81:1
اِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ
When the sun is wrapped up [in darkness]
Surah 81 of 114 · Makkah · Juz 30
Surah At-Takwir
The Overthrowing
التكوير29 ayahs
Revealed in Makkah
Translation: Saheeh International
About Surah At-Takwir
At-Takwir takes its name from its first image, the sun wrapped up and its light folded away. The surah is built in two halves that answer each other. The first is a single long sentence: twelve clauses beginning with when, piling up until the answer arrives at 81:14, that a soul will then know what it has brought with it. The second half turns from the end of the world to the source of the message, and defends both the one who brought it from heaven and the one who received it on earth.
The twelve signs move outward from the sky to the streets: stars scattering, mountains shifted, pregnant she-camels abandoned by their owners, wild beasts herded together, seas set alight, souls paired. Then comes the one that names a human crime rather than a cosmic event. At 81:8 and 81:9 the girl buried alive is asked for what sin she was killed, a reference to the burial of infant daughters practised before Islam, and it is the victim who is questioned, not the killer. The second half swears by the retreating stars, the closing night and the breathing dawn (81:15 to 81:18), then states that the Quran was brought by a noble and trusted messenger, that the man they knew all their lives is not mad, and that this is not the speech of a devil (81:19 to 81:25). At 81:26 it turns on them with a question, so where are you going, and the last three ayahs answer it: this is nothing but a reminder to the worlds, for whoever among them wills to take a right course.
بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِ
81:2
وَاِذَا النُّجُوْمُ انْكَدَرَتْ
And when the stars fall, dispersing,
81:3
وَاِذَا الْجِبَالُ سُیِّرَتْ
And when the mountains are removed
81:4
وَاِذَا الْعِشَارُ عُطِّلَتْ
And when full-term she-camels are neglected
81:5
وَاِذَا الْوُحُوْشُ حُشِرَتْ
And when the wild beasts are gathered
81:6
وَاِذَا الْبِحَارُ سُجِّرَتْ
And when the seas are filled with flame
81:7
وَاِذَا النُّفُوْسُ زُوِّجَتْ
And when the souls are paired
81:8
وَاِذَا الْمَوْءٗدَةُ سُىِٕلَتْ
And when the girl [who was] buried alive is asked
81:9
بِاَیِّ ذَنْۢبٍ قُتِلَتْ
For what sin she was killed
81:10
وَاِذَا الصُّحُفُ نُشِرَتْ
And when the pages are spread [i.e., made public]
81:11
وَاِذَا السَّمَآءُ كُشِطَتْ
And when the sky is stripped away
81:12
وَاِذَا الْجَحِیْمُ سُعِّرَتْ
And when Hellfire is set ablaze
81:13
وَاِذَا الْجَنَّةُ اُزْلِفَتْ
And when Paradise is brought near,
81:14
عَلِمَتْ نَفْسٌ مَّاۤ اَحْضَرَتْ ۟ؕ
A soul will [then] know what it has brought [with it].
81:15
فَلَاۤ اُقْسِمُ بِالْخُنَّسِ
So I swear by the retreating stars -
81:16
الْجَوَارِ الْكُنَّسِ
Those that run [their courses] and disappear [i.e., set]
81:17
وَالَّیْلِ اِذَا عَسْعَسَ
And by the night as it closes in
81:18
وَالصُّبْحِ اِذَا تَنَفَّسَ
And by the dawn when it breathes [i.e., stirs]
81:19
اِنَّهٗ لَقَوْلُ رَسُوْلٍ كَرِیْمٍ
[That] indeed, it [i.e., the Qur’ān] is a word [conveyed by] a noble messenger [i.e., Gabriel]
81:20
ذِیْ قُوَّةٍ عِنْدَ ذِی الْعَرْشِ مَكِیْنٍ
[Who is] possessed of power and with the Owner of the Throne, secure [in position],
81:21
مُّطَاعٍ ثَمَّ اَمِیْنٍ ۟ؕ
Obeyed there [in the heavens] and trustworthy.
81:22
وَمَا صَاحِبُكُمْ بِمَجْنُوْنٍ
And your companion [i.e., Prophet Muḥammad (ﷺ) ] is not [at all] mad.
81:23
وَلَقَدْ رَاٰهُ بِالْاُفُقِ الْمُبِیْنِ
And he has already seen him [i.e., Gabriel] in the clear horizon.
81:24
وَمَا هُوَ عَلَی الْغَیْبِ بِضَنِیْنٍ
And he [i.e., Muḥammad (ﷺ)] is not a withholder of [knowledge of] the unseen.
81:25
وَمَا هُوَ بِقَوْلِ شَیْطٰنٍ رَّجِیْمٍ
And it [i.e., the Qur’ān] is not the word of a devil, expelled [from the heavens].
81:26
فَاَیْنَ تَذْهَبُوْنَ ۟ؕ
So where are you going?
81:27
اِنْ هُوَ اِلَّا ذِكْرٌ لِّلْعٰلَمِیْنَ
It is not except a reminder to the worlds
81:28
لِمَنْ شَآءَ مِنْكُمْ اَنْ یَّسْتَقِیْمَ ۟ؕ
For whoever wills among you to take a right course.
81:29
وَمَا تَشَآءُوْنَ اِلَّاۤ اَنْ یَّشَآءَ اللّٰهُ رَبُّ الْعٰلَمِیْنَ
And you do not will except that Allāh wills - Lord of the worlds.
Surah At-Takwir in the Quran, with the Arabic in IndoPak Nastaleeq, 29 ayahs, translation, word by word meaning and recitation. Recite it offline on your phone with the free Android app.