CHAPTER 75: AL-QIYAMAH (THE RESURRECTION)

It was revealed in the Mecca period. It consists of 40 verses. It takes its name from the Resurrection (Al-Qiyamah), which is mentioned in the first verse and constitutes the subject of the entire surah. (H. T. FEYIZLI, 1/576)

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

75/1-15 ON THAT DAY MAN IS A WITNESS AGAINST HIMSELF

Translation

1- No! I swear by the Day of Resurrection

2- And I swear by the self-reproaching person (the soul that blames itself).

3- Does man think that We will not assemble his bones?

4- Yes. [We are] Able [even] to proportion his fingertips.

5- But man desires to continue in sin ahead of him.

6- He asks, "When is the Day of Resurrection?"

7- So when vision is dazzled

8- And the moon eclipses

9- And the sun and the moon are joined,

10- Man will say on that Day, "Where is the [place of] escape?"

11- No! There is no refuge.

12- To your Lord, that Day, is the [place of] permanence.

13- Man will be informed that Day of what he sent ahead and kept back.

14- Rather, man, against himself, will be a witness,

15- Even if he presents his excuses.

Commentary

(1, 2) ‘I swear by the Day of Resurrection!’ The "la" (No!) at the beginning of the first verse is to reject the views of those who deny the hereafter. Because the Meccan pagans did not believe in the occurrence of the resurrection, the life of the hereafter, or the existence of heaven and hell. Almighty Allah, by saying "No" to this claim, reported that the truth is not as those who deny the hereafter say, and by swearing by the Day of Resurrection and the person who reproaches himself, He declared that the resurrection will definitely occur. (...) Believing in the resurrection and the existence of the life of the hereafter is one of the principles of faith. (4/136). A person who does not believe in the hereafter cannot be a believer or a Muslim. (I. KARAGOZ,8/321)

Swearing by the Day of Resurrection means swearing that it will definitely happen. This would mean: I swear by the Day of Resurrection that you will definitely be resurrected and raised after death. (ELMALILI, 8/437)

‘I swear by the self-reproaching person.’ (...) The Day of Resurrection will definitely take place, and the evil souls who do not want to believe in it will reproach themselves greatly on that day, and will feel great regret for the heedlessness and sins they committed in the world; in fact, every soul will reproach itself and feel regret for the fault it committed in the world, saying, "Why didn't I work better, why didn't I do more beautiful deeds?" (ELMALILI, 8/437)

In the Quran, the human soul is classified into three types: (1) The first encourages man to do evil; its name is "nafs al-ammara." (2) The second reproaches and scolds that person when he intends an evil deed or thought; this is called "nafs al-lawwama." Today we call this conscience. (3) The third is the soul that finds satisfaction by being steadfast on the right path and avoiding deviant paths; this is called "nafs al-mutmainna." (MAWDUDI, 6/486)

(3) ‘Does man think...!’ Nasafi says here: "Does the disbeliever, who denies being resurrected after death, after having disintegrated and mixed with the earth, think on the Day of Resurrection that 'We cannot gather his bones together,' and for this reason, does he deny the Day of Resurrection, not avoid sins, and not reproach his own soul when he commits a mistake?" (S. HAWWA, 15/466)

(4) ‘Yes. [We are] Able [even] to proportion his fingertips.’ The human organism will be resurrected with its former integrity down to its smallest part; so much so that even the fingertips will not be left incomplete; furthermore, no part of the organism will be displaced, it will be reconstructed in an orderly manner, and no organ, large or small, will be neglected or undergo a change in form. (S. KUTUB, 10/286)

"Al-banan" means "fingertip." Many people have believed in the Quran solely because of this verse. Because in this verse, the word "al-banan" is mentioned in the sense that every human being in the world has different fingerprints. So much so that even if the world population increases by billions, none of their fingerprints will be like another's. (S. HAWWA, 15/466, 467)

