سُورَةُ النَّازِعَاتِ
Surah 79 - An-Naazi'aat
Those who drag forth
- 46 verses
- Juz 30
- Pages 583 to 584 of the Mushaf
An-Naazi'aat opens on five linked oaths, sworn by agents the text names by their action alone. Then comes the day of the quaking, announced by two soundings: hearts beat hard, eyes are lowered, and an objection is heard, that of returning to life once the bones have crumbled. The answer holds in a single summons. The text turns next to Moses, sent to Pharaoh from the hallowed valley of Tuwa, up to the proclamation in which Pharaoh gives himself out as the highest lord, and up to his seizure. The sky built, the earth spread, the mountains anchored follow, then the upheaval and two opposed refuges. The surah ends on a question about the Hour, and on an answer that hands it back to the Lord alone.
The main parts
The text of the surah
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ وَٱلنَّٰزِعَٰتِ غَرْقًۭا
By those [angels] who extract with violence
وَٱلنَّٰشِطَٰتِ نَشْطًۭا
And [by] those who remove with ease
وَٱلسَّٰبِحَٰتِ سَبْحًۭا
And [by] those who glide [as if] swimming
فَٱلسَّٰبِقَٰتِ سَبْقًۭا
And those who race each other in a race
فَٱلْمُدَبِّرَٰتِ أَمْرًۭا
And those who arrange [each] matter,
يَوْمَ تَرْجُفُ ٱلرَّاجِفَةُ
On the Day the blast [of the Horn] will convulse [creation],
تَتْبَعُهَا ٱلرَّادِفَةُ
There will follow it the subsequent [one].
قُلُوبٌۭ يَوْمَئِذٍۢ وَاجِفَةٌ
Hearts, that Day, will tremble,
أَبْصَٰرُهَا خَٰشِعَةٌۭ
Their eyes humbled.
يَقُولُونَ أَءِنَّا لَمَرْدُودُونَ فِى ٱلْحَافِرَةِ
They are [presently] saying, "Will we indeed be returned to [our] former state [of life]?
أَءِذَا كُنَّا عِظَٰمًۭا نَّخِرَةًۭ
Even if we should be decayed bones?
قَالُوا۟ تِلْكَ إِذًۭا كَرَّةٌ خَاسِرَةٌۭ
They say, "That, then, would be a losing return."
فَإِنَّمَا هِىَ زَجْرَةٌۭ وَٰحِدَةٌۭ
Indeed, it will be but one shout,
فَإِذَا هُم بِٱلسَّاهِرَةِ
And suddenly they will be [alert] upon the earth's surface.
هَلْ أَتَىٰكَ حَدِيثُ مُوسَىٰٓ
Has there reached you the story of Moses? -
إِذْ نَادَىٰهُ رَبُّهُۥ بِٱلْوَادِ ٱلْمُقَدَّسِ طُوًى
When his Lord called to him in the sacred valley of Tuwa,
ٱذْهَبْ إِلَىٰ فِرْعَوْنَ إِنَّهُۥ طَغَىٰ
"Go to Pharaoh. Indeed, he has transgressed.
فَقُلْ هَل لَّكَ إِلَىٰٓ أَن تَزَكَّىٰ
And say to him, 'Would you [be willing to] purify yourself
وَأَهْدِيَكَ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ فَتَخْشَىٰ
And let me guide you to your Lord so you would fear [Him]?'"
فَأَرَىٰهُ ٱلْءَايَةَ ٱلْكُبْرَىٰ
And he showed him the greatest sign,
فَكَذَّبَ وَعَصَىٰ
But Pharaoh denied and disobeyed.
ثُمَّ أَدْبَرَ يَسْعَىٰ
Then he turned his back, striving.
فَحَشَرَ فَنَادَىٰ
And he gathered [his people] and called out
فَقَالَ أَنَا۠ رَبُّكُمُ ٱلْأَعْلَىٰ
And said, "I am your most exalted lord."
فَأَخَذَهُ ٱللَّهُ نَكَالَ ٱلْءَاخِرَةِ وَٱلْأُولَىٰٓ
So Allah seized him in exemplary punishment for the last and the first [transgression].
إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَعِبْرَةًۭ لِّمَن يَخْشَىٰٓ
Indeed in that is a warning for whoever would fear [Allah].
ءَأَنتُمْ أَشَدُّ خَلْقًا أَمِ ٱلسَّمَآءُ ۚ بَنَىٰهَا
Are you a more difficult creation or is the heaven? Allah constructed it.
رَفَعَ سَمْكَهَا فَسَوَّىٰهَا
He raised its ceiling and proportioned it.
وَأَغْطَشَ لَيْلَهَا وَأَخْرَجَ ضُحَىٰهَا
And He darkened its night and extracted its brightness.
وَٱلْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ دَحَىٰهَآ
And after that He spread the earth.
أَخْرَجَ مِنْهَا مَآءَهَا وَمَرْعَىٰهَا
He extracted from it its water and its pasture,
وَٱلْجِبَالَ أَرْسَىٰهَا
And the mountains He set firmly
مَتَٰعًۭا لَّكُمْ وَلِأَنْعَٰمِكُمْ
As provision for you and your grazing livestock.
فَإِذَا جَآءَتِ ٱلطَّآمَّةُ ٱلْكُبْرَىٰ
But when there comes the greatest Overwhelming Calamity -
يَوْمَ يَتَذَكَّرُ ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ مَا سَعَىٰ
The Day when man will remember that for which he strove,
وَبُرِّزَتِ ٱلْجَحِيمُ لِمَن يَرَىٰ
And Hellfire will be exposed for [all] those who see -
فَأَمَّا مَن طَغَىٰ
So as for he who transgressed
وَءَاثَرَ ٱلْحَيَوٰةَ ٱلدُّنْيَا
And preferred the life of the world,
فَإِنَّ ٱلْجَحِيمَ هِىَ ٱلْمَأْوَىٰ
Then indeed, Hellfire will be [his] refuge.
وَأَمَّا مَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِۦ وَنَهَى ٱلنَّفْسَ عَنِ ٱلْهَوَىٰ
But as for he who feared the position of his Lord and prevented the soul from [unlawful] inclination,
فَإِنَّ ٱلْجَنَّةَ هِىَ ٱلْمَأْوَىٰ
Then indeed, Paradise will be [his] refuge.
يَسْـَٔلُونَكَ عَنِ ٱلسَّاعَةِ أَيَّانَ مُرْسَىٰهَا
They ask you, [O Muhammad], about the Hour: when is its arrival?
فِيمَ أَنتَ مِن ذِكْرَىٰهَآ
In what [position] are you that you should mention it?
إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ مُنتَهَىٰهَآ
To your Lord is its finality.
إِنَّمَآ أَنتَ مُنذِرُ مَن يَخْشَىٰهَا
You are only a warner for those who fear it.
كَأَنَّهُمْ يَوْمَ يَرَوْنَهَا لَمْ يَلْبَثُوٓا۟ إِلَّا عَشِيَّةً أَوْ ضُحَىٰهَا
It will be, on the Day they see it, as though they had not remained [in the world] except for an afternoon or a morning thereof.
Key verses of the surah
The opening of the account, by a question put to the one receiving the text.
هَلْ أَتَىٰكَ حَدِيثُ مُوسَىٰٓ
Has there reached you the story of Moses? -
The words in which Pharaoh gives himself out as the highest lord: the peak of the account.
فَقَالَ أَنَا۠ رَبُّكُمُ ٱلْأَعْلَىٰ
And said, "I am your most exalted lord."
The portrait of one who feared the standing and held his soul back; it is read with the next verse.
وَأَمَّا مَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِۦ وَنَهَى ٱلنَّفْسَ عَنِ ٱلْهَوَىٰ
But as for he who feared the position of his Lord and prevented the soul from [unlawful] inclination,
The answer to the question about the Hour: its term belongs to the Lord alone.
إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ مُنتَهَىٰهَآ
To your Lord is its finality.
What is surah An-Naazi'aat about?
Of a return called into doubt and of a power that thinks itself owing nothing. The two answer each other: an objection is raised, a king acts it out, and the text sets against both what has been built above them.
What does surah An-Naazi'aat say about Moses?
Twelve verses, 15 to 26. He is called in the hallowed valley of Tuwa and sent to bring Pharaoh two words: purification and fear. A sign is shown and denied, and Pharaoh gathers his people to proclaim himself. The passage closes on a lesson left to whoever fears.
What does surah An-Naazi'aat answer about the Hour?
The question is reported as it is asked: when? The text gives no date. It turns the question back on the one who receives it, reserves knowledge of the term to the Lord, and reduces the messenger's part to a warning for whoever dreads that moment.
How does surah An-Naazi'aat begin?
With five oaths of two words each, cast in one mould: a feminine plural participle, then a short word that props it up. The text leaves these agents without identity and does not say what is sworn to: verse 6 moves straight on to the day of the quaking.
Why is surah An-Naazi'aat called that?
“An-Naazi'aat” means those that drag forth. The name comes from the first verse, where the first oath is sworn by what tears away violently, followed by four oaths built on the same turn. The surah therefore takes its opening word as its name. The text does not say what these agents are.
How many verses does surah An-Naazi'aat have?
Surah An-Naazi'aat has 46 verses. It stands at number 79 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.