CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

THE DAY OF JUDGMENT

The Prophet’s saying: “Whoever calls others unto the right way shall have a reward equal to the combined rewards of all who may follow
him until Resurrection Day, without anything being lessened of their rewards; and whoever calls unto the way of error will have to bear a
sin equal to the combined sins of all who may follow him until Resurrection Day, without anything being lessened of their sins” Since
man’s action in this life may continue to accrue both rewards and sins, therefore man will be judged on the day of Judgment rather than
after death.
ADVENT OF JUDGMENT DAY
A SINGLE CALL OF THE JUDGMENT DAY
(30:25-27) [Remember all this: for] in the end, when He will call you forth from the earth with a single call - lo! you will [all]
emerge [for judgment]. For, unto Him belongs every being that is in the heavens and on earth; all things devoutly obey His will.
And He it is who creates [all life] in the first instance, and then brings it forth anew: [This relates not only to man’s individual
resurrection but to the creation and constant re-creation of all life.] and most easy is this for Him, since His is the essence of all that is
most sublime in the heavens and on earth, and He alone is almighty, truly wise. [Primarily, the term mathal denotes a “likeness” or
“similitude”, and hence is often used in the Quran in the sense of “parable”. Occasionally, however, it is synonymous with sifah, which
signifies the intrinsic “attribute”, “quality” or “nature” of a thing, concept or living being (see the reference to “the nature of Jesus” and
“the nature of Adam” in 3:59). With reference to God, who is sublimely exalted above anything that men may devise by way of definition
(see 6:100), the expression mathal clearly points to a quality of being entirely different from all other categories of existence, as there is
“nothing like unto Him” (42:11) and “nothing that could be compared with Him” (112:4): hence, the rendering of mathal as “essence” is
most appropriate in this context.]
ONE FINAL BLAST
(36:28-32) And after that, no host out of heaven did We send down against his people, nor did We need to send down any: nothing
was [needed] but one single blast [of Our punishment] - and lo! they became as still and silent as ashes. Oh, the regrets that [most]
human beings will have to bear! [Lit., “Oh, the regrets upon the bondmen” - since all human beings, good or bad, are God’s “bondmen”.
This phrase alludes to the Day of Judgment - which is described in 19:39 as “the Day of Regrets” - as well as to the fact, repeatedly
stressed in the Quran, that most human beings choose to remain deaf to the voice of truth, and thus condemn themselves to spiritual death.]
Never has an apostle come to them without their deriding him! Are they not aware of how many a generation We have destroyed
before their time, [and] that those [that have perished] will never return to them, [Thus, the downfall and utter disappearance of past
societies and civilizations is here linked to their spiritual frivolity and consequent moral failure. The implied conclusion that the majority of
people in every society, at all times (our own included), refuse to be guided by moral considerations, regarding them as opposed to their
conventional mode of life and their pursuit of materialistic values - with the result that “never has an apostle come to them without their
deriding him”.] and [that] all of them, all together, will [in the end] before Us be arraigned? (36:48-50) And they add, “When is this
promise [of resurrection] to be fulfilled? [Answer this] if you are men of truth!” [And they are unaware that] nothing awaits them
beyond a single blast [of God’s punishment], which will overtake them while they are still arguing - [against resurrection]: and so
[sudden will be their end that] no testament will they be able to make, - nor to their own people will they return!
(50:42-43) [And bethink yourself, too, of] the Day on which all [human beings] will in truth hear the final blast - that Day of [their]
coming-forth [from death]. Verily, it is We who grant life and deal death; and with Us will be all journeys’ end
TRUMPET OF JUDGMENT
(39:68) And [on that Day,] the trumpet [of judgment] will be sounded, and all [creatures] that are in the heavens and all that are on
earth will fall down senseless, unless they be such as God wills [to exempt]. [As is evident from 27:89, the above is an allusion to the
unbroken spiritual life in this world - and, therefore, happiness in the hereafter - of those who have attained to faith and have done
righteous deeds. See 21:103 - “the supreme awesomeness [of the Day of Resurrection] will cause them no grief”.] And then it will sound
again - and lo! standing [before the Seat of Judgment], they will begin to see [the truth]! [See 37:19.]
(78:17-18) Verily, the Day of Distinction [between the true and the false] has indeed its appointed time: the Day when the trumpet
[of resurrection] is sounded and you all come forward in multitudes.
SMOKE ENVELOPING ALL MANKIND
(44:9-16) Nay, but they [who lack inner certainty] are but dying with their doubts. [I.e., their half-hearted admission of the possibility
that God exists is compounded of doubt and irony - doubt as to the proposition of God’s existence, and an ironical amusement at the idea of
divine revelation.] Wait, then, for the Day when the skies shall bring forth a pall of smoke which will make obvious [the approach of
the Last Hour], enveloping all mankind, [and causing the sinners to exclaim:] “Grievous is this suffering! O our Sustainer, relieve
us of suffering, for, verily, we [now] believe [in Thee]!” [But] how shall this remembrance avail them [at the Last Hour], seeing that
an apostle had previously come unto them, clearly expounding the truth, whereupon they turned their backs on him and said,
“Taught [by others] is he, a madman”? [A reference to the allegation of the Prophet’s opponents that someone else had “imparted” to
him the ideas expressed in the Quran (see 16:103), or at least had helped him to compose it (25:4).] [Still,] behold, We shall postpone this
suffering for a little while, [This is apparently said on the time-level of the present - i.e., before the coming of the Last Hour - so as to give
the sinners an opportunity to repent.] although you are bound to revert [to your evil ways: but] on the Day when We shall seize [all
sinners] with a most mighty onslaught, We shall, verily, inflict Our retribution [on you as well]!
TRANSFORMATION (not annihilation) OF THE UNIVERSE
WHEN ALL WILL BE SUNDERED
(30:43-45) Set, then, your face steadfastly towards the one ever-true faith, [See 3:19 - “the only true religion in the sight of God is
man’s self-surrender unto Him”.] before there come from God a Day [of reckoning - the Day] which cannot be averted. On that Day
all will be sundered: he who has denied the truth will have to bear [the burden of] his denial, whereas all who did what is right and
just will have made goodly provision for themselves, so that He might reward, out of His bounty, those who have attained to faith
and done righteous deeds. Verily, He does not love those who refuse to acknowledge the truth.
EARTH A MERE HANDFUL AND HEAVENS ROLLED UP
(39:67) And no true understanding of God have they [who worship aught beside Him], inasmuch as the whole of the earth will be as
a [mere] handful to Him on Resurrection Day, and the heavens will be rolled up in His right hand: limitless is He in His glory, and
sublimely exalted above anything to which they may ascribe a share in His divinity! [I.e., the whole universe is as nothing before Him:
for this specific allegory of God’s almightiness, see 21:104. There are many instances, in the Quran as well as in authentic ahadith, of the
clearly metaphorical use of the term “hand” in allusions to God’s absolute power and dominion. The particular reference, in the above, to
the Day of Resurrection is due to the fact that it will be only on his own resurrection that a human being shall fully grasp the concept of
God’s almightiness, referred to in the subsequent words, “limitless is He in His glory”.]
SKIES ROLLED UP AS WRITTEN SCROLL
(21:104) On that Day We shall roll up the skies as written scrolls are rolled up; [and] as We brought into being the first creation, so
We shall bring it forth anew - a promise which We have willed upon Ourselves: for, behold, We are able to do [all things]!
(70:6-9) Behold, men look upon that [reckoning] as something far away - but We see it as near! [It will take place] on a Day when
the sky will be like molten lead, and the mountains will be like tufts of wool,
COSMIC CATASTROPHE
(35:41) Verily, it is God [alone] who upholds the celestial bodies and the earth, [I.e., all the stars, galaxies, nebulae, etc., which traverse
the cosmic spaces in obedience to a most intricate system of God-willed laws, of which the law of gravity, perhaps most obvious to man, is
but one.] lest they deviate [from their orbits]- for if they should ever deviate, there is none that could uphold them after He will have
ceased to do so. [This seems to be an allusion to the Last Hour, which, according to the Quran, will be heralded by a cosmic catastrophe.]
[But,] verily, He is ever-forbearing, much-forgiving! [I.e., as He does not speed up the end of the world despite the sinfulness of most of
its inhabitants and neither punishes without giving the sinner time to reflect and to repent.]
DESTRUCTION OF SUN, MOON AND STARS
(54:1) The last hour draws near, and the moon is split asunder! [The phrase “the moon is split asunder” as bearing on the cosmic
cataclysm that will occur before the coming of Resurrection Day. This interpretation is convincing in view of the juxtaposition, in the
above Quran-verse, of the moon’s “splitting asunder” and the approach of the Last Hour. The Quranic allusions to the “nearness” of the
Last Hour and the Day of Resurrection are not based on the human concept of “time”.]
(75:7-9) But [on that Day,] when the eyesight is by fear confounded, and the moon is darkened, and the sun and the moon are
brought together. [I.e., in their loss of light, or in the moon’s colliding with the sun.]
(77:7-10) Behold, all that you are told to expect will surely come to pass. [I.e., resurrection] Thus, [it will come to pass] when the
stars are effaced, and when the sky is rent asunder, and when the mountains are scattered like dust.
(78:19) And when the skies are opened and become [as wide-flung] gates; [Allegorically, “its mysteries will be opened to man’s
understanding” - thus further amplifying the concept of “the Day of Distinction between the true and the false”.]
(81:1-2) When the sun is shrouded in darkness, and when the stars lose their light.
(82:1-2) When the sky is cleft asunder, and when the stars are scattered.
DAY OF GREAT CONVULSIONS
(52:7-12) Verily, [O man,] the suffering decreed by thy Sustainer [for the sinners] will indeed come to pass: there is none who could
avert it. [It will come to pass] on the Day when the skies will be convulsed in [a great] convulsion, and the mountains will move with
[an awesome] movement. Woe, then, on that Day to all who give the lie to the truth - all those who [throughout their lives] but idly
played with things vain.
(79:6-14) [Hence, think of] the Day when a violent convulsion will convulse [the world], [I.e., upon realizing the above-mentioned
evidence of God’s almightiness and, therefore, of man’s subjection to His ultimate judgment.] to be followed by further [convulsions]!
On that Day will [men’s] hearts be throbbing, [and] their eyes downcast. [And yet,] some say, “What! Are we indeed to be restored
to our former state - even though we may have become [a heap of] crumbling bones?” [And] they add, “That, then, would be a
return with loss!” [Implying derisively that in such a case they would be proved wrong in what they now consider a “reasonable”
assumption.] [But,] then, that [Last Hour] will be [upon them of a sudden, as if it were] but a single accusing cry - and then, lo, they
will be fully awakened [to the truth]!
