Sūrat al-Humaza
سورۃ الھمزہ
Sūrat al-Humaza, Makkī — revealed in Makkah. It has nine (9) āyāt and one rukūʿ.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
Bismillāhi l-Raḥmāni l-Raḥīm.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
وَيْلٌ لِّكُلِّ هُمَزَةٍ لُّمَزَةٍ
waylun li-kulli humazatin lumazah.
"Woe to every backbiter and slanderer." (al-Humaza 104:1)
Wayl — woe, alas — tābahī — for every one. Li-kulli — for every. Humaza — the one who mocks — who is this person who finds fault, who scoffs? He makes signs with his hands, pointing fingers. Lumaza — the one who slanders — who gossips and backbites.
Translation: "Woe upon that person who mocks others to their face and also gossips behind their backs."
And who can such a person be?
الَّذِي جَمَعَ مَالًا وَعَدَّدَهُ
al-ladhī jamaʿa mālan wa-ʿaddadah.
"Who amassed wealth and tallied it." (al-Humaza 104:2)
Al-ladhī — the one who — he. Jamaʿa — accumulated, gathered. Māl — wealth. Wa-ʿaddadah — and keeps counting it — and his heart is entirely fixed upon this wealth — he keeps money from the day he rises till the night. How much has grown, how many times has it multiplied? His greed for wealth keeps him perpetually in its grip.
Translation: "One who accumulates wealth and keeps counting it."
يَحْسَبُ أَنَّ مَالَهُ أَخْلَدَهُ
yaḥsabu anna mālahu akhladah.
"He thinks that his wealth will make him immortal." (al-Humaza 104:3)
Yaḥsab — he imagines, he supposes, he presumes. Anna — indeed. Mālahu — his wealth, certainly. Akhladah — to make permanent — his wealth will make him stay forever — he keeps it always in mind — death is not before him.
Translation: "He imagines that his wealth will keep him forever (and that there is no death)."
كَلَّا لَيُنبَذَنَّ فِي الْحُطَمَةِ
kallā la-yunbadhanna fī l-ḥuṭama.
"No! He will surely be thrown into al-Ḥuṭama." (al-Humaza 104:4)
Kallā — no, not at all — look, this is not what will happen. La — certainly. Yunbadhanna — he will be hurled, thrown. Fī — into. Al-ḥuṭama — in the Crusher — the place that smashes, breaks, shatters — that which swallows everything — that which causes things to collapse and engulf.
Translation: "Certainly not! (This wealth will not last forever, and you must die.) He will certainly be hurled into the Crusher (al-Ḥuṭama)."
وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الْحُطَمَةُ
wa-mā adrāka mā l-ḥuṭama.
"And what will make you know what al-Ḥuṭama is?" (al-Humaza 104:5)
Wa — and. Mā adrāka — who has informed you — what has made you understand? Mā l-ḥuṭama — what is the Crusher?
Translation: "And what do you know what the Crusher (Ḥuṭama) is?"
نَارُ اللَّهِ الْمُوقَدَةُ
nāru llāhi l-mūqada.
"The fire of Allah, kindled." (al-Humaza 104:6)
Nār — fire. Nāru llāhi — Allah's fire. Al-mūqada — kindled, lit, set ablaze, ignited.
Translation: "(The Ḥuṭama) is the fire of Allah — blazing with flames (whatever fire it may be?)."
الَّتِي تَطَّلِعُ عَلَى الْأَفْئِدَةِ
allatī taṭṭaliʿu ʿalā l-afʾida.
"Which rises over the hearts." (al-Humaza 104:7)
Allatī — the one that. Taṭṭaliʿu — rises up, climbs, ascends. ʿAlā — over, upon. Al-afʾida — the hearts — fuʾād — plural — the heart, the breast.
Translation: "It climbs and rises to (and through) the hearts."
إِنَّهَا عَلَيْهِم مُّؤْصَدَةٌ
innahā ʿalayhim muʾṣada.
"Indeed it will be closed over them." (al-Humaza 104:8)
Innahā — indeed this fire. ʿAlayhim — above and around them. Muʾṣada — sealed off from all sides — not even a draft of air passes through there.
Translation: "Indeed it (the fire) is certainly closed around them on all sides (they will be completely enclosed within it)."
فِي عَمَدٍ مُّمَدَّدَةٍ
fī ʿamadin mumaddada.
"In extended columns." (al-Humaza 104:9)
Fī — in. ʿAmad — pillars, columns. Fī ʿamadin — in the form of columns. Mumaddada — extended, stretched out, elongated.
Translation: "(They will be enclosed in it as if) in the form of extended columns (stretched out in it)."
Esteemed readers! Those people who go heedless to death and boast of their wealth — they consider it as if this wealth is given only to them and is not to be given to others. Those people imagine that they will always live — and they also try to put others to shame, shame them behind their backs. Those people will enter the Fire — the fire will enter the depths of their hearts and the fire will be sealed all around them from every side. It will be enclosed in the form of extended columns.