Tafsir of Surah As-Saffat - Verse 21

The Day of Recompense

Allah tells us what the disbeliever will say on the Day of Resurrection, how they will blame themselves and admit that they wronged themselves in this world. When they see the horrors of the Day of Resurrection with their own eyes, they will be filled with regret at the time when regret will not avail them anything.

وَقَالُواْ يوَيْلَنَا هَـذَا يَوْمُ الدِّينِ

(They will say: "Woe to us! This is the Day of Recompense!") And the angels and the believers will say:

هَـذَا يَوْمُ الْفَصْلِ الَّذِى كُنتُمْ بِهِ تُكَذِّبُونَ

(This is the Day of Judgement which you used to deny.) This will be said to them as a rebuke and reproof. Allah will command the angels to separate the disbeliever from the believers in the place where they are standing. Allah says:

احْشُرُواْ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ وَأَزْوَجَهُمْ

((It will be said to the angels:) Assemble those who did wrong, together with their companions) An-Nu`man bin Bashir, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "Their companions means their counterparts, those who are like them." This was also the view of Ibn `Abbas, Sa`id bin Jubayr, `Ikrimah, Mujahid, As-Suddi, Abu Salih, Abu Al-`Aliyah and Zayd bin Aslam." Sharik said, narrating from Simak, from An-Nu`man: "I heard `Umar say:

احْشُرُواْ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ وَأَزْوَجَهُمْ

(Assemble those who did wrong, together with their companions) means, `Those who are like them. So those who committed Zina will be gathered with others who committed Zina, those who dealt in Riba will be gathered with others who dealt in Riba, those who drank wine will be gathered with others who drank wine.' Mujahid and Sa`id bin Jubayr narrated from Ibn `Abbas:

وَأَزْوَجُهُمْ

(their companions) means "Their friends."

وَمَا كَانُواْ يَعْبُدُونَمِن دُونِ اللَّهِ

(and what they used to worship. Instead of Allah,) means, instead of Allah, i.e., their idols and false gods will be gathered together with them in the same place.

فَاهْدُوهُمْ إِلَى صِرَطِ الْجَحِيمِ

(and lead them on to the way of flaming Fire.) means, take them to the way to Hell. This is like the Ayah:

وَنَحْشُرُهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَـمَةِ عَلَى وُجُوهِهِمْ عُمْيًا وَبُكْمًا وَصُمًّا مَّأْوَاهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ كُلَّمَا خَبَتْ زِدْنَاهُمْ سَعِيرًا

(and We shall gather them together on the Day of Resurrection on their faces, blind, dumb and deaf; their abode will be Hell; whenever it abates, We shall increase for them the fierceness of the Fire) (17:97).

وَقِفُوهُمْ إِنَّهُمْ مَّسْئُولُونَ

(But stop them, verily, they are to be questioned.) means, stop them so that they may be questioned about the things they did and said in this world. As Ad-Dahhak said, narrating from Ibn `Abbas, this means, `detain them, for they are to be brought to account.' `Abdullah bin Al-Mubarak said, "I heard `Uthman bin Za'idah say, `The first thing about which a man will be asked is the company that he kept. Then by way of rebuke, it will be said to them:

مَا لَكُمْ لاَ تَنَـصَرُونَ

(What is the matter with you Why do you not help one another)."' meaning, `as you claimed that you would all help one another.'

بَلْ هُمُ الْيَوْمَ مُسْتَسْلِمُونَ

(Nay, but that Day they shall surrender.) means, they will be subjected to the command of Allah, and they will not be able to resist it or avoid it. And Allah knows best.

Commentary

After having shown the possibility and proof of 'Akhirah or Hereafter, Allah Ta’ ala has described some events relating to Resurrection in these verses.

Given in the first verse (19) is the mode in which the dead will rise again. It was said: فَإِنَّمَا هِيَ زَجْرَ‌ةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ, it will be only a single [ castigating ] Call and all of a sudden they will begin to see - 37:19). The word: زَجْرَ‌ةٌ (Zajrah) is a noun derived from زَجر (zajr), and it is used to carry many meanings in the Arabic language. Out of these, one meaning is: 'To utter such sounds which, when heard by cattle, would motivate them to rise and get moving.' Here, it means the second Sur (Horn or Trumpet) that will be blown by the angel, Sayyidna Israfilll. Hence, it has been expressed as 'zajrah' for the reason that the way some sounds are produced to prompt cattle to rise and get moving, very similarly, this Sur will be blown to make the dead rise.

Though Allah Ta’ ala is, in His infinite power, inherently capable of making the dead rise again without having the صُور Sur blown, yet this صُور Sur will be blown in order to highlight the awe of the Resurrection (Tafsir Kabir). Its effect on the disbelievers has been identified as: فَإِذَا هُمْ يَنظُرُ‌ونَ all of a sudden they will begin to see - 37:19), that is, the way they could see in the mortal world, in the same way, they would be able to see there.

Some other commentators have explained it by saying that, overtaken by wonder, they will start looking at each other. (Qurtubi)

In the present world, tidings of the future life or life in the Hereafter, are regularly communicated. But man attaches no importance to this. In the Hereafter, the reality of future life will seize man. At that time, man will forget his arrogance and will prostrate himself before God. This will be an indescribably terrible scene. The position in which people will be, when they have gathered to be judged, on the Day of Resurrection (hashr) has been described in the above verses.