخْفَىٰ مِنكُمْ خَافِيَةٌ
On that Day you will be brought to judgement and none of your secrets will remain hidden.
فَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِىَ كِتَـٰبَهُۥ بِيَمِينِهِۦ فَيَقُولُ هَآؤُمُ ٱقْرَءُوا۟ كِتَـٰبِيَهْ
Anyone who is given his Record in his right hand will say, ‘Here is my Record, read it.
إِنِّى ظَنَنتُ أَنِّى مُلَـٰقٍ حِسَابِيَهْ
I knew I would meet my Reckoning,’
فَهُوَ فِى عِيشَةٍ رَّاضِيَةٍ
and so he will have a pleasant life
فِى جَنَّةٍ عَالِيَةٍ
in a lofty Garden,
قُطُوفُهَا دَانِيَةٌ
with clustered fruit within his reach.
كُلُوا۟ وَٱشْرَبُوا۟ هَنِيٓـًٔۢا بِمَآ أَسْلَفْتُمْ فِى ٱلْأَيَّامِ ٱلْخَالِيَةِ
It will be said, ‘Eat and drink to your heart’s content as a reward for what you have done in days gone by.’
وَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِىَ كِتَـٰبَهُۥ بِشِمَالِهِۦ فَيَقُولُ يَـٰلَيْتَنِى لَمْ أُوتَ كِتَـٰبِيَهْ
But anyone who is given his Record in his left hand will say, ‘If only I had never been given any Record
وَلَمْ أَدْرِ مَا حِسَابِيَهْ
and knew nothing of my Reckoning.
يَـٰلَيْتَهَا كَانَتِ ٱلْقَاضِيَةَ
How I wish death had been the end of me.
مَآ أَغْنَىٰ عَنِّى مَالِيَهْ ۜ
My wealth has been no use to me,
هَلَكَ عَنِّى سُلْطَـٰنِيَهْ
and my power has vanished.’
خُذُوهُ فَغُلُّوهُ
‘Take him, put a collar on him,
ثُمَّ ٱلْجَحِيمَ صَلُّوهُ
lead him to burn in the blazing Fire,
ثُمَّ فِى سِلْسِلَةٍ ذَرْعُهَا سَبْعُونَ ذِرَاعًا فَٱسْلُكُوهُ
and [bind him] in a chain seventy metres long:
إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ لَا يُؤْمِنُ بِٱللَّهِ ٱلْعَظِيمِ
he would not believe in Almighty God,
وَلَا يَحُضُّ عَلَىٰ طَعَامِ ٱلْمِسْكِينِ
he never encouraged feeding the hungry,
فَلَيْسَ لَهُ ٱلْيَوْمَ هَـٰهُنَا حَمِيمٌ
so today he has no real friend here,
وَلَا طَعَامٌ إِلَّا مِنْ غِسْلِينٍ
and the only food he has is the filth
لَّا يَأْكُلُهُۥٓ إِلَّا ٱلْخَـٰطِـُٔونَ
that only sinners eat.’
فَلَآ أُقْسِمُ بِمَا تُبْصِرُونَ
So I swear by what you can see
وَمَا لَا تُبْصِرُونَ
and by what you cannot see:
إِنَّهُۥ لَقَوْلُ رَسُولٍ كَرِيمٍ
this [Quran] is the speech of an honoured messenger,
وَمَا هُوَ بِقَوْلِ شَاعِرٍ ۚ قَلِيلًا مَّا تُؤْمِنُونَ
not the words of a poet- how little you believe!-
وَلَا بِقَوْلِ كَاهِنٍ ۚ قَلِيلًا مَّا تَذَكَّرُونَ
nor the words of a soothsayer- how little you reflect!
تَنزِيلٌ مِّن رَّبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ
This [Quran] is a message sent down from the Lord of the Worlds:
وَلَوْ تَقَوَّلَ عَلَيْنَا بَعْضَ ٱلْأَقَاوِيلِ
if [the Prophet] had attributed some fabrication to Us,
لَأَخَذْنَا مِنْهُ بِٱلْيَمِينِ
We would certainly have seized his right hand
ثُمَّ لَقَطَعْنَا مِنْهُ ٱلْوَتِينَ
and cut off his lifeblood,
فَمَا مِنكُم مِّنْ أَحَدٍ عَنْهُ حَـٰجِزِينَ
and none of you could have defended him.
وَإِنَّهُۥ لَتَذْكِرَةٌ لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ
This [Quran] is a reminder for those who are aware of God.
وَإِنَّا لَنَعْلَمُ أَنَّ مِنكُم مُّكَذِّبِينَ
We know that some of you consider it to be lies-
وَإِنَّهُۥ لَحَسْرَةٌ عَلَى ٱلْكَـٰفِرِينَ
this will be a source of bitter regret for the disbelievers-
وَإِنَّهُۥ لَحَقُّ ٱلْيَقِينِ
but it is in fact the certain Truth.
فَسَبِّحْ بِٱسْمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلْعَظِيمِ
So [Prophet] glorify the name of your Lord, the Almighty.
Arabic text and translation (M.A.S. Abdel Haleem) via the Quran.Foundation API.
Frequently asked
Fifty-two verses.
Meccan, revealed in Makkah.
"The Reality" — one of the Quran's names for the Day of Judgement, emphasizing its certainty over the disbelievers' doubt.
Thamud and 'Ad, destroyed respectively by a violent blast and a screaming wind, along with Pharaoh and the people of Nuh.