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Surah al-Waqi'ah سُورَة الْوَاقِعَة

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The 56th surah of the Quran — Meccan, 96 verses — describing the Day of Judgement, the three categories of mankind on that Day, and Paradise and Hell.

Overview

Sūrat al-Wāqiʿah (Arabic: سُورَة الْوَاقِعَة; "the Inevitable") is the 56th surah of the Quran — a Meccan surah of 96 verses. The title is taken from its opening verse: "When the Inevitable occurs."

Structure

The surah is structured around the cosmic upheaval of the Day of Judgement and the division of humanity into three categories:

  • Verses 1–6 — the Day's arrival; the cosmic shaking.
  • Verses 7–10 — three groups: the People of the Right (aṣḥāb al-yamīn), the People of the Left (aṣḥāb ash-shimāl), and the Foremost (as-sābiqūn).
  • Verses 11–40 — Paradise of the Foremost and of the People of the Right.
  • Verses 41–56 — the punishment of the People of the Left.
  • Verses 57–74 — proofs from creation: humans, plants, water, fire.
  • Verses 75–82 — oath by the locations of the stars; the noble Quran in a Preserved Book.
  • Verses 83–96 — the moment of death; the threefold final destination.

Significance

Recitation of Sūrat al-Wāqiʿah at night is mentioned in some narrations with associated benefits, though the most famous of these — "whoever recites Sūrat al-Wāqiʿah every night, poverty will not touch him" — is graded Daʿīf by al-Albānī (Sunan Ibn Mājah 928 in chain). The surah's authentic significance lies in its theme — the inevitability of the Day and the threefold division — not in specific recitation virtues from weak narrations.

See also

References

  1. The Quran: Surah al-Wāqiʿah 56.
  2. Ibn Kathir, Tafsīr, on Surah al-Wāqiʿah.