Verses 99–114
These verses involve a sense of threat following Moses’ story. They refer to the horrors of the Day of Resurrection as a means of warning.
Commentary
كَذَلِكَ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ مِنْ أَنْبَاءِ مَا قَدْ سَبَقَ وَقَدْ آتَيْنَاكَ مِنْ لَدُنَّا ذِكْراً٩٩
(20:99) Thus do We relate to you (some) of the news of what has gone before; and indeed We have given to you a Reminder from Ourselves.
It is likely that the allusion is to the uniqueness of Moses’ story. “What has gone before” means the affairs and past events and the extinct nations that is, thus did We relate Moses’ story and in this way, We shall relate to you the tidings of past events and nations.
His Words, and indeed We have given to you a Reminder from Ourselves mean the Noble Qur’an or the various pieces of knowledge which it contains by which God reminds—facts, stories, lessons, ethics, laws, etc.
مَنْ أَعْرَضَ عَنْهُ فَإِنَّهُ يَحْمِلُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وِزْراً ١٠٠
(20:100) Whoever turns aside from it, he shall surely bear a burden (wizran) on the day of resurrection;
The pronoun “it” refers to the Reminder. Wizr means burden or sin. The context provided by “bearing” makes it likely that the former is intended. The indefinite form of wizr indicates the magnitude of its importance. It means whoever turns away from the Reminder will bear a burden of great severity and bitter effect. Sin is metaphorically likened to a burden (wizr) that one carries with difficulty because one is subject to his sin.
خَالِدِينَ فِيهِ وَسَاءَ لَهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ حِمْلاً ١٠١
(20:101) Abiding in this (state), and evil will it be for them to bear on the day of resurrection;
Their abiding in the wizr (burden or sin) means their abiding in its jazāʾ that is, its punishment somewhat metonymically. The use of the plural in khālidīn (abiding) is with regard to the meaning of (the clause), Whoever turns aside from it just as the use of aʾraḍa [turns aside, singular] and, he shall surely bear is with regard to the wording. Thus, the verse is like His Words: … and whoever disobeys (wa man yaʾṣī) God and His Messenger surely he shall have the fire of hell to abide (khālidīn) therein for a long time ().
Ignoring matters of wording, Whoever turns aside from it, he shall surely bear a burden on the day of resurrection; abiding in this (state) is one of the verses which most clearly indicate that a person is only punished for his actions and abides therein. This is the physical manifestation of deeds (tajassum al-aʿmāl).
… and evil will it be for them (wa sāʾa lahum) to bear on the day of resurrection: Sāʾa is one of the verbs of disparagement such as biʾsa (evil is). It means: What an evil burden their burden will be on the Day of Resurrection. Ḥiml and ḥaml both mean the same thing [burden]. [The only difference] is that ḥiml is what is carried externally, for example, on the back whereas ḥaml is that which is carried internally, for example, a child in the womb.
يَوْمَ يُنْفَخُ فِي الصُّورِ ۚ وَنَحْشُرُ الْمُجْرِمِينَ يَوْمَئِذٍ زُرْقًا ١٠٢
(20:102) On the day when the trumpet shall be blown, and We will gather the guilty, blue-eyed, on that day.
“On the day when the trumpet shall be blown” is in apposition to “the day of resurrection” in the previous verse. Blowing the trumpet is an allusion to summoning and calling. That is why He follows it later on with: On that day they shall follow the inviter, there is no crookedness in him ().
Zurq is the plural of azraq (blue) from al-zarqah (blueness) which is a particular color. Al-Farrāʾ says that their being zurq means their being blind because when the light of the eyes goes, the iris turns blue. It is a good explanation and is supported by: … and We will gather them together on the day of resurrection on their faces, blind ().
It is claimed that it means the blueness of their bodies from exhaustion and thirst. The blueness of their eyes is said because blue is the worst and most hated eye color among the Arabs. It is said: It means their being thirsty because severe thirst changes the blackness of the eye, making it look blue. They are all unsatisfactory explanations.
