Tafsir of Al-Hijr 15:38

This is the time of the first Trumpet blast, as narrated from Ibn Abbas, and upon this is the majority. Its description as "known" is either in the sense that Allah—Exalted is He—has kept the knowledge of it to Himself, or that its state is known, specifically that in it, all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth will swoon, except whom Allah wills.

Others have said: The accursed one was granted his request in full, and it is nothing other than survival until the time of the first Trumpet blast, which is the final day of religious accountability (taklif). A time that borders a thing and is connected to it is considered part of it; thus, the beginning of the Day of Judgment and the beginning of the Day of Resurrection are as if they belong to that time. This view is supported by the fact that the accursed one is knowledgeable, so he would not ask for what he knows will not be granted to him, and by the fact that the absence of a stated limit in Surat al-A‘raf implies the granting of the request. The first argument was countered by stating it is neither evident nor clarified, and being based on a dominant assumption is of no use in such matters. The second was countered by the fact that omitting the limit in Surat al-A‘raf is possible, just as the omission of "water" in [the verse regarding] the expectant, in reliance upon what is mentioned here and in Surat Sad; for presenting a single speech in multiple styles is not strange in the Mighty Book.

Among the people who advocate for a distinction [between the verses] are those who said: The intended "known day" is the day in which Allah—Exalted is He—knew his term would expire, which is the day of the emergence of the Beast, for it is that which will kill him. We have previously transmitted this view from some of the predecessors, and it is highly strange. Stranger still is what was said: that he perished during one of the battles of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. We have mentioned before that this is something that cannot be accepted in its literal sense at all. The famous and relied-upon view among the majority is what we mentioned: that he dies at the first Trumpet blast, and between it and the second blast—wherein creation rises for the Lord of the Worlds—are forty years.

It is related from al-Ahnaf ibn Qays—may mercy be upon him—that he said: I arrived in Medina intending to visit the Commander of the Faithful [Ali ibn Abi Talib], may Allah honor his face, and I found a great circle in which Ka‘b al-Ahbar was speaking, saying: "When death approached Adam—peace be upon him—he said: ‘O Lord, my enemy Iblis will gloat over me when he sees me dead, while he is deferred until the Day of Resurrection.’ So it was answered: ‘O Adam, you shall be returned to Paradise, and the accursed one shall be deferred to the specified time, so that he may taste the pain of death equivalent to the first and the last.’" Then he said to the Angel of Death: "Describe to me how you will make him taste death." When he described it, [Adam] said: "O Lord, that is enough for me." The people groaned and asked: "O Abu Ishaq, how is that?" He refused, but they insisted, so he said: "Allah—Subhanahu—says to the Angel of Death after the first blast: ‘I have placed within you the strength of the people of the heavens and the people of the seven earths. Today, I have clothed you in all the garments of indignation and wrath, so go forth with My wrath and My majesty against My rejected one, Iblis. Make him taste death, and visit upon him the bitterness of the first and the last of the two weighted ones [jinn and mankind] multiplied manifold. Let there be with you seventy thousand of the Zabaniyah [guards of Hell], filled with rage and fury, and let each one of them have a chain from the chains of Hell and a shackle from its shackles. Extract his foul soul with seventy thousand of its hooks.’ Then [He says] to call Malik to open the gates of the Fire. The angel descends in a form that, if the people of the heavens and the earths were to look upon it, they would die instantly from the sheer terror of it. He reaches Iblis and says: ‘Stand before me, O vile one, that I may make you taste death. How much life have you reached, and how many generations have you led astray? This is the known time.’"

He continued: "The accursed one flees to the East, but finds the Angel of Death before his eyes. He flees to the West, but finds him before his eyes. He plunges into the seas, stirring up steam from them, but they do not accept him. He continues to flee across the earth, finding no escape and no refuge. Then he stands in the middle of the world, by the grave of Adam—peace be upon him—and rolls in the dust from the East to the West and from the West to the East, until he reaches the spot where Adam was sent down. The Zabaniyah have set up the hooks for him, and the earth has become like a glowing coal. The Zabaniyah surround him and pierce him with the hooks, and he remains in the throes of death and torment for as long as Allah—Exalted is He—wills. It is then said: ‘Adam and Eve, peace be upon them, look upon your enemy today, he is tasting death.’ They look and observe the intensity of the torment he is in, and say: ‘Our Lord, You have perfected Your favor upon us.’"

It came in some reports that when he finds no escape, he comes to the grave of Adam, casts dust upon his head, and calls out: "O Adam, you are the root of my affliction!" It is said to him: "O Iblis, prostrate now to Adam—peace be upon him—and what you see will be lifted from you." He says: "No! I did not prostrate to him while he was alive, so how shall I prostrate to him while he is dead?" If this is authentic, it indicates that the accursed one possesses such stubbornness that the mind cannot fathom its limit.