Surah At-Takwir

بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

1. 81:1 ▶

   إِذَا ٱلشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ ﴿١﴾

   idha sh-shamsu kuwwirat

   When the sun is wrapped up [in darkness]

2. 81:2 ▶

   وَإِذَا ٱلنُّجُومُ ٱنكَدَرَتْ ﴿٢﴾

   wa'idha n-nujūmu nkadarat

   And when the stars fall, dispersing,

3. 81:3 ▶

   وَإِذَا ٱلْجِبَالُ سُيِّرَتْ ﴿٣﴾

   wa'idha l-jibālu suyyirat

   And when the mountains are removed

4. 81:4 ▶

   وَإِذَا ٱلْعِشَارُ عُطِّلَتْ ﴿٤﴾

   wa'idha l-ʿishāru ʿuṭṭilat

   And when full-term she-camels are neglected

   Those ten months pregnant and nearing delivery. This verse alludes to distraction from the most valued of possessions.

5. 81:5 ▶

   وَإِذَا ٱلْوُحُوشُ حُشِرَتْ ﴿٥﴾

   wa'idha l-wuḥūshu ḥushirat

   And when the wild beasts are gathered

6. 81:6 ▶

   وَإِذَا ٱلْبِحَارُ سُجِّرَتْ ﴿٦﴾

   wa'idha l-biḥāru sujjirat

   And when the seas are filled with flame

   Or "when the seas have overflowed [into each other]."

7. 81:7 ▶

   وَإِذَا ٱلنُّفُوسُ زُوِّجَتْ ﴿٧﴾

   wa'idha n-nufūsu zuwwijat

   And when the souls are paired

   With another like soul. It can also mean "joined" (with their groups or sects).

8. 81:8 ▶

   وَإِذَا ٱلْمَوْءُۥدَةُ سُئِلَتْ ﴿٨﴾

   wa'idha l-maw'ūdatu su'ilat

   And when the girl [who was] buried alive is asked

9. 81:9 ▶

   بِأَىِّ ذَنۢبٍ قُتِلَتْ ﴿٩﴾

   bi'ayyi dhambin qutilat

   For what sin she was killed

10. 81:10 ▶

    وَإِذَا ٱلصُّحُفُ نُشِرَتْ ﴿١٠﴾

    wa'idha ṣ-ṣuḥufu nushirat

    And when the pages are spread [i.e., made public]

    On which are recorded the deeds of all people.

11. 81:11 ▶

    وَإِذَا ٱلسَّمَآءُ كُشِطَتْ ﴿١١﴾

    wa'idha s-samā'u kushiṭat

    And when the sky is stripped away

12. 81:12 ▶

    وَإِذَا ٱلْجَحِيمُ سُعِّرَتْ ﴿١٢﴾

    wa'idha l-jaḥīmu suʿʿirat

    And when Hellfire is set ablaze

13. 81:13 ▶

    وَإِذَا ٱلْجَنَّةُ أُزْلِفَتْ ﴿١٣﴾

    wa'idha l-jannatu 'uzlifat

    And when Paradise is brought near,

14. 81:14 ▶

    عَلِمَتْ نَفْسٌ مَّآ أَحْضَرَتْ ﴿١٤﴾

    ʿalimat nafsum mā 'aḥḍarat

    A soul will [then] know what it has brought [with it].

    i.e., all of one's deeds from worldly life, which have accompanied the soul to the Hereafter.

15. 81:15 ▶

    فَلَآ أُقْسِمُ بِٱلْخُنَّسِ ﴿١٥﴾

    falā 'uqsimu bil-khunnas

    So I swear by the retreating stars -

16. 81:16 ▶

    ٱلْجَوَارِ ٱلْكُنَّسِ ﴿١٦﴾

    al-jawāri l-kunnas

    Those that run [their courses] and disappear [i.e., set]

17. 81:17 ▶

    وَٱلَّيْلِ إِذَا عَسْعَسَ ﴿١٧﴾

    wallayli 'idhā ʿasʿas

    And by the night as it closes in

    An alternative meaning is "as it departs."