(5, 6) ‘But man desires to continue in sin ahead of him.’ He wants to separate from his desires, sins, and pleasures, to continue them in the future, and even to be disrespectful toward his Lord with rebellion and sin forever. He prefers continuing in sin over being well-behaved and asks with a mocking insolence, "When is that Day of Resurrection?" However, later, when that Resurrection begins to occur, his eyes are opened, he sees the world collapsing upon him from all sides, he remains in terrors, and he regrets what he has done; the time to reproach himself arrives. Yet, final regret is of no use; truth finds its place. (ELMALILI, 8/439, 440)

(7-10) ‘So when vision is dazzled, and the moon eclipses, and the sun and the moon are joined... Man will say on that Day, 'Where is the [place of] escape?'‘ The expression in the 7th verse about the eye being opened with terror is a metaphorical description and points to psychological states such as confusion, fear, and terror that man will fall into due to the severity of the Day of Resurrection that will occur suddenly. (Shawkani) Commentators have interpreted the eclipsing of the moon during the resurrection as being beyond the normal lunar eclipse, as "the total disappearance of the light or the moon itself" (Razi, Zamakhshari) or "the moon losing its brightness and becoming dim, the light becoming feeble." (ELMALILI).

They interpreted "the joining of the sun and the moon" as "the removal of the light of both" or "the sun's disk and the moon's disk merging to become a single mass, being brought together," and they cited the verse meaning "When the sun is wrapped up" (Takwir, 81/1) as evidence for this. (QUR’AN WAY, 5/507)

‘When the sun and the moon are joined’ Perhaps this will be when the heaven is rolled up like the pages of books, and at that moment everything will be brought together as Allah Almighty has commanded. "The whole earth, on the Day of Resurrection, will be in His palm. The heavens will be rolled up by His power." (az-Zumar 39/67; S. HAWWA, 15/467)

‘On that Day man will say, 'Where is the escape?'‘ That sinful person will then look for a place to escape from terror. He says this out of his hopelessness and confusion. This is an interrogative of denial expressing hopelessness. (ELMALILI, 8/440)

(11, 12) ‘No! There is no refuge.’ This is to reject the desire for a place to escape. There is no place for them to be protected on that day. (S. HAWWA, 15/467)

‘To your Lord, that Day, is the [place of] permanence.’ Nasafi says: "Determining the places in heaven or hell where the servants will arrive and stay belongs to Allah. He puts whom He wills into heaven and whom He wills into hell." (S. HAWWA, 15/468)

(13) ‘Man will be informed that Day of what he sent ahead and kept back.’ He is remembered for the deeds he did first and the deeds he did later, or for all his works, good or bad, that he did and sent ahead for the hereafter and those he did not do and left behind. He is called to account. That is when his eyes are fully opened. (ELMALILI, 8/441)

That is, both all the behaviors a person committed before dying and the traces of these behaviors remaining after death—whether good or evil—are reported to him. There are some types of behaviors that leave traces in the world, and these are added to their owners' point columns at the end of the accounting process. (S. KUTUB, 10/287)

Hadith: "Whoever introduces a good deed and then it is acted upon, that person is given as much reward as those who act upon that deed. There is no decrease in the reward of the one who acts. Likewise, whoever introduces an evil deed and then it is acted upon, as much sin as the person who does that evil deed earns is written for the person who introduced that deed. There is no decrease in the sins of the sinful people." (Muslim 'Ilm 15; Tirmidhi 'Ilm 15; I. KARAGOZ,8/329)

(14, 15) ‘Rather, man, against himself, will be a witness, even if he presents his excuses.’ Even if man puts forward various excuses to escape punishment in appearance, according to what the 15th verse reports, he will actually testify against himself, and it will not be possible for him to hide the truth. Regarding the 14th verse of Surah Al-Isra, some commentators have explained man's testifying against himself as his organs acting as witnesses (cf. Nur 24/24; Yasin 36/65). (QUR’AN WAY, 5/507)

75/16-30 DO NOT MOVE YOUR TONGUE TO HASTEN THE REVELATION

Translation

16- Do not move your tongue with it to hasten it.