يَتَخَافَتُونَ بَيْنَهُمْ إِنْ لَبِثْتُمْ إِلَّا عَشْرًا ١٠٣ نَحْنُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا يَقُولُونَ إِذْ يَقُولُ أَمْثَلُهُمْ طَرِيقَةً إِنْ لَبِثْتُمْ إِلَّا يَوْمًا ١٠٤
(20:103-104) They shall consult together secretly: You did tarry but ten. We know best what they say, when the fairest of them in course would say: You tarried but a day.
Takhāfut means the people speaking to each other in a low voice. That is by the people of the assembly because of the horror of the scene.
The clause, You did not tarry but ten is an explanation of their words which they say together secretly. As indicated by the context, the sentence means: They say: You have not tarried but ten days before the assembly. They consider their tarrying there to be little in relation to what is suggested to them by the assessment of eternal abiding.
We know best what they say, when the fairest of them in course would say: You tarried but a day: That is, We have comprehensive knowledge of everything they say by way of assessment of their tarrying when the fairest of them in course—that is, the most truthful among them—says: You have tarried but a day. The one who says this is only the fairest of them in course and the most truthful among them because there is no comparison between limited, earthly tarrying and the tarrying of eternal abiding. His deeming it to be a day—less than ten—is closer to the truth than deeming it to be ten. Even so, it is a relative statement, not a real one. The true statement is what God cites: And those who are given knowledge and faith will say: Certainly you tarried according to the ordinance of God till the day of resurrection, so this is the day of resurrection, but you did not know ().
The meaning of this tarrying will be discussed fully in the exegesis of that verse, if God pleases.
وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْجِبَالِ فَقُلْ يَنْسِفُهَا رَبِّي نَسْفًا ١٠٥
(20:105) And they ask you about the mountains. Say: My Lord will carry them away from the roots.
The verse indicates that they asked him [the Prophet] about the state of the mountains on the day of resurrection. [The question] was then answered by the verses.
Say: My Lord will carry them away from the roots, that is, will uproot them and stir them up. None of them will remain in their place.
فَيَذَرُهَا قَاعًا صَفْصَفًا ١٠٦
(20:106) Then leave it a plain, smooth level.
Qāʾ means level ground. Ṣafṣaf means smooth level ground. It means He will leave it as a smooth level ground with nothing on it. It is as if the [masculine] pronoun to refer to the earth [feminine in Arabic] is with regard to the fact that it was once mountains [masculine in Arabic].
لَا تَرَىٰ فِيهَا عِوَجًا وَلَا أَمْتًا ١٠٧
(20:107)You shall not see therein any crookedness or unevenness.
It is said that ʿiwaj means what of the earth has sunk and that amat is that of it which has risen. The second person pronoun refers to the Prophet. What is intended is everyone who should see. It means no one will see it sunken like the valleys or risen like the hills or hillocks.
يَوْمَئِذٍ يَتَّبِعُونَ الدَّاعِيَ لَا عِوَجَ لَهُ ۖ وَخَشَعَتِ الْأَصْوَاتُ لِلرَّحْمَٰنِ فَلَا تَسْمَعُ إِلَّا هَمْسًا ١٠٨
(20:108) On that day they shall follow the inviter, there is no crookedness in him, and the voices shall be low before the Beneficent so that you shall not hear aught but a soft sound.
Negating the crookedness, if it is linked to following, such that, no crookedness in him, is a circumstantial qualifier, qualifying the plural pronoun the agent of which is “they shall follow” (yattabiʾun), would mean they would have no recourse if called but to follow without hesitation, aversion, impediment or indulgence because all that is derivative of ability and capability or Man’s mistaken belief that he has for himself. Today they will see that ownership and power is God’s without partner. He says: To whom belongs the kingdom this day? To God, the One, the Subduer (of all) (); … that those who are unjust had seen, when they see the chastisement, that the power is wholly God’s ().
If it is linked to an inviter, it means that the inviter does not leave anyone uninvited, without overlooking anyone through inadvertence, forgetfulness or turning a blind eye in the invitation. However ending the sentence with, and the voices shall be low before the Beneficent … fits the first explanation because raising voices when invited and summoned is only to rebel and show disdain for obedience and following.
