Compare up to three translations verse by verse.
I CALL TO witness the sky (bespangled) with the signs of the Zodiac,
By oath of the heaven which contains the constellations.
By heaven of the constellations,
And the promised day,
And by oath of the Promised Day.
by the promised day,
And the witness and the witnessed,
And by oath of the day that is a witness and by oath of a day in which the people present themselves.
by the witness and the witnessed,
That accursed are the men of the trench
Accursed be the People of the Ditch!
slain were the Men of the Pit,
Full of fire fed by faggots,
The people of the fuelled blazing fire.
the fire abounding in fuel,
As they sat around it
When they were sitting at its edge.
when they were seated over it
Witnessing what they had done to the believers!
And they themselves are witnesses to what they were doing to the Muslims!
and were themselves witnesses of what they did with the believers.
They had no other reason for hating them except that they believed in God the mighty, worthy of praise,
And what did they dislike from the Muslims, except that the Muslims accepted faith in Allah the Most Honourable, the Most Praiseworthy?
They took revenge on them only because they believed in the All-mighty, the Al-laudable,
Whose kingdom spreads over the heavens and the earth. God is witness over everything.
To Him only belongs the kingship of the heavens and the earth; and Allah is a Witness over all things.
God to whom belongs the Kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and God is Witness over everything.
Surely for those who persecute believers, men and women, and do not repent afterwards, is the punishment of Hell, and the punishment of burning.
Indeed those who troubled the Muslim men and Muslim women, and then did not repent – for them is the punishment of hell, and for them is the punishment of fire.
Those who persecute the believers, men and women, and then have not repented, there awaits them the chastisement of Gehenna, and there awaits them the chastisement of the burning.
Surely for those who believe and do the right are gardens with rivers running by. That is the greatest success.
Indeed those who believed and did good deeds – for them are Gardens beneath which rivers flow; this is the great success.
Those who believe, and do righteous deeds, for them await gardens underneath which rivers flow; that is the great triumph.
The grip of your Lord is severe indeed!
Indeed the seizure of your Lord is very severe.
Surely thy Lord's assault is terrible.
It is verily He who initiates and repeats.
Indeed it is He Who initiates and redoes.
Surely it is He who originates, and brings again,
He is the forgiving and the loving,
And He only is the Oft Forgiving, the Beloved of His bondmen.
and He is the All-forgiving, the All-loving,
The Lord of the glorious Throne,
Master of the Honourable Throne.
Lord of the Throne, the All-glorious,
Who does as He pleases.
Always doing whatever He wills.
Performer of what He desires.
Has the story of the hordes
Did the story of the armies reach you?
Hast thou received the story of the hosts,
Of Pharaoh and Thamud come to you?
(The armies of) Firaun and the tribe of Thamud.
Pharaoh and Thamood?
Yet the infidels persist in denial.
In fact the disbelievers are in denial.
Nay, but the unbelievers still cry lies,
But God surrounds them from all sides.
And Allah is after them, has them surrounded.
and God is behind them, encompassing.
This is indeed the glorious Qur'an
In fact it (what they deny) is the Noble Qur’an.
Nay, but it is a glorious Koran,
(Preserved) on the guarded tablet.
In the Preserved Tablet.
in a guarded tablet.