Verses 1–8
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ
In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful
This sūrah was revealed in Medina and consists of 8 verses. It speaks of the resurrection, when people will come forth for accounting. It refers to some of its signs, such as the earth’s shaking and relating its chronicles. The verses are compatible with having been revealed in either Mecca or Medina.
Commentary
إِذَا زُلْزِلَتِ الأَرْضُ زِلْزَالَهَا ١
(99:1) When the earth quakes with its quaking (zilzālahā).
Its quaking signifies a specific ascription to the earth. This indicates that it will be a tremendous and colossal quake, at the utmost degree of terror and intensity.
وَأَخْرَجَتِ الأَرْضُ أَثْقَالَهَا ٢
(99:2) And the earth discharges its burdens (athqālahā).
Athqāl could be the plural of two words: (i) thaqal, which is synonymous with matāʿ (commodity, article, ware), or more specifically “a traveler’s provisions”; (ii) thiql, meaning “load, cargo, burden.” In either case, the word in this verse has been interpreted in three ways: (1) It means the dead. (2) It means the treasures and precious metals hidden in the earth’s belly. (3) It includes both. The first interpretation is most likely, followed by the third. Therefore, the verse would refer to the dead proceeding out of their graves toward their ḥisāb (reckoning, accounting), wherefrom they will then move on toward their jazāʾ (compensation, payment, retribution): On that day, people will issue forth ().
وَقَالَ الإِنسَانُ مَا لَهَا ٣
(99:3) And man (al-insān) says, “What is the matter with it?”
Stupefied and astonished at this terrible, intense earthquake, people will ask, “What is wrong with the earth? Why is it shaking like this?” Some say that al-insān (man, the human being) in this verse refers specifically to those who do not believe in the afterlife, not the believers. There are also other views, which will be presented below.
يَوْمَئِذٍ تُحَدِّثُ أَخْبَارَهَا ٤
(99:4) On that day it will relate its chronicles,
The earth will bear witness to the deeds of the children of Adam—along with the other witnesses, including their own limbs, the scribes from the angels who are appointed over them, and all other witnesses, human and non-human.
بِأَنَّ رَبَّكَ أَوْحَى لَهَا ٥
(99:5) for its Lord will have inspired (awḥā, from īḥāʾ) its. (lahā).
The meaning is: “The earth will recount its news because its Lord will inspire it to do so.” This means that the earth is conscious of the good and evil deeds that are committed on it. It carries and retains these records, until when it is ordered to broadcast them and testify to what it has borne. We already discussed this idea under the following verse: There is not a thing but celebrates His praise, but you do not understand their glorification (); They [their skins] will say, “We were given speech by Allah, who gave speech to all things” (). As we explained, it can be deduced that life and consciousness pervade all things, though we may be unaware of this fact.
Exegetes have disagreed tremendously over the meaning of the earth recounting its news through divine inspiration. Some suggested interpretations are:
The inanimate earth will be given life and consciousness so that it can disclose what has transpired on it.
God will create a voice speaking on behalf of the earth, and that counts as the earth’s speech.
The earth will reveal what has taken place on it through its state and mode of being (called lisān al-ḥāl).
Comment: Given what we said above, there is no place for these disagreements. Moreover, none of these forms of testimony is a decisive evidence in a court of justice.
يَوْمَئِذٍ يَصْدُرُ النَّاسُ أَشْتَاتًا لِّيُرَوْا أَعْمَالَهُمْ ٦
(99:6) On that day, people will issue forth (yaṣduru, from ṣudūr) in various groups (ashtātan) to be shown their deeds.
Ṣudūr means “emerging, coming out, issuing.” It is used when a camel comes out, up, and forth from a watering place or a trough. Ashtāt, like shattá, is the plural of shatīt, meaning “varied, scattered, dispersed.”
… people will issue forth in various groups…: People will move on from their position [of accounts] on the Day of Judgment toward their final abode in either paradise or hell. The happy and successful ones will be distinguished from the wretched and miserable.
… to be shown their deeds: There are two possible meanings for this: (1) They will be shown their retribution for their deeds as they settle in their final abodes. (2) They will observe their actual deeds, according to the doctrine of the embodiment of deeds (tajassum al-aʿmāl).
Another suggested interpretation is: The verse describes how people will emerge from their graves, where some will have bright faces, and others gloomy; some will be at peace, and others in terror; as well as other qualities in which people will differ. They will be brought forth to be informed about the recompense of their deeds through reckoning. Hence, ruʾyah (seeing, vision) in this verse means ʿilm (knowing, knowledge), and irāʾah (showing, making one see) means iʿlām (informing, announcing, making one know). The verse is comparable to: The day when every soul will find present whatever good it has done, and whatever evil it has done ().
