2025 RationalWiki 'Oregon Plan' Fundraiser

There is no RationalWiki without you. We are a small non-profit with no staff—we are hundreds of volunteers who document pseudoscience and crankery around the world every day. We will never allow ads because we must remain independent. We cannot rely on big donors with corresponding big agendas. We are not the largest website around, but we believe we play an important role in defending truth and objectivity.

Fighting pseudoscience isn't free.
We are 100% user-supported! Help and donate $5, $10, $20 or whatever you can today with PayPal Logo.png!
Donations so far: $7608.77Goal: $10000

RationalWiki:Annotated Qur'an/The Mountain

From RationalWiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Annotated Qur'an
Sura 52: The Mountain
Word-by-word translation
Alternate translations and related tafsirs
Alternate translations
Previous sura Following sura


Qur'an 52:1[edit]

By the Mount.

Qur'an 52:1 Notes[edit]

Which mountain? So many of those exist.

Qur'an 52:2[edit]

And a Book inscribed.

Qur'an 52:2 Notes[edit]

So many books exist as well.

Qur'an 52:3[edit]

In a published scroll.

Qur'an 52:3 Notes[edit]

So many scrolls exist.

Qur'an 52:4[edit]

And the frequented House.

Qur'an 52:4 Notes[edit]

So many houses are frequented.

Qur'an 52:5[edit]

And the elevated roof.

Qur'an 52:5 Notes[edit]

So many roofs are elevated. On a more important note than anything in this book, why is the plural of "roof" not "rooves" but instead just "roofs"?

Qur'an 52:6[edit]

And the seething sea.

Qur'an 52:6 Notes[edit]

This translation of the verse is ambiguous because the original verse itself is ambiguous. Then again, this is a common problem with the book as a whole. Beautiful-sounding poetry is not an excuse for abysmal writing.

Qur'an 52:7[edit]

The punishment of your Lord is coming.

Qur'an 52:7 Notes[edit]

This book is enough of a punishment.

Qur'an 52:8[edit]

There is nothing to avert it.

Qur'an 52:8 Notes[edit]

Not even the mercy of an all-powerful deity can stop this punishment?

Qur'an 52:9[edit]

On the Day when the heaven sways in agitation.

Qur'an 52:9 Notes[edit]

I hope that the believers who made it to that heaven enjoy the ride.

Qur'an 52:10[edit]

And the mountains go into motion.

Qur'an 52:10 Notes[edit]

The mountains are technically in motion right now. This motion is imperceptible to humans, but mountains move.

Qur'an 52:11[edit]

Woe on that Day to the deniers.

Qur'an 52:11 Notes[edit]

Woe on that Day to the malevolent god who chose to make this message look just like any other lie spewed by any other insane cult leader.

Qur'an 52:12[edit]

Those who play with speculation.

Qur'an 52:12 Notes[edit]

The religion commands people explicitly to take the afterlife on faith despite any and all evidence that this book is full of falsehoods. Who exactly "play with speculation" as this verse proclaimed?

Qur'an 52:13[edit]

The Day when they are shoved into the Fire of Hell forcefully.

Qur'an 52:13 Notes[edit]

The Day when they are shoved into the Fire of Hell by an infinitely merciful overlord?

Qur'an 52:14[edit]

“This is the Fire which you used to deny.

Qur'an 52:14 Notes[edit]

To be fair, this fire seemed no more real than Ragnarök or any other afterlife in any other religion.

Qur'an 52:15[edit]

Is this magic, or do you not see?

Qur'an 52:15 Notes[edit]

We see, though we only see reasons not to believe any of this nonsense.

Qur'an 52:16[edit]

Burn in it. Whether you are patient, or impatient, it is the same for you. You are only being repaid for what you used to do.”

Qur'an 52:16 Notes[edit]

God, merciful as usual, finds the infinite torture in this book somehow equivalent to disbelief in a ridiculous story.

Qur'an 52:17[edit]

But the righteous will be amid gardens and bliss.

Qur'an 52:17 Notes[edit]

Of course, this stick comes with a delicious carrot.