WHEN MOUNTAINS DISAPPEAR AND SEAS BOILED OVER
(20:105-107) And they will ask you about [what will happen to] the mountains [when this world comes to an end]. Say, then: “My
Sustainer will scatter them far and wide, and leave the earth level and bare, [so that] you will see no curve thereon, and no
ruggedness.” [In the eschatology of the Quran, the “end of the world” does not signify annihilation - i.e., reduction to nothingness - of the
physical universe but, rather, its fundamental, cataclysmic transformation into something that men cannot now visualize. This is brought
out in many allegorical allusions to the Last Day, e.g., in 14:48, which speaks of “the Day when the earth shall be changed into another
earth, as shall be the heavens”.]
(56:1-6) When that which must come to pass [I.e., the Last Hour and Resurrection.] [at last] comes to pass, there will be nought that
could give the lie to its having come to pass, abasing [some], exalting [others]! When the earth is shaken with a shaking [severe],
and the mountains are shattered into [countless] shards, so that they become as scattered dust.
(69:13-15) Hence, [bethink yourselves of the Last Hour,] when the trumpet [of judgment] shall be sounded with a single blast, and
the earth and the mountains shall be lifted up and crushed with a single stroke! And so, that which must come to pass will on that
Day have come to pass; [I.e., the end of the world as we know it, followed by resurrection and the Last Judgment.]
(73:14) On the Day when the earth and the mountains will be convulsed, and the mountains will [crumble and] become like a sand-
dune on the move!
(78:20) And when the mountains are made to vanish as if they had been a mirage.
(81:3,6) When the mountains are made to vanish. When the seas boil over.
(82:3) When the seas burst beyond their bounds.
EARTH CHANGED INTO ANOTHER EARTH
(14:48) [His promise will be fulfilled] on the Day when the earth shall be changed into another earth, as shall be the heavens, and
when [all men] shall appear before God, the One who holds absolute sway over all that exists. [This is an allusion to the total,
cataclysmic change, on the Last Day, of all natural phenomena, and thus of the universe as known to man (see 20:105-107). Since that
change will be beyond anything that man has ever experienced or what the human mind can conceive, all the Quranic descriptions of what
is to happen on that Last Day are, of necessity, expressed in allegorical term: and this applies also to all descriptions of man’s condition,
good or bad, in the life to come.]
(39:69) And the earth will shine bright with her Sustainer’s light. [I.e., with a clear revelation of His will. A further allusion to this
transformation (and not annihilation) of the universe]
EARTH WILL BEAR WITNESS ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT
(99:1-5) When the earth quakes with her [last] mighty quaking, and [when] the earth yields up her burdens, [I.e., all that was
hitherto hidden in it, including the bodies - or the remnants - of the dead.] and man cries out, “What has happened to her?” - on that
Day will she recount all her tidings, as thy Sustainer will have inspired her to do. [I.e., on the Day of Judgment the earth will bear
witness, as it were, to all that has ever been done by man: an explanation given by the Prophet.]
WHEN ANIMALS ARE GATHERED
(6:38) Although there is no beast that walks on earth and no bird that flies on its two wings which is not [God's] creature like
yourselves: no single thing have We neglected in Our decree. And once again: Unto their Sustainer shall they (all) be gathered.
(81:4-5) When she-camels big with young, about to give birth, are left untended, and when all beasts are gathered together. [I.e.,
when they crowd together in terror of the manifestation of the Last Hour, or in order to be indemnified by God for man’s cruelty to them. It
is also said that the animals which were loved by human beings will live in the hereafter together with those who loved them. This
interpretation is evidently based on:
 END OF EARTHBOUND CONCEPT OF TIME
ON EARTH FOR A LITTLE WHILE
(17:52) On a Day when He will call you, and you will answer by praising Him, thinking all the while that you have tarried [on
earth] but a little while.” [Man’s life on earth will appear to him “but as a little while” in comparison with the unlimited duration of the
life in the hereafter. A further implication is that man’s concept of time is earthbound and, hence, has no meaning in the context of ultimate
reality. The preceding reference to the erstwhile deniers of the possibility of resurrection as “answering God’s call by praising Him” implies
that as soon as they are resurrected they will become fully aware of His existence and almightiness.]
SPENT A FEW DAYS ON EARTH
(20:100-104) All who shall turn away from it will, verily, bear a [heavy] burden on the Day of Resurrection: they will abide in this
[state], and grievous for them will be the weight [of that burden] on the Day of Resurrection - on the Day when the trumpet is
blown: for on that Day We will assemble all such as had been lost in sin, their eyes dimmed [by terror], whispering unto one
another, “You have spent but ten [days on earth].” [This and the next verse touch upon the illusory character of man’s consciousness of
“time” and, thus, upon the relativity of the concept of “time” as such. The number “ten” is often used in Arabic to denote “a few”.] [But]
We know best [Signifying, in this context, “We alone understand fully”.] what they will be saying when the most perceptive of them
shall say, “You have spent [there] but one day!”
(23:112-115) He (God) will ask [the doomed]: “What number of years have you spent on earth?” They will answer: “We have spent
there a day, or part of a day; but ask those who [are able to] count [time].” [This part of the allegorical “dialogue” between God and
the doomed sinners touches upon the illusory, problematical character of “time” as conceived by man, and the comparative irrelevancy of
the life of this world within the context of the ultimate - perhaps timeless - reality known only to God. The disappearance, upon
resurrection, of man’s earth-bound concept of time is indicated by the helpless answer, “ask those who are able to count time”.]
[Whereupon] He will say: “You have spent there but a short while: had you but known [how short it was to be]! Did you, then,
think that We created you in mere idle play, and that you would not have to return to Us?” [Lit., “that you would not be brought back
to Us”, i.e., for judgment.]
ON EARTH FOR AN HOUR
(30:54-57) It is God who creates you [all in a states of weakness, and then, after weakness, ordains strength [for you], and then,
after [a period of] strength, ordains [old-age] weakness and grey hair. He creates what He wills; and He alone is all-knowing,
infinite in His power. [He it is who will cause you to die, and in time will resurrect you.] [This interpolation - the meaning of which is
elliptically implied here - shows the connection of the present passage with the preceding one.] And when the Last Hour dawns, those
who had been lost in sin will swear that they had not tarried [on earth] longer than an hour: thus were they wont to delude
themselves [all their lives]! [The illusory character of man’s earthbound concept of “time” is brought out in the Quran in several places. In
the above verse stress is laid, firstly, on the relativity of this concept - i.e., on the infinitesimal shortness of our life on earth as compared
with the timeless duration of life in the hereafter. Secondly, on the resurrected sinners’ self-deluding excuse that their life on earth had been
too short to allow them to realize their errors and mend their ways. It is to this second aspect of the problem that the Quran alludes in the
words, “thus were they wont to delude themselves” by turning away from the truth).] But those who [in their lifetime] were endowed
with knowledge and faith will say: “Indeed, you have been tardy in [accepting as true] what God has revealed, [I.e., that the dead
shall be resurrected and judged by Him.] [and you have waited] until the Day of Resurrection: this, then, is the Day of Resurrection:
but you - you were determined not to know it! [I.e., “you persistently closed your mind to this promise”.] And so, on that Day their
excuse will be of no avail to those who were bent on evildoing, nor will they be allowed to make amends.
JUDGMENT DAY AS LONG AS THOUSAND YEARS
(32:4-5) You have none to protect you from God, and none to intercede for you [on Judgment Day]: will you not, then, bethink
yourselves? He governs all that exists, from the celestial space to the earth; and in the end all shall ascend unto Him [for judgment]
on a Day the length whereof will be [like] a thousand years of your reckoning. [I.e., the Day of Judgment will seem to be endless to
those who are judged. In the ancient Arabic idiom, a day that is trying or painful is described as “long”, just as a happy day is spoken of as
“short”.]
TARRIED NO LONGER THAN ONE NIGHT
(79:42-46) They will ask you [O Prophet] about the Last Hour: “When will it come to pass?” [But] how could you tell anything
about it, [seeing that] with thy Sustainer alone rests the beginning and the end [of all knowledge] thereof? You are but [sent] to
warn those who stand in awe of it. On the Day when they behold it, [it will seem to them] as if they had tarried [in this world] no
longer than one evening or [one night, ending with] its morn! [This is a subtle indication of the illusory, earthbound nature of man’s
concept of “time” - a concept which, we are told, will lose all its meaning in the context of the ultimate reality comprised in the term
“hereafter”.]
THE GREAT GATHERING OF ALL MANKIND
BRINGING DEAD BACK TO LIFE
(15:24-25) And well do We know [the hearts and deeds of all human beings - both] those who lived before you and those who will
come after you; [Or: those of you who hasten forward towards Us, and those who lag behind. Both these interpretations are considered
equally legitimate.] and, behold, it is thy Sustainer who will gather them all together [on Judgment Day]: verily, He is wise, all-
knowing!
(32:11) Say: “[One day,] the angel of death who has been given charge of you will gather you, and then unto your Sustainer you will
be brought back.”
(36:12) Verily, We shall indeed bring the dead back to life; and We shall record whatever [deeds] they have sent ahead, and the
traces [of good and evil] which they have left behind: for of all things do We take account in a record clear. (36:51-54) And [then]
the trumpet [of resurrection] will be blown - and lo! out of their graves towards their Sustainer will they all rush forth! They will
say: “Oh, woe unto us! Who has roused us from our sleep [of death]?” [Whereupon they will be told:] “This is what the Most
Gracious has promised! And His message-bearers spoke the truth!” Nothing will there have been but one single blast - and lo!
before Us will all of them be arraigned [and be told]: “Today, then, no human being shall be wronged in the least, nor shall you be
requited for aught but what you were doing [on earth].
(50:44) On the Day when the earth is riven asunder all around them as they hasten forth [towards God’s judgment]: that gathering
will be easy for Us [to encompass].
CALAMITOUS IS THIS DAY
(54:6-7) On the Day when the Summoning Voice will summon [man] unto something that the mind cannot conceive, [That is,
something human beings cannot know or visualize because they have never met with anything like it.] they will come forth from their
graves, with their eyes downcast, [swarming about] like locusts scattered [by the wind], running in confusion towards the
Summoning Voice; [and] those who [now] deny the truth will exclaim, “Calamitous is this Day!”
AL-QIYAMAH (RESURRECTION, 75)
The seventy-fifth surah, Al-Qiyamah (resurrection) is devoted almost entirely to the concept of resurrection, on which its traditional “title”
is based. (75:10-15) On that Day will man exclaim, “Whither to flee?” But nay: no refuge [for you, O man]! With thy Sustainer, on
that Day, the journey’s end will be! Man will be apprised, on that Day, of what he has done and what he has left undone: [I.e.,
whatever good and bad deeds he committed or omitted.] nay, but man shall against himself be an eye-witness, even though he may veil
himself in excuses. (20-25) Nay, but [most of] you love this fleeting life, and give no thought to the life to come [and to Judgment
Day]! Some faces will on that Day be bright with happiness, looking up to their Sustainer; and some faces will on that Day be
overcast with despair, knowing that a crushing calamity is about to befall them.
