HAS THERE COME unto thee the tiding of the Overshadowing Event?'*
Some faces will on that Day be downcast,
toiling [under burdens of sin], worn out [by fear],
about to enter a glowing fire,
given to drink from a boiling spring.
No food for them save the bitterness of dry thorns,
which gives no strength and neither stills hunger.*
[And] some faces will on that Day shine with bliss,
well-pleased with [the fruit of] their striving,
in a garden sublime,
wherein thou wilt hear no empty talk.
Countless springs* will flow therein,
[and] there will be thrones [of happiness] raised high,*
and goblets placed ready,
and cushions ranged,
and carpets spread out...
DO, THEN, they [who deny resurrection] never gaze at the clouds pregnant with water, [and observe] how they are created?*
And at the sky, how it is raised aloft?
And at the mountains, how firmly they are reared?
And at the earth, how it is spread out?
And so, [O Prophet,] exhort them; thy task is only to exhort:
thou canst not compel them [to believe].*
However, as for him who turns away, being bent on denying the truth,
him will God cause to suffer the greatest suffering [in the life to come]:
for behold, unto Us will be their return,
and verily, It is for Us to call them to account.