17- Indeed, upon Us is its collection and its recitation.

18- So when We have recited it [through Gabriel], then follow its recitation.

19- Then indeed, upon Us is its explanation.

20- No! But you love the immediate [world]

21- And leave the Hereafter.

22- [Some] faces, that Day, will be radiant,

23- Looking at their Lord.

24- And [some] faces, that Day, will be contorted,

25- Expecting that there will be done to them [something] back-breaking.

26- No! When the soul has reached the collar bones

27- And it is said, "Who will cure [him]?"

28- And he [the dying] is certain that it is the [time of] separation

29- And the leg is wound about the leg,

30- To your Lord, that Day, will be the procession.

Commentary

(16-19) ‘(O Messenger!) Do not move your tongue with it to hasten it (before it is finished)!’ ‘Indeed, upon Us is its collection (in your heart) and its recitation.’ ‘So when We have recited it (to you through Gabriel), follow its recitation.’ ‘Then indeed, upon Us is its explanation.’ Two different meanings can be considered regarding to whom the address in these verses is made: (1) First; the address is to the sinful person who tries to fabricate excuses to defend himself at the place of gathering. (...) (2) Second; the address is to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), who hastened and moved his tongue while receiving the revelation from Gabriel. (cf. Bukhari Fadail al-Quran 28; Nasai Iftitah 37, O. CELIK, 5/301)

(...) The warning in question in verses 75/16-18 of Al-Qiyamah—as Kaffal also said—should not be about the Prophet (pbuh), but about the disbelieving people who are confused about what to do due to the terror of the resurrection. Because the disbelieving person is in a state of not knowing what to do as he tries to read the book of deeds given to his hand in haste. Thereupon, Allah Almighty says to him: "Do not hasten at all, We will recite to you what is written in your book of deeds, and you will follow them, then We will explain to you what you do not understand." In this case, naturally, the only verse warning the Prophet not to hasten during the revelation is verse 20/114 of Taha. That is also a warning verse brought with the thought that he might give an incomplete judgment or make an erroneous ijtihad, not because he repeated the text. Because when the verse in question was revealed, the Quranic revelation was not completed. (M. DEMIRCI, 3/466, 467)

(20, 21) ‘No! (O disbelieving people!) You love the immediate (world) and leave the Hereafter.’ This is the second reason for denying the hereafter. The first was declared in the 5th verse. In that verse, it was said that man wants freedom for debauchery and to be free from moral limitations, and if he believes in the hereafter, he will be bound by certain moral rules; therefore, his carnal desires pressure him to deny the hereafter and then try to show him that this denial is quite logical by putting forward some rational evidence. Now, here, as the second reason, it is declared that those who deny the hereafter are narrow and short-sighted. For them, the affairs in this world and the results of these affairs are important. (MAWDUDI, 6/494)

(22, 23) ‘Some faces, that Day, will be radiant, looking at their Lord.’ They are looking at His beauty. The Ahl al-Sunnah interpreted this looking in the sense of "seeing" and proved that believers will see the beauty of Allah in the hereafter. The Mu'tazilah, clinging to the verse "You will never see Me" (Araf 7/143), interpreted this looking as "waiting." (ELMALILI, 8/444)

Ahl al-Sunnah theologians understood the sentence we translated as "They will glow with happiness by looking at their Lord" in the 23rd verse as "Believers look at Allah in the hereafter, they see Him." Indeed, it has been narrated that the Prophet (pbuh) also informed his companions that they would see Allah just as they see the full moon. (From Bukhari Tawhid 24; QUR’AN WAY, 5/509, 510)