THE SUDDEN CALAMITY (101)
The hundred-first surah, Al-Qariah (The Sudden Calamity), an early Meccan surah, most probably revealed after surah 95 (At-Tin): In the
name of God, the most gracious, the dispenser of grace: (101:1-11) Oh, the sudden calamity! [I.e., the coming of the Last Hour, which
will involve a terrifying transformation of the world.] How awesome the sudden calamity! And what could make you conceive what
that sudden calamity will be? [It will occur] on the Day when men will be like moths swarming in confusion, and the mountains will
be like fluffy tufts of wool. And then, he whose weight [of good deeds] is heavy in the balance shall find himself in a happy state of
life; whereas he whose weight is light in the balance shall be engulfed by an abyss. [Lit., “his mother (i.e., goal) will be an abyss”, of
suffering and despair. The term “mother” (umm) is used idiomatically to denote something that embraces or enfolds.] And what could
make you conceive what that [abyss] will be? A fire hotly burning! [All Quranic descriptions of the sinner’s suffering in the hereafter
are metaphors or allegories relating to situations and conditions which can be understood only by means of comparisons with physical
phenomena lying within the range of human experience.]
PERFECT INSIGHT AND TRUE MOTIVATION FOR PAST DOINGS
MEN CHOOSE THEIR OWN DESTINY
(17:13-15) And every human being’s destiny have We tied to his neck; and on the Day of Resurrection We shall bring forth for him
a record which he will find wide open; [The Quranic concept of “destiny” relates not so much to the external circumstances of and events
in man’s life as, rather, to the direction which this life takes in result of one’s moral choices, in other words, it relates to man’s spiritual fate
- and this, in its turn, depends - as the Quran so often points out on a person’s inclinations, attitudes and conscious actions (including self-
restraint from morally bad actions or, alternatively, a deliberate omission of good actions). Hence, man’s spiritual fate depends on him and
is inseparably linked with the whole tenor of his personality; and since it is God who has made man responsible for his behavior on earth,
He speaks of Himself as having “tied every human being’s destiny to his neck”.] [and he will be told:] “Read this your record!
Sufficient is your own self today to make out your account!” [The record and the subsequent account represent man’s total
comprehension, on Judgment Day, of all his past life. See 50:22 - “now We have lifted from you your veil, and sharp is your sight today!”]
Whoever chooses to follow the right path, follows it but for his own good; and whoever goes astray, goes but astray to his own hurt;
and no bearer of burdens shall be made to bear another’s burden.
(39:69-70) And the record [of everyone’s deeds] will be laid bare, and all the prophets will be brought forward, and all [other]
witnesses; [The above phrase may well have the meaning of “all the prophets as witnesses”, i.e., for or against those to whom they
conveyed God’s message. In all probability, however, the man’s newly-awakened consciousness, which will compel him to bear witness
against himself on Judgment Day.] and judgment will be passed on them all in justice. And they will not be wronged, for every
human being will be repaid in full for whatever [good or evil] he has done: and He is fully aware of all that they do.
WE HAVE LIFTED YOUR VEIL AND SHARP IS YOUR SIGHT TODAY
(50:20-23) And [in the end] the trumpet [of resurrection] will be blown: that will be the Day of a warning fulfilled. And every
human being will come forward with [his erstwhile] inner urges and [his] conscious mind, [Inner urges circumscribes man’s primal
desires which drive him into unrestrained self-indulgence and, thus, into sin. The term shahid (rendered as “conscious mind”) alludes here
to the awakening of the deeper layers of man’s consciousness, leading to a sudden perception of his own moral reality - the “lifting of the
veil” referred to in the next verse - which forces him to “bear witness” against himself (See 17:14, 24:24, 36:65, 4:20.).] [and will be told:]
“Indeed, unmindful you have been of this [Day of Judgment]; but now We have lifted from you your veil, and sharp is your sight
today!” And one part of him will say: [Namely, his awakened moral consciousness.] “This it is that has been ever-present with me!”
[I.e., the sinner’s reason will plead that he had always been more or less conscious, and perhaps even critical, of the urges and appetites that
drove him into evildoing: but, as is shown in the sequence, this belated and, therefore, morally ineffective rational cognition does not
diminish but, rather, enhances the burden of man’s guilt.] (50:27-29) Man’s other self will say: [Namely, the complex of the sinner’s
instinctive urges and inordinate, unrestrained appetites summarized in the term as shaytan (“Satan” or “satanic force”: see 14:22.).] “O our
Sustainer! It was not I that led his conscious mind into evil [Referring to man’s faculty of conscious and controlling reason.] – [nay,]
but it had gone far astray [of its own accord]! [I.e., man’s evil impulses and appetites cannot gain ascendancy unless his conscious mind
goes astray from moral verities: and this explains the purport, in the present context, of verses 24-25 above.] [And] He will say: “Contend
not before Me, [O you sinners,] for I gave you a forewarning [of this Day of Reckoning]. The judgment passed by Me shall not be
altered; but never do I do the least wrong unto My creatures!”
FREEDOM FROM SELF-DECEPTION
(69:1, 3) Oh, the laying-bare of the truth! [I.e., the Day of Resurrection and Judgment, on which man will become fully aware of the
quality of his past life and, freed from all self-deception, will see himself as he really was, with the innermost meaning of all his past
doings - and thus of his destiny in the hereafter - blindingly revealed.] (69:2) How awesome that laying-bare of the truth! And what
could make you conceive what that laying-bare of the truth will be? [This sudden perception of the ultimate reality will be beyond
anything that man can anticipate or imagine: hence, no answer is given to the above rhetorical question.]
TRUE MOTIVATIONS OF THE PAST DEEDS
(82:4-5) And when the graves are overturned - every human being will [at last] comprehend what he has sent ahead and what he
has held back [in this world]. [I.e., what he has done and what he has omitted to do. An alternative rendering would be what he has placed
forward and what he has placed behind, i.e., what he prized more and what less in his erstwhile, subjective valuation. Thus, at the moment
of resurrection man will suddenly understand the true motivations and moral implications of whatever he did - or consciously refrained
from doing - during his life in this world: and this applies to all the good deeds he did and the sins he refrained from, as well as to all the
sins he committed and the good deeds he failed to do.]
WHEN PAST DEEDS WILL BECOME SELF EVIDENT
(99:6-8) On that Day will all men come forward, cut off from one another, to be shown their [past] deeds. [Lit., “as separate entities”.
See 6:94 - “And now, indeed, you have come unto Us in a lonely state, even as We created you in the first instance”: thus stressing the
individual, untransferable responsibility of every human being.] And so, he who shall have done an atom’s weight of good, shall behold
it; and he who shall have done an atom’s weight of evil, shall behold it.
APPEARANCE OF GOD AND ANGELS
(11:103-105) Herein, behold, lies a message indeed for all who fear the suffering [which may befall them] in the life to come, [and
are conscious of the coming of] that Day on which all mankind shall be gathered together - that Day [of Judgment] which shall be
witnessed [by all that ever lived], and which We shall not delay beyond a term set [by Us]. When that Day comes, not a soul will
speak, unless it be by His leave; and of those [that are gathered together], some will be wretched and some, happy.
(20:108) On that Day, all will follow the summoning Voice from which there will be no escape; and all sounds will be hushed before
the Most Gracious, and you will hear nothing but a faint sough in the air.
(25:25-26) And on the Day on which the skies, together with the clouds, shall burst asunder, and the angels are made to descend in a
mighty descent - on that Day [it will become obvious to all that] true sovereignty belongs to the Most Gracious [alone].
ANGELS AROUND THE THRONE OF ALMIGHTINESS
(69:16-17) The sky will be rent asunder - for, frail will it have become on that Day - ; [The sky or skies, i.e., the visible firmament, or
‘heaven” in its allegorical sense, or the aggregate of cosmic systems comprised in the concept of “the universe” (see 2:29). Its being “rent
asunder” is perhaps a metaphor for a total breakdown of the cosmic order.] (69:17) and the angels [will appear] at its ends, and, above
them, eight will bear aloft on that Day the throne of thy Sustainer’s almightiness. [Since God is infinite in space as well as in time, it is
obvious that His “throne” has a purely metaphorical connotation, circumscribing His absolute, unfathomable sway over all that exists or
possibly could exist (see 7:54). The “bearing aloft” of the throne of His almightiness also is a metaphor to the full manifestation of that
almightiness on the Day of Judgment. The Quran is silent as to who or what the “eight” are on whom this manifestation rests. Some assume
that they are eight angels; others, that they are eight ranks of angels; while still others frankly admit that it is impossible to say whether
“eight” or “eight thousand” are meant. The Quran states elsewhere, “none save God knows its final meaning” (see 3:7).]
NONE WILL SPEAK WITHOUT GOD’S LEAVE
(78:37-40) [And] none shall have it in their power to raise their voices unto Him on the Day when all [human] souls and all the
angels will stand up in ranks: none will speak but he to whom the Most Gracious will have given leave; and [everyone] will say
[only] what is right. [The statement that he whom God will allow to speak “will say only what is right” implies the impossibility of
anyone’s being untruthful on Judgment Day.] That will be the Day of Ultimate Truth: [It will be the moment when the ultimate reality of
human life and its purpose will become fully accessible to man’s understanding.] who ever wills, then, let him take the path that leads
towards his Sustainer! Verily, We have warned you of suffering near at hand - [suffering] on the Day when man shall [clearly] see
what his hands have sent ahead, and when he who has denied the truth shall say, “Oh, would that I were mere dust!
(84:1-6) When the sky is split asunder, [I.e., at the coming of the Last Hour and the beginning of a new reality, both in fact and in man’s
perception.] obeying its Sustainer, as in truth it must; and when the earth is leveled, and casts forth whatever is in it, and becomes
utterly void, [I.e., loses all its reality.] obeying its Sustainer, as in truth it must -: [then,] O man - you [that] have, verily, been toiling
towards thy Sustainer in painful toil - then shall you meet Him! [In man’s earthly life - irrespective of whether one is consciously aware
of it or not - sorrow, pain, drudgery and worry by far outweigh the rare moments of true happiness and satisfaction. Thus, the human
condition is described as “painful toiling towards the Sustainer” - i.e., towards the moment when one meets Him on Resurrection.]
(89:21-22) Nay, but [how will you fare on Judgment Day,] when the earth is crushed with crushing upon crushing, and [the majesty
of] thy Sustainer stands revealed, as well as [the true nature of] the angels, rank upon rank? [Lit., “(when) thy Sustainer comes”, the
revelation (in the abstract sense of this word) of God’s transcendental majesty and the manifestation of His judgment.]
ACCOUNTING OF MANKIND
The Holy Prophet said: “Those who have excelled in good works shall enter paradise without accountability; those who followed the
middle course shall be subjected to light accountability. As for those who have been unjust to themselves, they shall be detained throughout
the long period of resurrection. Then God shall cover them also with His mercy and they are the ones who will say, “thanks to God Who
has removed sorrow from us!”
(30:14-16) And when the Last Hour dawns - on that Day will all [men] be sorted out: as for those who attained to faith and did
righteous deeds, they shall be made happy in a garden of delight; but as for those who refused to acknowledge the truth and gave
the lie to Our messages - and [thus] to the announcement of a life to come - they will be given over to suffering.
MANKIND DIVIDED INTO THREE ON THE JUDGMENT DAY
(56:7-12) [On that Day,] then, shall you be [divided into] three kinds. Thus, there shall be such as will have attained to what is
right: oh, how [happy] will be they who have attained to what is right! And there shall be such as will have lost themselves in evil:
oh, how [unhappy] will be they who have lost themselves in evil! [Lit., “those of the left side”. Similarly to the use of the expression
maymanah as a metonym for “attaining to what is right”, the term mashamah is used to denote “losing oneself in evil” (e.g., in 90:19). The
origin of both these metonyms is based on the belief of the pre-Islamic Arabs that future events could be predicted by observing the
direction of the flight of birds at certain times: if they flew to the right, the event in question promised to be auspicious; if to the left, the
contrary. This ancient belief was gradually absorbed by linguistic usage, so that “right” and “left” became more or less synonymous with
“auspicious” and “inauspicious”. In the idiom of the Quran, these two concepts have been deepened into “righteousness” and
“unrighteousness”, respectively.] But the foremost shall be [they who in life were] the foremost [in faith and good works]: they who
were [always] drawn close unto God! In gardens of bliss [will they dwell].
NO ONE IS FULLY PROTECTED FROM CHASTISEMENT
(70:26-28) And who accept as true the [coming of the] Day of Judgment; and who stand in dread of their Sustainer’s chastisement -
for, behold, of their Sustainer’s chastisement none may ever feel [wholly] secure; [This warning against pharisaic self-righteousness
implies that however “good” a person may be, there is always a possibility of his or her having done a moral wrong (e.g., an injury to a
fellow-being) and then conveniently forgotten this sin. Elliptically, this warning contains a call to increasing consciousness in all one’s
doings - for, “temptation to evil does not befall only those who are bent on denying the truth” (8:25), but may also befall people who are
otherwise righteous.]
ACCOUNTING OF THE RIGHTEOUS
DOERS OF GOOD
(17:19-21) But as for those who care for the [good of the] life to come, and strive for it as it ought to be striven for, and are [true]
believers withal - they are the ones whose striving finds favor [with God]! [Since caring and striving for the good of the hereafter
presupposes belief in God and in mans responsibility before Him, the term “believer” relates, in this context, to a cognition of God’s
absolute oneness and uniqueness as well as to a willing acceptance of the guidance offered to man through prophetic revelation..] All [of
them] - these as well as those - do We freely endow with some of thy Sustainer’s gifts, since thy Sustainer’s giving is never confined
[to one kind of man]. Behold how We bestow [on earth] more bounty on some of them than on others: but [remember that] the life
to come will be far higher in degree and far greater in merit and bounty. (17:70-71) Now, indeed, We have conferred dignity on the
children of Adam, [I.e., by bestowing upon them the faculty of conceptual thinking (see 2:31), which makes them superior in this respect
to all other animate beings, and even to the angels.] and borne them over land and sea, and provided for them sustenance out of the
good things of life, and favored them far above most of Our creation: [but] one Day We shall summon all human beings [and judge
them] according to the conscious disposition which governed their deeds [in life]: whereupon they whose record shall be placed in
their right hand - it is they who will read their record [with happiness]. Yet none shall be wronged by as much as a hair’s breadth:
[This last clause obviously applies to both the righteous and the unrighteous.]
(20:112) Whereas anyone who will have done [whatever he could] of righteous deeds, and was a believer withal, need have no fear
of being wronged or deprived [of aught of his merit]. [I.e., punishment for any sin which he may have contemplated but not committed
and neither of a diminution of his merit: see the twice-repeated statement in 16:96-97 that the righteous shall be recompensed in the
hereafter “in accordance with the best that they ever did”.]
RIGHTEOUS SECURE FROM TERROR OF JUDGMENT DAY
(21:101-103) [But,] behold, as for those for whom [the decree of] ultimate good has already gone forth from Us [I.e., those who have
been promised paradise on account of their faith and their good deeds.] these will be kept far away from that [hell]: no sound thereof
will they hear; and they will abide in all that their souls have ever desired. The supreme awesomeness [of the Day of Resurrection]
will cause them no grief, since the angels will receive them with the greeting. “This is your Day [of triumph - the Day] which you
were promised!”
(27:87-89) And on that Day the trumpet [of judgment] will be sounded, and all [creatures] that are in the heavens and all that are
on earth will be stricken with terror, except such as God wills [to exempt]: and in utter lowliness all will come unto Him. And you
will see the mountains, which [now] you deem so firm, pass away as clouds pass away: a work of God, who has ordered all things to
perfection! [I.e., in perfect consonance with the purpose for which He has created them. In this particular instance, stress is laid on the
God-willed transitory nature of the world, as we know it, in contrast with the lasting reality of the life to come.] Verily, He is fully aware
of all that you do! Whoever shall come [before Him] with a good deed will gain [further] good there from; and they will be secure
from the terror of that Day. [Thus stressing the Quranic doctrine that what is metaphorically described as “rewards” and “punishments”
in the life to come are but the natural consequences, good or bad, of man’s attitudes and doings in this world. Whoever comes with a good
deed will gain something better than or through it whereas the deed itself may be transitory, its merit is enduring.]
EASY ACCOUNTING OF THE RIGHTEOUS
(69:18-24) On that Day you shall be brought to judgment: not [even] the most hidden of your deeds will remain hidden. Now as for
him whose record shall be placed in his right hand, he will exclaim: “Come you all! Read this my record! [I.e., whose record shows
that he was righteous in his life on earth. This is a symbolic expression of “right” and “left” as “righteous” and “unrighteous”.] Behold, I
did know that [one day] I would have to face my account!” [Implying that he had always been conscious of resurrection and judgment,
and had tried to behave accordingly.] And so he will find himself in a happy state of life, in a lofty paradise, with its fruits within easy
reach. [And all who are thus blest will be told:] “Eat and drink with good cheer in return for all [the good deeds] that you have sent
ahead in days gone by!”
(84:7-9) And as for him whose record shall be placed in his right hand, [I.e., whose behavior in life characterizes him as righteous.] he
will in time be called to account with an easy accounting, and will [be able to] turn joyfully to those of his own kind. [I.e., those who,
like him, were righteous in life]
TESTIMONIES OF ALL PROPHETS AND SATAN
(For dialogue between Jesus and God on the judgment day, see chapter on New Testament prophets.)
NO INTERCESSION EXCEPT FOR GOD’S LEAVE
(10:3) There is none that could intercede with Him unless He grants leave there for. Thus is God, your Sustainer: worship,
therefore, Him [alone]: will you not, then, keep this in mind? [See 2:255 – “Who is there that could intercede with Him, unless it be by
His leave?” Thus, the Quran rejects the popular belief in unqualified “intercession” by living or dead saints or prophets. God will grant to
His prophets on Judgment Day the permission to “intercede”, symbolically, for such of the sinners as will have already achieved His
redemptive acceptance by virtue of their repentance or basic goodness: in other words, the right of intercession thus granted to the prophets
will be but an expression of God’s approval of the latter. Furthermore, the above denial of the possibility of unqualified intercession
stresses, indirectly, not only God’s omniscience (all knowing) - which requires no mediator - but also the immutability (never changing) of
His will.]
(19:85-87) On the Day when We shall gather the God conscious unto [Us] the Most Gracious, as honored guests, and drive those
who were lost in sin unto hell as a thirsty herd is driven to a well - [on that Day] none will have [the benefit of] intercession unless
he has [in his lifetime] entered into a bond with the Most Gracious. [The “bond with God” denotes the realization of His oneness and
uniqueness. Even great sinners may hope for God’s forgiveness - symbolically expressed by the right of “intercession” which will be
granted to the prophets on Judgment Day provided that, during their life on earth, they were aware of God’s existence and oneness.]
(20:109-110) On that Day, intercession shall be of no avail [to any] save him in whose case the Most Gracious will have granted
leave there for, and whose word [of faith] He will have accepted: [The “word of faith” referred to is a metonym for the belief that there
is no deity save God, i.e., the realization of His oneness and uniqueness.] [for] He knows all that lies open before men and all that is
hidden from them, whereas they cannot encompass Him with their knowledge.
MUHAMMAD AS WITNESS ON DAY OF JUDGMENT
(4:41-42) How, then, [will the sinners fare on Judgment Day,] when We shall bring forward witnesses from within every
community, and bring you [O Prophet] as witness against them? [I.e., the earlier apostles, of whom every community or civilization
has had a share] Those who were bent on denying the truth and paid no heed to the Apostle will on that Day wish that the earth
would swallow them: but they shall not [be able to] conceal from God anything that has happened. [The term “the apostle” is used
here in its generic sense, and refers to all the apostles who preached God's message at one time or another.]
CALL TO ACCOUNT ALL PROPHETS
(7:6-7) Thus, [on Judgment Day] We shall most certainly call to account all those unto whom a [divine] message was sent, and We
shall most certainly call to account the message-bearers [themselves]; and thereupon We shall most certainly reveal unto them Our
knowledge [of their doings]: for never have We been absent [from them].
TESTIMONY OF SATAN ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT
(14:22) And when everything will have been decided, Satan will say: “Behold, God promised you something that was bound to
come true! [I.e., the promise of resurrection and last judgment] I too, held out [all manner of] promises to you - but I deceived you. Yet
I had no power at all over you: I but called you - and you responded unto me. Hence, blame not me, but blame yourselves. [This
verse shows that the real Satan is [man’s own] complex of desires: for, Satan makes it clear [in the above] that it was only by means of
insinuations that he was able to reach the sinners soul; and had it not been for an already existing evil disposition due to lusts, anger,
superstition or fanciful ideas, these satanic insinuations would have had no effect whatsoever.] it is not for me to respond to your cries,
nor for you to respond to mine: [I.e., I cannot respond to your call for help, just as you should not have, in your lifetime, responded to my
call.] for, behold, I have [always] refused to admit that there was any truth in your erstwhile belief that I had a share in God’s
divinity.” [This is the meaning of the highly elliptical phrase, which could be literally - but most inadequately - translated thus: “I have
refused to admit the truth of that whereby you associated me aforetime [with God].” The implication is that Satan, while endeavoring to
lead men astray, never claims to be God’s equal (see 7:20, where he speaks of God, to Adam and Eve, as “your Sustainer”, or 15:36 and 39,
where he addresses Him as “my Sustainer”, or 8:48 and 59:16, where he says, behold, I fear God”) but, rather, tries to make men’s sinful
doings “seem goodly to them” (see 6:43, 8:48, 16:63, 27:24, 29:38), i.e., persuades them that it is morally justifiable to follow one’s fancies
and selfish desires without any restraint. But while Satan himself does not make any claim to equality with God, the sinner who submits to
Satan’s blandishments attributes to him thereby, as it were, “a share in God’s divinity”. It must be stressed, in this connection, that the
Quranic expression shaytan is often used as a metaphor for every human impulse that is intrinsically immoral and, therefore, contrary to
man’s best spiritual interests.] Verily, for all evildoers there is grievous suffering in store. [I.e., all those who had consciously - either
from intellectual arrogance or from moral weakness - responded to Satan’s call]
PROPHETS AS WITNESSES
(16:84-85) But one Day We shall raise up a witness out of every community, [On the Day of Judgment, when the prophets whom God
has called forth within every community will symbolically bear witness to the fact that they had delivered God’s message to their people
and explained to them the meaning of right and wrong, thus depriving them of any subsequent excuse.] whereupon they who were bent
on denying the truth will not be allowed to plead [ignorance], [Their being refused permission to plead ignorance is a metonym for their
having no valid argument or excuse to proffer.] and neither will they be allowed to make amends. And when they who were bent on
evildoing behold the suffering [that awaits them, they will realize that] it will not be lightened for them [by virtue of their pleading];
and neither will they be granted respite.
