Tafsir of An-Naml 27:88

And you see the mountains—you think them...

(And you see the mountains): A conjunction linked to [the verb] "is blown" (yunfakhu), falling under the same governing rule of the [divine] reminder. "Seeing" here refers to eyesight.

His saying—Exalted is He—(you think them rigid): meaning, fixed in their places, not moving. It is a circumstantial qualifier (hal) for the subject of "you see," or for its object. It is also permissible that it be a substitute (badal) for the preceding one.

His saying—Exalted and Majestic is He—(while they pass as the passing of clouds): is a circumstantial qualifier for the pronoun of "the mountains" in "you think them." It is also permissible for it to be a circumstantial qualifier for the pronoun within "rigid," but Abu al-Baqa’ forbade this, as it would necessitate them being rigid and passing at the same time. That is, you see the mountains—with your own eyes—as stationary, while in reality, they are passing through the atmosphere like clouds, which are driven by the winds in rapid motion. This is because massive, dense bodies, when moving toward a direction, barely show their movement. To this refers the saying of al-Nabigha al-Ja‘di in describing an army:

With a huge army, like a mountain, you think them standing For a need, while the riders are trotting.

It is said: Their passing is likened to the passing of clouds in that they move at a moderate pace, as al-A‘sha said:

As if her gait, from the house of her neighbor, Was the passing of clouds—neither slow nor hasty.

However, the well-known point of the comparison is speed, and the origin of the aforementioned "thinking" [that they are stationary] is what you have heard [regarding the nature of massive movement]. It is also said that the observer’s thought that they are rigid despite their passing is due to the terror of that Day, for his mind has no stability to contemplate in that state so as to realize that they are moving; but this is weak.

This comparison also incorporates the likening of the state of the mountains to the state of clouds in terms of the loosening of parts and their being scattered, as in His saying—Exalted is He—(and the mountains will be like wool, fluffed up).

There is disagreement regarding the time of this event. In Irshad al-‘Aql al-Salim, it is stated that this occurs after the second blast of the Trumpet, similar to the terror mentioned during the gathering of creation. God—Exalted is He—will replace the earth with another earth and change its form, causing the mountains to move from their foundations in the terrifying manner mentioned, which the people of the Gathering will witness. Although they are crushed and fractured at the first blast, their being moved and the leveling of the earth only occurs after the second blast, as explicitly stated by His saying—Exalted is He—(And they ask you about the mountains. Say, "My Lord will blow them away with a blast. And He will leave the earth a level plain; you will not see in it any crookedness or curve." On that day they will follow the Caller...) and His saying—Exalted is He—(On the day the earth is replaced by another earth and the heavens, and they appear before God, the One, the Prevailing). The following of the Caller, who is Israfil, and the appearance of creation before God, occur only after the second blast. They have said, regarding the interpretation of His saying—Exalted is He—(And the day We move the mountains, and you will see the earth prominent, and We will have gathered them), that the past tense form—conjoined while its antecedent is future—is to indicate that the gathering precedes the moving and the seeing; it is as if He said, "And We had gathered them before that."

Some have said that it is something that happens at the [first] blast; that the earth and mountains tremble, then the mountains separate from the earth, move in the atmosphere, then fall and become scattered sand, then dispersed dust. The fact that the conjunction used is "and" (wa) rather than "then" (fa) in His saying—Exalted is He—(On the day the earth and the mountains tremble, and the mountains become a heap of sand) indicates that this transformation does not follow the trembling immediately without delay. The use of the past tense in His saying—Exalted is He—(and you will see the earth prominent, and We will have gathered them) is to emphasize the certainty of its occurrence, as previously mentioned.

The "day" (yawm) in His saying—Exalted is He—(And they ask you about the mountains...) and in His saying—Exalted is He—(On the day the earth is replaced...) can be considered a name for the vast span of time in which the events of the first blast—the leveling and the replacement—and the events of the second blast—the following of the Caller and the appearance before God, the One, the Prevailing—take place. The "day" has been interpreted as encompassing the events of both blasts in His saying—Exalted is He—(So when the Horn is blown with a single blast, and the earth and the mountains are lifted and crushed with a single crushing, then on that Day the Event will occur. On that Day you will be presented...). This is like saying, "I came to him in such-and-such a year," even though your arrival was only at one moment within it.

Many have held that the replacement of the earth, like the "appearing," occurs after the second blast, based on what is in Sahih Muslim from ‘A’ishah, who said: "I asked, 'O Messenger of God, I have pondered the saying of God—Exalted is He—"On the day the earth is replaced by another earth"—where will the people be?' He replied: 'On the Path (al-Sirat).'" Other reports indicate that it is before the first blast. The author of al-Ifsah reconciled the reports by stating that the replacement happens twice: once before the first blast, and again after the second. It is narrated in al-Bahr that the first of these stages is the trembling, then it becomes like fluffed wool, then like dust—after being like wool—then it is blasted by the winds, then scattered by the wind in the atmosphere as if it were dust, then it becomes a mirage. All of this, according to what al-Saffarini’s words necessitate, is before the second blast. Whoever follows the reports will find them apparent in this regard. The verse here allows for the possibility that the aforementioned seeing is before the second blast, or [that it is] before it. So ponder this.

(The work of God): The apparent meaning is that it is a verbal noun (masdar) emphasizing the content of the previous sentence, which is the circumstantial clause. The agent [governing the verbal noun] is what that sentence implies—that this is from the work of God, Exalted is He; as if it were said: "God—Exalted is He—fashioned that, a fashioning." This is of the type [of syntax] they know by a thousand [examples], and it is called in their terminology the "emphatic for its own self" (al-mu’akkid li-nafsihi). Al-Zajjaj and Abu al-Baqa’ inclined toward this.

