Texts of Islam

The Meaning of the Glorious Qur'ân,: 52. at-Tur: The Mountain

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This is a chapter (surah) from the Qur'an in M.M. Pickthall's English translation — a 20th-century rendering by a British convert known for its relatively literal, archaic register. Surah 52 (At-Tur, "The Mountain") belongs to the Meccan tradition of early revelation, characterized by vivid eschatological imagery and direct address to skeptics. The chapter opens with a series of oaths sworn by sacred phenomena — the Mount (Sinai), sacred scripture, the Ka'ba, the sky, and the sea — culminating in a declaration that divine punishment is inevitable and cannot be averted. It then describes the Day of Judgment in graphic terms: the convulsion of heaven and mountains, the casting of unbelievers into hellfire, and the detailed pleasures awaiting the faithful — gardens, fine food, wine without sin, beautiful companions, and reunion with believing descendants. The second half pivots to a sustained rhetorical assault on those who dismiss Muhammad as a poet, soothsayer, or fraud, deploying rapid-fire questions that challenge their alternative accounts of creation, revelation, and divine authority. Its notably distinctive move is this challenge to produce comparable speech — an implicit argument for the Qur'an's inimitability — combined with a closing instruction to the Prophet to wait patiently and maintain continuous worship while his opponents await their reckoning.

The Meaning of the Glorious Qur'ân,: 52. at-Tur: The Mountain

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