ON THE DAY OF DISTINCTION
(77:11-19) When all the apostles are called together at a time appointed. [To bear witness for or against those to whom they conveyed
God’s message.] For what day has the term [of all this] been set? For the Day of Distinction [between the true and the false]! [This is
chronologically the earliest occurrence of the expression yawm al-fasl, which invariably relates to the Day of Resurrection: an oft-repeated
Quranic statement that on resurrection man will gain a perfect, unfailing insight into himself and the innermost motivation of his past
attitudes and doings.] And what could make you conceive what that Day of Distinction will be? Woe on that Day unto those who give
the lie to the truth! Did We not destroy [so many of] those [sinners] of olden days? And We shall let them be followed by those of
later times: [“And” implies that suffering in the hereafter is bound to befall the sinners of later times even if God, in His unfathomable
wisdom, wills to spare them in this world.] [for] thus do We deal with such as are lost in sin. Woe on that Day unto those who give the
lie to the truth!
ACCOUNTING OF EVILDOERS
TORMENTS OF DAY OF JUDGMENT
(Accounting of those who worshipped idols, see chapter fifteen non-believers (pagans of Arabia)
THOSE WHO ATTRIBUTED LIES TO GOD
(6:93-94) And who could be more wicked than he who invents a lie about God, or says, “This has been revealed unto me,” the while
nothing has been revealed to him? - [The lie refers to the denial of the fact of divine revelation as such.] - or he who says, “I, too, can
bestow from on high the like of what God has bestowed”? [Implying, in a sarcastic manner, that the purported revelation has in reality
been composed by a human being and that, therefore, the like of it can be produced by other men.] If you could but see [how it will be]
when these evildoers find themselves in the agonies of death, and the angels stretch forth their hands [and call]: “Give up your
souls! Today you shall be requited with the suffering of humiliation for having attributed to God something that is not true, and for
having persistently scorned His messages in your arrogance!” [And God shall say:] “And now, indeed, you have come unto Us in a
lonely state, even as We created you in the first instance; and you have left behind all that We bestowed on you [in your lifetime].
And We do not see with you those intercessors of yours whom you supposed to have a share in God’s divinity with regard to
yourselves! Indeed, all the bonds between you [and your earthly life] are now severed, and all your former fancies have forsaken
you!''
JUST BALANCE-SCALES
(7:8-9) And true will be the weighing on that Day: and those whose weight [of good deeds] is heavy in the balance - it is they, they
who shall attain to a happy state; whereas those whose weight is light in the balance - it is they who will have squandered their own
selves by their willful rejection of Our messages.
(21:47) But We shall set up just balance-scales on Resurrection Day, and no human being shall be wronged in the least: for though
there be [in him but] the weight of a mustard-seed [of good or evil], We shall bring it forth; and none can take count as We do!
ARROGANT MEN DESCRIBING DIVINE REVELATIONS AS FABLES OF ANCIENT TIMES
(16:22-29) Your God is the One God: but because of their false pride, the hearts of those who do not believe in the life to come
refuse to admit the [truth]. [I.e., they are too arrogant to accept the idea of man’s utter dependence on, and responsibility to, a Supreme
Being.] Truly, God knows all that they keep secret as well as all that they bring into the open - [and,] behold, He does not love those
who are given to arrogance, and [who], whenever they are asked, “What is it that your Sustainer has bestowed from on high?” - are
wont to answer, “Fables of ancient times!” [And not divine revelations] Hence, on Resurrection Day they shall bear the full weight of
their own burdens, as well as some of the burdens of those ignorant ones whom they have led astray: [Oh, how evil the load with
which they shall be burdened! Those who lived before them did, too, devise many a blasphemy [I.e., they blasphemed by describing
the divine revelations as “fables of ancient times” and by refusing to admit the truth of God’s existence or of His oneness and uniqueness.] -
whereupon God visited with destruction all that they had ever built, [striking] at its very foundations, so that the roof fell in upon
them from above, [This is a metaphor describing the utter collapse of all endeavors - both individual and social - rooted in godlessness and
false pride.] and suffering befell them without their having perceived whence it came. And then, on Resurrection Day, He will cover
them [all] with ignominy, [For, only on the Day of Resurrection will you be requited in full for whatever you have done (3:185).] and will
say: ‘Where, now, are those beings to whom you ascribed a share in My divinity, [and] for whose sake you cut yourselves off [from
My guidance]?” [Or: you were wont to contend against My guidance.] [Whereupon] those who [in their lifetime] were endowed with
knowledge will say: [I.e., those who had availed themselves of the knowledge of good and evil which God offers to mankind through His
prophets.] “Verily, ignominy and misery [have fallen] this day upon those who have been denying the truth - those whom the angels
have gathered in death while they were still sinning against themselves!” Then will they [who are thus arraigned] proffer their
submission, [saying:] “We did not [mean to] do any evil!” [But they will be answered:] “Yea, verily, God has full knowledge of all
that you were doing! [And He will judge you on the basis of your motivation and their plea of ignorance is rejected in view of the fact that
they were offered God’s guidance through His revealed messages, which they deliberately scorned in their false pride and dismissed out of
hand as “fables of ancient times”.] Hence, enter the gates of hell, therein to abide!” And evil, indeed, shall be the state of all who are
given to false pride!
BLINDNESS IN HEREAFTER
(17:72) For whoever is blind [of heart] in this [world] will be blind in the life to come [as well], and still farther astray from the path
[of truth]. [This passage shows that man’s life in the hereafter is not merely conditioned by the manner of his life on earth, but is also an
extension of the latter, manifested in a natural development and intensification of previously-existing tendencies.]
(20:124-127) But as for him who shall turn away from remembering Me - his shall be a life of narrow scope; [I.e., sterile and
spiritually narrow, without any real meaning or purpose: and this, as is indicated in the subsequent clause, will be a source of their suffering
in the hereafter.] and on the Day of Resurrection We shall raise him up blind. [And so, on Resurrection Day, the sinner] will ask: “O
my Sustainer! Why hast Thou raised me up blind, whereas [on earth] I was endowed with sight?” [God] will reply: “Thus it is:
there came unto you Our messages, but you were oblivious of them; and thus shall you be today consigned to oblivion!” For, thus
shall We recompense him who wastes his own self and does not believe in his Sustainer’s messages: and, indeed, the suffering [of
such sinners] in the life to come shall be most severe and most enduring!
FACING GOD IN A LONELY STATE
(18:47-49) Hence, [bear in mind] the Day on which We shall cause the mountains to disappear and you shall behold the earth void
and bare: for [on that Day] We will [resurrect the dead and] gather them all together, leaving out none of them. And they will be
lined up before thy Sustainer, [and He will say:] [To those who in their lifetime denied the truth of resurrection] “Now, indeed, you have
come unto Us [in a lonely state], even as We created you in the first instance - although you were wont to assert that We would
never appoint for you a meeting [with Us]! And the record [of everyone’s deeds] will be laid open; and you will behold the guilty
filled with dread at what [they see] therein; and they will exclaim: “Oh, woe unto us! What a record is this! It leaves out nothing, be
it small or great, but takes everything into account!” For they will find all that they ever wrought [now] facing them, and [will
know that] thy Sustainer does not wrong anyone.
GOOD DEEDS OF SINNERS LIKE SCATTERED DUST
(18:103-108) Say: “Shall we tell you who are the greatest losers in whatever they may do?” “[It is] they whose labor has gone astray
in [the pursuit of no more than] this world’s life, and who nonetheless think that they are doing good works: it is they who have
chosen to deny their Sustainer’s messages and the truth that they are destined to meet Him.” Hence, all their [good] deeds come to
nought, and no weight shall We assign to them on Resurrection Day. [Although each of their good actions will be taken into account on
Judgment Day in accordance with the Quranic statement that “he who shall have done an atom’s weight of good, shall behold it” (99:7), the
above verse implies that whatever good such sinners may do is far outweighed by their godlessness.] That will be their recompense -
[their] hell - for having denied the truth and made My messages and My apostles a target of their mockery. [But,] verily, as for
those who attain to faith and do righteous deeds - the gardens of paradise will be there to welcome them; therein will they abide,
[and] never will they desire any change there from.
EVIL NOT ATONED FOR BY REPENTANCE
(20:111) And [on that Day] all faces will be humbled before the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsistent Fount of All Being; and undone
shall be he who bears [a burden of] evildoing - [I.e., evildoing which has not been atoned for by repentance before death.]
WHEN MANKIND SEEMS DRUNK
(22:1-4) O men! Be conscious of your Sustainer: for, verily the violent convulsion of the Last Hour will be an awesome thing! On
the Day when you behold it, every woman that feeds a child at her breast will utterly forget her nursling, and every woman heavy
with child will bring forth her burden [before her time]; and it will seem to you that all mankind is drunk, although they will not be
drunk - but vehement will be [their dread of] God’s chastisement. [The interpolation of the words “their dread of” is based on the
statement in 21:103 that, as far as the righteous are concerned, “the supreme awesomeness of the Day of Resurrection will cause them no
grief” despite the dread with which it will overwhelm every human being.] And yet, among men there is many a one who argues about
God without having any knowledge [of Him], and follows every rebellious satanic force about which it has been decreed that
whoever entrusts himself to it, him will it lead astray and guide towards the suffering of the blazing flame!
(22:55-57) Whereas those who are bent on denying the truth will not cease to be in doubt about Him until the Last Hour comes
suddenly upon them and [supreme] suffering befalls them on a Day void of all hope. [I.e., the Day of Judgment, which will offer no
hope to those who, until their death, failed to realize the existence of God or to submit to His guidance] On that Day, all dominion shall
[visibly] belong to God, He shall judge [all men and make a distinction] between them: thus, all who had attained to faith and did
righteous deeds shall find themselves in gardens of bliss, whereas for those who were bent on denying the truth and gave the lie to
Our messages, there shall be shameful suffering in store.