… and the voices shall be low before the Beneficent so that you shall not hear aught but a soft sound: Al-Rāghib says, a hamas is a secret sound. Hamas of feet means as quiet as their sound can be. He says, so that you shall not hear aught but a soft sound.
The second person pronoun in you shall not hear refers to the Prophet. What is intended is anyone listening. It means voices will be lowered because of their engrossment in humbling and abasing themselves before God so anyone listening will only hear a low voice.
يَوْمَئِذٍ لَا تَنْفَعُ الشَّفَاعَةُ إِلَّا مَنْ أَذِنَ لَهُ الرَّحْمَٰنُ وَرَضِيَ لَهُ قَوْلًا ١٠٩
(20:109) On that day shall no intercession avail except of him whom the Beneficent allows and whose word He is pleased with.
Negating intercession being of any benefit is an allusion to the fact that judging fairly and ruling decisively and in accordance with the divine promise and threat, will definitely happen that day without the transgression of any criminal being left out or the sin of any sinner being overlooked because of any impediment preventing it. Thus, the availing of intercession means its effectiveness.
His Words, except of him whom the Beneficent allows and whose word He is pleased with is the exception indicating that the intention behind the words is to deny intercessors, not the effect of intercession on those for whom intercession is made. The leave is for intercession as explained by what He says after that, and whose word He is pleased with because speaking on that day will revolve around His permission. He says: On the day when it shall come, no soul shall speak except with His permission (); … they shall not speak except he whom the Beneficent permits and who speaks the right thing ().
The meaning of “permission to speak” was explained in the exegesis of Sūrah Hūd [in Ar. vol. 10 of this book]. “Whose word He is pleased with” is mentioned in an unconditional way. Thus, it means a word that is completely free of what angers God, whether that is an intentional or unintentional error. That will only be from someone whose heart God has cleared of mistaken belief and misdeed and whose soul He has cleansed of the abomination of polytheism and ignorance in this world, or whom He has grouped with them, because trial and tribulation will be with the hearts (on) that day. As He says: On the day when hidden things shall be made manifest ().
The discussion is a long one. Some of it you will encounter if God pleases.
يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِهِ عِلْمًا ١١٠
(20:110) He knows what is before them and what is behind them, while they do not comprehend it in knowledge.
The plural pronouns in the verse could refer to “him whom the Beneficent allows” () because the object of reference is plural in terms of meaning. In that case, what is meant is that their pleasing words are not hidden from God, for His knowledge encompasses them while they do not encompass Him in knowledge. For, they cannot deceive Him with embellished speech which He is not pleased with.
The pronouns could also refer to the guilty. In that case, the verse is affirming His knowledge of them at the place of judgment—which is referred to as “before them”—as well as in this world and before they attend that place, both during their life and after that– which is referred to as “behind them”. They are encompassed by His knowledge but they do not encompass Him in knowledge. Thus, He will punish them for what they have done, their faces having submitted to the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsistent and they will not be able to refuse His judgment. Thereupon will be their disappointment. This possibility fits the context of the verses better.
وَعَنَتِ الْوُجُوهُ لِلْحَيِّ الْقَيُّومِ ۖ وَقَدْ خَابَ مَنْ حَمَلَ ظُلْمًا ١١١
(20:111) And the faces shall be humbled before the Living, the Self-subsistent (God), and he who bears iniquity is indeed a failure.
ʿAnwah means submissiveness before the domination of the Dominator. This will be the state of everything except God on the day of resurrection upon the manifestation of divine authority—as He says: To whom belongs the kingdom this day? To God, the One, the Subduer (of all) ().
Thus, nothing owns anything in the true sense of the word which means absolute poverty and submissiveness. The humility is only attributed to faces because when it first appears, it manifests in faces. Concomitant to this humility is the fact that no impediment prevents His judgment and authority over them, and no obstacle gets between Him and what He decrees for them. The Living, the Self Subsisting is selected out of all His (beautiful) Names because the topic of discourse is the dead being brought to life a second time and causes cut off from them (on) that day. His Attributes which are appropriate in this situation are the absoluteness of His life and His direction of every affair.
