Tafsir of Al-Qiyamah 75:20-21

Kalla (No indeed): A redirection to His Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—admonishing him regarding the habit of haste, and an encouragement for him—upon him be peace and blessings—to practice patience. The Almighty exaggerated this [admonition] due to His immense love for him, by following it with His saying: “No indeed, you love the fleeting [world] and abandon the Hereafter.” The address here is generalized to all, as if it were said: "Rather, you, O children of Adam, because you were created from haste and fashioned upon it, make haste in everything. Hence, you love the fleeting world and abandon the Hereafter." This includes your haste, for it is the habit of the children of Adam to be hasty and to love the fleeting. It also implies that although man is fashioned with such traits, a person like him—upon him be peace—who stands at the highest station of prophethood, should not be provoked by the requirements of human nature. Furthermore, if he—upon whom be peace and blessings—is forbidden from haste in seeking knowledge and guidance, then those who profess the love of the fleeting world and seek ruin are as if they have descended to a state where admonition does not benefit them; for only the raw hide is curable.

From this, it is understood that this passage is connected to His saying, the Almighty: “But man desires to continue in lewdness before him” (75:5), for it alludes to the meaning of “No indeed, you love…”. His saying, the Almighty, “Do not move your tongue with it…” is an interruption between the two mentions of loving the fleeting: the love implied in “But man desires…” and the love explicitly stated in “No indeed, you love…”. This is for the sake of a smooth transition into surprise and explicitness. In this, there is a gradation and an exaggeration in the rebuke. Even though this gradation would have been achieved without the insertion of “Do not move your tongue…”, the exaggeration in the rebuke would have been lost—that if haste is not permitted in the Quran, which is a healing and a mercy, then how could it be permitted in that which is lewdness and ruin? The benefits indicated here are maintained, and it is an istitrad (digression) that performs the function of an i’tirad (objection/interruption); some have even called it an objection.

Ibn Kathir, Abu ‘Amr, Mujahid, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, and Al-Jahdari read it as yuhibbuna and yadharuna (they love and they abandon) with the 'ya' of the third person in both. The connection for this reading is as previously mentioned, and it is more eloquent in that it contains a shift (iltifat) and removes him—upon him be peace and blessings—from the explicit address of loving the fleeting world, including a hint of rebuke by way of allusion as a kindness from the Almighty regarding his status. As for the reading with the 'ta', it involves prioritizing the addressee and a shift—the opposite of the first. This is a summary of what the Neighbor of Allah [Al-Zamakhshari] alluded to. Through this, the claims of some heretics and a splinter group of early Rafidah—that there is no logic for the placement of “Do not move your tongue…” in the midst of matters of the Hereafter, and no connection whatsoever—have been refuted. They used this as evidence for their claim that the Quran has been altered, changed, added to, and subtracted from. The scholars, the protectors of the Muslims and the stars of the sky of religion, have refuted his statement with much of what has preceded, and the Imam has provided several angles on it, some of which are sound and others not at all.

Al-Tayyibi stated that His saying, “No indeed, you love the fleeting world,” is connected to His saying, “Even if he presents his excuses.” That is, it is said to man when he presents his excuses: "No, your excuses are not heard, for you have been lewd and dissolute, and you thought that you would continue in your lewdness, and that there would be no resurrection, no reckoning, and no punishment. That resulted from your love of the fleeting world and turning away from the Hereafter." It was the habit of the Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—that when he was being taught the Quran, he would compete with Gabriel—upon him be peace—in recitation. He had engaged in his usual haste during the teaching of the previous verses. When he reached His saying, “Even if he presents his excuses,” it was revealed to Gabriel—upon him be peace—that he should provide him—upon him be peace and blessings—with that which would guide him to receive the Quran in the most perfect manner. So, he delivered those sentences by way of digression, then returned to complete what he was in the midst of with His saying, “No indeed, you love…” An example is a teacher who, when teaching his student a lesson or a chapter, sees him hastening and becoming agitated during it, so he says to him: "Do not hasten and do not be agitated; if I finish and you have a problem, I will clear it, or if you fear losing something, I will preserve it." Then the teacher proceeds with his speech and completes it. End quote.

What is in the middle is relevant to what occurred in the external event, not to the meaning of what was revealed. Some have specifically called this a digression, while another called it an objection in the linguistic sense. To me, this is remote, as such a thing does not occur in this magnificent composition, and there is no evidence for one who sees it as the occurrence of haste during these verses other than the obscurity of the connection.

Abu Hayyan said: It appears that the connection between this verse and what precedes it is that when the Almighty mentioned the denier of the Resurrection and the afterlife, turning away from the signs of Allah and His miracles, and that he restricts his desires to lewdness, unconcerned with what proceeds from him, He mentioned the state of one who perseveres in the signs of Allah, preserves them, receives them, contemplates them, and presents them to one who denies them in the hope of their acceptance, so that the contrast between one who desires the signs of Allah and one who desires to turn away from them may be made clear—for by their opposites, things are distinguished. End quote. However, it is argued that this is only appropriate after the completion of what relates to that denier, and the manifest view is that “Do not move…” occurred in between.