(24, 25) ‘And some faces, that Day, will be contorted.’ These are the faces of the disbelievers. Ibn Kathir says: "These are the faces of the transgressors (fasiq). Those faces will be contorted on the Day of Resurrection." (S. HAWWA, 15/470)

‘(Because) they realize that a back-breaking disaster will befall them.’ This is the result of cherishing love only for the "immediate" world, leaving the hereafter and not thinking about the end; this is the great back-breaking calamity. (ELMALILI, 8/444, 445)

If the person who dies is a Muslim, angels come in white silk garments, make an address that will make him happy, and take his soul easily (Nasai Janaiz 9). "The angels take their lives as good people, saying: 'Salamun alaykum / peace be upon you, enter Paradise for what you used to do.'" (16/32; I. KARAGOZ,8/335)

If the person who dies is a disbeliever, angels come and inform him that there is divine punishment (Nasai Janaiz 9). "If you could but see when the angels take the lives of those who disbelieved, striking their faces and their backs and saying, 'Taste the punishment of the Burning Fire.' This is for what your hands have put forth. And Allah is not ever unjust to [His] servants." (8/50; cf. 47/27, 6/93; 7/37) (...) "How will it be when the angels take them in death, striking their faces and their backs?" (47/27; I. KARAGOZ,8/335, 336)

(26-30) ‘No! When (the soul) has reached the collar bones,’ ‘And it is said, 'Who will cure (him)?'‘ Nasafi says: "Those near the person who is about to die say to each other: Which of you will find a cure for this trouble? Who will treat him? Or this is the word of the angels. At the moment of death, they say to each other: angels of mercy or angels of punishment, which of you will take his soul up?" (S. HAWWA, 15/471)

‘And he senses, he understands.’ That person who is struggling with death, whose breath is stifled, who is about to die, understands at that moment that "it"—the command of truth that has befallen him—is "complete separation"; it is the complete separation from his beloved, his beloved world and its blessings, as all his organs part from each other saying "farewell, separation!" in pain and sorrow. ‘The leg is wound about the leg.’ With the pain of death, hands and feet are mixed, the leg is wound about the leg. ‘To your Lord, that Day, is the procession.’ That is, on that day, that person is caught; he is processed to his Lord, not to anyone else. He is taken into His presence by force and being pushed and shoved to be accounted for and punished. Here is the end of the world. This is the end that those who leave the hereafter and love the immediate world will reach in the world. This moment, when those who love the hereafter smile with the joy of salvation and meeting the beloved, is such a painful separation for souls clinging to the love of the world, an eternal longing, an endless exile. Yes, on that day that soul will be processed to its Lord alone, departing from everything, O Muhammad. (ELMALILI, 8/445, 446)

75/31-40 DOES MAN THINK THAT HE WILL BE LEFT NEGLECTED?

Translation

31- For he [the disbeliever] did not accept the truth, nor did he pray.

32- But he denied and turned away.

33- Then he went to his family, walking with pride.

34- Woe to you, and woe!

35- Then woe to you, and woe!

36- Does man think that he will be left neglected?

37- Was he not a sperm-drop from emission emitted?

38- Then he was a clinging clot, and [Allah] created [him] and proportioned [him]

39- And made of him two mates, the male and the female.

40- Is not That [Creator] Able to give life to the dead?

Commentary

(31-33) ‘For he (the disbelieving man) did not accept the truth,’ He did not believe in the Prophet, the Quran, or the Day of Resurrection, nor did he "pray" during his worldly life for the sake of Allah; ‘but he denied and turned away,’ he denied Allah, His prophets, His angels, the Day of Resurrection, and destiny; he turned away from prayer, zakat, and finding the right path through the Book of Allah. (S. HAWWA, 15/472)

‘Then he went to his family, walking with pride.’ (...) He denied Allah, the Prophet, the Quran, and the hereafter, saying "these are lies," and turned his back on the Truth, refusing to obey. Then, boasting about this, he went to his family, his home, and his people with a swaggering and arrogant air to enjoy himself. (ELMALILI, 8/447)

