1. By the (Winds) that scatter broadcast;
2. And those that lift and bear away heavy weights;
3. And those that flow with ease and gentleness;
4. And those that distribute and apportion by Command;-
5. Verily that which ye are promised is true;
6. And verily Judgment and Justice must indeed come to pass.
7. By the Sky with (its) numerous Paths,
8. Truly ye are in a doctrine discordant,
9. Through which are deluded (away from the Truth) such as would be deluded.
10. Woe to the falsehood-mongers,-
11. Those who (flounder) heedless in a flood of confusion:
12. They ask, "When will be the Day of Judgment and Justice?"
13. (It will be) a Day when they will be tried (and tested) over the Fire!
14. "Taste ye your trial! This is what ye used to ask to be hastened!"
15. As to the Righteous, they will be in the midst of Gardens and Springs,
16. Taking joy in the things which their Lord gives them, because, before then, they lived a good life.
17. They were in the habit of sleeping but little by night,
18. And in the hour of early dawn, they (were found) praying for Forgiveness;
19. And in their wealth and possessions (was remembered) the right of the (needy,) him who asked, and him who (for some reason) was prevented (from asking).
20. On the earth are signs for those of assured Faith,
21. As also in your own selves: Will ye not then see?
22. And in heaven is your Sustenance, as (also) that which ye are promised.
23. Then, by the Lord of heaven and earth, this is the very Truth, as much as the fact that ye can speak intelligently to each other.
24. Has the story reached thee, of the honoured guests of Abraham?
25. Behold, they entered his presence, and said: "Peace!" He said, "Peace!" (and thought, "These seem) unusual people."
26. Then he turned quickly to his household, brought out a fatted calf,
27. And placed it before them.. he said, "Will ye not eat?"
28. (When they did not eat), He conceived a fear of them. They said, "Fear not," and they gave him glad tidings of a son endowed with knowledge.
29. But his wife came forward (laughing) aloud: she smote her forehead and said: "A barren old woman!"
30. They said, "Even so has thy Lord spoken: and He is full of Wisdom and Knowledge."
31. (Abraham) said: "And what, O ye Messengers, is your errand (now)?"
32. They said, "We have been sent to a people (deep) in sin;-
33. "To bring on, on them, (a shower of) stones of clay (brimstone),
34. "Marked as from thy Lord for those who trespass beyond bounds."
35. Then We evacuated those of the Believers who were there,
36. But We found not there any just (Muslim) persons except in one house:
37. And We left there a Sign for such as fear the Grievous Penalty.
38. And in Moses (was another Sign): Behold, We sent him to Pharaoh, with authority manifest.
39. But (Pharaoh) turned back with his Chiefs, and said, "A sorcerer, or one possessed!"
40. So We took him and his forces, and threw them into the sea; and his was the blame.
41. And in the 'Ad (people) (was another Sign): Behold, We sent against them the devastating Wind:
42. It left nothing whatever that it came up against, but reduced it to ruin and rottenness.
43. And in the Thamud (was another Sign): Behold, they were told, "Enjoy (your brief day) for a little while!"
44. But they insolently defied the Command of their Lord: So the stunning noise (of an earthquake) seized them, even while they were looking on.
45. Then they could not even stand (on their feet), nor could they help themselves.
46. So were the People of Noah before them for they wickedly transgressed.
47. With power and skill did We construct the Firmament: for it is We Who create the vastness of pace.
48. And We have spread out the (spacious) earth: How excellently We do spread out!
49. And of every thing We have created pairs: That ye may receive instruction.
50. Hasten ye then (at once) to Allah. I am from Him a Warner to you, clear and open!
51. And make not another an object of worship with Allah. I am from Him a Warner to you, clear and open!
52. Similarly, no apostle came to the Peoples before them, but they said (of him) in like manner, "A sorcerer, or one possessed"!
53. Is this the legacy they have transmitted, one to another? Nay, they are themselves a people transgressing beyond bounds!
54. So turn away from them: not thine is the blame.
55. But teach (thy Message) for teaching benefits the Believers.
56. I have only created Jinns and men, that they may serve Me.
57. No Sustenance do I require of them, nor do I require that they should feed Me.
58. For Allah is He Who gives (all) Sustenance,- Lord of Power,- Steadfast (for ever).
59. For the Wrong-doers, their portion is like unto the portion of their fellows (of earlier generations): then let them not ask Me to hasten (that portion)!
60. Woe, then, to the Unbelievers, on account of that Day of theirs which they have been promised!

It is derived from the very first word wadh-dhariyat, which implies that it is a Surah which begins with the word adh-dhariyat.

Period of Revelation
The subject matter and the style clearly show that it was sent down in the period when although the Holy Prophet's invitation was being resisted and opposed with denial and ridicule and false accusations stubbornly, persecution had not yet started. Therefore, this Surah also seems to have been revealed in the same period in which the Surah Qaf was revealed.

Subject Matter and Topics
The Surah mostly deals with the Hereafter, and in the end it presents the invitation to Tauhid. In addition, the people have also been warned that refusal to accept the message of the Prophets and persistence in the concepts and creeds of ignorance have proved to be disastrous for those nations themselves which have adopted this attitude and way of life in the past.

About the Hereafter what this Surah presents in short but pithy sentences is this: The people's different and conflicting beliefs about the end of human life are themselves an express proof that none of these beliefs and creeds is based on knowledge; everyone by himself has formed an ideology on the basis of conjecture and made the same his creed. Someone thought that there would be no life-after-death; someone believed in the life- after-death, but in the form of the transmigration of souls someone believed in the life hereafter and the meting out of the rewards and punishments but invented different sorts of props and supports to escape retribution. About a question of such vital and fundamental importance a wrong view of which renders man's whole life-work wrong and waste and ruins his future for ever, it would be a disastrous folly to build an ideology only on the basis of speculation and conjecture, without knowledge. It would mean that man should remain involved in a grave misunderstanding, pass his whole life in the heedlessness of error, and after death should suddenly meet with a situation for which he had made no preparation at all. There is only one way of forming the right opinion about such a question, and it is this: Man should seriously ponder over the knowledge about the Hereafter that the Prophet of Allah is conveying to him from Him, and should study carefully the system of the earth and heavens and his own existence: and should see whether the evidence of that knowledge's being sound and correct is afforded by everything around him or not. In this regard, the arrangement of the wind and rain, the structure of the earth and the creatures found on it, man's own self, the creation of the heavens and of everything in the world in the form of pairs have been presented as evidence of the Hereafter, and instances have been cited from human history to show that the temper of the empire of the Universe requires that the law of retribution must operate here.

After this, giving the invitation to Tauhid briefly, it has been said : "Your Creator has not created you for the service of others but for His own service. He is not like your false gods, which receive sustenance from you and godhead of which cannot function without your help, but He is a God Who is the Sustainer of all, Who does not stand in need of sustenance from anyone and Whose Godhead is functioning by His own power and might.

In this very connection, it has also been stated that whenever the Prophets of Allah have been opposed and resisted, they have not been opposed and resisted on the basis of any rational ground but on the basis of the same obduracy and stubbornness and false pride that is being shown against the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and there is no other motive for it than rebellion and arrogance. Then the Holy Prophet has been instructed not to bother about the rebels but to go on performing his mission of invitation and admonition, for it is useful and beneficial for the believers although it may not be so for the other people. As for the wicked people who still persist in their rebellion, they should know that their predecessors who followed the same way of life, have already received their shares of the punishment, and these people's share of the punishment has been made ready for them.