SINNERS WILL BITE THEIR HANDS
(25:22-23) [Yet] on that Day - the Day on which they shall see the angels [I.e., on judgment Day, when all will have been decided] -
there will be no glad tiding for those who were lost in sin; and they will exclaim, “By a forbidding ban [are we from God’s grace
debarred]!” - for We shall have turned towards all the [supposedly good] deeds they ever wrought, and shall have transformed
them into scattered dust. (25:26-29) Hence, a Day of distress will it be for all who deny the truth, and a Day on which the evildoer
will bite his hands [in despair], exclaiming: “Oh, would that I had followed the path shown to me by the apostle! [The terms “the
apostle” and “the evildoer” are here obviously used in their generic sense, applying to all of God’s apostles and all who consciously reject
their guidance. Similarly, the expression “so-and-so” occurring in the next verse circumscribes any person or personified influence
responsible for leading a human being astray.] Oh, woe is me! Would that I had not taken so-and-so for a friend! Indeed, he led me
astray from the remembrance [of God] after it had come unto me!” For [thus it is:] Satan is ever a betrayer of man.
GROUPED ACCORDING TO GRAVITY OF SINS
(27:82-86) Now, [as for the deaf and blind of heart –] when the word [of truth] stands revealed against them, [I.e., when the truth
becomes obvious to them against all their expectations, and thus confounds them utterly: an allusion to the approach of the Last Hour,
Resurrection and God’s Judgment, all of which they were wont to regard as “fables of ancient times” (see 27:67-68). Alternatively, the
phrase may be understood as when the sentence of doom is passed on them, i.e., at the approach of the Last Hour, when it will be too late
for repentance.] We shall bring forth unto them out of the earth a creature, which will tell them that mankind had no real faith in
Our messages. [The “creature brought forth out of the earth” is apparently an allegory of man’s earthly outlook on life - in other words, the
soul-destroying materialism characteristic of the time preceding the Last Hour. This “creature” parabolically tells men that their
submergence in exclusively materialistic values - and, hence, their approaching self-destruction - is an outcome of their lack of belief in
God.] And on that Day We shall gather from within every community a host of those who gave the lie to Our messages; and they
will be grouped [according to the gravity of their sins] until such a time as they shall come [to be judged. And] He will say: “Did
you give the lie to My messages even though you failed to encompass them with [your] knowledge? [I.e., without having understood
them or made any attempt to understand them.] Or what was it that [you thought] you were doing?” And the word [of truth] will stand
revealed against them in the face of all the wrong which they had committed, and they will not [be able to] utter a single word [of
excuse]: for, were they not aware that it is We who had made the night for them, so that they might rest therein, and the day, to
make [them] see? [The reference to “night” and “day” has a symbolic significance: namely, man’s God-given ability to gain insight
through conscious reasoning (the day that makes them see) as well as through the intuition that comes from a restful surrender to the voice
of one’s own heart (the night made for rest) - both of which tell us that the existence of God is a logical necessity, and that a rejection of
His messages is a sin against ourselves.] In this, behold, there are messages indeed for people who will believe! (27:90) But they who
shall come with evil deeds – [I.e., those who did only evil, or whose evil deeds greatly outweigh their good deeds.] their faces will be
thrust into the fire, [and they will be asked:] “Is this aught but a just requital for what you were doing [in life]?”
ACCOUNTING OF THOSE WHO REJECTED MESSAGE BEARERS
(28:65-67) And on that Day He will call unto them, and will ask: “How did you respond to My message bearers?” [God’s “question”
is but meant to stress a moral failure, which by now has become obvious to man’s self-accusing conscience.] - but all arguments and
excuses will by then have been erased from their minds, and they will not [be able to] obtain any [helpful] answer from one another.
[I.e., they will all be equally confused.] But as against this - anyone who repents [I.e., during his life in this world. For repentance which
flows from one’s realization of moral failure.] and attains to faith and does righteous deeds may well [hope to] find himself among
those who achieve a happy state [in the life to come]. (28:74-75) And on that day [I.e., the Day of Resurrection] He will call unto those
[that shall have been arraigned before His judgment seat], and will ask: “Where, now, are those [beings or powers] whom you
imagined to have a share in My divinity?” [God’s “question”, is meant to stress the utter inability of the sinners concerned to justify their
erstwhile attitude rationally; hence the interpolation at the beginning of the next verse.] And [they will remain silent: for by then] We
will have called forth witnesses from within every community, [I.e., the prophets who had appeared at various stages of man’s history,
and who will now bear witness that they had duly conveyed God’s message to the people for whom it was meant.] and will have said
[unto the sinners]: “Produce an evidence for what you have been claiming!” [I.e., for the possibility of anyone or anything having a
share in God’s divinity.] And so they will come to understand that all truth is God’s [alone]; [I.e., that He is the Ultimate Reality, and
that whatever is or could be is an outcome of His will alone.] and all their false imagery will have forsaken them. [A specific instance of
such “false imagery” the futility of man’s relying on his own wealth and worldly power.]
WHEN PARENTS WILL BE OF NO AVAIL
(31:33-34) O men! Be conscious of your Sustainer, and stand in awe of the Day on which no parent will be of any avail to his child,
nor a child will in the least avail his parent! Verily, God’s promise [of resurrection] is true indeed: let not, then, the life of this world
deludes you, and let not [your own] deceptive thoughts about God delude you! [For instance, the self-deluding expectation that while
deliberately committing a sin that God will forgive it. The term gharur denotes “anything that deludes” a person in the moral sense, whether
it be Satan, or another human being, or an abstract concept, or (as in 57:14) “wishful thinking”.] Verily, with God alone rests the
knowledge of when the Last Hour will come.
PERSONAL ACCOUNTABILITY ON JUDGMENT DAY
(34:24-27) Say: “Who is it that provides for you sustenance out of the heavens and the earth?” Say: “It is God. And, behold, either
we [who believe in Him] or you [who deny His oneness] are on the right path, or have clearly gone astray!” Say: “Neither shall you
be called to account for whatever we may have become guilty of, nor shall we be called to account for whatever you are doing.”
Say: “Our Sustainer will bring us all together [on Judgment Day], and then He will lay open the truth between us, in justice - for
He alone is the One who opens all truth, the All-Knowing!” Say: “Point out to me those [beings] that you have joined with Him [in
your minds] as partners [in His divinity]! Nay - nay, but He [alone] is God, the Almighty, the Wise!”
SHRINK IN TERROR AND NOWHERE TO ESCAPE
(34:51-54) If you could but see [how the deniers of the truth will fare on Resurrection Day,] when they will shrink in terror, with
nowhere to escape - since they will have been seized from so close nearby [I.e., from within their own selves] - and will cry, “We do
[now] believe in it!” But how can they [hope to] attain [to salvation] from so far away, [I.e., from their utterly different past life on
earth.] seeing that aforetime they had been bent on denying the truth, and had been wont to cast scorn, from far away, on something
that was beyond the reach of human perception? [Man’s fate in the hereafter will be a consequence of, and invariably conditioned by,
his spiritual attitude and the manner of his life during the first, earthly stage of his existence. The expression “from far away” is apparently
used in a sense similar to sayings like “far off the mark” or “without rhyme or reason”, and is meant to qualify as groundless and futile all
negative speculations about what the Quran describes as al-ghayb (“that which is beyond the reach of human or a created being’s
perception”): in this case, life after death.] And so, a barrier will be set between them and all that they had [ever] desired, [Thus, the
impossibility of attaining to the fulfillment of any of their desires - whether positive or negative - sums up the suffering of the damned in
the life to come.] as will be done to such of their kind as lived before their time: for, behold, they [too] were lost in doubt amounting
to suspicion. [I.e., a suspicion that all moral postulates were but meant to deprive them of what they considered to be the legitimate
advantages of life in this world.]
DISTINCTION BETWEEN TRUTH AND FALSEHOOD
(37:16-24) Why - after we have died and become mere dust and bones, shall we, forsooth, be raised from the dead? - And perhaps
also our forebears of old?” Say: “Yea, indeed - and most abject will you then be!” - for that [resurrection which they deride] will be
[upon them of a sudden, as if it were] but a single accusing cry - and then, lo! they will begin to see [the truth] and will say: “Oh,
woe unto us! This is the Day of Judgment!” [And they will be told:] “This is the Day of Distinction [between the true and the false -
the Day] which you were wont to call a lie!” [And God will thus command:] “Assemble all those who were bent on evildoing,
together with others of their ilk [The expression azwaj denotes here people resembling one another in their dispositions.] and [with] all
that they were wont to worship instead of God, and lead them all onto the way to the blazing fire, and halt them [there]!”
MUTUAL REPROACHES OF SINNERS
(37:24-34) [And then,] behold, they shall be asked, “How is it that [now] you cannot succor one another?” Nay, but on that Day
they would willingly surrender [to God]; but [since it will be too late,] they will turn upon one another, demanding of each other [to
relieve them of the burden of their past sins]. [As the sequence shows, demanding other to assume responsibility for their own erstwhile
denial of the truth] Some [of them] will say: “Behold, you were wont to approach us [deceptively] from the right!” [I.e., claiming that
what you were asking us to do was right and good. The idiomatic phrase “approaching one from the right” is more or less synonymous with
pretending to give a morally good advice, as well as approaching another person from a position of power and influence.] [To which] the
others will reply: “Nay, you yourselves were bereft of all faith! Moreover, we had no power at all over you: nay, you were people
filled with overweening arrogance! But now our Sustainer’s word has come true against us [as well]: verily, we are bound to taste
[the fruit of our sins]. So then, [if it be true that] we have caused you to err grievously - behold, we ourselves had been lost in
grievous error!” And, verily, on that Day they all will share in their common suffering. Verily, thus shall We deal with all who were
lost in sin.
