SURAH 79 — An-Nāzi‘āt — النازعات — “Those Who Tear Out (the Souls)”

• Revelation Order: 81
• Event Anchor: Late Meccan apocalyptic and polemical phase (c. 619–622 CE)

Explanation:
An-Nāzi‘āt opens with forceful oaths describing angels tearing out souls, setting the tone for a late Meccan push to confront disbelief in resurrection. During this period, Quraysh’s resistance was entrenched, and eschatological denial was widespread. The surah counters these objections with vivid depictions of the afterlife and a retelling of Moses’ confrontation with Pharaoh—an analogy for Muhammad’s own struggle with obstinate leaders. Its intense imagery corresponds to a moment when revelation aimed to break hardened opposition through stark reminders of ultimate accountability.

Verse	Verse #	Meccan v Medinan	General Index
By those [angels] who extract with violence	1	Meccan	5713
And [by] those who remove with ease	2	Meccan	5714
And [by] those who glide [as if] swimming	3	Meccan	5715
And those who race each other in a race	4	Meccan	5716
And those who arrange [each] matter,	5	Meccan	5717
On the Day the blast [of the Horn] will convulse [creation],	6	Meccan	5718
There will follow it the subsequent [one].	7	Meccan	5719
Hearts, that Day, will tremble,	8	Meccan	5720
Their eyes humbled.	9	Meccan	5721
They are [presently] saying, “Will we indeed be returned to [our] former state [of life]?	10	Meccan	5722
Even if we should be decayed bones?	11	Meccan	5723
They say, “That, then, would be a losing return.”	12	Meccan	5724
Indeed, it will be but one shout,	13	Meccan	5725
And suddenly they will be [alert] upon the earth’s surface.	14	Meccan	5726
Has there reached you the story of Moses? –	15	Meccan	5727
When his Lord called to him in the sacred valley of Tuwa,	16	Meccan	5728
“Go to Pharaoh. Indeed, he has transgressed.	17	Meccan	5729
And say to him, ‘Would you [be willing to] purify yourself	18	Meccan	5730
And let me guide you to your Lord so you would fear [Him]?'”	19	Meccan	5731
And he showed him the greatest sign,	20	Meccan	5732
But Pharaoh denied and disobeyed.	21	Meccan	5733
Then he turned his back, striving.	22	Meccan	5734
And he gathered [his people] and called out	23	Meccan	5735
And said, “I am your most exalted lord.”	24	Meccan	5736
So Allah seized him in exemplary punishment for the last and the first [transgression].	25	Meccan	5737
Indeed in that is a warning for whoever would fear [Allah].	26	Meccan	5738
Are you a more difficult creation or is the heaven? Allah constructed it.	27	Meccan	5739
He raised its ceiling and proportioned it.	28	Meccan	5740
And He darkened its night and extracted its brightness.	29	Meccan	5741
And after that He spread the earth.	30	Meccan	5742
He extracted from it its water and its pasture,	31	Meccan	5743
And the mountains He set firmly	32	Meccan	5744
As provision for you and your grazing livestock.	33	Meccan	5745
But when there comes the greatest Overwhelming Calamity –	34	Meccan	5746
The Day when man will remember that for which he strove,	35	Meccan	5747
And Hellfire will be exposed for [all] those who see –	36	Meccan	5748
So as for he who transgressed	37	Meccan	5749
And preferred the life of the world,	38	Meccan	5750
Then indeed, Hellfire will be [his] refuge.	39	Meccan	5751
But as for he who feared the position of his Lord and prevented the soul from [unlawful] inclination,	40	Meccan	5752
Then indeed, Paradise will be [his] refuge.	41	Meccan	5753
They ask you, [O Muhammad], about the Hour: when is its arrival?	42	Meccan	5754
In what [position] are you that you should mention it?	43	Meccan	5755
To your Lord is its finality.	44	Meccan	5756
You are only a warner for those who fear it.	45	Meccan	5757
It will be, on the Day they see it, as though they had not remained [in the world] except for an afternoon or a morning thereof.	46	Meccan	5758