Texts of Islam

050

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This is an English translation of Surah Qaf (Chapter 50) from the Quran, one of Islam's earliest Meccan revelations, belonging to the tradition of Arabic scripture. The surah's central argument is a vigorous defense of the resurrection of the dead against skeptical disbelievers, marshaling evidence from God's creative power — the construction of the heavens, the growth of vegetation, the revival of dead land by rain — as proof that a second creation is no more impossible than the first. It rehearses a catalogue of destroyed peoples (Noah's people, Thamud, Ad, Pharaoh, Lot's contemporaries) who rejected earlier prophets, warning the audience that they face the same fate. A theologically distinctive claim appears in the declaration that God is "nigher to him than his jugular vein," asserting an intimate divine omniscience of human thought, paired with the image of two guardian angels recording every word spoken. The surah closes with vivid eschatological scenes — the trumpet blast, hell asked if it is full, Paradise drawn near to the pious — before instructing the Prophet to remain patient, pray at prescribed times, and use the Quran itself as the instrument of reminder for those who will heed the warning.

050

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