An-Naba النبأ
The Announcement
An-Naba opens by naming its own subject directly: the tremendous announcement people are disputing over — resurrection and the Day of Judgement — before turning to the created world as its first evidence: the earth as a resting place, mountains as pegs holding it steady, pairs of male and female, sleep as rest, night as a covering, day for livelihood, seven strong heavens, a blazing lamp, and rain producing grain and lush gardens — ordinary provisions treated as proof that the God who arranged all of this can arrange a Day of Judgement too. The surah then describes that Day in stark procedural terms: a trumpet blast, mountains like scattered wool, hell as an ambush waiting for transgressors who will taste nothing there but scalding water and pus, matched against the successful who receive gardens, vineyards, and cups overflowing. It closes with the Day's central image, a disbeliever wishing he were mere dust rather than face this reckoning — one of the Quran's more visceral single-line closings.
عَمَّ يَتَسَآءَلُونَ
What are they asking about?
عَنِ ٱلنَّبَإِ ٱلْعَظِيمِ
The momentous announcement
ٱلَّذِى هُمْ فِيهِ مُخْتَلِفُونَ
about which they differ.
كَلَّا سَيَعْلَمُونَ
They will find out.
ثُمَّ كَلَّا سَيَعْلَمُونَ
In the end they will find out.
أَلَمْ نَجْعَلِ ٱلْأَرْضَ مِهَـٰدًا
Did We not make the earth smooth,
وَٱلْجِبَالَ أَوْتَادًا
and make the mountains to keep it stable?
وَخَلَقْنَـٰكُمْ أَزْوَٰجًا
Did We not create you in pairs,
وَجَعَلْنَا نَوْمَكُمْ سُبَاتًا
give you sleep for rest,
وَجَعَلْنَا ٱلَّيْلَ لِبَاسًا
the night as a cover,
وَجَعَلْنَا ٱلنَّهَارَ مَعَاشًا
and the day for your livelihood?
وَبَنَيْنَا فَوْقَكُمْ سَبْعًا شِدَادًا
Did We not build seven strong [heavens] above you,
وَجَعَلْنَا سِرَاجًا وَهَّاجًا
and make a blazing lamp?
وَأَنزَلْنَا مِنَ ٱلْمُعْصِرَٰتِ مَآءً ثَجَّاجًا
Did We not send water pouring down from the clouds
لِّنُخْرِجَ بِهِۦ حَبًّا وَنَبَاتًا
to bring forth with it grain, plants,
وَجَنَّـٰتٍ أَلْفَافًا
and luxuriant gardens?
إِنَّ يَوْمَ ٱلْفَصْلِ كَانَ مِيقَـٰتًا
A time has been appointed for the Day of Decision:
يَوْمَ يُنفَخُ فِى ٱلصُّورِ فَتَأْتُونَ أَفْوَاجًا
a Day when the Trumpet will sound and you will come forward in crowds,
وَفُتِحَتِ ٱلسَّمَآءُ فَكَانَتْ أَبْوَٰبًا
when the sky will open up like wide portals,
وَسُيِّرَتِ ٱلْجِبَالُ فَكَانَتْ سَرَابًا
when the mountains will vanish like a mirage.
إِنَّ جَهَنَّمَ كَانَتْ مِرْصَادًا
Hell lies in wait,
لِّلطَّـٰغِينَ مَـَٔابًا
a home for oppressors
لَّـٰبِثِينَ فِيهَآ أَحْقَابًا
to stay in for a long, long time,
لَّا يَذُوقُونَ فِيهَا بَرْدًا وَلَا شَرَابًا
where they will taste no coolness nor drink
إِلَّا حَمِيمًا وَغَسَّاقًا
except one that is scalding and dark––
جَزَآءً وِفَاقًا
a fitting requital,
إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا۟ لَا يَرْجُونَ حِسَابًا
for they did not fear a reckoning,
وَكَذَّبُوا۟ بِـَٔايَـٰتِنَا كِذَّابًا
and they rejected Our messages as lies.
وَكُلَّ شَىْءٍ أَحْصَيْنَـٰهُ كِتَـٰبًا
We have recorded everything in a Record.
فَذُوقُوا۟ فَلَن نَّزِيدَكُمْ إِلَّا عَذَابًا
‘Taste this: all you will get from Us is more torment.’
إِنَّ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ مَفَازًا
For those who were aware of God there is supreme fulfilment:
حَدَآئِقَ وَأَعْنَـٰبًا
private gardens, vineyards,
وَكَوَاعِبَ أَتْرَابًا
nubile, well-matched companions,
وَكَأْسًا دِهَاقًا
and an overflowing cup.
لَّا يَسْمَعُونَ فِيهَا لَغْوًا وَلَا كِذَّٰبًا
There they will hear no vain or lying talk:
جَزَآءً مِّن رَّبِّكَ عَطَآءً حِسَابًا
a reward from your Lord, a fitting gift
رَّبِّ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ۖ لَا يَمْلِكُونَ مِنْهُ خِطَابًا
from the Lord of the heavens and earth and everything between, the Lord of Mercy. They will have no authority from Him to speak.
يَوْمَ يَقُومُ ٱلرُّوحُ وَٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةُ صَفًّا ۖ لَّا يَتَكَلَّمُونَ إِلَّا مَنْ أَذِنَ لَهُ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنُ وَقَالَ صَوَابًا
On the Day when the Spirit and the angels stand in rows, they will not speak except for those to whom the Lord of Mercy gives permission, who will say only what is right.
ذَٰلِكَ ٱلْيَوْمُ ٱلْحَقُّ ۖ فَمَن شَآءَ ٱتَّخَذَ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِۦ مَـَٔابًا
That is the Day of Truth. So whoever wishes to do so should take the path that leads to his Lord.
إِنَّآ أَنذَرْنَـٰكُمْ عَذَابًا قَرِيبًا يَوْمَ يَنظُرُ ٱلْمَرْءُ مَا قَدَّمَتْ يَدَاهُ وَيَقُولُ ٱلْكَافِرُ يَـٰلَيْتَنِى كُنتُ تُرَٰبًۢا
We have warned you of imminent torment, on the Day when every person will see what their own hands have sent ahead for them, when the disbeliever will say, ‘If only I were dust!’
Arabic text and translation (M.A.S. Abdel Haleem) via the Quran.Foundation API.
Frequently asked
Forty verses.
Meccan, revealed in Makkah.
"The announcement" or "the news" — referring to the news of resurrection and the Day of Judgement, which the surah opens by naming as what people dispute over.
The ordinary features of creation — the earth, mountains, pairs of male and female, sleep, day and night, the sky, and rain-fed crops — presented as proof that the same God can bring about the Day of Judgement.