81:1. When the sun ceases to shine,^{1This may refer to when the sun will collapse in on itself and cease to emit light as a result, (lbn ‘Ashoor)}

81:2. and when the stars are scattered,^{2This refers to heavenly bodies leaving their orbits due to gravitational disorder throughout the cosmos and colliding with one another. (Ibn ‘Ashoor)}

81:3. and when the mountains are made to vanish.

81:4. and when the heavily pregnant she-camel is left unattended,

81:5. and when the wild beasts are gathered,^{3Wild animals that usually flee from or are wary of one another will gather together, but none will harm another because overwhelming fear will cancel out any inherent aggression that they usually have. This, along with the other events mentioned in this passage (HI: 1-6), is one of the portents that will appear before the Hour; these are not events that will occur on the Day of Resurrection itself. (Ibn ‘Ashoor, at-Tahreer wat-Tanweer)}

81:6. and when the seas are set on fire;

81:7. and when people are sorted,^{4This and the subsequent verses refer to events that will occur on the Day of Resurrection itself. People will be sorted into different categories: believers and disbelievers, righteous and evildoers, and so on.}

81:8. and when the female infant buried alive^{5Among the pre-lslamic Arabs, female infanticide by burying the child alive was a known practice. The justification given was fear of shame if she were to be captured and enslaved by enemies, or fear of poverty. These two verses condemn this practice and confirm that daughters do not deserve to be treated in such a manner.} is asked

81:9. for what sin she was killed,

81:10. and when the records of deeds are laid open,

81:11. and when the sky is stripped away,

81:12. and when the blazing fire is kindled,

81:13. and when paradise is brought near -

81:14. then every soul will know what it has brought [of deeds].

That is, when these terrifying things come to pass, people will be separated and each person will know what he sent forth for his

A heavily pregnant she-camel is very valuable and dear to her owner, so he would be unlikely to neglect or abandon her. This is given as an example of people abandoning their work and all that is important to them because of the turmoil and terror that will accompany the onset of the Hour. (Adapted from Ibn ‘Ashoor)hereafter and what he brought to it of good and evil. When the Day of Resurrection comes, the sun will cease to shine; that is, it will be gathered together and rolled up, and the moon will lose its light, and they will both be thrown into the fire.

﴾and when the stars are scattered﴿ that is, when they change and fall from their orbits.

ffand when the mountains are made to vanish﴿ that is, when they become like heaps of loose sand (73:14), then they become like tufts of dyed wool (101:5), then they will change and turn to scattered dust (56: 6), and will be made to vanish from their places.

﴾and when the heavily pregnant she-camel is left unattended﴿ that is, at that time people will become heedless of the most precious wealth that they used to care for and tend to all the time. There will come to them that which will distract them from that wealth. Allah mentions in particular the heavily pregnant she-camel, which was the most precious wealth for the Arabs at that time, to refer to everything that is equally precious.

c-jand when the wild beasts are gathered﴿ that is, when they are gathered on the Day of Resurrection so that Allah may settle the scores among them and show people the perfect nature of His justice, to the extent that the hornless animal will settle its score with the homed one. Then He will say to them: Be dust.

t)and when the seas are set on fire﴿ and, despite their immense size, they become covered with fire.

sfand when people are sorted﴿ that is, and the people of each particular deed are gathered together. So the righteous will be gathered with the righteous and the evildoers with the evildoers; the believers will be united with al-hoor al- ‘een and the disbelievers with the devils. This is like the verses in which Allah te) says:

?﴾The disbelievers will be driven to hell in groups...﴿ (a:-Zumar39 71)﴾Those who feared their Lord will be ushered to paradise in groups... (3

﴾ [Allah will command:] Gather together those who did wrong, and others of their ilk...﴿ (as-Ṣaffat 37: 22)

﴾and when the female infant buried alive is asked﴿ - this refers to the extremely ignorant practice of the pre-Islamic era, when girls were buried alive for no reason other than fear of poverty. So the female infant who was buried alive will be asked ﴾for what sin she was killed﴿. It is well known that she was guilty of no sin; this is a rebuke and harsh criticism of her killers.

