Tafseer Ibn Kathir of ABASA [33]

33. Then when there comes As-Sakhkhah 34. That Day shall a man flee from his brother. 35. And from his mother and his father. 36. And from his wife and his children. 37. Every man that Day will have enough to make him careless of others. 38. Some faces that Day will be bright, 39. Laughing, rejoicing at good news. 40. And other faces that Day will be dust-stained. 41. Darkness will cover them. 42. Such will be the disbelieving, the wicked evil doers. Ibn `Abbas said, ”As-Sakhkhah is one of the names of the Day of Judgement that Allah has magnified and warned His servants of.'' Ibn Jarir said, ”Perhaps it is a name for the blowing into Trumpet.'' Al-Baghawi said, ”As-Sakhkhah means the thunderous shout of the Day of Judgement. It has been called this because it will deafen the ears. This means that it pierces the hearing to such an extent that it almost deafens the ears.''

(That Day shall a man flee from his brother. And from his mother and his father. And from his wife and his children.) meaning, he will see them and then flee from them, and seek to get away from them because horror will be so great and the matter will be so weighty. There is an authentic Hadith related concerning the intercession that states that every one of the great Messengers of firm resolve will be requested to intercede with Allah on behalf of the creation, but each of them will say, ”O myself! O myself! Today I will not ask You (O Allah) concerning anyone but myself.'' Even `Isa bin Maryam will say, ”I will not ask Him (Allah) concerning anyone but myself today. I will not even ask Maryam, the woman who gave birth to me.'' Thus, Allah says,

(That Day shall a man flee from his brother, and from his mother and his father, and from his wife and his children.) Qatadah said, ”The most beloved and then the next most beloved, and the closest of kin and then the next closest of kin -- due to the terror of that Day.'' Allah said,

(Every man that Day will have enough to make him careless of others.) meaning, he will be preoccupied in his business and distracted from the affairs of others. Ibn Abi Hatim recorded from Ibn `Abbas that the Messenger of Allah said,

(You will all be gathered barefoot, naked, walking and uncircumcised.) So his wife said, ”O Messenger of Allah! Will we look at or see each other's nakedness'' The Prophet replied,

(Every man among them on that Day will have enough (worries) to make him careless of others) -- or he said: (he will be too busy to look.) Ibn `Abbas narrated that the Prophet said,

(You will all be gathered barefoot, naked and uncircumcised.) So a woman said, ”Will we see or look at each others nakedness'' He replied,

(O so-and-so woman! Every man among them on that Day will have enough (worries) to make him careless of others.) At-Tirmidhi said, ”This Hadith is Hasan Sahih.'' Allah says;

(Some faces that Day will be bright (Musfirah), laughing, rejoicing at good news.) meaning, the people will be divided into two parties. There will be faces that are Musfirah, which means bright.

(Laughing, rejoicing at good news.) meaning, happy and pleased due to the joy that will be in their hearts. The good news will be apparent on their faces. These will be the people of Paradise.

(And other faces that Day will be dust-stained. Darkness (Qatarah) will cover them.) meaning, they will be overcome and covered with Qatarah, which is darkness. Ibn `Abbas said,

(Darkness (Qatarah) will cover them.) ”This means that they (the faces) will be overcome with darkness.'' Allah said,

(Such will be the disbelieving, the wicked evildoers.) meaning, they are disbelievers in their hearts, evildoers in their actions. This is as Allah says,

(And they will beget none but wicked disbelievers.) (71:27) This is the end of the Tafsir of Surat `Abasa, and to Allah all praise and thanks are due.