al-Nāzi‘āt

By those [angels] who wrest [the soul] violently,

— Ali Quli Qarai

by those who draw [it] out gently,

— Ali Quli Qarai

by those who swim smoothly,

— Ali Quli Qarai

by those who, racing, take the lead,

— Ali Quli Qarai

by those who direct the affairs [of creatures]:

— Ali Quli Qarai

the day when the Quaker quakes

— Ali Quli Qarai

and is followed by the Successor,

— Ali Quli Qarai

hearts will be trembling on that day,

— Ali Quli Qarai

bearing a humbled look.

— Ali Quli Qarai

They will say, ‘Are we being returned to our earlier state?

— Ali Quli Qarai

What, even after we have been decayed bones?!’

— Ali Quli Qarai

They will say, ‘This is, then, a ruinous return!’

— Ali Quli Qarai

Yet it will be only a single shout,

— Ali Quli Qarai

and behold, they will be awake.

— Ali Quli Qarai

Did you receive the story of Moses,

— Ali Quli Qarai

when his Lord called out to him in the holy valley of Tuwa?

— Ali Quli Qarai

[And said,] ‘Go to Pharaoh, for indeed he has rebelled,

— Ali Quli Qarai

and say, ‘‘Would you purify yourself?

— Ali Quli Qarai

I will guide you to your Lord, that you may fear [Him]?’’ ’

— Ali Quli Qarai

Then he showed him the greatest sign.

— Ali Quli Qarai

But he denied, and disobeyed.

— Ali Quli Qarai

Then he turned back, walking swiftly,

— Ali Quli Qarai

and gathered [the people] and proclaimed,

— Ali Quli Qarai

saying, ‘I am your exalted lord!’

— Ali Quli Qarai

So Allah seized him with the punishment of this life and the Hereafter.

— Ali Quli Qarai

There is indeed a moral in that for someone who fears!

— Ali Quli Qarai

Is your creation more prodigious or that of the heaven He has built?

— Ali Quli Qarai

He raised its vault and fashioned it,

— Ali Quli Qarai

and darkened its night, and brought forth its forenoon.

— Ali Quli Qarai

Thereafter He spread out the earth,

— Ali Quli Qarai

brought forth from it its water and pastures,

— Ali Quli Qarai

setting firm the mountains,

— Ali Quli Qarai

as a [place of] sustenance for you and your livestock.

— Ali Quli Qarai

When the Greatest Catastrophe befalls

— Ali Quli Qarai

—the day when man will remember his endeavours

— Ali Quli Qarai

and hell is brought into view for those who can see—

— Ali Quli Qarai

as for him who has been rebellious

— Ali Quli Qarai

and preferred the life of this world,

— Ali Quli Qarai

his refuge will indeed be hell.

— Ali Quli Qarai

But as for him who is awed to stand before his Lord and restrains his soul from [following] desires,

— Ali Quli Qarai

his refuge will indeed be paradise.

— Ali Quli Qarai

They ask you concerning the Hour, “When will it set in,

— Ali Quli Qarai

considering your frequent mention of it?”

— Ali Quli Qarai

Its outcome is with your Lord.

— Ali Quli Qarai

You are only a warner for those who are afraid it.

— Ali Quli Qarai

The day they see it, it shall be as if they had not stayed [in the world] except for an evening or forenoon.

— Ali Quli Qarai