Tafseer Ibn Kathir of AN NAML [87]

87. And (remember) the Day on which the Trumpet (Sur) will be blown -- and all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth, will be terrified except him whom Allah wills. And all shall come to Him, humbled. 88. And you will see the mountains and think them solid, but they shall pass away as the passing away of the clouds. The work of Allah, Who perfected all things, verily, He is well-acquainted with what you do. 89. Whoever brings a good deed, will have better than its worth; and they will be safe from the terror on that Day. 90. And whoever brings an evil deed, they will be cast down on their faces in the Fire. (And it will be said to them) ”Are you being recompensed anything except what you used to do'' Allah tells us about the terrors of the Day when the Sur will be blown. The Sur, as described in the Hadith, is,

(a horn which is blown into.) According to the Hadith about the Sur (Trumpet), it is (the angel) Israfil who will blow into it by the command of Allah, may He be exalted. He will blow into it for the first time, for a long time. This will signal the end of the life of this world, and the Hour will come upon the most evil of people ever to live. Everyone who is in the heavens and on earth will be terrified,

(except him whom Allah wills.) these are the martyrs, for they are alive, with their Lord, and being provided for. Imam Muslim bin Al-Hajjaj recorded that `Abdullah bin `Amr, may Allah be pleased with him, said that a man came to him and said, ”What is this Hadith that you are narrating, that the Hour will come upon such and such people'' He said, ”Subhan Allah or `La Ilaha Illallah (or something similar), I had decided that I would not narrate anything to anyone now. I had only said that after a little while, you will see a major event which will destroy the House ﴿the Ka`bah﴾, and such and such will happen.'' Then he said, ”The Messenger of Allah said:

(The Dajjal will emerge in my Ummah, and will remain for forty -- I do not know whether he said forty days, or forty months, or forty years -- then Allah will send `Isa son of Maryam, who looks like `Urwah bin Mas`ud, and he will search for him and destroy him. Then mankind will remain for seven years during which there will not be any enmity between any two people. Then Allah will send a cool wind from the direction of Syria, and no one will be left on the face of the earth who has even a speck of goodness or faith in his heart, but it will take him. Even if he entered into the heart of a mountain, the wind would follow him and seize him.)'' He said, ”I heard it from the Messenger of Allah who said:

(Then the most evil of people will remain, and they will be as nimble as birds and will be more temperamental than wild beasts. They will not recognize anything good or denounce anything evil. The Shaytan will appear to them and will say, ”Will you do as I tell you'' They will say, ”What do you command us to do'' He will command them to worship idols but in spite of this their provision will be plentiful and they will lead comfortable lives. Then the Sur (Trumpet) will be blown, and no one will hear it but he will tilt his head to hear the sound. The first person to hear it will be a man who is setting up the tank for watering his camels. He will fall down, and all the other people will also fall down. Then Allah will send -- or send down -- rain like dew -- or he said, like shade (Nu'man was the one who was not sure) -- from which will grow the bodies of the people. Then the Trumpet will be blown again, and they will get up and look around. Then it will be said: ”O mankind! Go to your Lord!'' And they will be stopped, for they are to be questioned. Then it will be said: ”Bring forth the people who are to be sent to the Fire.'' It will be asked: ”How many are they'' It will be said, ”Out of every thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine.'' That will be the Day which will make the children grey-headed, and that will be the Day when the Shin shall be uncovered.) His saying;

(Then the Sur (Trumpet) will be blown, and no one will hear it but he will tilt his head to hear the sound.) means that they will tilt their heads so that they can better hear the sound coming from the heavens. That is the blast of the Sur which will terrify everyone, then after that will come the blast which will cause them to die, then the blast which will resurrect them to meet the Lord of the worlds -- this is when all of the creation will be brought forth from their graves. Allah says:

(And all shall come to Him, humbled.) meaning, humbling themselves and obeying Him, and no one will go against His command. This is like the Ayat:

(On the Day when He will call you, and you will answer with His praise and obedience) (17:52).

(Then afterwards when He will call you by a single call, behold, you will come out from the earth) (30:25). According to the Hadith about the Sur, when it is blown for the third time, Allah will command the souls to be put into the hole of the Sur (Trumpet), then Israfil will blow into it, after the bodies have grown in their graves and resting places, and when he blows into the Sur (Trumpet), the souls will fly, the believers' souls glowing with light, and the disbelievers' souls looking like darkness. And Allah will say: ”By My might and majesty, every soul will go back to its body.'' And the souls will come back to their bodies and go through them like poison going through a person who is bitten or stung by a poisonous creature. Then they will get up, brushing off the dirt of their graves. Allah says:

(The Day when they will come out of the graves quickly as racing to a goal.) (70:43)

(And you will see the mountains and think them solid, but they shall pass away as the passing away of the clouds.) (27:88) meaning, you will see them as if they are fixed and as if they will remain as they are, but they will pass away as the passing away of the clouds, i.e., they will move away from their places. This is like the Ayat:

(On the Day when the heaven will shake with a dreadful shaking, And the mountains will move away with a (horrible) movement.) (52:9-10)

(And they ask you concerning the mountains: say, ”My Lord will blast them and scatter them as particles of dust. Then He shall leave them as a level smooth plain. You will see therein nothing crooked or curved.'') (20:105-107),

(And (remember) the Day We shall cause the mountains to pass away, and you will see the earth as a leveled plain.) (18:47).

(The work of Allah, Who perfected all things,) means, He does that by His great power.

(Who perfected all things,) means, He has perfected all that He has created, and has fashioned it according to His wisdom.

(verily, He is well-acquainted with what you do) means, He knows all that His servants do, good or evil, and He will reward or punish them accordingly. Then Allah describes the state of the blessed and the doomed on that Day, and says:

(Whoever brings a good deed, will have better than its worth.) Qatadah said, ”That is sincerely for Allah alone.'' Allah has explained elsewhere in the Qur'an that He will give ten like it.

(and they will be safe from the terror on that Day.) This is like the Ayah,

(The greatest terror will not grieve them) (21:103) and Allah said:

(Is he who is cast into the Fire better or he who comes secure on the Day of Resurrection) (41:40),

(and they will reside in the high dwellings in peace and security) (34:37).

(And whoever brings an evil deed, they will be cast down on their faces in the Fire.) means, whoever comes to Allah with evil deeds, and with no good deeds to his credit, or whose evil deeds outweigh his good deeds. Allah says:

((And it will be said to them) ”Are you being recompensed anything except what you used to do'')