Verses 1–10
The aim of this chapter is to warn those who deny the truth and exhibit arrogance of the punishment that awaits them on the Day of Judgement. It opens by announcing the punishment of which they were warned and foretelling its eventual manifestation on that day, with grave oaths and firm vows. On that day, they will not be left alone until the punishment befalls them, and they will have no means of escape.
The chapter then recalls the distress that will afflict them without any respite. This is then contrasted with the blessings that await the righteous on that day, who lived in fear for their families and called upon God as true believers in His oneness.
Finally, the chapter rebukes those who have rejected the truth for how they are treating the Prophet, the revelations of the Qurʾan, and the true religion that he brought them. The chapter concludes with a repetition of this threat and warning and instructs the Prophet to glorify his Lord. The context and tone of the verses attest to their Meccan provenance.
Commentary
وَالطُّورِ ١
(52:1) By the Mount (al–Ṭūr)
Some scholars have said that the term ‘mount’ (ṭūr) refers to any mountain, but that it is predominantly used to refer to Mount Sinai, where God spoke directly to Moses. They say it makes the most sense to understand the Mount here as referring to Moses because of the sanctity and significance He has bestowed upon it in such verses as: by Mount Sinai (); We called him from the right side of the Mount (); And when He spoke to Moses, He said: …so take off your sandals. You are indeed in the sacred valley of Tuwa (); When he approached it, he was called from the right bank of the valley at the blessed spot from the tree… ().
Other have said that it can refer to any mountain, and here it is being used in this sense because of all the blessings with which God has endowed mountains, as per the verse: He set in it firm mountains above it, and blessed it ().
وَكِتَابٍ مَسْطُورٍ ٢ فِي رَقٍّ مَنْشُورٍ ٣
(52:2–3) by a Book inscribed, on an unrolled parchment (fī raqq manshūr)
Some authorities have said that raqq refers to anything that it is written upon, while others have said it is from waraq (‘leaf’ as in a leaf of paper), and others still have said it is parchment. Manshūr is derived from nashr, which means to outspread or open up.
As for what book this refers to, some have said it refers to the preserved tablet, on which God wrote what was, what is, and what will be, and which is read by the angels of heaven. It is also said that it refers to the records of peoples’ deeds, which are read by the record-keepers among the angels. Some say it is the Qurʾan, inscribed by God on the Guarded Tablet, while others say it is the Torah, written on parchment and distributed for reading.
Based on the context of the verse, the latter most interpretation seems most correct.
وَالْبَيْتِ الْمَعْمُورِ ٤
(52:4) by the House greatly frequented
It is said that this refers to the Holy Kaaba, for it was the first house of worship set up for humankind and it has been a continuous site of pilgrimage since then until the present day, as God says: Indeed the first house to be set up for mankind is the one at Bakkah, blessed and a guidance for all nations ().
There are also narrations which say that ‘the House greatly frequented’ (al-bayt al-maʿmūr) is actually a celestial structure located in the heavens above the Kaaba, to which the angels make their pilgrimage.
Note that the term Book in the previous verse is indefinite (a Book), this is to signify that it is a book so well known that it needs no introduction. Therefore, this is a form of grammatical indefiniteness that actually gives the meaning of it being something definite.
وَالسَّقْفِ الْمَرْفُوعِ ٥
(52:5) by the vault raised high
This refers to the heavens.
وَالْبَحْرِ الْمَسْجُورِ ٦
(52:6) by the surging sea (al–baḥr al–masjūr)
Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī says that sajr (from which masjūr is derived) originally meant for a fire to blaze up. Meanwhile, in Majmaʿ al-bayān, al-Ṭabrisī says that masjūr means ‘overflowing’, as one says sajarat al-tanūr to mean that ‘the oven is filled with fire.’ The verse has been read with both meanings, although the first one is supported by the verse, when the seas are set afire (), meaning that the seas are ablaze with flame. According to one tradition, the seas will be on fire on the Day of Judgement. Other commentators have said that it means the oceans will boil because of the fires within them.
إِنَّ عَذَابَ رَبِّكَ لَوَاقِعٌ ٧ مَا لَهُ مِنْ دَافِعٍ ٨
(52:7–8) indeed your Lord’s punishment will surely befall. There is none who can avert it.
This is the object of the oaths given above. The punishment mentioned in this verse is the punishment that has been foretold for the Day of Judgement and with which God has threatened the disbelievers and deniers, as is indicated by the subsequent verse. When God says, There is none who can avert it, this shows that this is a fixed divine decree that cannot be prevented, as per the verse: and the Hour is bound to come, there is no doubt in it, and Allah will resurrect those who are in the graves ().
The fact that this verse describes this punishment as belonging to your (sing.) Lord rather than as ‘God’s punishment’ is meant to show the Prophet that he has God’s support against those who reject his mission and to reassure him that his Lord will not forsake him on that day. See also the verse, on the day when Allah will not let the Prophet down and the faithful who are with him ().
يَوْمَ تَمُورُ السَّمَاءُ مَوْرًا ٩ وَتَسِيرُ الْجِبَالُ سَيْرًا ١٠
(52:9–10) On the day when the sky whirls violently (tamūr mawran), and the mountains move with an awful motion.
According to al-Ṭabrisī in Majmaʿ al-bayān, the term ‘mawr’ means for something to alternate between coming and going, just as smoke circulates and swirls before it vanishes. In a similar vein, Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī writes that ‘mawr’ signifies rapid movement.
In any case, this is a reference to the celestial world being rolled up, as per the verses: When the sky is rent apart, when the stars are scattered (); The day We shall roll up the sky, like the rolling of the scrolls for writings (); and the heavens, scrolled, in His right hand ().
Equally, when God says, and the mountains move with an awful motion, this refers to the quaking of the earth in the Final Hour, which God has also mentioned in numerous places throughout the Qurʾan: When the earth is shaken violently, and the mountains are shattered into bits and become scattered dust (); and the mountains will be set moving and become a mirage ().
Examining Narrations
- In Tafsīr al-Qummī, about the verses, By the Mount, by a Book inscribed (), we read: ‘The Mount is Mount Sinai.’
- In Majmaʿ al-bayān, about the verse, by the House greatly frequented (), we read: ‘This is a house in the fourth heaven situated above the Kaaba, to which the angels make pilgrimage in order to perform acts of worship. This is narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās and Mujāhid, it is also narrated from the Commander of the Faithful, who said: “Seventy thousand angels enter it each and every day and none of them will ever return to it again.”’
Author’s comments: The idea that the House greatly frequented refers to a celestial house of worship around which the angels circumambulate is found in a number of traditions from both Sunnī and Shīʿī sources. However, these differ in its precise location, with some placing it in the fourth heaven, others placing it in the first, and others still placing it in the seventh.
- In the same source, we read that, according to Imām ʿAlī, by the vault raised high () refers to the heavens. This is also the interpretation reported in Tafsīr al-Qummī. Also in this source, we read that by the surging sea () means that the seas will blaze with fire on the Day of Judgement.
- Meanwhile, al-Ṭabrisī reports from Qatāda in Majmaʿ al-bayān that by the surging sea means that the seas will overflow. He also reports the opinion from Mujāhid, Ḍaḥḥāk, Akfash, and Ibn Zayd that they will be made to boil like a pot on a stove. Finally, he reports a tradition that the seas will be heated on the Day of Judgement until they boil, with each one boiling over the other until they explode in flames.