SEPARATION FROM LOVED ONES
(39:15) Say: “Behold, the [true] losers will be they who shall have lost their own selves and their kith and kin on Resurrection Day:
for is not this, this, the [most] obvious loss? [On the Resurrection Day they will be irretrievably separated from all whom they had loved,
and all who had been close to them in this world. The “loss of one’s own self” signifies the destruction of one’s true identity and uniqueness
as a human being, which is described the most obvious loss that man may be made to suffer in the life to come.] (39:24-25) Could, then,
one who shall have nothing but is [bare] face to protect him from the awful suffering [that will befall him] on Resurrection Day [be
likened to the God-conscious]? [An idiomatic phrase implying that the person concerned has nothing whatever with which to protect
himself] [On that Day,] the evildoers will be told: “Taste [now] what you have earned [in life]!” Those who lived before them did
[too] give the lie to the truth - whereupon suffering befell them without their having perceived whence it came: (39:46-48) Say: “O
God! Originator of the heavens and the earth! Knower of all that is beyond the reach of a created being’s perception, as well as of
all that can be witnessed by a creature’s senses or mind! It is Thou who will judge between Thy servants [on Resurrection Day]
with regard to all on which they were wont to differ!” But if those who are bent on evildoing posses sed all that is on earth, and
twice as much, they would surely offer it as ransom from the awful suffering [that will befall them] on the Day of Resurrection: for,
something with which they had not reckoned before will [by then] have been made obvious to them by God; [The fact that man’s
attitudes and actions in this world determine his state and further development in the hereafter: in other words, that happiness or suffering
in the life to come (allegorically described as “paradise” or ‘hell”, and “reward” or “chastisement”) are but natural consequences of the use
which man makes in this life of his capabilities, endowments and opportunities.] and obvious to them will have become the evil that
they had wrought [in life]: and thus shall they be overwhelmed by the very truth which they were wont to deride. [The reality of life
after death and of the spiritual truths preached by God’s prophets will overwhelm them.] (39:55-64, 66) And before that suffering comes
upon you of a sudden, without your being aware [of its approach], follow the most goodly [teaching] that has been revealed unto
you by your Sustainer, lest any human being should say [on Judgment Day], “Alas for me for having been remiss in what is due to
God, and for having been indeed one of those who scoffed [at the truth]!” - or lest he should say, “If God had but guided me, I
would surely have been among those who are conscious of Him!”- or lest he should say, when he becomes aware of the suffering
[that awaits him], “Would that I had a second chance [in life], so that I could be among the doers of good!” [But God will reply:]
“Yea, indeed! My messages did come unto you; but you gave them the lie, and were filled with false pride, and were among those
who deny the truth!” And [so,] on the Day of Resurrection you will see all who invented lies about God [with] their faces darkened
[by grief and ignominy]. [Dark face is used idiomatically to describe a face expressive of grief or ignominy, just as face became white or
shining describes a countenance expressive of happiness or justified pride: see 2:106 - “some faces will shine [with happiness] and some
faces will be dark [with grief]”.] Is not hell the [proper] abode for all who are given to false pride? But God will safeguard all who
were conscious of Him, [and will grant them happiness] by virtue of their [inner] triumphs; no evil shall ever touch them, and
neither shall they grieve. God is the Creator of all things, and He alone has the power to determine the fate of all things. His are the
keys [to the mysteries] of the heavens and the earth: and they who are bent on denying the truth of God’s messages - it is they, they,
who are the losers! Say: “Is it, then, something other than God that you bid me to worship, O you who are unaware [of right and
wrong]?” Nay, but you shall worship God [alone], and be among those who are grateful [to Him]!
TWICE BIRTH AND DEATH
(40:10-20) [But,] behold, as for those who are bent on denying the truth - [on that same Day] a voice will call out unto them:
“Indeed, greater than your [present] loathing of yourselves [I.e., on realizing, belatedly, your past sinfulness] was God’s loathing of
you [at the time] when you were called unto faith but went on denying the truth!” [Since it is impossible to attribute to God a purely
human emotion, “God’s loathing” of those sinners is obviously a metonym for His rejection of them, similar to the metonymic use of the
expression “God’s wrath” in the sense of His condemnation (see 1:7).] [Whereupon] they will exclaim: “O our Sustainer! Twice hast
Thou caused us to die, just as twice Thou hast brought us to life! [I.e., Thou hast brought us to life on earth, and then caused us to die;
thereupon Thou have resurrected us, and now condemned us to spiritual death in consequence of our willful spiritual blindness on earth.]
But now that we have acknowledged our sins, is there any way out [of this second death]?” [And they will be told:] “This [has
befallen you] because, whenever the One God was invoked, you denied this truth; whereas, when divinity was ascribed to aught
beside Him, you believed [in it]! But all judgment rests with God, the Exalted, the Great!” He it is who shows you His wonders [in
all nature], and sends down sustenance for you from the sky: but none bethinks himself [thereof] save those who are wont to turn to
God. Invoke, then, God, sincere in your faith in Him alone, however hateful this may be to those who deny the truth! High above all
orders [of being] is He, in almightiness enthroned. By His Own will does He bestow inspiration upon whomever He wills of His
servants, so as to warn [all human beings of the coming] of the Day when they shall meet Him - the Day when they shall come forth
[from death], with nothing of themselves hidden from God. With whom will sovereignty rest on that Day? With God, the One who
holds absolute sway over all that exists! On that Day will every human being be requited for what he has earned: no wrong [will be
done] on that Day: verily, swift in reckoning is God! Hence, warn them of that Day which draws ever nearer, when the hearts will
chokingly come up to the throats: no loving friend will the evildoers have, nor any intercessor who would be heeded: [for] He is
aware of the [most] stealthy glance, and of all that the hearts would conceal. [God’s omniscience is shown here as the reason why there
can be no intercession with Him in the commonly accepted sense of this term.] And God will judge in accordance with truth and
justice, whereas those [beings] whom they invoke beside Him cannot judge at all: for, verily, God alone is all-hearing, all-seeing.
[I.e., saints, whether real or imaginary, or angels]
SINNERS’ OWN SELVES BEARING WITNESS AGAINST THEM
(41:19-24) Hence, [warn all men of] the Day when the enemies of God shall be gathered together before the fire, and then shall be
driven onward, till, when they come close to it, their hearing and their sight and their [very] skins will bear witness against them,
speaking of what they were doing [on earth]. And they will ask their skins, “Why did you bear witness against us?” - [and] these
will reply: “God, who gives speech to all things, has given speech to us [as well]: for He [it is who] has created you in the first
instance - and unto Him you are [now] brought back. And you did not try to hide [your sins] lest your hearing or your sight or your
skins bear witness against you: nay, but you thought that God did not know much of what you were doing - and that very thought
which you thought about your Sustainer has brought you to perdition, and so now you find yourselves among the lost!” And then,
[even] if they endure [their lot] in patience, the fire will still be their abode; [Unless God wills to reprieve them”: see 6:128] and if
they pray to be allowed to make amends, they will not be allowed to do so: [The request of the doomed, on the Day of Judgment, to be
granted a “second chance” on earth, and to God’s refusal of this request (See 6:27-28 and 32:12).]
MAN’S INGRATITUDE AND SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS
(41:49-52) Man never tires of asking for the good [things of life]; and if evil fortune touches him, he abandons all hope, giving
himself up to despair. Yet whenever We let him taste some of Our grace after hardship has visited him, he is sure to say, “This is but
my due!” - and, “I do not think that the Last Hour will ever come: [I.e., man is, as a rule, so blinded by his love of this world that he
cannot imagine its ever coming to an end. Implied in this statement is a doubt as to whether there will really be an afterlife, and whether
man will really be judged by God on resurrection.] but if [it should come, and] I should indeed be brought back unto my Sustainer,
then, behold, the ultimate good awaits me with Him! [Being fully convinced of his own merit (as expressed in the words, “This is but
my due”), he is confident that - in case there should really be a life after death - his own flattering view of himself will be confirmed by
God.] But [on the Day of Judgment] We shall most certainly give those who were bent on denying the truth [The truth about
resurrection and of God’s judgment.] full understanding of all that they ever did, and shall most certainly give them [thereby] a taste
of suffering severe. [I.e., the realization of the spiritual blindness in which they spent their life will in itself be a source of their suffering in
the hereafter. See 17:72: whoever is blind [of heart] in this [world] will be blind in the life to come (as well)”.] And, too, when We bestow
Our blessings upon man, he tends to turn aside and keep aloof [from remembering Us]; but as soon as evil fortune touches him, he
is full of wordy prayers! Have you given thought [to how you will fare] if this be truly [a revelation] from God, the while you deny
its truth? Who could be more astray than one who places himself [so] deeply in the wrong? [This refers to the attitude of people who
turn away from the message of the Quran, saying, as it were: “Our hearts are veiled from whatever you call us to, [O Muhammad,] and in
our ears is deafness, and between us and you is a barrier.]
HARVEST OF A PERSON’S SPIRITUAL CHARACTER IN HEREAFTER
(42:30-35) Now whatever calamity may befall you [on the Judgment Day] will be an outcome of what your own hands have
wrought, although He pardons much; [This oft-recurring phrase is a Quranic metonym for man’s doings and conscious attitudes in this
world, meant to bring out the fact that these doings or attitudes are the harvest of a person’s spiritual character and have, therefore, a
definite influence on the quality of his life in the hereafter. Since the latter is but an organic continuation of earthly life, man’s subsequent
spiritual growth and bliss or, alternatively, spiritual darkness and suffering - symbolically circumscribed as God’s “reward” and
“chastisement” or “paradise” and “hell” - depend on, and are a result of, what one has previously earned.] and you cannot elude Him on
earth, and you will have none to protect you from God [in the life to come], and none to bring you succor. And among His signs are
the ships that sail like [floating] mountains through the seas: if He so wills, He stills the wind, and then they lie motionless on the
sea’s surface - [and] herein, behold, there are messages indeed for all who are wholly patient in adversity and deeply grateful [to
God]; or else He may cause them to perish because of what they have wrought; and [withal,] He pardons much. And let them know,
those who call Our messages in question, that for them there is no escape. [The above passage is a parabolic allusion to the three
possible alternatives in the life to come: spiritual progress and happiness (symbolized by ships that sail freely through the sea); spiritual
stagnancy (ships that lie motionless on the sea’s surface); and spiritual disaster and suffering (summarized in the concept of perdition).]
ACCOUNTING FOR THOSE WHO DENIED DAY OF JUDGMENT
(45:14-15) Tell all who have attained to faith that they should forgive those who do not believe in the coming of the Days of God,
[since it is] for Him [alone] to requite people for whatever they may have earned. Whoever does what is just and right, does so for
his own good; and whoever does evil, does so to his own hurt; and in the end unto your Sustainer you all will be brought back.
(45:24-25) And yet they say: “There is nothing beyond our life in this world. We die as we come to life, [By accident, or as an outcome
of blind forces of nature.] and nothing but time destroys us.” But of this they have no knowledge whatever: they do nothing but
guess. And [so,] whenever Our messages are conveyed to them in all their clarity, their only argument is this: “Bring forth our fore-
fathers [as witnesses], if what you claim is true!” Say: “It is God who gives you life, and then causes you to die; and in the end He
will gather you together on Resurrection Day, [the coming of] which is beyond all doubt - but most human beings understand it
not.” (45:27-37) For, God’s is the dominion over the heavens and the earth; and on the Day when the Last Hour dawns - on that
Day will be lost all who [in their lifetime] tried to reduce to nothing [whatever they could not understand]. [I.e., whatever they could
not prove by direct observation or calculation] And [on that Day] you will see all people kneeling down [in humility]: all people will be
called upon to [face] their record: “Today you shall be requited for all that you ever did! This Our record speaks of you in all truth:
for, verily, We have caused to be recorded all that you ever did!” Now as for those who have attained to faith and done righteous
deeds, their Sustainer will admit them to His grace: that will be [their] manifest triumph! But as for those who were bent on
denying the truth, [they will be told:] “Were not My messages conveyed to you? And withal, you gloried in your arrogance, and so
you became people lost in sin: for when it was said, ‘Behold, God’s promise always comes true, and there can be no doubt about
[the coming of] the Last Hour’ - you would answer, ‘We do not know what that Last Hour may be: we think it is no more than an
empty guess, and [so] we are by no means convinced!’ ” And [on that Day,] the evil of their doings will become obvious to them, and
they will be overwhelmed by the very thing which they were wont to deride. And [the word] will be spoken: “Today We shall be
oblivious of you as you were oblivious of the coming of this your Day [of Judgment]; and so your goal is the fire, and you shall have
none to succor you: this, because you made God’s messages the target of your mockery, having allowed the life of this world to
beguile you!” [Your self-abandonment to worldly pursuits was the cause of their scornful disregard of God’s messages.] On that Day,
therefore, they will not be brought out of the fire, nor will they be allowed to make amends. And thus, all praise is due to God,
Sustainer of the heavens and Sustainer of the earth: the Sustainer of all the worlds! And His alone is all majesty in the heavens and
on earth; and He alone is almighty, truly wise!
