Surah 84
الإنشقاق
Al-Inshiqaq
The Sundering
Surah Context
Which was revealed in Makkah The Prostration of Recitation in Surat Al-Inshiqaq It is reported from Abu Salamah that while leading them in prayer, Abu Hurayrah recited, (When the heaven is split asunder.) and he prostrated during its.
Classical references: Ibn Kathir (Abridged).
Source: Ibn Kathir (Abridged) (84:1).
Last reviewed: 2026-04-10.
This is a short orientation note and does not replace full tafsir.
When the sky is ripped apart,
obeying its Lord as it rightly must,
when the earth is levelled out,
casts out its contents, and becomes empty,
obeying its Lord as it rightly must,
you humans, toiling laboriously towards your Lord, will meet Him:
whoever is given his record in his right hand
will have an easy reckoning
and return to his people well pleased,
but whoever is given his record from behind his back
will cry out for destruction––
he will burn in the blazing Fire.
He used to live among his people well pleased.
He thought he would never return [to his Lord]––
indeed he will! His Lord was watching him.
I swear by the glow of sunset,
by the night and what it covers,
by the full moon,
you will progress from stage to stage.
So why do they not believe?
Why, when the Quran is read to them, do they not prostrate themselves [to God]?
No! The disbelievers reject the Quran––
God knows best what they keep hidden inside––
so give them news of a painful torment.
But those who believe and do good deeds will have a never-ending reward.