Episode 48: Drinking from a boiling spring (Surahs 84-92)

Surah 84: The Sundering (Al-Inshiqaq)

When heaven and earth are afraid of their Lord

^1-6 When heaven is split and afraid of her Lord and the earth is spread out and empty, those in his [Allah's] right hand will be happy.

He will invoke destruction

^11-12 But the others will be thrown into a scorching fire. Give them tidings of a painful doom.

²⁰ What's wrong with them?

²¹ Why don't they believe in the Quran and worship Allah?

^22-24 Give those who disbelieve tidings of a painful doom.

Surah 85: The Mansions Of The Stars (Al-Buruj)

The owners of the ditch

^4-5 The owners of the ditch were destroyed by a fuel-fed fire. ⁷ They were destroyed for what they did to the believers.

The doom of hell

¹⁰ Those who persecute believers will go to the doom of a burning hell.

¹² Your Lord's punishment is stern.

^15-16 The Lord of the throne of glory does whatever he wants.

Disbelievers are in denial

^17-18 Did you hear the stories about Pharaoh and the tribe of Thamud?

¹⁹ No, but disbelievers are in denial.

²¹ No, but it's a beautiful Quran. ²²On a guarded tablet.

Surah 86: The Morning Star (At-Tariq)

From a gushing fluid (that issues from between the loins and ribs)

² What will tell you about the morning star?

⁴ Every human has a guardian over it.

^5-7 Humans are created from a gushing fluid, issued from between the loins and ribs.

⁹ He [Allah] can bring dead people back to life.

^9-10 On that day, their hidden thoughts will be exposed, and they'll have no helper.

I'm plotting a plot against them

¹³ This Quran is a conclusive word. ¹⁴ It's no pleasantry.

¹⁵ They're plotting a plot (against you, Muhammad).

¹⁶ I [Allah] am plotting a plot against them. 17 So leave the disbelievers alone for a while.

Surah 87: The Most High (Al-A'ala)

We'll make you read, Muhammad

⁶ We [Allah] will make you [Muhammad] read, so you won't forget.

Those in the great Fire neither live nor die

^12-13 Those who are flung into the great Fire will neither live nor die.

This is in the former scrolls

^18-19 This is in the former scrolls: the books of Abraham and Moses.

Surah 88: The Overwhelming (Al-Ghashiyah)

Drinking from a boiling spring

¹ Have you heard the tidings of the overwhelming?

² On that day many will be sad and weary. ^4-7 Scorched by the fire, drinking from a spring of boiling water, with only bitter thorn-fruit to eat.

The earth, how is it spread?

^8-20 Others will calmly sit in a garden on high couches, drinking from goblets, considering camels, heaven, hills, and the spread-out earth.

^23-24 But Allah will punish those who disbelieve with the most severe punishment.

Surah 89: The Dawn (Al-Fajr)

A'ad, Thamud, and the Pharaoh

^1-3By the dawn and the ten nights, and the even and odd.

^6-10 Have you considered how your Lord dealt with the tribe of A'ad, the tribe of Thamud, and the Pharaoh?

^11-13 They were rebellious to Allah so your Lord poured disaster on them as a punishment.

Surah 90: The City (Al-Balad)

We created man in an atmosphere

⁴ We [Allah] have created man in an atmosphere.

^8-9 Didn't we give him two eyes, a tongue, and two lips?

Exhort one another to pity

¹² What is the ascent?

^13-16 It's to free a slave, feed the hungry, care for an orphan, provide for the poor, and encourage each other to pity. ¹⁸ Those who do so will be on the right hand.

An awning of fire

^19-20 But those who disbelieve our revelations will be on the left hand, with fire enclosing them.

Surah 91: The Sun (Ash-Shams)

The earth is spread and the moon follows the sun

^1-2 By the sun and the moon when she follows him.

⁶ He [Allah] spread the earth.

It is the she-camel of Allah (so let her drink!)

¹¹ The tribe of Thamud denied the truth. ¹³ And the messenger of Allah said, "It's the she-camel of Allah, so let her drink." ¹⁴ But they hamstrung her, so Allah doomed them and destroyed their dwellings.

Surah 92 : The Night (Al-Leyl)

The flaming Fire

^14-16 Only the most wretched will endure the flaming Fire -- like those who deny Allah's revelations.

A few more words about this episode

The owners of the ditch (85:4): No one knows who the owned the ditch or why they self-destroyed.; It's just another mystery of the Quran.
Did you hear the stories about Pharaoh and the tribe of Thamud? (85:17-18): The Quran asks its readers if they've heard the stories about the Pharaoh and the tribe of Thamud - stories that are repeated told throughout the Quran.; So this answer to this question to anyone who has read the Quran is "Yes - way too many times."
On a guarded tablet. (85:22): The Quran is written on a tablet that is guarded by Allah. Nothing in it, not a single word, can or will ever change. It is the literal, absolute, eternal, perfect, and unadulterated word of God. Allah guarantees that in this verse. (But see How the Quran has changed".)
What will tell you about the morning star? (86:2): The answer, of course, is science. The morning star is the planet Venus when it is visable in the morning sky.
Humans are created from a gushing fluid, issued from between the loins and ribs. (86:5-7): Semen, according to the Quran, is formed not in the testicles, but somewhere "between the loins and ribs."; But humans are not created from semen alone, but from fertilized eggs.; What are humans created from?
We [Allah] will make you [Muhammad] read (87:6): That seems like a good plan. The prophet that Allah chose to create the Quran should know how to read.; Allah said he'd make him read, but he never did. Muhammad died illiterate.
The books of Abraham and Moses (87:19): There is very little in the Quran that is in the "former books" (the Hebrew scriptures). Well, many of the same stories are there, but they are completely different.; And it's unlikely that Moses (if he existed) had anything to do with writing the Torah. And Abraham didn't write anything in the "former books."; Scripture comparison: The Book of Abraham
The earth, how is it spread? (88:20): If the earth is spread, it must be flat.
By the dawn and the ten nights, and the even and odd. (89:1-3): No one knows what ten nights are being referred to here. The same is true for "the even and the odd".
By the sun and the moon when she follows him. 91:1-2(): The moon orbits the earth; it doesn't "follow the sun."
Allah spread the earth. (91:6): Allah spread the earth like he was spreading frosting on a (flat) cake.