However, the first interpretation is more apparent and clearer.
فَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُ ٧ وَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرًّا يَرَهُ ٨
(99:7-8) So whoever (fa-man) does an atom’s (dharrah) weight (mithqāl) of good will see it. And whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.
Mithqāl means “a unit of weight.” Dharrah refers to the “specks of dust” seen in the sunlight. It is also used for tiny ants.
The letter fāʾ (so, then, therefore) at the beginning of this verse shows that this is a consequence and conclusion of the people being shown their deeds (). These verses emphasize that no act will be exempt in this process of being shown to its doer. Nothing will be missing, not even a tiny speck of good or evil. Using a separate verse for each of the two groups—the good-doers and the evil-doers—is meant to provide a standard and to establish a universal law.
The universal law given in these two verses does not contradict other verses which describe deeds vanishing or being transferred from one person to another—for instance, a killer’s good deeds being transferred to the victim, or the victim’s bad deeds being transferred to the killer. It also does not contradict the idea that, when some people repent, their bad deeds will be transformed to good deeds. We discussed this in “An Essay on the Rules Governing Actions,” and also in our exposition of the verse: So that Allah may distinguish the wicked from the good ().
Those more specific verses override the current two verses under discussion. For instance, if a person loses their good deeds, they will not have any good deeds to be shown. A similar analysis can be applied to the other cases. The reader should reflect on this.
Examining Narrations
- The Messenger of God said: “The earth shall speak on the Day of Resurrection about all that transpired on its back.” Then he recited: When the earth quakes with its quaking… for its Lord will have inspired it (), and said, “Do you know what its chronicles will be? Gabriel came to me and said, ‘On the Day of Resurrection, it will give a report of every action that was done on its back.’”
- The Messenger of God said: O people! This world is a commodity at hand, which both the virtuous and the wicked command. But the hereafter is a true promise, under an Omnipotent King’s command. The truth He will establish, and the falsehood He will disband.
O people! Be not the children of this world, but the children of the other. For indeed every child follows their mother. Act while with the awe of God you are replete. Know that you will be exposed to all your feat, and that there is God Whom you will certainly meet. So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it. And whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it ().
- Tafsīr al-Qummī says: And the earth discharges its burdens (): loads of people. And man says, “What is the matter with it?” (): that is Imam ʿAlī. On that day she will relate its chronicles… On that day, people will issue forth in various groups (): they will come grouped as believers, disbelievers and hypocrites. To be shown their deeds (): they will stand before what they have done.
- Imam al-Bāqir said: So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it (): If that is an inhabitant of hell who has done a bit of good in this world, they will regret that they did it for other than God. And whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it (): If that is an inhabitant of paradise, they will see their evil deed on the Day of Resurrection, then it will be forgiven for them.
Zilzāl is a maṣdar (infinitive noun, gerund) like zalzalah (quaking, rocking, shaking). (Auth.) ↩︎
The verb īḥāʾ (to inspire, to reveal, to beckon, to impart) is made ditransitive by the preposition lām [which marks the person or object which receives the inspiration]. Hence, the letter lām in lahā means ilá (to, toward). (Auth.) ↩︎
See volume 25, pp. 145ff of the English translation, under verse . (Ed.) ↩︎
Lisān al-ḥāl is what is understood from one’s condition and mode of being. Its opposite is lisān al-qāl (language of words), which is when someone actively expresses something, either through sound waves, writing, or otherwise. (Ed.) ↩︎
That is, the earth’s speech will be part of God’s evidence against the people on the Day of Judgment. However, the suggested interpretations do not qualify the earth as a veritable witness. (Ed.) ↩︎
The word When () introduces a conditional statement. Verse provides the complement to that, and this verse is a second complement for When… (). (Auth.) ↩︎
See volume 3, pp. 223ff of the English translation. (Ed.) ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of Ibn Mardawayh and al-Bayhaqī’s Shuʿab al-īmān, on the authority of Anas b. Mālik. A similar narration to this is narrated on the authority of Abū Hurayrah. ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of al-Ḥusayn b. Sufyān’s Musnad and Abū Nuʿaym’s al-Ḥilyah, on the authority of Shaddād b. Aws. ↩︎
Tafsīr al-Qummī, on the authority of Abū al-Jārūd. ↩︎