Meaning

Ayah

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

THE EXPLANATION

1.  {إِذَا السَّمَاءُ انْشَقَّتْ}            

            Al-Mawardiyy and others said:  This is among the signs of the occurrence of the Day of Judgment.  Ibn ^Abbas said inshaqqat (انْشَقَّتْ) means ‘to be cleaved by the white clouds’ and the ayah means the sky shall cleave away from the white clouds and the angels shall descend in the white clouds.

2.  {وَأَذِنَتْ لِرَبِّهَا وَحُقَّتْ}         

            The meaning is that the sky shall attentively listen and obediently submit to the order of Allah.  Wahuqqat (وَحُقَّتْ) means the sky rightfully listens and submits to its Lord and this is due to Allah.

3.  {وَإِذَا الأرْضُ مُدَّتْ}             

            Mujahid said:  What is meant is the Earth on the Day of Judgment.  Ibn ^Abbas said:  The Earth shall be flatly stretched and expanded.  Imam al-Qushayriyy said:  The Earth will be flattened smooth after its woods and mountains are demolished.

4.  {وَأَلْقَتْ مَا فِيهَا وَتَخَلَّتْ}       

            Al-Hakim narrated from the route of Ibn ^Abbas:  The Earth brings out the dead buried in it and gives them up until none are left.

5.  {وَأَذِنَتْ لِرَبِّهَا وَحُقَّتْ}         

            As explained in ayah #2 above, the sky shall attentively listen and obediently submit to the order of Allah, and rightfully listens and submits to its Lord and this is due to Allah.

6.  {يَاأَيُّهَا الإِنْسَانُ إِنَّكَ كَادِحٌ إِلَى رَبِّكَ كَدْحًا فَمُلاقِيهِ}                 

            An-Nasafiyy said, 'this ayah addresses mankind.'  Al-^Izz Ibn ^Abd as-Salam mentioned the meaning of the ayah is:  [O son of Adam, you shall work hard and toil toward meeting the judgment of your Lord].  Ar-Raghib al-Asbahaniyy said al-kadh (الكدح) is ‘to travail and toil’ and al-Qurtubiyy said it is ‘to work and acquire.’  Al-Qushayriyy said famulaqih (فَمُلاقِيهِ) means ‘you shall see the result of your deeds on the Day of Judgment’--goodness for good and distress for evil.

7.  {فَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِيَ كِتَابَهُ بِيَمِينِهِ}   

            Al-Qushayriyy said that this is the charitable believer.  He shall be given the record of his deeds in his right hand.  The Hafidh Ibn Hajar said:  In Hadith Jabir, according to Ibn Abu Hatim and al-Hakim:

من زادت حسناته على سيئاته فذاك الذى يدخل الجنة بغير حساب، ومن استوت حسناته و سيئاته>>

فذاك الذى يحاسب حسابا يسيرا ثم يدخل الجنة، ومن زادت سيئاته على حسناته فذاك الذى اوبق نفسه والشفاعة فى مثله<<

<<The one whose good deeds exceed his bad deeds shall enter Paradise without being punished about his bad deeds.  The one whose good deeds are equal to his bad deeds shall be lightly presented with his deeds, his bad deeds will be overlooked--after which he enters Paradise.  And the one whose bad deeds exceed his good deeds is the one who had tormented himself, and the intercession is meant for the likes of him.>>

8.  {فَسَوْفَ يُحَاسَبُ حِسَابًا يَسِيرًا}                      

            It is the easy and light presentation of one’s deeds.  Al-Hakim narrated that the Prophet explained al-hisab al yasir (الحساب اليسير) by saying:

<< أن ينظر فى سيئاته ويتجاوز له عنها >>

This means:  <<to look at his bad deeds and to overlook them.>>  Al-Hakim said this hadith is sahih according to the criteria of Muslim.  Imam al Bukhariyy reported from ^A’ishah that she said: 

            The Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, said:  << ليس احدٌ يحاسب يوم القيامة الاهلك >>

This means:  <<Anyone who is questioned about his deeds shall be tortured.>> I (Lady ^A’ishah) said: 

اليس قد قال الله تعالى {فَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِيَ كِتَابَهُ بِيَمِينِهِ (7) فَسَوْفَ يُحَاسَبُ حِسَابًا يَسِيرًا (8)}

This means:  Did not Allah say (verse 7 and 8 above)? 

