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Chapter 101

The Catastropheal-Qāriʿah ( القارعة )

11 verses • revealed at Meccan

»The surah that opens with this single world, al-Qāriʿah, meaning The Catastrophe, for that is the repeated sound that shall resound through all the earth as it is being pulverized in the cataclysm at the end of time, levelled utterly for the Resurrection Day and the ultimate Judgment of every human soul. It takes its name from “the catastrophe” (al-qāriʿah) mentioned in verse 1 ff. The surah gives some scenes from the Resurrection and Judgement.«

The surah is also known as The Calamity, The Clatterer, The Crashing Blow, The Day of Noise and Clamour, The Disaster, The Great Calamity, The Great Pounding, The Smiter, The Stunning (Blow)

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ

Yusuf Ali: In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

1
القارِعَةُ

Yusuf Ali

This Meccan Sūra describes the Judgment Day as the Day of Clamour, when men will be distracted and the landmarks of this world will be lost, byt every deed will be weighed in a just balance, and find its real value and setting.
C. 281 | [101:1-11] How will the senses of man stand the Noise and Clamor of the great Day of Account, whereon this life’s old landmarks will vanish, and men will be helpless like scattered moths? Nay, but a Balance of Justice will weigh and appraise all Deeds; and those whose good will show substance and weight will achieve a Life of good pleasure and satisfaction, while those whose good will be light will find themselves, alas, in a blazing Pit of Punishment.
The (Day) of Noise and Clamour:1
  • The Day of Noise and Clamour is the Day of Judgment, when the whole of the present order of things will be overthrown with a tremendous convulsion. Cf. n. to 99:1, and n. to 88:1. All our present landmarks will be lost. It will be a stunning experience to begin with, but it will inaugurate a new world of true and permanent values, in which every human deed will have its true and just consequences, as if weighed in the balance. See verses 6-11 below.