Tafsir of Al-Haqqah 69:12

{ لنجعلها }: That is, the act which is the saving of the believers and the drowning of the disbelievers.

{ لكم تذكرة }: A lesson and an indication of the perfection of the Creator’s power and His wisdom, the might of His subjugation, and the vastness of His mercy.

{ وتعيها }: That is, to preserve it. Al-wa’y (understanding/preserving) is to store something within yourself, whereas al-i’a’ (containing) is to store it in something other than yourself, from a vessel (wi’a).

{ أذن واعية }: That is, an ear whose nature is to preserve what must be preserved by remembering it, spreading it, and reflecting upon it, rather than losing it by neglecting to act upon it. According to Qatadah, the "preserving" (wa’iyah) ear is one that has understood from Allah, the Exalted, and benefited from what it heard of the Book of Allah. In a report, the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said to Ali (may Allah honor his countenance): "I have asked Allah, the Exalted, to make it your ear, O Ali." Ali (may Allah honor his countenance) said: "I never heard anything and then forgot it, nor was it for me to forget." Attributing to the ear the quality of being "preserving," or likewise "remembering" or "recollecting," is metaphorical; the one who truly does that is its possessor, and nothing is truly attributed to the ear except hearing. The use of the indefinite form is to indicate the scarcity of such ears, and that those who possess such a quality—despite their scarcity—are linked to the great multitude and the continuity of their lineage.

It has been said that the pronoun in { لنحعلها } refers to "the ship" (al-jariyah), and it is made a reminder because, as Qatadah stated, the early ones of this Ummah saw it; that is, they saw its planks on Mount Judi, as Ibn Jurayj stated. Indeed, it has been said that some people found parts of its wreckage long after the advent of Islam—and Allah, the Exalted, knows the truth of that. It is not hidden that the reliable interpretation is what we have presented first.

Ibn Musayyib, and Abu ‘Amr (in a narration by Harun and Kharijah from him, though there is a report of a difference of opinion) read { وتعيها } with the ’ayn quiescent (sukun), by analogy to katif (shoulder) and kabid (liver), as it is said. It was also read with the vowel obscured (ikha'). It is reported that ‘Asim read it with the ya doubled (tashdid). The author of al-Bahr said: "It is considered an error, and it should be interpreted as meaning an emphasis on the clarity of the ya to avoid those who would make it quiescent, not as an assimilation of one letter into another." It should not be considered a doubling for the sake of a pause, and then applying that to the continuation, even if some have adopted that view.

It is reported from Hamzah and Musa ibn ‘Abdullah al-‘Absi: { وتعيها } with the ya quiescent. This could imply a new beginning, which is the most apparent, or it could be like the reading of [whoever reads] min awsati ma tut’imuna ahalikum [by omitting the ya]. Nafi’ read { أذن } with the dhal quiescent for the sake of lightening the pronunciation.