Is There an Afterlife? Five Scriptures on the Hereafter

“Is there an afterlife?” Every Tradition represented on this site answers in its scripture. Here are five of those answers, quoted as they are written, with a link to each verse in its original language. As in our first post, we add no commentary of our own: the verses speak for themselves.

Hinduism: the Rig Veda

This verse comes from a funeral hymn in the tenth book of the Rig Veda, addressed to one who has died:

“Meet Yama, meet the Fathers, meet the merit of free or ordered acts, in highest heaven. Leave sin and evil, seek anew thy dwelling, and bright with glory wear another body.”

— Rig Veda 10.14.8 (read the verses)

Judaism: the Hebrew Bible

From the closing chapter of the Book of Daniel:

“And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to reproaches and everlasting abhorrence. And they that are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn the many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.”

— Daniel 12:2–3 (read the verses)

Christianity: the New Testament

From the Letter to the Hebrews:

“Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this, judgment.”

— Hebrews 9:27 (read the verse)

Islam: the Qur’an

The opening of Surah Al-Baqarah describes those who are mindful of God:

“This scripture is not in doubt, a guidance for the righteous. Those who believe in the unseen … and with regard to the Hereafter, they are certain.”

— Qur’an 2:2–4 (read the verses)

Sikhism: the Guru Granth Sahib

The closing verse (Salok) of Japji, Guru Nanak’s composition that opens the Guru Granth Sahib:

“Merits and demerits shall be read out in the presence of the Judge. According to men’s acts, some shall be near, and others distant from God.”

— Guru Granth Sahib, Ang 8 (read the verse)

Side by side

Placing these verses together does not mean the Traditions teach the same things in every respect, and we do not rank one above another. Each is presented under its own name and in its own words.

To read them side by side in their original languages (Sanskrit, Hebrew, Greek, Arabic and Gurmukhi), see the Comparison on the Hereafter. For verses that speak of the one God, the Hereafter and a righteous life together, see The Message.

Translations: Ralph T. H. Griffith (1896), the JPS Tanakh (1917), the World English Bible, One God One Message’s own translation of the Qur’an, and Max Arthur Macauliffe (1909). Sources and licenses are listed on each verse’s page.