The Messenger said: 

<< انـما ذاك العرض وليس احد يناقش الحساب يوم القيامة الاعذب >>

<<This is in reference to presenting one with his deeds, however, anyone who is questioned about his deeds shall be tortured.>> (end of the words of Lady ^Aishah).

            The Hafidh Ibn Hajar said that al-Qurtubiyy said: 'the saying of the Prophet <<innama dhalika al-^ard>>:  (انـما ذلك العرض) means that al-hisab which is mentioned in the ayah is in reference to presenting the believer with his deeds.  The purpose is for him to know the endowment Allah bestowed upon him in that He covered his misdeeds in this world and forgave him for it on the Day of Judgment.'

9.  {وَيَنْقَلِبُ إِلَى أَهْلِهِ مَسْرُورًا}   

            It means the believer shall in Paradise turn to his wives among al-hur al ^in, the extremely beautiful women that Allah created for him, and his wives among the daughters of Adam.  Masrura (مَسْرُورًا) means happy and joyful for the endowment Allah has bestowed on him.

10.  {وَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِيَ كِتَابَهُ وَرَاءَ ظَهْرِهِ}                  

            This is in reference to the blasphemer.  His right hand shall be chained to his neck and his left hand put behind his back.  He will be given his book in his left hand behind his back.

11.  {فَسَوْفَ يَدْعُو ثُبُورًا}          

            When he sees the severity of the torture he will be encountering, he shall cry out 'Woe!  What destruction have I brought onto myself?'

12.  {وَيَصْلَى سَعِيرًا}                 

            He shall enter the extremely burning fire and be burnt by its blaze.  Ibn Kathir, Nafi^, Ibn ^Amir and al-Kisa’iyy recited yusalla (يصلى) with a dammah on the ya’ (يُ) and a fathah on the sad (صَ) and doubling the lam (لَّ). ^Asim, Abu ^Amr and Hamzah recited yasla with a single ya' and a fathah; however, Hamzah and Al-Kisa'iyy recited with imalah.

13.   {إِنَّهُ كَانَ فِي أَهْلِهِ مَسْرُورًا}

            The blasphemer in this world used to be happy among his own people, arrogant because of his wealth and his social rank, and forgetful and absent-minded of the matters of the Hereafter.

14.  {إِنَّهُ ظَنَّ أَنْ لَنْ يَحُورَ}        

            The blasphemer used to believe that he shall not return to Allah because he used to belie the Resurrection.

15.  {بَلَى إِنَّ رَبَّهُ كَانَ بِهِ بَصِيرًا}                                           

            Al-Farra’ said that surely he shall return to his Lord, for his Lord knew in eternity that he shall return to Him and knew in eternity of all of his forthcoming different situations.

16.  {فَلا أُقْسِمُ بِالشَّفَقِ}            

            Some interpreters said la (لا) is only an addition here.  Hence, the meaning is an adjuration in which Allah adjured by the shafaq (ِالشَّفَقِ) (according to most of the scholars the redness in the horizon after sunset that lasts until nightfall).  Abu Hanifah said it is the whiteness after sunset.

17.  {وَاللَّيْلِ وَمَا وَسَقَ}              

            The Hafidh Ibn Hajar said:  Sa^id Ibn Mansur reported from Ibn ^Abbas regarding this ayah that it means ‘The night and what is included in it.’  The chain of narration is sahih.  What is meant is what the night covers among the mountains, trees, oceans, and earth.  Mujahid said:  Wama wasaqa (وَمَا وَسَقَ) means ‘what the night gathers’; that is, the night gathers that which was spread out during daylight.  During the day, people leave their homes and go about taking care of their daily living chores. The animals likewise emerge and look for food.  Then when it becomes dark, humans and animals come back and gather in their homes for the night.  ^Ikrimah said, 'the night takes everything back to its resting quarters.'

18.  {وَالْقَمَرِ إِذَا اتَّسَقَ}              

            Al-Qushayriyy said that they ayah means: When the moon becomes complete, gathered together and full.  Al-Farra’ said the moon becomes full on the thirteenth (13th) to sixteenth (16th) day.  Al-Mundhiriyy said that an-Nasa’iyy narrated with a good chain of narration and al-Bayhaqiyy that the Messenger of Allah said:

<<صيام ثلاثة ايام من كل شهر صيام الدهر، ايام البيض:  صبيحة ثلاث عشرة واربع عشرة و خمس عشرة>>

This means:  <<Fasting three days of every month has a similar reward to fasting the entire time.  Those white days are the morning of the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth.>>

19.  {لَتَرْكَبُنَّ طَبَقًا عَنْ طَبَقٍ}

            Latarkabunna (لَتَرْكَبُنَّ), with a fathah on the ta' and a dammah on the ba', as was recited by ^Asim, Nafi^, Abu ^Amr, and Ibn ^Amir means:  ‘O people, you shall undergo hardships.’  Al-Hakim narrated from Ibn ^Abbas that he said tabaqan ^ann tabaq (طَبَقًا عَنْ طَبَقٍ) means ‘one situation after another.’  What is meant here is the dire times and difficulties, i.e. first with death and then Resurrection after it, then presenting one with one’s deeds, and then what comes after that on the Day of Judgment.  Sa^id Ibn Jubayr said:  'One encounter after another'.  The people who were degraded in this world shall be raised in the Hereafter and the people who were raised in this world shall be degraded in the Hereafter.

Ibn Kathir, Hamzah and al-Kisa'iyy recited Latarkabanna (لَتَرْكَبَنَّ) with a fathah on the ta' and the ba'.  Read as such, it has two meanings, the first being an address to the Prophet, sallallahu ^alayhi wa sallam, and the second being in reference to the sky to the effect that it encounters changes.

            Ibn Mas^ud, Abu Al Jawza' and Abu al-Ashhab recited the term as Layarkabanna       (ليركبن) with a ya' and a fathah on the ba'.  Abu Al Mutawakkil, Abu ^Imran and Ibn Ya^mar recited the term as Layarkabunna (ليركبن) with a ya' and a dammah on the ba'.  The term ^an

(عَنْ) in the ayah means, 'after.'

20.  {فَمَا لَهُمْ لا يُؤْمِنُونَ}           

            What is the matter with the blasphemers of Makkah that they do not believe in Muhammad and the Qur’an?  Ibn al-Jawziyy said this is an interrogative posed to denounce the blasphemers for leaving out the belief whose proofs of validity are evident.

21.  {وَإِذَا قُرِئَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْقُرْءَانُ لا يَسْجُدُونَ}         

            Abu Hayyan said:  They do not humble themselves by prostrating and do not submit to the Qur’an when it is read to them.

22.  {بَلِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا يُكَذِّبُونَ} 

            Instead, the blasphemers belie Muhammad, the Qur’an, and the Resurrection.

23.  {وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا يُوعُونَ}       

            Al-Farra’ said:  Allah knows what they gather in their chests among the sins and belying the Religion.

24.  {فَبَشِّرْهُمْ بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ}        

            Az-Zajjaj said:  Give the blasphemers the news of the severe torture that will befall them, as opposed to giving to the believers the good tidings of the bliss in Paradise.

25.  {إِلا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَهُمْ أَجْرٌ غَيْرُ مَمْنُونٍ}         

            As for those who believed in the Testification of Faith, they shall have a complete reward.  Al-Qurtubiyy said:  The function of exclusion of illa (إلا) is not in effect. Hence, the meaning is as if Allah said:  As to those who believed in the Testification of Faith (No one is God except Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah), that is they performed their obligations, lahum ajrun (لَهُمْ أَجْرٌ) ‘they shall have reward’ ghayru mamnun (غَيْرُ مَمْنُونٍ) ‘complete and not short.’  Then al-Qurtubiyy said:  Some scholars said the function of illa (إلا) in the ayah is not that of exclusion; rather it has the meaning of ‘waw’ (و). As such the meaning would be as if Allah said:  And those who believed shall be rewarded. And Allah knows best.