… and he who bears iniquity is indeed a failure: And whoever does good works and he is a believer, he shall have no fear of injustice nor of the withholding of his due. This [clause] explains their punishment. “He who bears iniquity is indeed a failure” refers to sinners among unbelievers, as they are the ones who will have the failure of being meted out the worst punishment. It does not include all bearers of iniquity [that is, sinners] regardless of being believers or not because a believer will not be let down on that day due to intercession. If the verse is meant in a general sense—that anyone who bears any iniquity will be a failure—then failure in each case would be failure to achieve the happiness that is missed due to that specific iniquity, not failure to achieve happiness altogether.
وَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِنَ الصَّالِحَاتِ وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَلَا يَخَافُ ظُلْمًا وَلَا هَضْمًا ١١٢
(20:112) And whoever does good works and he is a believer, he shall have no fear of injustice nor of the withholding of his due.
This is a digressionary explanation of the state of the pious believers to complete the list of categories and conclude the statement on the two groups—the pious and the sinners. Good works are qualified by belief because disbelief destroys good works as dictated by the verses on [such] destruction. Haḍm means deficiency. The meaning of the verse is clear. Through the conclusion of this verse the explanation in summary of what will happen to them on the day of requital when they are resurrected up until they are requited for their deeds, is completed. The verses mention the following points about their resurrection:
First: Their being summoned: On the day when the trumpet shall be blown.
Second: Their being raised and the proximity of that, such that the fairest of them in course thinks that they have tarried but ten on the earth: They shall consult together secretly …
Third: The flattening of the earth to gather them upon it: And they ask you about the mountains …
Fourth: Their obedience and following the inviter to attend: On that day they shall follow the inviter, there is no crookedness in him …
Fifth: The ineffectiveness of intercession on cancelling the punishment: On that day shall no intercession avail …
Sixth: His knowledge of their state but not vice versa. It is a prelude to the reckoning and punishment/reward: He knows what is before them and what is behind them …
Seventh: His control over them, their humbling before Him and His judgment of them: And the faces shall be humbled before the Living, the Self-subsistent …
Eighth: The punishment: and he … is indeed a failure.
Thus the reason for the order of the verses is clear and for the reference to what is referred to in them.
وَكَذَٰلِكَ أَنْزَلْنَاهُ قُرْآنًا عَرَبِيًّا وَصَرَّفْنَا فِيهِ مِنَ الْوَعِيدِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَّقُونَ أَوْ يُحْدِثُ لَهُمْ ذِكْرًا ١١٣
(20:113) And thus have We sent it down an Arabic Qur’an, and have distinctly set forth therein of threats that they may guard (against evil) or that it may produce a reminder for them.
It is apparent from its context that the use of the demonstrative kadhālika (thus [literally: like that]) is due to the particulars of the explanation in the verses. Qurʾānan ʿArabiyyan (an Arabic Qur’an) is the circumstantial qualifier of the object of anzalnāhu (We sent it down). Taṣrīf means changing from state to state. It means: With this manner of inimitable explanation, We have sent down the Book, the situation being that it is a Qur’an recited in Arabic in which We have brought some of what We promised them in one form after another, that they may guard (against evil) or that it may produce a reminder for them. Earlier, minding (dhikr) was made an alternative to fearing, where He says: haply he may mind or fear. Based on that contradistinction, it can be deduced that here ittiqāʾ means guarding against enmity and obstinacy due to fear of a possible harm, as opposed to a taqwā that is a result of faith and means performing acts of obedience and avoiding acts of disobedience. “Producing a reminder for them” means the realization of remembrance and awareness in them. With this interpretation [of ittiqāʾ] the contrast between remembering and guarding becomes clear without any contrivance or affectation.
The implied meaning is, and God knows best: “Haply they may refrain from enmity against the truth due to a fear in their hearts that what is being said could possibly be true, or haply it may produce a reminder of the truth that they would believe in”.
