:1. By the break of Day
:2. By the Nights twice five;
:3. By the even and odd (contrasted);
:4. And by the Night when it passeth away;-
:5. Is there (not) in these an adjuration (or evidence) for those who understand?
:6. Seest thou not how thy Lord dealt with the 'Ad (people),-
:7. Of the (city of) Iram, with lofty pillars,
:8. The like of which were not produced in (all) the land?
:9. And with the Thamud (people), who cut out (huge) rocks in the valley?-
:10. And with Pharaoh, lord of stakes?
:11. (All) these transgressed beyond bounds in the lands,
:12. And heaped therein mischief (on mischief).
:13. Therefore did thy Lord pour on them a scourge of diverse chastisements:
:14. For thy Lord is (as a Guardian) on a watch-tower.
:15. Now, as for man, when his Lord trieth him, giving him honour and gifts, then saith he, (puffed up), "My Lord hath honoured me."
:16. But when He trieth him, restricting his subsistence for him, then saith he (in despair), "My Lord hath humiliated me!"
:17. Nay, nay! but ye honour not the orphans!
:18. Nor do ye encourage one another to feed the poor!-
:19. And ye devour inheritance - all with greed,
:20. And ye love wealth with inordinate love!
:21. Nay! When the earth is pounded to powder,
:22. And thy Lord cometh, and His angels, rank upon rank,
:23. And Hell, that Day, is brought (face to face),- on that Day will man remember, but how will that remembrance profit him?
