سُورَةُ القَارِعَةِ
Surah 101 - Al-Qaari'a
The Calamity
- 11 verses
- Juz 30
- Page 600 of the Mushaf
Al-Qaari'a has eleven verses. It opens on a single word, taken up at once inside a question, then inside a second question left unanswered: three verses that name the day at issue before describing it. The text then gives two comparisons, one for people, one for the mountains. Two opposite cases follow, built on the same turn of phrase: the heavy balance and the light one, each with its outcome. The questioning formula of the third verse returns in the tenth, aimed this time at what awaits the second case, and the last verse answers it in a few words.
The main parts
The text of the surah
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ ٱلْقَارِعَةُ
The Striking Calamity -
مَا ٱلْقَارِعَةُ
What is the Striking Calamity?
وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا ٱلْقَارِعَةُ
And what can make you know what is the Striking Calamity?
يَوْمَ يَكُونُ ٱلنَّاسُ كَٱلْفَرَاشِ ٱلْمَبْثُوثِ
It is the Day when people will be like moths, dispersed,
وَتَكُونُ ٱلْجِبَالُ كَٱلْعِهْنِ ٱلْمَنفُوشِ
And the mountains will be like wool, fluffed up.
فَأَمَّا مَن ثَقُلَتْ مَوَٰزِينُهُۥ
Then as for one whose scales are heavy [with good deeds],
فَهُوَ فِى عِيشَةٍۢ رَّاضِيَةٍۢ
He will be in a pleasant life.
وَأَمَّا مَنْ خَفَّتْ مَوَٰزِينُهُۥ
But as for one whose scales are light,
فَأُمُّهُۥ هَاوِيَةٌۭ
His refuge will be an abyss.
وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا هِيَهْ
And what can make you know what that is?
نَارٌ حَامِيَةٌۢ
It is a Fire, intensely hot.
Key verses of the surah
The verse that opens the description of the day, with a comparison about people; the next gives a second one, about the mountains.
يَوْمَ يَكُونُ ٱلنَّاسُ كَٱلْفَرَاشِ ٱلْمَبْثُوثِ
It is the Day when people will be like moths, dispersed,
The hinge of the text: it leaves the shared scene for each person's case, measured by his balance.
فَأَمَّا مَن ثَقُلَتْ مَوَٰزِينُهُۥ
Then as for one whose scales are heavy [with good deeds],
What is surah Al-Qaari'a about?
Of a day named before it is described, then of two fates that depend on it. It holds two scenes: one where people and mountains lose their shape, another where each person is referred to a weight, heavy or light.
How is surah Al-Qaari'a built?
In four moves: three verses set the word down and leave it hanging, two give comparisons, four set two weights against each other, two close. The same questioning turn serves twice, in verses 3 and 10; surah Al-Humaza uses it too.
What does surah Al-Qaari'a say about the balance?
Verses 6 to 9 set out two cases in the same sentence: the one whose weight is heavy and the one whose weight is light. The text does not say what is weighed; it gives only the result, a pleasant life on one side, an abyss on the other.
How does surah Al-Qaari'a end?
With two verses. The tenth revives the question already asked in the third, but about what awaits the one whose weight is light. The eleventh answers it in a single very short clause, and the surah stops there.
Why is surah Al-Qaari'a called that?
“Al-Qaari'a” names what strikes and resounds all at once; the word is often rendered as “the Striking Calamity”. It is the surah's first word, and it comes back in verses 2 and 3, each time inside a question. It designates the day the text then describes.
How many verses does surah Al-Qaari'a have?
Surah Al-Qaari'a has 11 verses. It stands at number 101 in the order of the Mushaf, which holds 114.
The Arabic text is that of the Mushaf. The summary, the outline and the answers on this page describe the text and how it is built: they are not religious commentary.