Al-Qaffal said: His saying, “Do not move…” is an address to the man mentioned in His saying, “Man will be informed”. That is the situation when he is informed of the obscenities of his deeds, as his book is presented to him and he is told: "Read your book; sufficient is yourself against you this day as accountant" (17:14). When he begins to read, his tongue stammers from the intensity of fear and the speed of reading, so it is said to him: "Do not move your tongue with it to hasten through it, for it is incumbent upon Us, by virtue of the promise or by virtue of wisdom, to gather your deeds and to read them to you. When We read it to you, follow its recitation by acknowledging that you committed those acts, or contemplate it. Then, upon Us is its clarification,"—meaning the clarification of its matter and the explanation of its punishment. The conclusion according to this view is that the Almighty makes the disbeliever pause at all his deeds in detail, and in this is the most severe warning in this world and the terrorizing in the Hereafter. End quote. The pronoun in “with it”—and likewise the pronouns that follow—refers to the Book indicated by His saying, “Man will be informed of what he sent forth and kept back”, and likewise His saying, “Rather, man against himself is a witness”, according to the one who interprets 'witness' as the two books. Perhaps the sentence in this aspect is in the position of a state (hal) from the nominative of “will be informed”, with the estimation of the word "saying." It is as if it were said: "Man will be informed on that day, when he receives his book, of what he sent forth and kept back, while it is said to him: 'Do not move your tongue with it...'" The connection here is very manifest, and thus Al-Balkhi and those who followed him chose it. However, it is contrary to the authentic tradition held by the majority, which is that this is an address to him—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The apparent view is that the movement prior to the prohibition was issued by him—upon him be peace and blessings—by virtue of the original permissibility, so the argument of those who permit sin for the prophets—upon them be peace—based on this verse is not valid. The Imam said: Perhaps that haste was permitted for him—upon him be peace and blessings—until the time of the prohibition, as if he intended by 'permission' the specific explicit permission; but there is remoteness in that.

It is reported from Ad-Dahhak that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—feared forgetting the Quran, so he would study it until that overcame him and became difficult for him, then “Do not move your tongue with it…” was revealed. This is not authentic, and perhaps the literal meaning of the verse does not support it. Then, another perspective might be imagined in the verse, different from what was mentioned from Al-Qaffal, and the connection for it is also manifest: the address in “Do not move your tongue with it…” is to the master of the addressees, either in reality or by way of "I mean you, but you listen, O neighbor," or to everyone for whom it is suitable. The pronoun in “with it” and its counterparts refer to the Day of Resurrection. The sentence is an interruption brought to emphasize its terror and horror, with the context demanding it. It is as if, when the Almighty mentioned what relates to that Day, which opened with its greatness, the urge to ask about its timing became strong: "When will it be, and at what time?" Especially since one might feel that the question about that, if it is not mockery, is not problematic. So it was said: "Do not move your tongue with it"—meaning with the request for its timing. It is a prohibition against asking in the most perfect manner, as one says: "Do not open your mouth concerning the matter of so-and-so to hasten through it," so that you may obtain knowledge of it in haste. "Upon Us is its gathering,"—what is in it of collection—"and its recitation,"—what it includes of explaining its conditions and terrors through the Quran. So when We recite to you what relates to it, follow its recitation by acting upon what it requires of preparation for it. "Then upon Us is its clarification,"—its manifestation as an event by the blowing of the Trumpet, which is the Great Calamity. The conclusion is: Do not ask about the timing of that Great Day, seeking to know that hastily, for what is incumbent upon Us by wisdom is the gathering of the assembly in it, and the revelation of a Quran that includes an explanation of its conditions so that one may prepare for it, and its manifestation by the event, which is the Great Disaster. As for what is beyond that, such as specifying its time, it is not incumbent upon Us by wisdom; rather, it is contrary to wisdom. So if you ask, you have asked for what contradicts it, so you are not answered. End quote. There is that which is in it, and I would not have mentioned it were it not for this observation. What befits the eloquence of the Revelation and its subtle indications is what the possessor of the long hand, the Neighbor of Allah—may Allah, the Almighty, overlook his shortcomings—pointed out. So contemplate, for there is no restriction on the bounty of Allah, the Almighty. When the Almighty deterred [people] from the love of the fleeting world and the abandonment of the Hereafter, He followed it with that which includes the confirmation of this deterrence, leading to the good consequence of loving the Hereafter and the bad result of the fleeting world. So the Almighty, the Most Powerful of speakers, said: