Texts of Islam

The Meaning of the Glorious Qur'ân,: 45. al-Jathiyah: The Kneeling

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This is a translation of Surah Al-Jathiyah (Chapter 45, "The Kneeling"), one of the chapters of the Quran, rendered into English by the early 20th-century British Muslim scholar Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall. The surah belongs to the Meccan tradition and centers on the theme of divine signs (*ayat*) embedded in creation — the heavens, the earth, living creatures, night and day, wind, and sea — as evidence of Allah's sovereignty that believers recognize but prideful disbelievers reject. A significant portion addresses the fate of those who mock or ignore revelation: they are warned of painful punishment, while believers who do good works are promised mercy. The chapter also references the Children of Israel as a precedent — granted scripture and prophethood yet falling into dispute — before affirming Muhammad's role as the recipient of a clear divine commandment. A distinctive rhetorical move is its direct challenge to materialist skeptics who deny the afterlife and attribute existence solely to natural time, framing such denial as mere conjecture against Allah's certain judgment. The surah closes with an eschatological scene of nations kneeling before their record on the Day of Resurrection, resolving into contrasting fates for believers and disbelievers.

The Meaning of the Glorious Qur'ân,: 45. al-Jathiyah: The Kneeling

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