And when the wild beasts are gathered

"And when the wild beasts," the plural of wahsh, which refers to land animals that do not possess the nature of being domesticated by the children of Adam. The intent here is what encompasses beasts of burden generally. "Are gathered," meaning collected from every side. This will be shortly before the first blast, when a fire will emerge, causing people and livestock to flee from it until they are gathered together.

It is said that "gathered" means "caused to die," derived from the saying: "When the year becomes severe, it gathers the people," and similar expressions. This is consistent with what 'Abd ibn Humayd extracted from Mujahid, who said: "Its gathering is its death." From Ibn 'Abbas, there is also an interpretation of gathering as bringing together, except that he said—as extracted by a group and authenticated by Al-Hakim—that they are gathered by death, and they will not be resurrected; nothing will be present on the Day of Resurrection other than the two burdens (mankind and jinn).

It is also said that they are resurrected for retribution, so that everything is gathered, even the fly. This has also been narrated from Ibn 'Abbas, and from Qatadah and a group. In one narration from the scholar (Ibn 'Abbas), it is said: "The wild beasts are gathered until retribution is taken from one for the other; the hornless sheep will have retribution taken for it from the horned one, then it will be said to them, 'Die,' and they will die."

It is said that once judgment has been passed among them, they will be turned back into dust, and nothing will remain of them except what brings joy to the children of Adam and admiration for its form, such as the peacock and the gazelle. It is also said that everything that was not utilized except for the believer remains—like a sheep from which only he ate—and what remains will enter Paradise in a state befitting it.

Many have leaned toward the resurrection of animals, inclining toward these reports and others like them. Muslim and At-Tirmidhi extracted from Abu Hurayrah, regarding this verse, that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "Rights will surely be returned to their owners on the Day of Resurrection, even until retribution is taken for the hornless sheep from the horned sheep." Ahmad ibn Hanbal added: "And even the ant from the ant."

Hujjat al-Islam Al-Ghazali and a group leaned toward the view that nothing is gathered except for the two burdens, as they are not legally obligated, nor are they deserving of honor in any way. There is no text in this regard from the Book or the Sunnah that is acted upon which proves the gathering of any other than the two, and the report of Muslim and At-Tirmidhi, even if it is authentic, was not delivered as an interpretation of the verse. It is possible that it is a metaphor for perfect justice. To this opinion, I incline, though I do not declare the first group to be in error, for they have what serves as a general basis. And Allah the Exalted knows best.

Al-Hasan and 'Amr ibn Maymun read hushshirat with the shaddah (doubling of the letter) to denote intensity.