﴾and when the records of deeds﴿ that contain all that people did, of good and evil

﴾are laid open﴿ and distributed to their owners. Some will take their records in their right hands, and some will take them in their left hands, or from behind their backs.

﴾and when the sky is stripped away﴿ that is, removed. This is like the verses in which Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says:

﴾On the day when the heaven will be rent asunder with clouds...﴿

﴾On that day We will roll up the heavens like a written scroll...﴿

﴾.. .On the Day of Resurrection, the entire earth will be in His grip, and the heavens will be rolled up in His Right Hand.. .﴿ (az-Zumar 39. 67) ﴾and when the blazing fire is kindled﴿ that is, when the fire is lit, until it begins to rage and increases until it is blazing like never before, ﴾and when paradise is brought near﴿ to the righteous.

﴾then every soul will know what it has brought [of deeds]﴿ that it sent forth. This is like the verse in which Allah (fg) says:

﴾.. .They will find all they did recorded there...﴿ (al-Kahf 18: 49)

These details that Allah gives of the Day of Resurrection form a description that will shake people to the core; hardship will become very intense, people will be deeply shaken and fear will become widespread. This should motivate people of understanding to prepare for that day and deter them from anything that could incur blame. Hence some of the early generations said: Whoever wants to look at the Day of Resurrection as if he can see it should reflect upon the soorah ﴾When the sun ceases to shine... p.

81:15. Verily I swear by the stars that recede [during the day],

81:16. then rise and set [during the night],

81:17. and by the night as it departs,

81:18. and by the first breath of morning -

81:19. verily it [the Qur’an] is a word conveyed by a noble Messenger

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[Jibreel],

81:20. having power, of high rank before the Lord of the Throne,

81:21. obeyed there [by other angels] and, moreover, trustworthy.

81:22. Your companion [Muhammad] is not a madman.

81:23. Indeed he saw him [Jibreel] on the clear horizon.

81:24. He [Muhammad] is not to be accused of lying about the unseen.

81:25. It [the Qur’an] is not the word of an accursed devil.

81:26. So which way will you go?

81:27. It [the Qur’an] is but a reminder to the worlds,

81:28. for whoever among you wills to tread the straight path.

81:29. But you cannot will it unless Allah, the Lord of the worlds, so wills it.

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) swears ﴾by the stars that recede﴿. This refers to the heavenly bodies that recede, meaning that they fall behind from the regular procession of the stars or heavenly bodies towards the east. They are the seven heavenly bodies that move in the sky, namely the sun, the moon, Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn and Mercury. These seven have two courses: one course towards the west, like all other stars and heavenly bodies; and a course that is the opposite of that, towards the east, which is only for these seven and no others. Allah swears by them at the time when they recede; that is, when they fall behind and when they run their course, and when they disappear and are concealed by day.

And it may be that what is meant is all heavenly bodies, both those that move and others.

﴾and by the night as it departs﴿; it was also suggested that the word translated here as ﴾departs﴿ means ‘comes’ (so the meaning of the verse would be: and by the night as it comes).

tjand by the first breath of morning﴿ that is, when the signs of dawn appear and light gradually begins to emerge through the darkness until it is fully light and the sun rises.

In these verses, Allah attests to the sublime provenance of the Qur’an, its magnificence and its protection against every accursed devil, as He says:

﴾verily it [the Qur’an] is a word conveyed by a noble Messenger﴿ namely Jibreel (عليه السلام), who brought it down from Allah (سبحانه وتعالى), as He tells us elsewhere:﴾Verily, this [Qur’an] is a revelation from the Lord of the worlds. The faithful Spirit [Jibreel] has brought it down to your heart so that you may be one of the warners.﴿ (ash-Shu ‘ard’26. 192-194)

Allah describes him as noble because of his noble character and many praiseworthy qualities, for he is the best of the angels and the greatest of them in status before his Lord.

