Surah al-Inshiqaq

It is also called Surat Inshaqqat. It is Meccan without dispute. Its verses are twenty-three in the Basran and Syrian counting, and twenty-five in others. The reason for its connection to the preceding surah is known from what we have quoted from al-Jalal al-Suyuti previously. Some have been brief in explaining the arrangement of these three surahs, saying: In al-Infitar, there is the identification of the recording guardian angels; in al-Mutaffifin, the location of their records; and in this [surah], their presentation on the Day of Resurrection.

Al-Inshiqaq: (1) When the heaven has split asunder

In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

"When the heaven has split asunder," meaning the clouds, as it has been narrated from Ibn Abbas, and as Al-Farra' and Az-Zajjaj held, according to Al-Bahr. This is supported by His saying—Exalted is He—: "And the day when the heaven shall be cleft asunder with the clouds," for the Quran explains itself.

It has been said: It splits due to the terror of the Day of Resurrection, based on His saying—Exalted is He—: "And the heaven will split asunder, for that day it is frail." It has been examined in this regard that this does not negate the possibility that the splitting occurs with the clouds. Ibn Abi Hatim recorded from Ali—may Allah ennoble his countenance—that it splits from the Milky Way (al-majarrat). In the reports, it is said to be the gate of the heaven. Astronomers say that it consists of very small, densely clustered stars that are indistinguishable to the senses, a fact that becomes clearly manifest to those who observe it through astronomical instruments.

There is no contradiction, according to what has been said, regarding the claim that it is the "gate of the heaven," in the sense that it is the place where angels—upon them be peace—descend and ascend, combined with the fact that it consists of small, densely clustered stars indistinguishable to the senses. The report stating that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—sent Mu'adh to the people of Yemen and said to him, "O Mu'adh, they will ask you about the Milky Way; say it is the saliva of a serpent beneath the Throne," and from this it is said that it is in the restrained sea beneath, is hardly authentic. The aforementioned statement should not be narrated except to alert one to its status.

Ubayd ibn Uqayl narrated from Abu Amr the pronunciation of inshaqqat (and likewise what follows of its counterparts) with ishmam (blending) of the ta’ toward a kasra when stopping. Abu Ubayd Allah ibn Khalawayh also reported from him the kasra itself, and that is a dialect of the Tayy' tribe, as it is said. From Abu Hatim: "I heard an eloquent Bedouin in the lands of Qays pronouncing this ta’—that is, the feminine ta’ attached to the verb—with a kasra." It is a dialect, and perhaps that is because the verse-endings (fawasil) might be treated as rhymes. Just as this ta’ is pronounced with a kasra in rhymes—as in the words of Kathir 'Azza from a poem: "And I am not one to pray for 'Azza's ruin, nor to gloat if it is said 'Azza has been humbled"—and other verses of that poem, it is pronounced with a kasra in verse-endings. Treating verse-endings in the state of waqf (stopping) like rhymes is a well-known path, such as His saying—Exalted is He—: az-zununa and ar-rasula in Surah Al-Ahzab. Carrying the state of connection (wasl) over to the state of stopping (waqf) is also found in the verse-endings.