Tafsir of Ya seen 36:52

"They said: 'Woe to us!'" (meaning: at the beginning of their resurrection from the graves). "'Who has raised us up from our sleeping-place?'" (meaning: our place of slumber, whether as a masdar mimi [infinitive] or as a noun of place. The singular is intended to denote the plural, i.e., our sleeping-places). In this, there is a likening of death to sleep in terms of the absence of visible action and rest from voluntary deeds. It is possible that "sleeping-place" is literal, and the people, due to the confusion of their minds, believed they had been asleep and had no perception of the torment of the grave, hence they inquired about their awakener. It is said that they termed it a "sleeping-place" despite their knowledge of the torment they were suffering therein, due to the magnitude of what they witnessed; for it is as if that [the torment of the grave] were merely sleep compared to what they see now. It is narrated that when they behold Hell and the various kinds of punishment within it, they perceive what they were in previously as being like sleep in comparison. Thus, they say this.

Al-Firyabi, ‘Abd ibn Humayd, Ibn Jarir, Ibn al-Mundhir, and Ibn Abi Hatim narrated from Ubayy ibn Ka‘b that he said: "They sleep a sleep before the resurrection." These, except for Ibn Jarir, narrated from Mujahid: "The disbelievers have a slumber in which they find the taste of sleep before the Day of Resurrection, so when the cry is made to the people of the graves, they say, 'Woe to us! Who has raised us up from our sleeping-place?'" It is narrated from Ibn Abbas that Allah, the Exalted, lifts the torment from them between the two blasts, so they sleep, and when they are resurrected by the second blast and witness the horrors, they say this. In al-Bahr, it is stated that the chain of this narration is not authentic, and he chose that "sleeping-place" is a metaphor for the bed of death.

The Commander of the Faithful Ali, Ibn Abbas, al-Dahhak, and Abu Nuhayk read: "Who has raised us" (man ba‘athana) with min as a preposition and the genitive noun, which relates to "Woe" or to an implied state derived from it, similar to the expression: "Woe to me concerning you, and woe to me from you, O man." The second min relates to "raised."

From Ibn Mas‘ud, it is reported that he read: "Who has awakened us" (man ahabbana) with the interrogative man and ahabba (with a hamza), from habba (he woke from his sleep), meaning "I awakened him." From Ubayy, it is reported that he read: "habana" without a hamza. Ibn Jinni said: "Ibn Mas‘ud's reading is more analogous, for 'awaken me' (habbi), I have seen no origin for it, nor has the term mahbub (awakened) passed us in the language, unless the preposition is omitted—meaning 'waken us' (hab bina), then the preposition was dropped and the verb was made transitive. The meaning is not 'who stood up' (man habba), so we stood up with him; rather, the meaning is 'who awakened us.'" Al-Baydawi said: "Habana without the hamza has the same meaning as ahabbana with the hamza." It was also read as "who awakened us" (min habbana) with min as a preposition and the masdar (infinitive) from habba, yahubbu.

"This is what the Most Gracious promised, and the messengers spoke the truth."

This is a clause consisting of a subject and predicate. It is a conjunction to what is in the realm of ma (what). To link it to the nominal sentence, or to make it a state (hal) by assuming qad (without it being explicit), is contrary to the apparent meaning. Ma is relative, with an omitted referent, meaning: "This is that which the Most Gracious promised, and which the messengers spoke truthfully regarding"—as in the saying "I spoke truthfully to Zayd about the matter," meaning I told him the truth in it. From this is their saying, "He spoke truthfully to me about the age of his camel." Or it is a masdari (infinitive) ma, meaning: "This is the promise of the Most Gracious and the truthfulness of the messengers," naming the promised object and the ones truthful in the promise.

According to what is said, it is an answer from Him, the Exalted. According to al-Farra, it is from the angels. According to Qatada and Mujahid, it is from the believers. While the apparent meaning would be to answer with the agent, as that is what they asked about—by saying, "The Most Gracious or Allah has raised you"—it was diverted to what was mentioned as a reminder of their disbelief and a rebuke to them for it, while containing an indication of the agent. More than one has mentioned that this is from the "wise style" (uslub hakim), in that the meaning is: "Do not ask about the raiser, for this resurrection is not like the waking of a sleeper, and that is not what concerns you now; what concerns you is to ask, 'What is this resurrection full of horrors and terrors?'" It contains within it a severe rebuke.

Al-Tayyibi claimed that mentioning the agent is not sufficient in the answer, because their saying, "Who has raised us from our sleeping-place?" is an account of their speech at the resurrection, following their earlier saying, "When will this promise be if you are truthful?" Therefore, in the answer, a statement containing two meanings is necessary. Thus, the requirement of the apparent meaning would be to say, "The Most Gracious, who promised you the resurrection and told you of it, has raised you." But it was diverted to what implies their denial, in order to be more terrifying and more effective in the rebuke. This is consistent with the "wise style." The claim that mentioning the agent is insufficient in the answer is subject to scrutiny.

Regarding their preference for the name "The Most Gracious" (al-Rahman), it is said to be an indication of increased rebuke, since the promise of the resurrection is one of the effects of mercy, yet they did not pay it any heed, turned away from it, denied it, and did not prepare for what it requires. It is also said that the answering believers preferred it because mercy had overwhelmed them, so it was before their eyes. The specification of the mercy of "al-Rahman" (the Most Gracious) to what occurs in this world and "al-Rahim" (the Merciful) to what occurs in the next is rejected, for it has been recorded: "O Most Gracious of the world and the hereafter, and Most Merciful of them both."

Ibn Zayd said: "This answer is from the disbelievers themselves, as they answered each other, remembering what they had heard from the messengers, peace be upon them, or one of them answered another, and they preferred the name 'The Most Gracious' in the hope that He might have mercy on them—but alas, there is no share for the disbeliever on that day from His mercy, the Exalted."

Al-Zajjaj permitted that "this" be an adjective for "our sleeping-place" by interpreting it as a derivative, making it correct to pause upon it. It has been narrated from Hafs that he paused upon it and remained silent for a brief moment. Therefore, the claim of a consensus of the reciters on pausing at "our sleeping-place" is not complete. Ma is a subject with an omitted predicate, meaning "is the truth," or it is a subject whose predicate is omitted, meaning "is it," or "this is what was promised." Within this is a literary beauty of "attraction" (tajadhub), which is that a word is capable of belonging to what precedes it and to what follows it. The same applies, as the Greatest Sheikh—may his secret be sanctified—said in his commentary entitled Ijaz al-Bayan fi al-Tarjamah ‘an al-Qur'an, and from his noble handwriting I have transcribed: "Those to whom We have given the Book know it" (the verse) following the Almighty's saying: "And if you were to follow their desires after what has come to you of knowledge, you would then be among the wrongdoers," and His saying: "In it is guidance... no doubt." So, let this be remembered.