(34, 35) ‘(In the world) woe to you (calamity), and more woe.’ ‘(And in the hereafter) woe to you (punishment), and more woe.’ It was previously narrated that this verse was revealed about Abu Jahl. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that its meaning clearly includes others similar to him. (ELMALILI, 8/447)

Commentators have stated that the phrase "awla laka" has many meanings. It carries meanings such as "Shame on you, may you be destroyed, may you be miserable, woe to you." (...) This mentioned expression is a type of mockery, and it is stated in other verses of the Quran that Allah (cc) will say this to those suffering punishment in hell. For example, as it appears in: "Taste [this]! Indeed, you were the mighty, the noble." (Dukhan 44/49). (MAWDUDI, 6/498)

(36) ‘Does man think that he will be left neglected?’ (...) Man is not neglected by not having certain commands and prohibitions to follow in the world. Nor is he to be left free in his grave without being resurrected. On the contrary, commands and prohibitions have been placed upon him that he must follow in the world. In the hereafter, he will be brought into the presence of Allah. The aim here is to prove the life of the hereafter and to reject those among the deviant, the stubborn, and the ignorant who deny it. The verse reproaches those who believe there will be no obligation with divine commands and prohibitions in this world, nor any accounting in the hereafter. (S. HAWWA, 15/473, 474)

(37-39) ‘Was he (that man) not a sperm-drop from emission emitted? Then he was a clinging clot, and (Allah) created (him) and proportioned (him). And made of him two mates, the male and the female.’ What is this being called "human"? Why was he created? What was he like at the beginning? How did his end form? How did he spend his great journey until he opened his eyes to the world? (...) Was he not at first (...) a drop of semen, a sperm emitted, cast into the womb? Did this tiny droplet not turn from a single small cell into an embryo in its own unique position in the mother's womb? Did it not pass into the stage of an embryo that lives and provides its nutrition by clinging to the walls of the uterus? Who inspired it with this movement? Who gave it this power? Who directed it in this direction?

Later, who made him balanced, with harmonious organs, taking him from a stage consisting of a single cell with an egg at first to a stage with an organism composed of billions of cells? The distance traveled and the journey of the human infant from the single-cell stage to the formed "fetus" stage, and the changes it undergoes during the fetus stage, are longer and broader in scope than the sum of all the events he lives and the distances he crosses from birth until death. Who guided him on this long journey? Because he was a tiny and powerless creature. He had neither intellect, nor comprehension ability, nor experience. (...) Who produced the male and female from that single cell at the final stage? What will imposed upon this cell to be female, while imposing upon that cell to be male? Or did someone intervene and lead these cells to make this choice within the darkness of the womb? (...) While thinking about these, it becomes inevitable to accept the existence of a planning but unperceived hand. It is this unperceived hand that guided the semen droplet cast into the womb on its long journey and finally brought it to the stage we mentioned; that is, "then made of him two mates, the male and the female." (S. KUTUB, 10/295)

(40) ‘Is not That (Allah, who created man from a drop of water) Able to give life to the dead?’ Yes indeed! We glorify Him from every kind of deficiency. He can bring the dead to life. Yes indeed! We glorify Him from every kind of deficiency. He possesses the power to realize the resurrection. (...) Yes indeed! We glorify Him from every kind of deficiency. In the face of this truth that imposes itself whether one likes it or not, the only thing man can do is to tremble and come to his senses. (S. KUTUB, 10/295)

"Is not He who created the heavens and the earth Able to create the likes of them?" (Yes, indeed.) (36/81). It is reported that Allah, who created man from a drop of water, has the power to bring the dead to life. Bringing something into existence for the second time is easier than the first. "Allah is the one who begins creation, then repeats it. And repeating the creation is even easier for Allah." (30/27; I. KARAGOZ,8/340)