Tafsir of Al-Anbiya' 21:97

"And has drawn near" — meaning, it has approached. It is said that this is more intensive in conveying proximity than the word qurba.

"The true promise" — which is what occurs after the second blast of the Horn: the resurrection, the reckoning, and the requital, not the first blast. The sentence is a conjunction to "opened for Gog and Magog." Furthermore, this opening occurs during the time of the descent of Jesus—peace be upon him—from the sky, and after he kills the Dajjal at the eastern gate of Ludd.

Muslim, Abu Dawood, at-Tirmidhi, an-Nasa'i, and Ibn Majah recorded from a long hadith that Allah the Exalted will reveal to Jesus, peace be upon him, after he kills the Dajjal: "I have brought forth servants of Mine against whom none has the power to fight, so take My servants to the Mount." Then Allah the Exalted will send forth Gog and Magog, and they are as Allah the Exalted said: "And they descend from every height." Jesus, peace be upon him, and his companions will beseech Allah the Almighty, so He will send upon them naghf (worms) in their necks, and they will become dead as if they were a single soul. Then Jesus, peace be upon him, and his companions will descend, and He will send birds with necks like those of Bactrian camels, which will carry them and throw them wherever Allah the Exalted wills.

Then Allah the Almighty will send a rain from which no house of mud or fur can protect, for forty days, washing the earth until He leaves it like a polished mirror. It will be said to the earth: "Bring forth your fruit." A group of people will eat from a single pomegranate and seek shade under its husk. Blessings will be so abundant that a single milch camel will suffice a large group of people, a milch cow will suffice a whole clan, and a single sheep will suffice a household. While they are in this state, Allah the Exalted will send a pleasant breeze that will take them under their armpits, seizing the soul of every believer. The wickedest of people will remain, copulating openly like donkeys, and upon them the Hour will be established.

It has come in a hadith narrated by Ahmad and a group that the Hour, after the destruction of Gog and Magog, is like a pregnant woman at full term; her family does not know when she will suddenly surprise them with her labor by night or by day. Ibn al-Mundhir recorded from Ibn Jurayj who said: "It was mentioned to us that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: 'If a mare were to give birth upon their emergence, its foal would not be ridden before the Hour is established.'" This is an exaggeration regarding proximity, like the report preceding it.

"Then suddenly the eyes of those who disbelieved will stare [in horror]."

"Then" is for sudden surprise, and it serves the place of the conditional fa in connecting the clause; it is not a replacement for it. Whenever a nominal sentence occurring as a consequence is accompanied by it, it does not require the fa, such as: "Then they despair." And when both are brought together, as is the case here, the connection is strengthened. The pronoun [in hiya] refers to the story and the state of affairs; it is a subject, while shakhisat is a fronted predicate, and absar (eyes) is a delayed subject. The sentence is the predicate of the pronoun [of the state of affairs].

It is not permissible for shakhisat to be the predicate and absar to be nominative due to it, because the predicate of the "pronoun of the state of affairs" must be a sentence with both its parts explicit. Some Kufans permitted it to be a singular, so in their view, what was mentioned is permissible.

It is narrated from al-Farra’ that hiya is a pronoun referring to the eyes, making it an ambiguous pronoun clarified by what is within the scope of its predicate. The return of a pronoun to something that is delayed in wording and rank is permissible in such cases according to Ibn Malik and others, as in the pronoun of the state of affairs.

It is also reported from al-Farra’ that whenever the speech points to the referent and mentions it afterwards, it does not matter if it is not within the scope of its predicate. It is also reported from him that hiya is a "pronoun of separation" (damir fasl) and a support that can function in its place.

Al-Tha'labi mentioned that the speech is complete at His saying: "Then it is," meaning: Then it—the Hour—is imminent, or manifest, or occurring. Then a new sentence begins, saying: "The eyes of those who disbelieved will stare." This is an artificial and discordant interpretation.

It is said that the answer to the conditional "When" is "has drawn near," and the "wa" (and) is a sayf khatib (an unnecessary connector). This is narrated in Majma' al-Bayan from al-Farra’.

It is narrated from al-Zajjaj that the Basrans do not permit the addition of the "wa," and the response, in their view, is His saying: "O woe to us," meaning the implied speech before it; it is based on the estimation: "They will say: O woe to us." Whoever considered the response to be what preceded it also implied speech here and considered it a state (hal) of the connected noun—i.e., saying: "They say" or "as those saying: O woe to us." It is permitted that "they say: O woe to us" is a new start.

"Staring of the eyes" is the lifting of the eyelids upward without blinking, for the disbelievers on the Day of Resurrection, due to the intensity of the terror. By the invocation of "woe," they intended lamentation, as if they said: "O woe to us, come, for this is the time of your presence."

"We were" — in the worldly life. "In heedlessness" — absolute and complete. "Of this" — which has overwhelmed us, of the resurrection and the return to Him, the Almighty, for requital. It is also said: "Of this day," and we did not know it was the truth.

"Rather, we were wrongdoers." This is an idrab (a turning away) from describing themselves as heedless; meaning: We were not in a state of heedlessness regarding it, as we were alerted to it by the signs and the warnings; rather, we were wrongdoers by abandoning the signs and warnings, denying them, or wrongdoers to our own selves by exposing them to eternal punishment through denial.