Al-Mursalat المرسلات
Those Sent Forth
Al-Mursalat opens with another chain of oaths sworn on things "sent forth" — read by most commentators as winds or angels, dispatched in succession, scattering and separating, delivering a reminder as excuse or warning — building toward the surah's refrain: "woe that Day to the deniers," repeated ten times across the surah, each time following a different piece of evidence for resurrection and judgement. It moves through the destruction of earlier peoples, man's own creation from a fluid drop, the earth's design as a gathering place for the living and the dead, mountains as firm pegs, and the Day itself when the sky is opened and mountains scattered like dust — each image capped by the same refrain, turning the surah into something closer to a sustained argument built on repetition than a single narrative. It closes by contrasting the deniers' fate in shade of black smoke that neither cools nor benefits with the righteous, settled among shade, springs, and fruit, in gardens they are told to eat and drink in reward for what they used to do.
وَٱلْمُرْسَلَـٰتِ عُرْفًا
By the [winds] sent forth in swift succession,
فَٱلْعَـٰصِفَـٰتِ عَصْفًا
violently storming,
وَٱلنَّـٰشِرَٰتِ نَشْرًا
scattering far and wide,
فَٱلْفَـٰرِقَـٰتِ فَرْقًا
separating forcefully,
فَٱلْمُلْقِيَـٰتِ ذِكْرًا
delivering a reminder,
عُذْرًا أَوْ نُذْرًا
as a proof or a warning:
إِنَّمَا تُوعَدُونَ لَوَٰقِعٌ
what you are promised will come to pass.
فَإِذَا ٱلنُّجُومُ طُمِسَتْ
When the stars are dimmed
وَإِذَا ٱلسَّمَآءُ فُرِجَتْ
and the sky is torn apart,
وَإِذَا ٱلْجِبَالُ نُسِفَتْ
when the mountains are turned to dust
وَإِذَا ٱلرُّسُلُ أُقِّتَتْ
and the messengers given their appointed time––
لِأَىِّ يَوْمٍ أُجِّلَتْ
for what Day has all this been set?
لِيَوْمِ ٱلْفَصْلِ
The Day of Decision.
وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا يَوْمُ ٱلْفَصْلِ
What will explain to you what the Day of Decision is?
وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْمُكَذِّبِينَ
Woe, on that Day, to those who denied the truth!
أَلَمْ نُهْلِكِ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ
Did We not destroy the first [of them]?
ثُمَّ نُتْبِعُهُمُ ٱلْـَٔاخِرِينَ
We shall make the last follow them:
كَذَٰلِكَ نَفْعَلُ بِٱلْمُجْرِمِينَ
this is how We deal with the guilty.
وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْمُكَذِّبِينَ
Woe, on that Day, to those who denied the truth!
أَلَمْ نَخْلُقكُّم مِّن مَّآءٍ مَّهِينٍ
Did We not make you from an underrated fluid
فَجَعَلْنَـٰهُ فِى قَرَارٍ مَّكِينٍ
which We housed in a safe lodging
إِلَىٰ قَدَرٍ مَّعْلُومٍ
for a determined period?
فَقَدَرْنَا فَنِعْمَ ٱلْقَـٰدِرُونَ
We determine [it]: how excellently We determine!
وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْمُكَذِّبِينَ
Woe, on that Day, to those who denied the truth!
أَلَمْ نَجْعَلِ ٱلْأَرْضَ كِفَاتًا
Did We not make the earth a home
أَحْيَآءً وَأَمْوَٰتًا
for the living and the dead?
وَجَعَلْنَا فِيهَا رَوَٰسِىَ شَـٰمِخَـٰتٍ وَأَسْقَيْنَـٰكُم مَّآءً فُرَاتًا
Did We not place firm, lofty mountains on it and provide you with sweet water?
وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْمُكَذِّبِينَ
Woe, on that Day, to those who denied the truth!
ٱنطَلِقُوٓا۟ إِلَىٰ مَا كُنتُم بِهِۦ تُكَذِّبُونَ
They will be told, ‘Go to that which you used to deny!
ٱنطَلِقُوٓا۟ إِلَىٰ ظِلٍّ ذِى ثَلَـٰثِ شُعَبٍ
Go to a shadow of smoke!’ It rises in three columns;
لَّا ظَلِيلٍ وَلَا يُغْنِى مِنَ ٱللَّهَبِ
no shade does it give, nor relief from the flame;
إِنَّهَا تَرْمِى بِشَرَرٍ كَٱلْقَصْرِ
it shoots out sparks as large as treetrunks
كَأَنَّهُۥ جِمَـٰلَتٌ صُفْرٌ
and as bright as copper.
وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْمُكَذِّبِينَ
Woe, on that Day, to those who denied the truth!
هَـٰذَا يَوْمُ لَا يَنطِقُونَ
On that Day they will be speechless,
وَلَا يُؤْذَنُ لَهُمْ فَيَعْتَذِرُونَ
and they will be given no chance to offer any excuses.
وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْمُكَذِّبِينَ
Woe, on that Day, to those who denied the truth!
هَـٰذَا يَوْمُ ٱلْفَصْلِ ۖ جَمَعْنَـٰكُمْ وَٱلْأَوَّلِينَ
[They will be told], ‘This is the Day of Decision: We have gathered you and earlier generations.
فَإِن كَانَ لَكُمْ كَيْدٌ فَكِيدُونِ
If you have any plots against Me, try them now.’
وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْمُكَذِّبِينَ
Woe, on that Day, to those who denied the truth!
إِنَّ ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ فِى ظِلَـٰلٍ وَعُيُونٍ
But those who took heed of God will enjoy cool shade, springs,
وَفَوَٰكِهَ مِمَّا يَشْتَهُونَ
and any fruit they desire;
كُلُوا۟ وَٱشْرَبُوا۟ هَنِيٓـًٔۢا بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ
[they will be told], ‘Eat and drink to your hearts’ content as a reward for your deeds:
إِنَّا كَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِى ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ
this is how We reward those who do good.’
وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْمُكَذِّبِينَ
Woe, on that Day, to those who denied the truth!
كُلُوا۟ وَتَمَتَّعُوا۟ قَلِيلًا إِنَّكُم مُّجْرِمُونَ
[You may] eat and enjoy yourselves for a short while, evildoers that you are.
وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْمُكَذِّبِينَ
Woe, on that Day, to those who denied the truth!
وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ ٱرْكَعُوا۟ لَا يَرْكَعُونَ
When they are told, ‘Bow down in prayer,’ they do not do so.
وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْمُكَذِّبِينَ
Woe, on that Day, to those who denied the truth!
فَبِأَىِّ حَدِيثٍۭ بَعْدَهُۥ يُؤْمِنُونَ
In what revelation, after this, will they believe?
Arabic text and translation (M.A.S. Abdel Haleem) via the Quran.Foundation API.
Frequently asked
Fifty verses.
Meccan, revealed in Makkah.
"Woe that Day to the deniers" (waylun yawma'idhin lil-mukadhibin), repeated ten times through the surah, each time following a fresh piece of evidence for resurrection.
"Those sent forth" — from its opening oath, understood by most commentators as referring to winds or angels dispatched in succession.