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Surah 103 - At the End of the Day

At the end of the day
mankind really is lost
with the exception of those who remain faithful, do the right things
and commend righteousness and endurance.

Commentary

I take enormous liberties with the first expression/title, but the alternative is the meaningless literalism 'by the day/afternoon' or possibly something to do with pressing grapes. The metaphor seems to be about completion: when the day is over, when things are spent. The English colloquialism 'when all's said and done...' might fit, too.

There is rhyme here, but effectively it is merely a sequential repetition of the same verbal ending -oo (remain, do, commend) which serves to emphasise the importance of practical action.

The verb 'to be', as in many languages, is omitted which introduces a problem of tense: making this a future judgement ('will be lost') could make sense, but keeping the present tense adds something of a preordained certainty to the surah making this more of an ontological statement of eternal judgment.

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