Surah Az-Zalzalah: Meaning, Translation and Transliteration

Surah Az-Zalzalah, "The Earthquake", describes the end of the world in eight short verses. The earth shakes as it never has before, throws out what is buried inside it, and then speaks, telling what was done on it. People come out in scattered groups to be shown their deeds, and the surah ends with two verses the Prophet ﷺ called comprehensive: whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it.

This article gives the full surah in Arabic, a transliteration and the English translation, then goes through its meaning verse by verse.

The full surah

إِذَا زُلۡزِلَتِ ٱلۡأَرۡضُ زِلۡزَالَهَا وَأَخۡرَجَتِ ٱلۡأَرۡضُ أَثۡقَالَهَا وَقَالَ ٱلۡإِنسَٰنُ مَا لَهَا يَوۡمَئِذٖ تُحَدِّثُ أَخۡبَارَهَا بِأَنَّ رَبَّكَ أَوۡحَىٰ لَهَا يَوۡمَئِذٖ يَصۡدُرُ ٱلنَّاسُ أَشۡتَاتٗا لِّيُرَوۡاْ أَعۡمَٰلَهُمۡ فَمَن يَعۡمَلۡ مِثۡقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيۡرٗا يَرَهُۥ وَمَن يَعۡمَلۡ مِثۡقَالَ ذَرَّةٖ شَرّٗا يَرَهُۥ

Transliteration

1. Idhā zulzilatil-arḍu zilzālahā
2. Wa akhrajatil-arḍu athqālahā
3. Wa qālal-insānu mā lahā
4. Yawmaʾidhin tuḥaddithu akhbārahā
5. Bi-anna rabbaka awḥā lahā
6. Yawmaʾidhin yaṣdurun-nāsu ashtātan li-yuraw aʿmālahum
7. Fa-man yaʿmal mithqāla dharratin khayran yarah
8. Wa man yaʿmal mithqāla dharratin sharran yarah

English translation (Saheeh International)

When the earth is shaken with its [final] earthquake and the earth discharges its burdens and man says, "What is [wrong] with it?" - that Day, it will report its news because your Lord has inspired [i.e., commanded] it. That Day, the people will depart separated [into categories] to be shown [the result of] their deeds. So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it. (99:1-8)

If you learned to read the Quran in the IndoPak script, here is the same surah as it appears in a South Asian mushaf:

اِذَا زُلۡزِلَتِ الۡاَرۡضُ زِلۡزَالَهَا ۙ وَاَخۡرَجَتِ الۡاَرۡضُ اَثۡقَالَهَا ۙ وَقَالَ الۡاِنۡسَانُ مَا لَهَا ۚ يَوۡمَٮِٕذٍ تُحَدِّثُ اَخۡبَارَهَا ۙ بِاَنَّ رَبَّكَ اَوۡحٰى لَهَا ؕ يَوۡمَٮِٕذٍ يَّصۡدُرُ النَّاسُ اَشۡتَاتًا ۙ لِّيُرَوۡا اَعۡمَالَهُمۡؕ فَمَنۡ يَّعۡمَلۡ مِثۡقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيۡرًا يَّرَهٗ ؕ وَمَنۡ يَّعۡمَلۡ مِثۡقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرًّا يَّرَهٗ

You can read and listen to Surah Az-Zalzalah with its translation, or read it with the Urdu translation.

About the surah

Az-Zalzalah is the 99th surah of the Quran, with 8 verses, in the 30th juz. Scholars differ on whether it is Meccan or Medinan. Its name comes from the first verse, zulzilat and zilzālahā, "shaken with its shaking". You'll also see it written Az-Zilzal or Zilzal, or called by its first words, Idhā zulzilat.

The Prophet ﷺ recited it in prayer. A man from the tribe of Juhaynah heard him recite it in both rakʿahs of the Fajr prayer (Sunan Abi Dawud 816, graded hasan).

There is also a well-known hadith that Az-Zalzalah equals half the Quran, along with Al-Ikhlas equalling a third and Al-Kafirun a quarter (Jami at-Tirmidhi 2894; Jami at-Tirmidhi 2893). Scholars differ on these narrations: al-Albani graded the first sahih and the second weak, while others graded both weak. The "third of the Quran" for Al-Ikhlas is firmly established in Sahih al-Bukhari; the "half" for Az-Zalzalah isn't as strong. Those who accepted it explained that the Quran deals with this world and the next, and this surah is entirely about the next.

Verse 1: The final earthquake

إِذَا زُلۡزِلَتِ ٱلۡأَرۡضُ زِلۡزَالَهَا

When the earth is shaken with its [final] earthquake (99:1)

Zilzālahā means "its shaking", the earthquake that belongs to it, the one it was always heading towards. This isn't an ordinary earthquake that damages one city. The whole earth shakes at once, at the start of the Day of Resurrection. Another surah opens with the same warning:

O mankind, fear your Lord. Indeed, the convulsion of the [final] Hour is a terrible thing. (22:1)

The Prophet ﷺ also listed frequent earthquakes among the signs before the Hour, with knowledge being taken away, time passing quickly and killing increasing (Sahih al-Bukhari 1036).

Verse 2: The earth brings out its burdens

وَأَخۡرَجَتِ ٱلۡأَرۡضُ أَثۡقَالَهَا

And the earth discharges its burdens (99:2)

Athqāl are heavy loads. Most commentators say it means the dead, who come out of their graves, and the earth also throws out what is buried in it. The Prophet ﷺ said the earth will bring up pieces of its insides like columns of gold and silver. The murderer will come and say, "For this I killed"; the one who cut off his relatives, "For this I cut my ties"; the thief, "For this my hand was cut off." Then they will leave it and not take any of it (Sahih Muslim 1013). The wealth people sinned for will be lying there, worthless.

