Favourite Surah

[Child of Stardust]

Hi, I tried searching for this topic, assuming it had been asked before on this forum, but the only threads I could find of this kind were from other Muslim forums. Please forgive me if it has come up before!

I know this may seem odd for a non-Muslim to be asking this question, but although I find most translations of the Qur'an to be quite bad (very pretty to hear it recited in Arabic - it just doesn't shine through in the translations, I guess that's to be expected for any translation), there is one Surah I keep coming back to...one that really affected me when I first heard it in the film "The Message". I can't help but get chills down my spine whenever I read it:

1. When the sun (with its spacious light) is folded up;
2. When the stars fall, losing their lustre;
3. When the mountains vanish (like a mirage);
4. When the she-camels, ten months with young, are left untended;
5. When the wild beasts are herded together;
6. When the oceans boil over with a swell;
7. When the souls are sorted out, (being joined, like with like);
8. When the female (infant), buried alive, is questioned -
9. For what crime she was killed;
10. When the scrolls are laid open;
11. When the world on High is unveiled;
12. When the Blazing Fire is kindled to fierce heat;
13. And when the Garden is brought near;-
14. (Then) shall each soul know what it has put forward.

Then every soul shall know what it has put forward. Very powerful words. Not anyone else, but ourselves. Each person is responsible for what they do, and our actions all make consequences. Those who do evil bring the fate that ultimately falls on them on themselves. Very chilling. Even as a non-Muslim, I find this a powerful allegory for the fact that what we do affects the world, and that we are a part of the world, and that it will have a consequence for us too in the end. As the Qu'ran also says "he who has done an atom's weight of good shall see it, and he who does an atom's weight of evil shall see it" (I know I'm misquoting here, but I remember a quote along these lines). But the sad thing is, many self-centered people do not realize it until they see "the Blazing Fire kindled to fierce heat" and "the Garden brought near", so to speak.


Anyway, was just wondering if you guys had any favourites.

 

[Rational_Mind]

Do you know those verses are prophecies as well?

"And when the mountains are made to move." (81:4)
Centuries before the invention of dynamite, the holy Quran prophesied the blowing up and moving of the mountains.

"And when the wild beasts are gathered together." (81:6)
Nobody could ever imagine that one day wild beasts shall be captured, tamed and put together in closed and open parks. The establishment of zoo have fulfilled this prophecy.

"And when various people are brought together." (81:8)
Fast transport systems, telephone, satellite systems and internet have brought so close to each other proving the truthfulness of the holy Quran.

"And when the female-infant buried alive is questioned about – For what crime was she killed." (81-9,10)
Modern-day women rights and liberation associations may be brain-child of freedom-loving and egalitarian humanist / feminist people but foretold by Quran centuries ago.

"And when books are spread abroad." (81:11)
The invention of printing press and publication houses and consequently spread of books every where is one of the marvellous prophecies of the Quran made in the dark ages of ignorance and illiteracy.

So many fulfilled in the same Surah that it is absurd to call it a coincidence.

Checkout the commentary here:
The Holy Quran
It goes into more detail on other prophecies in those verses, also onto the meanings of the verses, with focus on important arabic words and their translation.

 

[Gharib]

i remember that chapter in the movie, the verses from it that send chills to my spine are
When the female (infant), buried alive, is questioned -
For what crime she was killed;

i like Surah Ar Rahman 55 the verses that get me every time are these:
[55:37-45]

And when the heaven is split open and becomes rose-colored like oil -
So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny? -
Then on that Day none will be asked about his sin among men or jinn.
So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny?
The criminals will be known by their marks, and they will be seized by the forelocks and the feet.
So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny?
This is Hell, which the criminals deny.
They will go around between it and scalding water, heated [to the utmost degree].
So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny?

the link to the whole chapter: Surat Ar-Rahman - The Noble Qur'an - ?????? ??????

the verses you have quoted above about the atoms weight of good and bad are correct they are the last 2 verses of Surah Al Zalzalah 99