Qur'an 52:18[edit]

Enjoying what their Lord has given them, and their Lord has spared them the suffering of Hell.

Qur'an 52:18 Notes[edit]

This "Lord" could simply spare everybody without exception.

Qur'an 52:19[edit]

Eat and drink happily, for what you used to do.

Qur'an 52:19 Notes[edit]

Believing this fairytale specifically is enough to deserve the best possible reward, regardless of how little evidence it had.

Qur'an 52:20[edit]

Relaxing on luxurious furnishings; and We will couple them with gorgeous spouses.

Qur'an 52:20 Notes[edit]

How many spouses do the men get in heaven? How about the women?

Qur'an 52:21[edit]

Those who believed, and their offspring followed them in faith—We will unite them with their offspring, and We will not deprive them of any of their works. Every person is hostage to what he has earned.

Qur'an 52:21 Notes[edit]

Various verses in the Quran contradict this verse. According to those verses, God is willing to overlook people's works based on their beliefs. People can do amazing things in this life but still get sent to hell for disbelieving. People can do atrocious things in this life but still get sent to heaven for believing. Other verses claim that the book is entirely clear and never contradicts itself.

Qur'an 52:22[edit]

And We will supply them with fruit, and meat; such as they desire.

Qur'an 52:22 Notes[edit]

Will the meat in heaven still come from exploiting and killing animals or will it all be cruelty-free meat? I know that this religion has people painlessly slaughter animals, but animal rights go beyond that.

Qur'an 52:23[edit]

They will exchange therein a cup; wherein is neither harm, nor sin.

Qur'an 52:23 Notes[edit]

God could have created an entire world with absolutely no harm and no sin.

Qur'an 52:24[edit]

Serving them will be youths like hidden pearls.

Qur'an 52:24 Notes[edit]

Heaven has child labor?

Qur'an 52:25[edit]

And they will approach one another, inquiring.

Qur'an 52:25 Notes[edit]

This seems unbelievable enough that everyone would have questions.

Qur'an 52:26[edit]

They will say, “Before this, we were fearful for our families.

Qur'an 52:26 Notes[edit]

This verse is far from clear in a supposedly clear book.

Qur'an 52:27[edit]

But God blessed us, and spared us the agony of the Fiery Winds.

Qur'an 52:27 Notes[edit]

God could have simply never created such "Fiery Winds" in the first place.

Qur'an 52:28[edit]

Before this, we used to pray to Him. He is the Good, the Compassionate.”

Qur'an 52:28 Notes[edit]

God calls himself "the Good, the Compassionate" but shows himself to be the exact opposite. Sure, he may show mercy and goodness to some of his creations, but the fact that anybody faces eternal agony because of him, much less the vast majority of the people whom he created, shows that he is ultimately more evil than good.

Qur'an 52:29[edit]

So remind. By the grace of your Lord, you are neither a soothsayer, nor a madman.

Qur'an 52:29 Notes[edit]

Keep telling people that while still acting like a soothsayer and a madman. You could just prove that you're neither of those things if the truth is really on your side, Muhammad.

Qur'an 52:30[edit]

Or do they say, “A poet—we await for him a calamity of time”?

Qur'an 52:30 Notes[edit]

Those people may be jerks for saying that, but compare that to the deity who created living, thinking beings only to condemn most of them to infinite torture.

Qur'an 52:31[edit]

Say, “Go on waiting; I will be waiting with you.”

Qur'an 52:31 Notes[edit]

As if that does anything to validate your point remotely.

Qur'an 52:32[edit]

Or is it that their dreams compel them to this? Or are they aggressive people?

Qur'an 52:32 Notes[edit]

God should know. God created them and knows which thoughts and actions he planned for them at any given moment.

Qur'an 52:33[edit]

Or do they say, “He made it up”? Rather, they do not believe.

Qur'an 52:33 Notes[edit]

Because God refuses to let them believe.

Qur'an 52:34[edit]

So let them produce a discourse like it, if they are truthful.