18. 81:18 ▶

    وَٱلصُّبْحِ إِذَا تَنَفَّسَ ﴿١٨﴾

    waṣ-ṣubḥi 'idhā tanaffas

    And by the dawn when it breathes [i.e., stirs]

19. 81:19 ▶

    إِنَّهُۥ لَقَوْلُ رَسُولٍ كَرِيمٍ ﴿١٩﴾

    innahū laqawlu rasūlin karīm

    [That] indeed, it [i.e., the Qur’ān] is a word [conveyed by] a noble messenger [i.e., Gabriel]

20. 81:20 ▶

    ذِى قُوَّةٍ عِندَ ذِى ٱلْعَرْشِ مَكِينٍ ﴿٢٠﴾

    dhī quwwatin ʿinda dhi l-ʿarshi makīn

    [Who is] possessed of power and with the Owner of the Throne, secure [in position],

21. 81:21 ▶

    مُّطَاعٍ ثَمَّ أَمِينٍ ﴿٢١﴾

    muṭāʿin thamma 'amīn

    Obeyed there [in the heavens] and trustworthy.

22. 81:22 ▶

    وَمَا صَاحِبُكُم بِمَجْنُونٍ ﴿٢٢﴾

    wamā ṣāḥibukum bimajnūn

    And your companion [i.e., Prophet Muḥammad (ﷺ) ] is not [at all] mad.

    Literally, "possessed by jinn."

23. 81:23 ▶

    وَلَقَدْ رَءَاهُ بِٱلْأُفُقِ ٱلْمُبِينِ ﴿٢٣﴾

    walaqad ra'āhu bil-ufuqi l-mubīn

    And he has already seen him [i.e., Gabriel] in the clear horizon.

    i.e., the eastern horizon, where the sun rises. See footnote to 53:6.

24. 81:24 ▶

    وَمَا هُوَ عَلَى ٱلْغَيْبِ بِضَنِينٍ ﴿٢٤﴾

    wamā huwa ʿala l-ghaybi biḍanīn

    And he [i.e., Muḥammad (ﷺ)] is not a withholder of [knowledge of] the unseen.

    Prophet Muḥammad (ﷺ) did not withhold that knowledge of the unseen which Allāh had revealed to him in the Qur’ān.

25. 81:25 ▶

    وَمَا هُوَ بِقَوْلِ شَيْطَـٰنٍ رَّجِيمٍ ﴿٢٥﴾

    wamā huwa biqawli shayṭānir rajīm

    And it [i.e., the Qur’ān] is not the word of a devil, expelled [from the heavens].

26. 81:26 ▶

    فَأَيْنَ تَذْهَبُونَ ﴿٢٦﴾

    fa'ayna tadhhabūn

    So where are you going?

    In your denial of the Qur’ān and in your accusations against the Prophet (ﷺ). The meaning is essentially "Surely, you have strayed far from Allāh's path."

27. 81:27 ▶

    إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا ذِكْرٌ لِّلْعَـٰلَمِينَ ﴿٢٧﴾

    in huwa 'illā dhikrul lil-ʿālamīn

    It is not except a reminder to the worlds

28. 81:28 ▶

    لِمَن شَآءَ مِنكُمْ أَن يَسْتَقِيمَ ﴿٢٨﴾

    liman shā'a minkum 'ay yastaqīm

    For whoever wills among you to take a right course.

29. 81:29 ▶

    وَمَا تَشَآءُونَ إِلَّآ أَن يَشَآءَ ٱللَّهُ رَبُّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ ﴿٢٩﴾

    wamā tashā'ūna 'illā 'ay yashā'a llāhu rabbu l-ʿālamīn

    And you do not will except that Allāh wills - Lord of the worlds.

In the transliteration, “|”: the reciter stops; “·”: sakt, a brief cut without taking a breath.