Tafsir of Al-Furqan 25:25

The word "Day" (yawm) is governed either by the implicit verb "remember" (udhkur) or by the fact that Allah Almighty is alone in sovereignty, as indicated by His saying: "True sovereignty on that Day will be for the Most Merciful." It has also been said that the governing word is implied by the context, or that it is conjoined to "on that Day" or "the Day they see."

Tashaqqaqa (splitting asunder) means to open up. The use of this specific term conveys the horror of the event. It is originally tatashaqqaqa, but one of the two ta's has been elided, as in talazza. The two Imams of the Haram (Mecca and Medina) and Ibn Amir read it with the ta assimilated into the shin due to their proximity.

The apparent meaning is that the "heaven" is that which provides shade for us, and the "clouds" (ghamām) are the well-known clouds. The ba (in bil-ghamām) is the ba of causality; meaning, the heaven splits due to the emergence of the clouds from it. There is no obstacle to the heaven splitting by them, just as a camel’s hump is split by a blade. Allah is capable of all things, and the narration claiming that the heaven cannot be pierced is a myth (khurāfah).

It is also said that the ba denotes the state (accompanying), as in the ba of concomitance; some have considered this most likely—meaning it splits while being clouded. Others say it means "from," a view held by Al-Farra'. The difference between saying "the earth split with plants" (bil-nabāt) and "split from them" (anhu) is that the first implies Allah split it by their emergence, whereas the second implies the soil rose away from them upon their emergence.

Some say the ghamām is a white, fine cloud like mist, which only existed for the Children of Israel in their wandering. Ibn Abi Hatim recorded from Mujahid that it is the very cloud in which Allah Almighty comes on the Day of Resurrection, mentioned in His saying: "Do they wait for anything but that Allah should come to them in covers of clouds?" Ibn Jurayj said: "It is a cloud they claim is in Paradise."

Muqatil stated that "the heaven" refers to all the heavens, and that each heaven splits one by one. This was narrated from Ibn Abbas; for Abd ibn Humayd, Ibn Abi al-Dunya in al-Ahwal, Ibn Jarir, Ibn al-Mundhir, and Ibn Abi Hatim recorded from him that he read this verse up to His saying: "And the angels will be sent down with [a grand] descent."

Meaning: a strange and unprecedented descent. He said: "Allah gathers the creation on the Day of Resurrection on a single level plain—humanity, beasts, predators, birds, and all of creation. The lowest heaven will split, and its inhabitants will descend—and they are more numerous than all the Jinns, humans, and creation on earth—and they will surround them all. The people of the earth will ask, 'Is our Lord among you?' They will reply, 'No.' Then the second heaven will split, and its inhabitants will descend—and they are more numerous than the inhabitants of the lowest heaven and all of creation—and they will surround the angels who descended before them, along with the Jinns and humans. Then the third heaven will split... and so on until the seventh heaven, whose inhabitants are more numerous than all the heavens and earth combined. Then our Lord descends in covers of clouds, surrounded by the Cherubim (al-Karūbiyyūn)—who are more numerous than all the inhabitants of the seven heavens, humans, Jinns, and all creation. They possess horns like the joints of lances, and they are beneath the Throne, with a clamor of glorification, declaration of oneness, and sanctification of Allah Almighty. The distance from the heel of one of them to his ankle is a journey of five hundred years, and from his thigh to his collarbone is a journey of five hundred years, and from his collarbone to the place of the earring is a journey of five hundred years..."

The descent of the Lord, Mighty and Majestic, is among the Mutashābihāt (allegorical matters), and likewise His statement: "surrounded by the Cherubim." The scholars of interpretation say: "What is intended is the descent of [Allah's] judgment and decree; as if it were said: 'Then the judgment of the Lord descends, and the Cherubim [accompany] Him'—meaning they are with Him." As for the descent of the angels despite their vast numbers and the size of their bodies, this is not prevented by the apparent smallness of the earth, for on that day the earth will expand to accommodate its inhabitants and the inhabitants of all the heavens combined. Glorified is He whom nothing can frustrate.

The narration suggests that the angels do not descend in the clouds. Some have stated regarding the verse that the heaven opens with clouds issuing from it, and within those clouds the angels descend, holding the scrolls of deeds.

Ibn Mas’ud and Abu Raja’ read wa nuzzila (it was sent down) as a past tense, passive voice, with a doubled consonant. From him also, wa anzala (He sent down), active voice. Its verbal noun came as tanzīlā; by analogy it should be inzāl, but since the meaning of anzala and nazzala is the same, the verbal noun of one was used for the other, as the poet said: "Until I was folded [infinitive of inṭawā] like the folding of the harvest"—meaning: "Until I folded myself."

Al-A'mash and Abdullah, according to Ibn 'Atiyyah's transmission, read wa unzila as a past tense, quadrilateral, passive voice. Janah ibn Hubaysh and al-Khafaf from Abu 'Amr read wa nazala as a triliteral, light (not doubled), active voice. Abu Mu'adh and Kharijah from Abu 'Amr read wa nuzzila with a damma on the nun, a shadda on the za', and a kasra [on the za'], with "the angels" in the accusative. Ibn Jinni explained this, after attributing it to Ibn Kathir and the people of Mecca, by saying the original was nunazzilu (we send down), as found in some codices, and the nun (which is the first radical of the verb) was elided to lighten it due to the meeting of two nuns. Ubayy read wa nuzzilat as a past tense, doubled, passive, with the feminine ta of the singular.

The author of al-Lawami' stated, from al-Khafaf from Abu 'Amr, that [it was read] nuzila light, passive, with "the angels" in the nominative. If this reading is authentic, it means the genitive construct (mudaf) was elided and the genitive case was moved to the mudaf ilayh. The estimation is: "The descent of the angels was sent down" (nuzila nuzūl al-malā'ikah); so "the descent" was elided, and its inflection was transferred to "the angels," meaning "the descending of the angels came down," as the verbal noun can act as a noun.

Al-Tayyibi said: Ibn Jinni stated: Nuzila in the passive voice is not known [in standard usage], because nazala does not take a direct object, and it cannot be measured by junna (it was veiled/hidden), which also does not take an object—for one does not say junnahu Allah, but rather ajannahu Allah. Therefore, if it is passive, it is anomalous and analogy cannot be drawn from it. It is either a rare dialect or an elision of the mudaf (as explained above). Al-Hajjaj said: "Until they lined up for Him in fear (ḥadhārā)." Here ḥadhārā is an accusative verbal noun, not a direct object; he means: "They lined up for Him a lining-up of fear." Thus, nuzila nuzūl al-malā'ikah is like saying: "This is a descent of a descent," "an ascent of an ascent," or "a striking of a struck thing." Similar to this is: "It has been said" (qīla qawl) and "Fear was feared from him" (khīfa minhu khawf). Know this, for it is the best evidence for this reading.

From Abu 'Amr also, he read wa tanazzalat al-malā'ikah (And the angels descended). Thus, this, along with the reading of the majority and what is in some codices, makes ten readings. Those in the imperfect tense have an obvious explanation, while those in the past tense point to the speed of the action.