A solemn oath by the Day of Resurrection opens this Makkan text, directly answering polytheists who mocked the reality of life after death. Because of this unique swearing, the chapter is also called Sūrat Lā uqsimu. Counted thirty-first in the chronological order of revelation, it dedicates its forty verses to proving the absolute certainty of the final judgment.

The text moves from affirming the signs of the Hour to establishing the recompense for human deeds. It then pauses to calm the Prophet's anxiety over memorizing the Quran, promising that Allah will guide and preserve its recitation. Returning to humanity, the verses warn against prioritizing this fleeting world and outline the starkly different conditions of the blessed and the wretched.

The narrative eventually confronts the crisis of a dying soul realizing the inescapable moment of separation has arrived. To settle the matter of physical resurrection, the final verses point back to the origin of man, using his initial creation from a drop of fluid as proof that recreating the human body is a certain reality.