The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

50. QAF
A Meccan sura which deals predominantly with the Resurrection and the Day
of Judgement. Reference is made to previous generations of disbelievers (verses
12–14), both to warn the disbelievers in Mecca and to reassure the Prophet.
Creation is cited as an indication of God’s ability to bring the dead to life again
(verses 3–11), and emphasis is placed on the powerlessness of man on the Day
of Resurrection (verses 20–30). The sura both opens and closes with mention of
the Quran.
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy
1 Qaf
By the glorious Quran! a 2 But the disbelievers are amazed that a
warner has come from among them and they say, ‘How strange! 3 To
come back [to life] after we have died and become dust? That is too
far-fetched.’ 4 We know very well what the earth takes away from
them: We keep a comprehensive record. 5 But the disbelievers deny
the truth when it comes to them; they are in a state of confusion.
6 Do they not see the sky above them––how We have built and
adorned it, with no rifts in it; 7 how We spread out the earth and put
solid mountains on it, and caused every kind of joyous plant to grow
in it, 8 as a lesson and reminder for every servant who turns to God;
9 and how We send blessed water down from the sky and grow with it
gardens, the harvest grain, 10 and tall palm trees laden with clusters
of dates, 11 as a provision for everyone; how with water We give [new]
life to a land that is dead? This is how the dead will emerge [from
their graves]. 12 The people of Noah disbelieved long before these
disbelievers, as did the people of Rass, Thamud, 13 Ad, Pharaoh,
Lot, 14 the Forest-Dwellers, Tubba: all of these people disbelieved
their messengers, and so My warning was realized.
15 So were We incapable of the first creation? No indeed! Yet they
doubt a second creation. 16 We created man––We know what his soul
whispers to him: We are closer to him than his jugular vein––17 with
a That which is sworn––that mankind will be raised from the dead––is omitted but is
evident from the verses that follow (cf. 37: 1; 89: 1–4).