فَتَعَالَى اللَّهُ الْمَلِكُ الْحَقُّ ۗ وَلَا تَعْجَلْ بِالْقُرْآنِ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ يُقْضَىٰ إِلَيْكَ وَحْيُهُ ۖ وَقُلْ رَبِّ زِدْنِي عِلْمًا ١١٤
(20:114) Supremely exalted is therefore God, the King, the Truth, and do not make haste with the Quran before its revelation is made complete to you and say: O my Lord ! increase me in knowledge.
Absolving Him and declaring Him to be free of anything inappropriate. It can be made consequential to the Qur’an’s revelation and the elaboration of threats in it to guide the people. Its being consequential to that and what precedes it—talk of resurrection and punishment is more appropriate in view of their all merging into a single thread, namely that He is a King disposing within His Kingdom by guiding people to what is for their own good, then summoning them and rewarding or punishing them for the good or evil they have done.
Thus, supremely exalted is God, Who absolutely owns everything with no impediment to His disposal and no repeller of His decree. He sends Messengers and reveals the Books to guide people that is, the affairs of His Kingdom. He then resurrects them after their death, summons them, then requites them for what they have done, their having humbled themselves before the Ever-Living, Self-Subsistent. This is also one of the affairs of His rule, for He is the King in the beginning and the end. He is the Truth, established on what He has been, and unchanging from how He is.
This glorification could also be consequential to everything above, including the story of Moses and what was mentioned after it up to this point. It would be as an ending to it by praising and proclaiming God to be Mighty.
… and do not make haste with the Qur’an before its revelation is made complete to you and say, O my Lord ! Increase me in knowledge: The context testifies that these words refer to the Prophet’s receipt of the revelation of the Qur’an. The pronoun in “its revelation” refers to the Qur’an. And do not make haste with the Qur’an is a prohibition on hastening with recitation of it. Before its revelation is made complete to you means before revelation of it is completed by the Angel of revelation. It means that the Prophet, when revelation of the Qur’an came to him, used to hurry in the recitation of what was revealed to him before the revelation was completed. He was then told not to hurry the recitation of it before it was complete and had come to an end. The verse means the same as what is said elsewhere: Do not move your tongue with it to make haste with it, Surely on Us (devolves) the collecting of it and the reciting of it. Therefore when We have recited it, follow its recitation ().
This explanation is supported by what He says next, and say: O my Lord! increase me in knowledge because the order of “do not make haste with it” and “say: O my Lord! increase me” suggest a substitution—instead of hurrying the recitation of what had not yet been revealed, ask for an increase in knowledge. The meaning reduces to: “You hurry recitation of what has not yet been revealed because you have vague knowledge of it. However, do not content yourself with that—patiently ask for fresh knowledge from God and listen to the rest of the revelation”.
This verse is part of what supports oral traditions that say that the Qur’an was revealed altogether and not revealed in portions to the Prophet. If he did not know the Qur’an he had prior to that, it would make no sense his hurrying recitation of what had not yet been revealed.
Claims:
(i) The verse means: Do not hurry in reciting the Qur’an to your Companions and dictating it to them before the meanings of it are explained to you.
The reader knows better that the verse has nothing to do with this meaning.
(ii) It means: Do not ask for [more] revelation of the Qur’an before God finishes His [current] revelation of it to you.
Like the previous [explanation] it does not fit the wording of the verse.
Examining Narrations
- Tafsīr, al-Qummī says about (the words), when the fairest of them in course would say: [It means] “the most learned and most pious of them would say you tarried but a day”.
- It is said in Majmaʿ [al-Bayān] that a man from Thaqīf (tribe) asked the Prophet: How will the mountains be—in spite of their mightiness—on the day of resurrection? He replied: “Surely God will drive them such that He makes them like sand. He will then send the winds upon them breaking them up”.
Author’s comment: This explanation is narrated in al-Durr al-Manthūr on the authority of Ibn al-Mundhir on the authority of Ibn Jurayh as follows: O, Muhammad, what will your Lord do to these mountains on the day of resurrection? Thereafter it was revealed: And they ask you about the mountains …
- Tafsīr, al-Qummī says about His Words: “You shall not see therein ʿiwajan or amtan”. He said: Amt means elevation and ʿiwaj means rugged and bare.