﴾having power﴿ to do what Allah commands him to do. By his power he overturned the houses of the people of Loot and destroyed them.

﴾of high rank before the Lord of the Throne﴿ that is, Jibreel is close to Allah; he is of high status and is one of the elite chosen by Allah. His status is superior to that of all the other angels.

﴾obeyed there [by other angels]﴿ that is, Jibreel is obeyed among those on high, and he has troops among the angels who are close to Allah; they are subject to His command and will obey him.

﴾and, moreover, trustworthy﴿ and he does what he is commanded to do, no more and no less, without transgressing the limits set for him. All of this is indicative of the noble status of the Qur’an before Allah (سبحانه وتعالى), for it was sent with this noble angel who possesses these perfect characteristics.

Usually kings do not send someone who is dear to them except on the most important missions and with the most sublime messages.

Having mentioned the virtue of the angelic messenger who brought the Qur’an, Allah now speaks of the virtue of the human Messenger to whom He sent down the Qur’an and who called people to it: ﴾Your companion﴿ namely Muhammad (ﷺ) ﴾is not a madman﴿ as was suggested by his enemies who disbelieved in his message and fabricated lies against him, aiming to extinguish thereby whatever they were able to of what he had brought.

Rather he was the sanest of people, the most mature in thinking and the truest in speech.

﴾Indeed he saw him [Jibreel] on the clear horizon﴿ that is, Muhammad (ﷺ) saw Jibreel (عليه السلام) on the clear horizon, which is the highest that anyone can see.

3(He [Muhammad] is not to be accused of lying about the unseen﴿ that is, he is not to be accused of adding to or subtracting from that which Allah revealed to him, or of concealing part of it. Rather he is trusted by the inhabitants of heaven and the inhabitants of earth; he conveyed the messages of his Lord clearly, and did not withhold any part of them from anyone, rich or poor, leader or follower, male or female, city dweller or desert dweller. Therefore Allah sent him to an unlettered and ignorant nation, and he did not die until they had become devoted scholars who had attained a high level of knowledge and understanding, and they had become, as it were, professors whilst the most that others could do was be their students.

﴾It [the Qur’an] is not the word of an accursed devil﴿ - having mentioned the magnificence and virtue of His Book by highlighting the virtue of the two noble Messengers through whom the Book reached people and praising them, Allah declares the Book to be free of any problem or shortcoming that could undermine its credibility.

﴾lt [the Qur’an] is not the word of an accursed devil﴿ - the word translated here as s﴾accursed﴿ means far away from Allah.

﴾So which way will you go?﴿ That is, how can this even cross your minds? How did you lose your minds to the point that you regard truth, which is the highest level of credibility, as being like lying, which is the worst type of falsehood?

Can this be anything but turning facts upside down?

﴾It [the Qur’an] is but a reminder to the worIds﴿ through which they may learn about their Lord and about His sublime attributes and what shortcomings He should be declared above. And through it they may learn about the commands and prohibitions, and the reasons behind them; and about the divine decrees and religious rulings. Andthrough it they may learn in general terms of what is best for them in this world and in the hereafter, and they may attain bliss in both realms by adhering to it.

﴾for whoever among you wills to tread the straight path﴿ after guidance has become distinct from misguidance.

﴾But you cannot will it unless Allah, the Lord of the worlds, so wills it﴿ that is. His will is always done, and cannot be opposed or prevented.

In this and similar verses there is a refutation of the Qadaris who deny the divine will and the Qadaris who deny the free will of man, as has been discussed previously. And Allah knows best. Praise be to Allah.

This is the end of the commentary on Soorat at-Takweer.

All praise and thanks are for Allah, and may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ). his family, and his Companions abundantly until the Day of Judgement.