Tafsir of Al-Kahf 18:99

"And We will leave some of them on that day..." This is an utterance originating from His Majesty, the Almighty, and the plural pronoun—in the genitive case—refers, according to some investigative scholars, to all of creation. "Leaving" (tark) here signifies "placing" (ja'l), and it is among the words with opposite meanings (al-addad). The conjunction is linked to His saying, "He made it level," and it serves to confirm the substance of that statement; it is not detrimental that it is narrated from Dhu al-Qarnayn, meaning: We will cause some of creation, on that day—the day the promise arrives, at the inception of some of its precursors—to surge against others of them. The "surging" (mawju) is a metaphor for agitation; that is, they will be agitated like the sea, with their humans and jinn intermingling due to the intensity of the terror. This has been narrated from Ibn Abbas, and perhaps this occurs due to the great calamities that transpire before the first blowing of the Trumpet.

It is said that the pronoun refers to mankind, and the meaning is: We will cause some of mankind, on the day the promise of the emergence of Gog and Magog arrives, to surge against others out of their fear of them and their flight from them; however, there is remoteness in this interpretation. Others say the pronoun also refers to mankind, meaning: We will cause some of mankind, on the day the barrier is completed, to surge toward one another to gaze upon it and marvel at it—but it is not hidden that this is a matter to be marveled at.

Abu Hayyan stated: The most apparent view is that the pronoun refers to Gog and Magog, meaning: We will leave some of Gog and Magog to surge against others when they emerge from the barrier, crowding into the lands. This occurs after the descent of Jesus, peace be upon him. In the Sahih of Muslim, from the hadith of al-Nawwas ibn Sam'an, after mentioning the Dajjal and his destruction at the gate of Ludd at the hands of Jesus, peace be upon him, it is stated: "Then Jesus, peace be upon him, will come to a people whom Allah Almighty has protected from the Dajjal; he will wipe their faces and inform them of their degrees in Paradise. While they are thus, Allah Almighty will reveal to Jesus, peace be upon him: 'I have brought forth servants of Mine whom no one has the power to fight; so take My servants to Mount Tur.' And Allah will send Gog and Magog, and they will pour out from every height. They will consume the water, and the people will fortify themselves in their strongholds and gather their livestock with them. They will drink the waters of the earth until one of them passes by a river and drinks what is in it, leaving it dry, such that one passing after them will pass by that river and say: 'There was water here once.' Jesus, the Prophet of Allah, and his companions will be besieged until the head of a bull will be better for one of them than a hundred dinars."

In a narration by Muslim and others: "They will say: 'We have killed those on earth; let us kill those in heaven.' They will shoot their arrows into the sky, and Allah will return them to them stained with blood, as a trial and a tribulation. The Prophet of Allah and his companions will beseech Allah Almighty, and He will send al-naghaf (parasitic worms) into their necks, and they will become corpses." In another narration, Da'ud says: "Like al-naghaf in their necks, and they will become dead, like the death of a single soul, not a sound will be heard from them. The Muslims will say: 'Is there any man who will offer himself to see what this enemy has done?' A man among them will volunteer, having resigned himself to being killed, and he will descend to find them dead, one upon another. He will call out: 'O company of Muslims, rejoice! Allah the Almighty has sufficed you against your enemy.' They will emerge from their cities and strongholds and let out their livestock, but there will be no pasture for them except the flesh of these people, and they will be nourished by it better than they were nourished by anything else."

"And the Prophet of Allah, Jesus, peace be upon him, and his companions will descend to the earth, and they will not find a span of space except that it is filled with their stench and decay. They will beseech Allah Almighty, and He will send a dusky wind from the direction of Yemen that will become a gloom and smoke, causing them to suffer from colds, which will clear after three days, as the earth will have cast their carcasses into the sea." In another narration: "The Prophet of Allah, Jesus, peace be upon him, and his companions will beseech Allah the Almighty, and He will send birds like the necks of Bactrian camels; they will carry them and throw them where Allah wills." In another narration: "They will throw them into the sea," and in another: "Into the fire." There is no contradiction, as is apparent upon the slightest reflection.

"Then Allah the Almighty will send rain from which no house of mud or fur can protect, washing the earth until it leaves it like a slippery surface. Then it will be said to the earth: 'Bring forth your fruit and return your blessing.' On that day, a group will eat from a single pomegranate and seek shade under its shell. Blessing will be placed in the milk-producing animals, such that a single milk-camel will suffice a large company of people. The Muslims will use the bows, arrows, and shields of Gog and Magog as fuel for seven years." Perhaps Allah Almighty preserves these in valleys and floodplains to increase the joy of the Muslims, or He preserves them where they perished and does not cast them with them wherever He wills—nothing is beyond Allah's power. The hadith indicates their immense numbers. This is supported by what Ibn Hibban recorded in his Sahih from Ibn Mas'ud in a marfu' (elevated) narration: "Gog and Magog—the least that one of them leaves behind from his lineage is a thousand descendants." Some have interpreted this as referring to long life.

In Al-Bahr, it is mentioned that there is a difference of opinion regarding their numbers and descriptions, and nothing authentic has been established in that regard. The most amazing thing narrated in that respect is the statement of Makhul: "The earth is a journey of one hundred years; eighty of which are Gog and Magog. They are two nations; each nation is four hundred thousand, and one nation does not resemble the other." This is a false statement. Similar to it is what was narrated from Abu al-Shaykh from Abu Umamah: "The world consists of seven regions; Gog and Magog occupy six, and the rest occupy one region." This is the speech of one who knows neither the earth nor the regions. Yes, 'Abd al-Razzaq, Ibn Jarir, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abi Hatim, and al-Hakim—who authenticated it—recorded via the path of al-Bakkali from Ibn Umar: "Allah the Almighty divided mankind into ten parts; nine parts of them are Gog and Magog, and one part is the rest of mankind." However, I have not encountered its authentication by anyone other than al-Hakim, and the status of his authentication is well-known.

From what has preceded and what will follow—if Allah wills—the falsehood of the claim made by some that they are the Tatars, who spread much corruption in the lands and killed both the righteous and the wicked, is evident. By my life, that claim is among the greatest of errors, even if there is a complete resemblance between Gog and Magog and those disbelievers, which is not hidden from those familiar with the accounts of what has been and what will be.

"And the Trumpet will be blown..." The apparent meaning is that it refers to the second blowing, for that is what is appropriate for what follows. Perhaps the lack of mention of the first blowing is because it is a general calamity in which there is no state specific to the disbelievers. It is also said: Lest there be a separation between the states and horrors that occur in the first creation and those that occur in the final creation.

The Sur (Trumpet) is a horn. It has come in the traditions of its description something that stuns the mind. It is authentic from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri that he said: The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: "How can I enjoy myself when the master of the horn has put the horn to his lips, furrowed his brow, and inclined his ear, waiting to be commanded to blow?" Abu 'Ubaydah claimed that it is the plural of surah, but this was supported by the recitation of al-Hasan, "al-suwar" (with a fatha on the waw), making it a plural for surah (form). That claim is more evident than to be hidden, and for this reason, Abu al-Haytham said—according to what Imam al-Qurtubi narrated from him: "Whoever denies that the Sur is a horn is like one who denies the Throne, the Path, and the Scale, and seeks interpretations for them." He mentioned that the nations are unanimous that the one who blows into it is Israfil, peace be upon him.

"And We will assemble them..."—that is, the creatures, after their joints have separated and their bodies have been torn apart—"in one gathering" (jam'an)—that is, a wondrous gathering whose essence cannot be fathomed—"for the Reckoning and the Recompense."