SINNERS DRAGGED BY THEIR FORELOCKS
(55:31-45) [One Day] We shall take you to task, O you sin-laden two! [You sin-laden men and women] Which, then, of your
Sustainer’s powers can you disavow? O you who live in close communion with [evil] invisible beings and humans! [If you [think
that you] can pass beyond the regions of the heavens and the earth, pass beyond them! [I.e., in order to escape God’s judgment and
chastisement.] [But] you cannot pass beyond them, save by a sanction [from God]! [I.e., unless He wills to reprieve you: see 6:128.]
Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow? A flash of fire will be let loose upon you, and smoke, and you will be left
without succor! Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow? And when the sky is rent asunder and becomes red like
[burning] oil - [The sudden and surprising change of color to which the sky will be subject at the Last Hour.] which, then, of your
Sustainer’s powers can you disavow? For on that Day neither man nor invisible being will be asked about his sins. [The sinners will
find all that they ever wrought now facing them (18:49), and their own tongues and hands and feet will bear witness against them by
recalling all that they did (24:24).] Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow? All who were lost in sin shall by their
marks be known, and shall by their forelocks and their feet be seized! [This is an allusion to their utter humiliation and disgrace. When
the ancient Arabs wanted to stress someone’s subjection to another person, they would say, “His forelock is in the hand of so-and-so.” ]
Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you disavow? This will be the hell which those who are lost in sin [now] call a lie:
between it and [their own] burning-hot despair will they wander to and fro! Which, then, of your Sustainer’s powers can you
disavow? [The allegorical nature of all Quranic descriptions of “rewards” and “punishments” in the hereafter is clearly hinted at in the
phrasing of the above verse, which speaks of the sinners “wandering to and fro” between hell and burning despair - i.e., tossed between
factual suffering and the despair of vain regrets.]
RECORD OF SINNERS
(69:25-37) But as for him whose record shall be placed in his left hand, he will exclaim: “Oh, would that I had never been shown
this my record, [Thus signifying that he had been unrighteous in his earthly life, in contrast with those whose record will be placed in their
right hand.] and neither known this my account! Oh, would that this [death of mine] had been the end of me! Of no avail to me is all
that I have [ever] possessed, [and] all my power of argument has died away from me!” [The term sultan, which primarily signifies
“power” or “authority”, has here the meaning of argument: in this case, an argument against the idea of life after death and, hence, of divine
judgment.] [Thereupon the command will go forth:] “Lay hold of him, and shackle him, and then let him enter hell, and then thrust
him into a chain [of other sinners like him - a chain] [See 14:49: on that Day you will see all who were lost in sin linked together in
fetters.] the length whereof is seventy cubits: [I.e., a chain exceedingly long - the number “seventy” is often used in classical Arabic, in
the sense of “very many”; hence of a measure the length whereof is known only to God.] for, behold, he did not believe in God, the
Tremendous, and did not feel any urge to feed the needy: and so, no friend has he here today, nor any food save the filth which
none but the sinners eat!” [The term “filth” contains an allusion to the devouring of all that is abominable in the spiritual sense and which
none but the sinners eat - i.e., (metaphorically) in this world and, consequently, in the hereafter as well.]
OFFERING RANSOM FOR SUFFERINGS
(70:10-14) And [when] no friend will ask about his friend, though they may be in one another’s sight: [for,] everyone who was lost
in sin will on that Day but desire to ransom himself from suffering at the price of his own children, and of his spouse, and of his
brother, and of all the kinsfolk who ever sheltered him, and of whoever [else] lives on earth, all of them - so that he could but save
himself.
DAY WHEN CHILDREN’S HAIR TURN GREY
(73:17-19) How, then, if you refuse to acknowledge the truth, will you protect yourselves on that Day which shall turn the hair of
children grey, [In ancient Arabian usage, a day full of terrifying events was described metaphorically as “a day on which the locks of
children turn grey”; hence the use of this phrase in the Quran. Its purely metaphorical character is obvious since, according to the teachings
of the Quran, children are considered sinless - i.e., not accountable for their doings - and will, therefore, remain untouched by the ordeals
and terrors of the Day of Judgment).] [the Day] on which the skies shall be rent asunder, [and] His promise [of resurrection] fulfilled?
This, verily, is a reminder: let him who wills, then, set out on a way to his Sustainer!
WOE ON THAT DAY
(77:34-40) Woe on that Day unto those who give the lie to the truth - that Day on which they will not [be able to] utter a word, nor
be allowed to proffer excuses! Woe on that Day unto those who give the lie to the truth - that Day of Distinction [between the true
and the false, when they will be told]: “We have brought you together with those [sinners] of olden times; and if you [think that
you] have a subterfuge left, try to outwit Me!” Woe on that Day unto those who give the lie to the truth! (77:45-50) [but] woe on
that Day unto those who give the lie to the truth! Eat [your fill] and enjoy your life for a little while, O you who are lost in sin! [But]
woe on that Day unto those who give the lie to the truth, and when they are told, “Bow down [before God]”, do not bow down: woe
on that Day unto those who give the lie to the truth! In what other tiding, then, will they, after this, believe?
UTTER CONFUSION
(80:33-42) And so, when the piercing call [of resurrection] is heard on a Day when everyone will [want to] flee from his brother, and
from his mother and father, and from his spouse and his children: on that Day, to every one of them will his own state be of
sufficient concern. Some faces will on that Day be bright with happiness, laughing, rejoicing at glad tidings. And some faces will on
that Day with dust be covered, with darkness overspread: these, these will be the ones who denied the truth and were immersed in
iniquity!
VISIBILITY OF HELL AND HAVEN
NOT ALL SINNERS DAMNED
(4:98-99) But excepted shall be the truly helpless - be they men or women or children - who cannot bring forth any strength and
have not been shown the right way: as for them, God may well efface their sin - for God is indeed an absolver of sins, much-
forgiving. [They were helplessly confused and cannot, therefore, grasp this basic demand of Islam; or, alternatively, that the message
relating to this demand has not been adequately conveyed and explained to them.]
(9:66) Though We may efface the sin of some of you. We shall chastise others - seeing that they were lost in sin. [The above Quranic
sentence refers to hypocrites and expresses the doctrine that in His final judgment God will take into account all that is in a sinner’s heart,
and will not indiscriminately condemn everyone who has been sinning out of weakness or out of an inner inability to resolve his doubts,
and not out of a conscious inclination to evil.]
GATHERING OF SINNERS AND SATANIC FORCES AROUND HELL
(19:66-72) With all this, man [often] says, “What! Once I am dead, shall I again be brought forth alive?” But does man not bear in
mind that We have created him aforetime out of nothing? And so, by thy Sustainer, [on Judgment Day] We shall most certainly
bring them forth together with the satanic forces [which impelled them in life], and then We shall most certainly gather them, on
their knees, around hell; [The symbolism of the sinners being linked on Judgment Day with the satanic forces which impelled them in life
is easily understood if we remember - as has been pointed out in 2:14 - that the term shaytan (“satan” or “satanic force”) is often used in the
Quran to describe every evil propensity in man’s own self. The personal pronoun relates to those who reject the concept of resurrection and
life after death.] and thereupon We shall, indeed, draw forth from every group [of sinners] the ones that had been most determined
in their disdainful rebellion against the Most Gracious: [I.e., those who have consciously and deliberately rejected the idea of man’s
responsibility before God and have thus led their weaker, less conscious fellow-men astray will be consigned to the deepest suffering in the
hereafter.] for, indeed, We know best as to which of them, is most deserving of the fires of hell. [Not every one of the sinners will be
irrevocably consigned to the suffering described in the Quran as hell.] And every one of you will come within sight of it: this is, with thy
Sustainer, a decree that must be fulfilled. [The pronoun “you” relates to the sinners spoken of in the preceding passages, and particularly
to those who refuse to believe in resurrection.] And once again: We shall save [from hell] those who have been conscious of Us; but We
shall leave in it the evildoers, on their knees. [I.e., utterly humbled and crushed by their belated realization of God’s judgment and of the
ethical truths which they had arrogantly neglected in life.]
(79:34-41) And so, when the great, overwhelming event [of resurrection] comes to pass - on that Day man will [clearly] remember
all that he has ever wrought; and the blazing fire [of hell] will be laid open before all who [are destined to] see it. [See 26:91 - “will
be laid open before those who had been lost in grievous error”: thus reminding man that suffering in the hereafter (“hell”) is the inevitable
consequence of spiritual self-destruction through deliberate wrongdoing.] For, unto him who shall have transgressed the bounds of
what is right, and preferred the life of this world [to the good of his soul], that blazing fire will truly be the goal! But unto him who
shall have stood in fear of his Sustainer’s presence, and held back his inner self from base desires, paradise will truly be the goal!
(81:7) When all human beings are coupled [with their deeds], [I.e., when none will be able to divest himself of responsibility for his
past deeds] (81:10-14) and when the scrolls [of men’s deeds] are unfolded, and when heaven is laid bare, and when the blazing fire
[of hell] is kindled bright, and when paradise is brought into view: [on that Day] every human being will come to know what he has
prepared [for himself].
(89:23-30) And on that Day hell will be brought [within sight]; on that Day man will remember [all that he did and failed to do]:
but what will that remembrance avail him? He will say, “Oh, would that I had provided beforehand for my life [to come]!” For,
none can make suffer as He will make suffer [the sinners] on that Day, and none can bind with bonds like His. [But unto the
righteous God will say,] you human being that has attained to inner peace! Return thou unto thy Sustainer, well-pleased [and]
pleasing [Him]: enter, then, together with My [other true] servants - yea, enter you My paradise!”
PARADISE BROUGHT IN VIEW ON JUDGMENT DAY
(25:15-16) Say: “Which is better - that, or the paradise of life abiding which has been promised to the God-conscious as their
reward and their journey’s end - a promise given by thy Sustainer, [always] to be prayed for?” (25:24) [whereas] on that same Day
those who are destined for paradise will be graced with the best of abodes and the fairest place of repose.
(50:31-35) And [on that Day] paradise will be brought within the sight of the God-conscious, and will no longer be far away; [and
they will be told:] “This is what you were promised - [promised] unto everyone who was wont to turn unto God and to keep Him
always in mind - [everyone] who stood in awe of the Most Gracious although He is beyond the reach of human perception, and who
has come [unto Him] with a heart full of contrition. Enter this [paradise] in peace; this is the Day on which life abiding begins!” In
that [paradise] they shall have whatever they may desire - but there is yet more with Us.