Tafsir of Al-Muzzammil 73:17

"So how will you protect yourselves if you disbelieve, on a Day that will make the children gray-haired?"

The word "Day" (yawm) is the object of the verb "protect yourselves" (tattaqūn), with the omission of a genitive (i.e., the punishment or terror of a Day). Even without this, the meaning is implied. The pronoun in "will make" (yaj‘alu) refers to the Day, and the sentence acts as its descriptor, with the attribution being metaphorical. Some scholars have said the pronoun refers to Allah the Exalted, and the attribution is literal, with the sentence acting as a descriptor where the connector is omitted—meaning "He makes [it so] in it"—as in His saying: "And fear a Day when no soul will avail [another] at all."

The apparent order would have been to place this before His saying: "Just as We sent to Pharaoh a messenger..." However, it was delayed until here as an added emphasis in terror. It is as if it were said: Suppose you are not seized in this world with the seizing of Pharaoh and his likes, how then will you protect your own selves from the terror of the Resurrection and the punishment prepared for you if you persist in what you are upon and die in disbelief?

In His saying, "if you disbelieve," the conditional particle in denotes something whose occurrence is in doubt, given that with the sending of this Messenger, no doubt should remain to keep anyone in disbelief; he is the Manifest Light. It has also been permitted that "Day" is an adverbial time for "protecting yourselves," in the sense of: How will you have piety on the Day of Resurrection if you disbelieve in this world? The discourse here is to incite the abandonment of disbelief and warn against a consequence like that of the people of Pharaoh before regret becomes useless.

It is further permitted that "Day" be the object of "disbelieve," interpreted as "you deny." The meaning would then be: How can your abandonment of disbelief, fear of Allah the Exalted, and reverence be hoped for while you deny the Day of Recompense? It is as if, when it was said: "On a day when [the earth] will shake," it was followed by: "How will you fear Allah if you disbelieve in Him?" Thus, the mention of the Day is repeated with another attribute as an increase in terror. The first view is more sound, as stated in al-Kashshaf.

The learned scholar al-Tibi said regarding the latter view—the accusative of "Day" by "disbelieve"—that it is more consistent with the composition; meaning: We have warned you with punishment and Hell, and We have sent to you a messenger as a witness on the Day of Resurrection against your disbelief and denial, and we have warned you of what We did to Pharaoh of grievous torment and heavy seizure. Yet, all of that was of no avail to you, and you did not fear Allah the Exalted. How, then, will you fear and revere Him if you deny the Day of Resurrection and the Recompense? The pillar of piety and fear is belief in the Day of Resurrection. This is finished.

It is not hidden that the elegance of the meaning favors the first view. A group held that the address in "We sent to you" is general to both Black and Red (all of mankind), so it is apparent that it is not an instance of iltifat (shifting of pronouns) at all.

In any case, "making children gray-haired" (yaj‘alu al-wildāna shīban)—meaning old men, the plural of ashyab—is said to be literal: young children will turn gray and their hair will whiten from the intensity of the Day of Resurrection. This is based on what Ibn al-Mundhir recorded from Ibn Mas‘ud: Allah the Exalted will say to Adam (peace be upon him), "Bring forth the contingent of the Fire from your offspring." He will say, "O Lord, I have no knowledge except what You have taught me." Allah, the Almighty and Exalted, will say, "Bring forth the contingent of the Fire: out of every thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine." They will emerge and be driven to the Fire, shackled, blue-eyed, and grim-faced. Ibn Mas‘ud said, "When the contingent of the Fire emerges, every child will turn gray." A similar report is found in the hadith of al-Tabarani and Ibn Marduyah from Ibn ‘Abbas.

It is also said that it is a metaphor for the intensity of the terror without actual graying occurring. People say in describing a severe day: "A day that turns the forelocks of children gray." The basis for this is that when worries intensify upon a person, they weaken his powers and accelerate graying. Hence it is said, "Gray hair is the flower of worries." The hadith regarding the "contingent" does not preclude this.

Al-Zamakhshari permitted that it might be a description of the Day's length, meaning that children will reach old age and graying during it—not that it is a literal estimation, but a description of duration according to what they were accustomed to using in language; otherwise, the Day is longer than that and longer still, so there is no objection. Yet, this is not as strong as the first. The apparent meaning is the generality of "children." Al-Suddi said here that they are children born of adultery, while others said they are the children of the polytheists. Zayd ibn ‘Ali read yawman without tanwin and naj‘alu with the letter nun (we make), making the adverbial time connected to the sentence "we make."