- Tafsīr, al-Qummī says about His Words: On that day they shall follow the inviter, there is no crookedness in him: “An inviter from God, Mighty and Sublime is He”.
- al-Bāqir said: When it is the day of resurrection, God will gather the people barefoot and naked on one side and will stop them in the land where they are raised and gathered until they sweat profusely and their breathing is heavy. They will then tarry thus for fifty years. It is [what is meant by] God’s Words, and the voices shall be low before the Beneficent so that you shall not hear aught but a soft sound …
- Aḥmad ibn Idrīs said: Abu Qurrah the hadith collector (muḥaddith) asked me to get him an audience with Abū al-Ḥasan al-Riḍā so I sought leave for that and he granted me leave. He then went to see him and asked him about the lawful, unlawful and laws until his queries reached monotheism. Abu Qurrah then said: Surely, we have narrated that God divided dreams and seeing among the Prophets—he apportioned being spoken to, to Moses and seeing to, Muhammad. Abū al-Ḥasan then asked: So who communicated from God to the thaqalayn—the jinn and humans?
- Was it not Muhammad? He said: Yes. He asked: How can a man come to the whole of creation, tell them that he has come from God’s presence, that He is calling them to God by God’s command and saying:
() Vision comprehends Him not;
() while they do not comprehend Him in knowledge and
() nothing like a likeness of Him and then say: I have seen Him with my own eyes and comprehended Him in knowledge, and He is in the form of a human? Are you not ashamed? The atheists (zanadiqah) have not been able to accuse him of this—his bringing something from God’s presence, then bringing the opposite from another side … God said: while they do not comprehend Him in knowledge, so if eyes see Him, one has comprehended Him in knowledge and cognizance has occurred.
- Abu Qurrah then said: So do you reject the oral traditions? Abū al-Ḥasan replied: If the oral traditions contradict the Qur’an, I reject them. What Muslims are agreed on is that He is not comprehended in knowledge and eyes do not perceive Him and nothing like a likeness of Him.
- Tafsīr, al-Qummī says about His Words: and do not make haste with the Qur’an: When the Qur’an was revealed to God’s Messenger , He would hasten to recite it before the revelation of the verse was completed. It means: Thereafter God revealed, and do not make haste with the Qur’an before its revelation is made complete to you, that is, finish reciting it, and say, O my Lord! Increase me in knowledge.
Author’s comment: This explanation is narrated on the authority of al-Saddī with the only exception that it says that he used to do that out of fear of forgetting. The reader knows that forgetting revelation is incompatible with the infallibility of Prophethood.
- al-Ḥasan said: A man slapped his wife and so she came to the Prophet to ask for retribution (qisās). Thereafter, the Prophet set up a tribunal for retribution between them. God then revealed: and do not make haste with the Qur’an before its revelation is made complete to you and say: O my Lord! Increase me in knowledge. The Prophet then hesitated until: Men are the maintainers of women … was revealed.
Author’s comment: The hadith is not free of problems because neither the first verse and its implied message nor the second verse matches what is said in the hadith. Both verses were discussed above.
- Majmaʿ [al-Bayān] says: ʿĀʾishah narrated on the authority of the Prophet: When I come to a day when I do not increase in [my] knowledge which brings me closer to God, may God not bless me at its sunrise.
Author’s comment: The hadith is not free of problems. How the Prophet could be suspected of supplicating against himself with regard to a matter which is not up to him. There may be corruption in the hadith with regard to narration of the meaning.
Tafsīr, al-Qummī on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Mahbub on the authority of Abu Muhammad al-Wabishi on the authority of Abu al-Ward. ↩︎
al-Kāfī on the authority of ʿAbd al-Jabbār on the authority of Ṣafwān ibn Yaḥyā. ↩︎
al-Durr al-Manthūr on the authority of Ibn Abī Ḥātim. ↩︎
al-Durr al-Manthūr cited by al-Faryābī, Ibn Jarīr, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abī Ḥātim and Ibn Mardawayh. ↩︎