Surah 56: The Inevitable

Surah 56: The Inevitable - Overview

Verses	Descriptions
56:1-56	Day of Judgment will sort men into three classes
56:57-96	Everything points to God: accept His Message, and glorify Him

Introduction

This is the seventh and last Surah of the series devoted to Revelation and the Hereafter, as explained in the Introduction to S.50.

It belongs to the early Makkan period, with the possible exception of one or two verses.

The theme is the certainty of the Day of Judgment and its adjustment of true Values (56:1-56); God's Power, Goodness and Glory (5657-74); and the truth of Revelation (56:75-96)

Summary

1- When the Day of Judgment comes, the world as we know it will be shaken to its foundations, and men shall be sorted out into three sorts: Those nearest to God, in exalted Bliss; the Companions of the Right Hand, in Bliss; and the Companions of the Left Hand, in Misery. (56:2-56)

Companions of the Right and Left [56:1-56] The Event Inevitable is the Day of Judgment: the world as we know it will be shaken to its depths, and its place will be taken by a world made new, where Good will be sorted out from Evil. In Dignity and Bliss will the Good find Fulfillment; both those Nearest to the Throne of God, and those who earned, by faith and good life, the title, Companions of the Right Hand. Who can tell of the Misery in which the Companions of the Left Hand will live? They will be as it were in a fierce blast of Fire; their drink but boiling water; their shade that of Black Smoke that chokes their lungs--ever burning with hunger and thirst, and never satisfied: fit emblems of the Life in Death to which Evil leads.

2- Surely the Power and Goodness of God, of which Revelation is a Sign, should lead man to accept the Message and glorify Him. (56:57-96)

Emblem of Life and Light [56:57-96] Learn ye then to witness the Truth in your lives. Your own creation and growth, the seeds that ye sow in the ground, the Circuit of Water through streams, rivers, and seas, to vapor, clouds, and rain that feeds the streams, the Fire that stands as an emblem of Life and Light--all point to your Lord Supreme. His Revelation conveys the same Message to the pure in heart. Will ye receive it and live, assured of the truth of the Hereafter? Glory and Praise to God the Beneficent, Supreme to Justice, Mercy, and Truth!