Some investigators have said: It is an emphatic for the content of what preceded it, in that it is an expression covering all that was mentioned regarding the blowing of the Trumpet and all that followed it. It is intended to alert [the listener] to the greatness of those actions, to demonstrate the terror of the matter, and to signal that these are not merely a way of ruining the order of the world or corrupting the conditions of creation entirely without wisdom. Rather, they are among the wonders of the work of God—Exalted is He—built upon the foundation of wisdom, which brings about beautiful ends for the sake of which the foundations of creation and the beginnings of bringing-into-existence were established in a solid manner and a firm path, as is expressed by His saying—Exalted is He—(who perfected all things), meaning, He perfected its creation and leveled it in accordance with what wisdom necessitates. And its elegance is apparent.

Al-Zamakhshari said: It is among the emphatic verbal nouns, but its governor (mu’akkid) is omitted, which is the [verb] governing "the day when the Trumpet is blown" (yawm yunfakhu). The meaning is: "And on the day when the Trumpet is blown, such and such happened; God—Exalted is He—rewarded the righteous and punished the criminals." Then He, the Glorified, said: The work of God—wanting—Exalted and Majestic is He—by it the rewarding and the punishing, to the end of what he said. This indicates that he assumed the "day" to be extended, encompassing the time of both blasts and what follows them.

[However,] the verbal nouns that emphasize the content of the sentence are found with the sentence explicitly stated; omission does not occur in any of them. To make the verbal noun an emphatic for this omitted [governor], which is indicated in detail by His saying—Exalted is He—later: "Whoever comes..." and by the summoning of "the day when the Trumpet is blown" for a governor, and then deriving what he derived from it, was criticized by Abu Hayyan, who noted that a verbal noun emphasizing the content of a sentence cannot have its sentence omitted, because it is in the accusative governed by a verb from its own root. Thus, one would have both the omission of the governing verb and the omission of the sentence whose content it emphasized, and that is a frequent, corrupting omission. Whoever traces the course of these verbal nouns that emphasize the content of a sentence will find the sentences explicitly stated; omission does not occur in any of them, for the principle is that the "emphatic" should not be omitted, since omission contradicts emphasis—for in that which is emphasized, there is concern, while in that which is omitted, there is no concern. It is as if the motive for him to depart from the apparent [meaning], as it is said, is that "perfected work" does not appear, on the surface, to suit the "moving of the mountains." You know that this [reasoning] is on the edge of weakness. Yes, it is better to consider it an emphatic for the content of what was mentioned—the blowing of the Trumpet and what follows it—and it was brought to alert [the listener] to the greatness of those actions, as you heard from some investigators.

It is also said: It is in the accusative as an exhortation (ighra’), meaning, "Look at the work of God," but this is as you see [it to be weak].

The verse is cited as evidence for the permissibility of applying [the title] "the Maker" (al-Sani’) to God—Exalted and Majestic is He—and this is based on the school of those who see that the occurrence of the verb is sufficient. Some have used as evidence for the aforementioned permissibility the sound report: "Indeed, God is the Maker of every maker and his work." This was criticized [by stating] that the condition is that it should not be in the form of a confrontation, such as: (Is it you who grow it, or are We the growers?), contrary to al-Halimi, according to what is necessitated by his saying: "It is recommended for one who casts seed into the earth to say, 'God—Exalted is He—is the Grower, the Sprouter, and the Producer.'" What is in this tradition is of this type. Furthermore, what is in the report is in the possessive construct (idafah), so it does not indicate the permissibility of it without the qualification. Do you not see that His saying—peace be upon him—"O companion (sahib) of every secret counsel, You are the companion in the journey," they did not derive from it that "the companion," without qualification, is one of the names of God—Exalted is He? So likewise, it is not derived from it that "the Maker" (al-Sani‘), without qualification, is one of His names—Exalted is He. So ponder this. Similar to this is the arguing from the report of Muslim regarding the li-ya‘zim (let him be resolute) in supplication, "For God—Exalted is He—is a Opener (fatih) for you and a Maker (sani‘)." There is no difference between the definite and indefinite [forms] according to the jurists, because defining the indefinite does not change its meaning; thus, they allow in the opening Takbir [of prayer]: "God is the Greatest" (Allahu Akbar).

Qadi ‘Abd al-Jabbar argued from the generality of His saying—the Glorified—(He perfected all things) that the evil deeds of the servant are not of His creation—the Glorified—otherwise, it would be mandatory to describe them as "perfected," and consensus prevents this. It was answered that the verse is restricted to things other than accidents (a‘rad), because perfection is in the sense of soundness (ihkam), and that is one of the attributes of composites. Even if it were conceded [that it applies to accidents], describing all accidents as such is forbidden, for there is no general [statement] but that it has been restricted. And if it were conceded [further], the aforementioned consensus is denied; rather, they are "perfected" also in the sense of the wisdom that necessitated them.

(Indeed, He is All-Aware of what you do): Some investigators have made this an explanation for why what was mentioned—the blowing of the Trumpet and what followed—is a perfected work of His—Exalted is He—by clarifying that His—Exalted is He—knowledge of the manifest actions of the responsible ones (mukallafin) and their inner selves is something that necessitates revealing them and clarifying their qualities as they are, in terms of goodness and evil, and arranging their consequences upon them after their resurrection, gathering, and the moving of the mountains, as the Revelation has spoken. And His saying—Exalted is He—...