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Chapter 84

The Splittingal-Inshiqāq ( الإنشقاق )

25 verses • revealed at Meccan

»The surah that opens with a riveting description of The Splitting of the sky and the levelling of the earth as a sign of the commencement of the Day of Resurrection. It is named after the “splitting open” (inshiqāq) of the sky mentioned in verse 1. The surah deals with the inevitability of man’s meeting with his Lord on the Day of Judgement. The obedience of the sky and earth is contrasted with the disobedience of the disbelievers. The reaction of the believers and of the disbelievers on the Day of Judgement is described.«

The surah is also known as Bursting Asunder, Ripped Apart, Splitting Open, The Bursting, The Cleaving, The Rending, The Rending Asunder

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ

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

1
إِذَا السَّماءُ انشَقَّت

Yusuf Ali

Chronologically this Sūra is closely connected with the last one. In subject-matter it resembles more S. 82 and 81, with which it may be compared.
By a number of mystic metaphors it is shown that the present phenomenal order will not last, and God’s full Judgment will certainly be established: man should therefore strive for that World of Eternity and True Values.
[84:1-25] All mysteries, fair or shrouded in gloom, will vanish when the full Reality stands revealed. If this Life is but Painful Toil, there is the Hope of the Meeting with the Lord! That will be Bliss indeed for the Righteous, but woe to the arrogant dealers in sin! Like the sunset Glow or the shades of Night, or the Moon’s ever-changing light, man’s life never rests here below, but travels ever onwards stage by stage. Grasp then God’s Message and reach the Heights, to reap a Reward that will never fail through all eternity!
When the Sky is rent asunder,1
  • The passing away of this world of sense to make way for a new World of Reality is here indicated by two Facts, which are themselves Symbols for a complete revolution in our whole knowledge and experience. At the beginning of S. 82 and S. 81, other Symbols were used, to lead up to the arguments there advanced. Here the Symbols are: (1) the Sky being rent asunder and giving up its secrets, and (2) the Earth being flattened out from the globe it is, and giving up its secrets (Cf. 25:25 and 50:44). See the following notes.