Verse 3: "What is wrong with it?"

وَقَالَ ٱلۡإِنسَٰنُ مَا لَهَا

And man says, "What is [wrong] with it?" - (99:3)

The ground people always treated as solid and still is suddenly moving, and they ask in shock what has happened to it.

Verses 4-5: The earth tells its news

يَوۡمَئِذٖ تُحَدِّثُ أَخۡبَارَهَا بِأَنَّ رَبَّكَ أَوۡحَىٰ لَهَا

That Day, it will report its news because your Lord has inspired [i.e., commanded] it. (99:4-5)

On that day the earth will speak, because Allah commands it to (awḥā lahā, "inspired it"). Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet ﷺ recited this verse and asked: "Do you know what its news is?" They said Allah and His Messenger know best. He said: "Its news is that it will testify against every servant, man or woman, about what they did on its surface. It will say: He did such and such on such and such a day" (Jami at-Tirmidhi 2429). At-Tirmidhi called it hasan, but later scholars, including al-Albani, graded its chain weak.

The idea that the places and things around us will testify is supported elsewhere. Abu Saʿid al-Khudri told a shepherd to raise his voice when he called the adhān in the open country, "for whoever hears the voice of the caller, whether human, jinn or anything else, will testify for him on the Day of Resurrection", and said he heard that from the Prophet ﷺ (Sahih al-Bukhari 609).

The ground under your feet now is a witness. So is the place you pray.

Verse 6: People come out in scattered groups

يَوۡمَئِذٖ يَصۡدُرُ ٱلنَّاسُ أَشۡتَاتٗا لِّيُرَوۡاْ أَعۡمَٰلَهُمۡ

That Day, the people will depart separated [into categories] to be shown [the result of] their deeds. (99:6)

Yaṣduru means to come out or go forth, and ashtātā means scattered, in separate groups. Commentators give two readings that fit together: people come out of their graves scattered in every direction, and they leave the Judgement in different groups, some to Paradise and some to the Fire. Either way, they come li-yuraw aʿmālahum, "to be shown their deeds".

Verses 7-8: An atom's weight

فَمَن يَعۡمَلۡ مِثۡقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيۡرٗا يَرَهُۥ وَمَن يَعۡمَلۡ مِثۡقَالَ ذَرَّةٖ شَرّٗا يَرَهُۥ

So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it. (99:7-8)

Mithqāl is a weight, and dharrah was used by the Arabs for the smallest things they knew: a tiny ant, or a speck of dust seen in a sunbeam. (There is a separate article on the word dharrah and the atom.) Nothing is too small to count, either way.

When the Prophet ﷺ was asked about donkeys, whether there was reward in keeping them, he said: "Nothing has been revealed to me about them except this comprehensive, unique verse," and recited these two verses (Sahih al-Bukhari 4963). In two lines they cover every deed anyone will ever do.

They are also why no good deed should be dismissed as too small. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Protect yourselves from the Fire, even with half a date" (Sahih al-Bukhari 1417), and: "Don't think little of any good deed, even meeting your brother with a cheerful face" (Sahih Muslim 2626). The same goes for small sins: the second verse says they are seen too.

A man once asked the Prophet ﷺ to teach him a comprehensive surah, and he taught him Az-Zalzalah. When he finished, the man said: "By the One who sent you with the truth, I will never do more than this." As he left, the Prophet ﷺ said twice: "The man has succeeded" (Sunan Abi Dawud 1399). Scholars differ on this narration's grade: al-Albani graded it weak, while Shuʿayb al-Arnaʾut graded it hasan.

Word by word

Arabic	Transliteration	Meaning
إِذَا زُلۡزِلَتِ	idhā zulzilat	when is shaken
ٱلۡأَرۡضُ	al-arḍu	the earth
زِلۡزَالَهَا	zilzālahā	with its (final) shaking
وَأَخۡرَجَتِ	wa akhrajat	and brings out
أَثۡقَالَهَا	athqālahā	its burdens
وَقَالَ ٱلۡإِنسَٰنُ	wa qālal-insān	and man says
مَا لَهَا	mā lahā	what is wrong with it
يَوۡمَئِذٖ	yawmaʾidhin	on that day
تُحَدِّثُ	tuḥaddithu	it will tell
أَخۡبَارَهَا	akhbārahā	its news
بِأَنَّ رَبَّكَ	bi-anna rabbaka	because your Lord
أَوۡحَىٰ لَهَا	awḥā lahā	inspired it
يَصۡدُرُ ٱلنَّاسُ	yaṣdurun-nās	people will come out
أَشۡتَاتٗا	ashtātan	in scattered groups
لِّيُرَوۡاْ أَعۡمَٰلَهُمۡ	li-yuraw aʿmālahum	to be shown their deeds
فَمَن يَعۡمَلۡ	fa-man yaʿmal	so whoever does
مِثۡقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ	mithqāla dharratin	an atom's weight
خَيۡرٗا	khayran	of good
يَرَهُۥ	yarah	will see it
شَرّٗا	sharran	of evil

Living by Surah Az-Zalzalah

• Do the small good deed. A smile, half a date, a kind word: an atom's weight is seen.
• Don't take small sins lightly. They are seen too. Follow them with istighfār and a good deed.
• Remember the ground is a witness. Pray in different places, and give it good things to report.
• Don't sin for wealth. On that day the gold comes out of the earth and nobody wants it.
• Recite it in your prayers. The Prophet ﷺ recited it in Fajr, and it is short enough to learn in a day.

Open Surah Az-Zalzalah to read and listen to it with its translation.