Qur'an 52:34 Notes[edit]

This is the classic Quran challenge. Of course, people have produced works far more poetically beautiful, far more concise, far easier to understand, far more internally consistent, far more ethical, and far more scientifically accurate than this book. However, due to the ambiguous nature of producing something like the Quran, believers can always come up with excuses as to why they don't count. Then again, even if nobody could produce anything like the Quran, how does that prove that the Quran could only have been the result of a supernatural entity, much less an all-powerful all-knowing supernatural entity?

Qur'an 52:35[edit]

Or were they created out of nothing? Or are they the creators?

Qur'an 52:35 Notes[edit]

This verse assumes that humans need to be "created" in order to exist, a faulty assumption at its core.

Qur'an 52:36[edit]

Or did they create the heavens and the earth? In fact, they are not certain.

Qur'an 52:36 Notes[edit]

God is definitely not certain given how many scientific errors he included in the Quran. We don't have to create the heavens and the earth to understand why this book fails to accurately describe them.

Qur'an 52:37[edit]

Or do they possess the treasuries of your Lord? Or are they the controllers?

Qur'an 52:37 Notes[edit]

Some people may be narcissistic enough to claim that everything actually belongs to them. This is exactly what God does. The difference is that those narcissists demonstrably exist. Can this megalomaniac actually prove any ownership or control over anything? He makes lofty claims with zero actual evidence.

Qur'an 52:38[edit]

Or do they have a stairway by means of which they listen? Then let their listener produce a clear proof.

Qur'an 52:38 Notes[edit]

How about you stop yapping and "produce a clear proof", God? This verse suggests that people can simply be dismissed until they "produce a clear proof" and thus undermines the entire Quran.

Qur'an 52:39[edit]

Or for Him the daughters, and for you the sons?

Qur'an 52:39 Notes[edit]

This is just referring to sexist superstition of the time.

Qur'an 52:40[edit]

Or do you demand a payment from them, and they are burdened by debt?

Qur'an 52:40 Notes[edit]

Muhammad commands his followers to obey his every word as this book states multiple times.

Qur'an 52:41[edit]

Or do they know the future, and they are writing it down?

Qur'an 52:41 Notes[edit]

Nobody has to know the future to realize that this book is wrong about the past and present.

Qur'an 52:42[edit]

Or are they planning a conspiracy? The conspiracy will befall the disbelievers.

Qur'an 52:42 Notes[edit]

Another classic cult tactic is weaponizing conspiracy theories to dismiss any dissenting voices.

Qur'an 52:43[edit]

Or do they have a god besides God? God transcends what they associate.

Qur'an 52:43 Notes[edit]

Many people have a god aside from this one specific God, with each of those gods having exactly the same evidence pointing to their existence. This religion's god claims to transcend those other gods while providing no clear proof. Verse 38 is right there for FSM's sake! This verse also means nothing to the many people who have no gods in the first place.

Qur'an 52:44[edit]

Even if they were to see lumps of the sky falling down, they would say, “A mass of clouds.”

Qur'an 52:44 Notes[edit]

They would show a greater understanding of the world around them than the God who claims that the sky is solid with lumps of it falling down.

Qur'an 52:45[edit]

So leave them until they meet their Day in which they will be stunned.

Qur'an 52:45 Notes[edit]

What a loving god!

Qur'an 52:46[edit]

The Day when their ploys will avail them nothing; and they will not be helped.

Qur'an 52:46 Notes[edit]

What a loving threat!

Qur'an 52:47[edit]

For those who do wrong, there is a punishment besides that; but most of them do not know.

Qur'an 52:47 Notes[edit]

God consistently claims to be the main reason why "most of them do not know" and still claims that they deserve to be punished for it. Of course, the crime is simply not knowing taking this specific fairytale on faith.

Qur'an 52:48[edit]

So patiently await the decision of your Lord, for you are before Our Eyes; and proclaim the praises of your Lord when you arise.

Qur'an 52:48 Notes[edit]

Keep waiting forever and ever.

Qur'an 52:49[edit]

And glorify Him during the night, and at the receding of the stars.

Qur'an 52:49 Notes[edit]

If you keep praising and talking to a nonexistent entity, then the void might just talk back and convince you that it's real.