{Today, every soul will be recompensed}

(Meaning: every soul, whether righteous or wicked) {for what it has earned} (Meaning: whether it be good or evil) {There is no injustice today} (By decreasing rewards or increasing punishments) {Indeed, Allah is swift in account}

(Meaning: His reckoning is swift, for no affair occupies Him, glory be to Him, to the exclusion of another. Thus, He reaches every soul being brought to account with what it deserves quickly. It is narrated from Ibn Abbas that when He, the Exalted, begins their reckoning, neither the people of Paradise nor the people of the Fire will say anything except that which is within it.) This is from the completion of the response, brought forth to clarify an implicit meaning within it, and the concluding sentence serves as a justification for what preceded it.

The caller in this questioning and answering is one and the same. Abd ibn Humayd narrated from Ibn Mas’ud that he said: "Allah, the Exalted, will gather the creation on the Day of Resurrection on a single level plain of white earth, as if it were a slab of silver, on which Allah, the Exalted, was never disobeyed and on which no sin was ever committed. The first thing that will be spoken is that a caller will proclaim: {To whom belongs the dominion today? To Allah, the One, the Prevailing. Today, every soul will be recompensed for what it has earned; no injustice today. Indeed, Allah is swift in account.} The first of the disputes they will begin with will be concerning bloodshed." The Hadith continues. According to Al-Hasan, the caller is Allah, the Exalted, Himself. It is also said: It is an angel. It is also said: The questioner is Allah, the Exalted, or an angel, and the responders are the people.

Al-Tayyibi mentioned, in a justification for the Kashshaf, that His saying, "Today, every soul will be recompensed...", is an explanation, and therefore the questioner and the answerer must be Allah, the Exalted. For when He asked, "To whom belongs the dominion today?" and He Himself, the Exalted, answered, "To Allah, the One, the Prevailing," the context demanded a question and a request for an explanation. Thus, He placed "Today, every soul will be recompensed..." as an answer to it, meaning: The dominion is uniquely His, the Exalted, because He alone has the power to recompense every soul for what it has earned, and He possesses perfect justice, so He wrongs no one, and He possesses the ability to manage all things, so no affair occupies Him to the exclusion of another, thus He is swift in reckoning. If He had only made "To Allah, the One, the Prevailing" the answer for the people of the gathering, the commencement of the next sentence would not be as elegant. This is finished, and in it is what is in it.

The truth is that His saying, "Today, every soul will be recompensed...", if it is from the words of the answerer—as is the apparent meaning of Ibn Mas'ud's Hadith—then it is from the people. It is permitted that it not be a completion of the answer, but rather a narrative of what Allah will say on that day following the question and answer. Regardless of which, the exclusivity of the dominion to Allah, the Exalted, on that day is only by looking at the apparent state of the cessation of causes, the removal of intermediaries, and the manifestation of this to the disbelievers and the ignorant. As for the reality of the matter, it speaks to this at all times.

Muhammad ibn Ka'b al-Qurazi held that the question and answer are from Allah, the Exalted, and they occur between the two blasts when He, the Exalted, causes all creation to perish. A similar account is narrated from Ibn Abbas. Abd ibn Humayd in Zawa’id al-Zuhd, Ibn Abi Hatim, Al-Hakim (who authenticated it), and Abu Nu’aym in al-Hilyah narrated from him, may Allah, the Exalted, be pleased with him, that he said: "A caller will proclaim before the Hour: 'O people, the Hour has come upon you!' Both the living and the dead will hear it, and Allah, the Exalted, will descend to the lowest heaven and say: 'To whom belongs the dominion today? To Allah, the One, the Prevailing.'" The context is clear that this is on the Day of Resurrection, so perhaps, if the Hadith is authentic, it occurs twice.

The meaning of recompensing the souls for what they have earned is that they will be recompensed with good if they earned good, and with evil if they earned evil. It is said: The souls acquire through beliefs and actions states that necessitate their pleasure and pain, but they do not perceive them in this world. When their resurrection comes and the obstacles are removed, they perceive their pain and pleasure. It is apparent that this is a statement regarding spiritual pleasure and pain. We do not deny their occurrence on that day, but we say: Recompense is not limited to them; it also consists of physical pleasure and pain. Therefore, restricting the interpretation of the verse to that is a deficiency.