Chapter 77-45
Sent Forth (Surah Al-Mursalat)
(50 verses in total; revealed in Makkah, beginning of Middle Period)
This chapter is a call directed to those who doubt and deny God and His agency in creation and regulation of this universe and the earth in which we inhibit.
Key themes in this chapter are as follows:
Angels, messengers and other hosts of God come in succession to warn and to call for submission to God
The Day of Gathering that starts with resurrection is a Day of Final Decision which ill be difficult for the disbelievers…
…The resurrection render stars to be extinguished, heaven to fall apart and mountain to be blown away – a cataclysmic event that we can hardly imagine, let alone fathom its magnitude and upheaval
The earth has been readied to receive humankind and with sources of provisions to nourish and landscape to take lessons from
Decision to submit and acknowledge God is not and not when the resurrection begins to unfold and when death comes
In the name of God, the God of Mercy, the Endower of Mercy!
Those sent forth in rapid succession!1
Raising up a storm
Spreading far and wide
Separating good from evil! (v. 1-4)
Those sent to remind
To clarify or to warn
What promised will come to pass! (v. 5-7)
When the stars are made to lose their lights
The sky is made to fall apart
The mountains are turned to dust, blown away
The messengers are met with their appointments (v. 8-11)
What day is it for such an appointment?
It is a Day of Decision!
What will make you realize what this Day of Decision is?
Woe to the deniers on that Day! (v. 12-15)
Did we not remove the former generations?
And catch up with the later ones?
This is how We take account from the sinful!
Woe to the deniers on that Day! (v. 16-19)
Did We not create you from ordinary water?2
Then We placed it in a place, made secure
Until a term set forth
This is how We determine
How excellent We are in such determinations!
Woe to the deniers on that Day! (v. 20-24)
Have We not made the earth
A home for the living and the dead?
Placed on it lofty mountains?
Given you drinks of fresh water?
Woe to the deniers on that Day! (v. 25-28)
Walk towards that which you denied
Walk to the shadow of three plumes
Which is neither cool nor a protection against the flame
Send out sparks like massive tree trunks
Burning like welded copper!
Woe to the deniers on that Day! (v. 29-34)
On that Day, they will not dare to speak
Nor permitted to offer lame excuse
Woe to the deniers on that Day! (v. 35-37)
That is the Day of Decision!
We have gathered you and your previous generations!
If you wish to devise a plan against Me, do it now
Woe to the deniers on that Day! (v. 38-40)
For those who acted responsibly (muttaqina)
There is cool shades and gushing fountains
Eat and drink as a reward for your accomplishments
This is how We reward good people! (v. 41-44)
Woe to the deniers on that Day!
Eat and enjoy for a little while
While accumulating guilts!
Woe to the deniers on that Day!
When they are asked – Submit!
They refuse!
Woe to the deniers on that Day! (v. 45-49)
What narratives, after these, will they believe? (v. 50)
1Common understanding it that it refers to wind in a storm, but it could mean any agency of God (say Angels or a group of belivers, wind, or this revelation) to accomplish God’s directives
2Common understanding is about sperm and egg in mother’s womb or broader implication of water/mineral/heat in undersea volcanos where living cells started
