On the Day of Summoning—when the trumpet is blown, the horn is sounded, and the earth is bathed in light; when the admonisher has spoken, the angry stand apart, and every keen eye beholds—woe to anyone who turns away from the most evident truth, the radiant light, the Great Assembly, on the Day of Decision and the Scales of Justice. On that day the Omnipotent Judge will pronounce His decree, the Warner will testify, help will be far removed, shortcomings will be laid bare: a company will be in the Garden and a company in the Blaze.
He is the one who also said:
A memory from within stirred the heart’s recall,
while nights held in their midst the brightness of day.
Torrents, pouring from laden clouds,
raised up the water—yet within them lurked fire;
flashes that blind the eyes, and fierce thunder
hurled across the two horizons.
Lofty palaces once filled with good,
and others whose courts now lie desolate;
towering, firmly–planted mountains,
and seas whose waters overflow;
stars that gleam in the darkness of night—
we watch them revolve each day;
then a sun urged on by the moon of night—
each of the two in ceaseless pursuit.
The young, the grizzled, and the old alike—
all of them will one day be gathered upon the plain;
and something far greater than even the unperplexed mind
can grasp with its keenest intuition.
All that I have mentioned points to God
for souls possessed of guidance and reflection.
He further said—and the Messenger of God ﷺ remarked, “Whatever else I may forget, I shall never forget him at the market of ʿUkāẓ”—while standing on a red camel, addressing the people:
“O people, gather and listen; when you listen, understand; when you understand, benefit. Speak, and when you speak, speak the truth. Whoever lives shall die, and whoever dies has passed on; everything that is approaching will surely arrive: rain and vegetation, the living and the dead, the dark night, a sky with constellations, glittering stars, surging seas, light and darkness, nights and days, righteousness and sin.
“In the heavens there is news, and on the earth there are lessons that confound the keenest sight: a cradle spread out, a roof raised high, stars that set, seas that never boil over, destinies that draw near, and a treacherous age—sharp as the edge of a lancet, exact as the balance-scale.
“Quss swears an oath, neither lying nor sinful: if there is satisfaction in this affair, it will surely turn to wrath.
“O people! God has a religion more beloved to Him than the one you now follow; its time and its season have come.”
Then he said: