(Revealed before Hijrah)
The Surah was revealed at Mecca about the 5th year of the Call, not later than the close of the early Meccan period. Noldeke, Muir and some other eminent authorities, assign this date to its revelation. In the preceding Surah the disbelievers were warned that Al-Haqqah (The Great Calamity) would soon overtake them if they did not repent of their sins and accept the Divine Message. The present Surah opens with mentioning the disbelievers’ demand: 'When will the threatened punishment come?' They are told that it would soon be upon them, nay, it is at their very door. But when it came, it would be so overwhelming and devastating that it would cause the mountains to fly like flakes of wool, and disbelievers would wish to part with their near and dear ones—their wives, children and brothers—as ransom for themselves. But then it will be too late. Towards its close the Surah warns disbelievers again that they consider prophecies about the glorious future of Islam as only the dream of a visionary, but the time was fast approaching when, with their eyes cast down, they will hasten to the Holy Prophet to accept Islam. Then they will realize to their shame and sorrow that what the Holy Prophet had foretold about their ultimate defeat was only too true.