Al-Inshiqaq, "The Splitting Open," is the eighty-fourth surah — 25 verses revealed in Mecca.1 It is one of the three surahs the Prophet ﷺ recommended to anyone who wishes to see the Day of Resurrection "as if he is seeing it with this eye."4
What it is about
The surah opens with creation obeying its Creator: "When the sky has split [open] and has listened [i.e., responded] to its Lord and was obligated [to do so] and when the earth has been extended and has cast out that within it and relinquished [it]." Then it turns to the reader: "O mankind, indeed you are laboring toward your Lord with [great] exertion and will meet it."
At that meeting, "as for he who is given his record in his right hand, he will be judged with an easy account and return to his people in happiness. But as for he who is given his record behind his back, he will cry out for destruction." His mistake was that "he had thought he would never return [to Allah]. But yes! Indeed, his Lord was ever, of him, Seeing."2
Swearing by the twilight glow, the night and the full moon, the surah declares that "you will surely embark upon [i.e., experience] state after state," and asks why people do not believe — "and when the Quran is recited to them, they do not prostrate [to Allah]?" It ends with the exception that runs through these surahs: "those who believe and do righteous deeds. For them is a reward uninterrupted."3 Abu Hurairah prostrated when reciting this surah, saying, "Had I not seen the Prophet (ﷺ) prostrating, I would not have prostrated."5
Why it matters
Al-Inshiqaq frames human life as a journey of effort that ends in meeting God, and the phrase "laboring toward your Lord" has long served as a summary of the believer's life. Its contrast of the record given in the right hand and behind the back is one of the Quran's clearest images of judgment. To read Al-Inshiqaq in Arabic with translations and recitation, open it on Quran.com.