Tā-Hā (20): Verses 99–104

Translation and Exegesis (Tafsir)

{Thus We relate to you [O Muhammad] some of the news of what has passed, and indeed, We have given you from Us a Reminder [Dhikr].} (20:99)

It is known that after Allah (Exalted is He) first explained the story of Moses (peace be upon him) with Pharaoh, and secondly with the Samiri, He followed it up with: {Thus We relate to you}—meaning, from the news of other nations and their conditions—to magnify your status and increase your miracles, and so that those obligated in religion may gain greater consideration and insight.

{and indeed, We have given you from Us a Reminder [Dhikr]}—meaning the Qur'an, as Allah (Exalted is He) said:

• {And this is a blessed Reminder which We have sent down} (Al-Anbiyā’: 50).
• {And indeed, it is a Reminder for you and your people} (Az-Zukhruf: 44).
• {Ṣād. By the glorious Qur'an} (Ṣād: 1).
• {There comes not to them any new Reminder} (Al-Anbiyā’: 2).
• {And they say, "O you to whom the Reminder has been revealed"} (Al-Hijr: 6).

There are several meanings in naming the Qur'an Dhikr (Reminder):

1. It is a Book containing the remembrance of what people need concerning their religion and worldly affairs.
2. It recalls the types of Allah’s bounties and graces, thus containing admonition and counsel.
3. It contains honor and remembrance for you and your people, as stated: {And indeed, it is a Reminder for you and your people} (Az-Zukhruf: 44).

Know that Allah (Exalted is He) named all His Books Dhikr, as in: {So ask the people of the Reminder} (An-Nahl: 43).

Just as He clarified His grace through this, He also clarified the severity of the warning for those who turn away from it and do not believe in it, in several ways:

1. His saying: {Whoever turns away from it}—for he will carry a heavy burden (wizr) on the Day of Resurrection. Wizr is the heavy punishment, named so because of its weight upon the punished one and the difficulty of bearing it, which strains the carrier, or because it is the recompense for the sin (ithm) which is the wizr. It was also read as yaḥmilu (he carries).

Then, the Almighty clarified the nature of this burden in two ways: * That it will be eternal and everlasting. * His saying: {And wretched is that load for them on the Day of Resurrection}—meaning, how wretched is this burden when carried. Ḥamlan (load) is in the accusative case as a tamyīz (specification).

2. {The Day the Trumpet will be blown}—This clarifies that the Day of Resurrection is the day the Trumpet will be blown. Regarding this, there are several issues:

• Abū ‘Amr recited nunfakhu (We will blow) with a fatḥa on the nūn, like His saying: {And We will gather} (wa naḥshuru).
• The rest recited yunfakhu (it will be blown) in the passive voice, and wa naḥshuru (and We will gather) with the nūn because the blower is an angel (Isrāfīl, peace be upon him), while the Gatherer is Allah (Exalted is He).
• It was also read yawma yunfakhu with a fatḥa on the yā’ (impersonal form), referring to Allah or Isrāfīl.
• As for {And We will gather the criminals}, it was only read this way by Al-Ḥasan.
• It was read fī aṣ-ṣūr with a fatḥa on the wāw, meaning ṣuwar (plural of form/shape).

There are two opinions:

1. It is a horn into which one blows to summon people to the place of assembly.
2. It is the plural of ṣūrah (form/shape), and the blowing refers to the blowing of the spirit into the bodies. This is supported by the reading aṣ-ṣūr with a fatḥa on the wāw.

The first opinion is stronger due to Allah’s saying: {The Day the Horn is sounded, then you will come forth in crowds} (Ad-Dukhān: 8). Allah (Exalted is He) informs people about the Hereafter using examples familiar in this world. People customarily blow horns during journeys and in armies.

The intended blowing here is the Second Blowing, because what follows, {And We will gather the criminals that Day, blue-eyed [or dark-eyed]}, indicates that the blowing of the Trumpet is the cause for their gathering, similar to {The Day the Trumpet is blown, and you will come forth in groups} (An-Naba’: 18).

Regarding His saying: {And We will gather the criminals that Day, blue-eyed [or dark-eyed]}, there are several issues:

Issue 1: Who are the Criminals (al-Mujrimīn)?

• The Mu‘tazilah say that al-Mujrimīn includes both disbelievers and sinners, which implies that sinners will not be pardoned.
• Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) said it refers only to those who took another deity besides Allah, a discussion already covered.

Issue 2: Meaning of Zurqan (Blue/Dark-eyed)

There are several interpretations:

1. Dark/Blue Eyes and Black Faces: Al-Ḍaḥḥāk and Muqātil said it means blue eyes and black faces—a discoloration that deforms their creation. Arabs consider this an ill omen.
   • Objection: Has not Allah informed that they will be gathered blind? How can they be both blind and blue-eyed?
   • Response: Perhaps they are blind in one state and blue-eyed in another.

2. Blindness (‘Amā): Al-Kalbī said zurqan means blind. Al-Zajjāj said they will emerge with sight initially, but become blind on the Day of Assembly. The blackness of the eye fades, causing it to turn blue.
   • Objection: How can they be blind when Allah says: {Indeed, We only delay them until a Day when eyes will stare} (Ibrāhīm: 42), and staring is impossible for the blind? Also, they will be told: {Read your record} (Al-Isrā’: 14), and how can a blind person read?
   • Response: Their states will vary.

3. Staring Eyes (Shukhūṣ al-Abṣār): Abū Muslim said this refers to the staring of their eyes. The blue-eyed person is one whose gaze is fixed because, due to weak sight, he stares intently at something he wishes to discern. This is the state of one fearful and expecting what he dislikes, consistent with {eyes will stare}.

4. Thirsty (‘Aṭāshā): Tha‘lab narrated from Ibn al-A‘rābī that it means thirsty. He said that due to intense thirst, the blackness of their eyes changes until they turn blue. This is supported by {And We will drive the criminals to Hell, thirsty} (Maryam: 86).

5. Covetous/Hopeful (Ṭāmi‘īn): Tha‘lab narrated from Ibn al-A‘rābī that it means they will be covetous of what they cannot attain.

The third description of the disbelievers on the Day of Resurrection is His saying: {They will whisper to one another, "You lingered only ten [days]."} Regarding this, there are several issues:

• Yatakhāfatūn means they speak secretly (yatasārrun). It is derived from khafata and mukhāfata (secrecy), similar to {except a faint sound} (Tā-Hā: 108).
• They whisper because their breasts are filled with terror and horror, or because fear has rendered them extremely weak, unable to speak loudly.

There is a difference of opinion whether this refers to lingering in the world or in the grave.

Opinion 1: Lingering in the World (The view of Al-Ḥasan, Qatādah, and Al-Ḍaḥḥāk).

• Evidence: {He will say, "How many years did you remain on earth?" They will say, "We remained a day or part of a day. Ask those who keep count"} (Al-Mu’minūn: 112–113).
• Objection: Either they forgot the duration of their stay in the world, or they did not forget. The first is impossible (if they could forget 50 years, they could forget anything). The second is impossible because it is a lie, and the people of the Hereafter do not lie, especially when the lie serves no purpose.
• Responses:
  1. Perhaps, when they are resurrected initially and witness those horrors, the intensity overwhelms them, causing them to forget the measure of their worldly life, remembering only a little, leading them to wish they had only lived those few days in the world to avoid these horrors. A person under extreme terror can forget the most obvious things.
  2. They know the measure of their worldly life, but when they compare it to the duration of their stay in the Hereafter, they find it extremely short. So, some say, "We lingered only ten days," while the most sensible among them says, "Rather, we lingered only one day." That is, their worldly stay, measured against their stay in the Hereafter, is like ten days, or even one day, or like nothing. Ten and one are mentioned because the minimum in such contexts is expressed by ten or one.
  3. When they witness the hardships, they recall the days of ease and joy and regret them, thus describing them as short because days of pleasure are fleeting.
  4. The days of the world have passed, while the days of the Hereafter are yet to come. That which has passed, even if long, is small compared to what is coming, even if the latter is short. How much more so when the opposite is true (the past was long, the future is long)?
• For these reasons, Allah preferred the view of those who exaggerated the minimization, saying: {The most moderate among them in judgment will say, "You lingered only a day."}

Opinion 2: Lingering in the Grave.

• This is supported by: {And on the Day the Hour appears, the criminals will swear they had remained [in the grave] not but an hour...} (Ar-Rūm: 55), and {And those given knowledge and faith will say, "You have remained according to the decree of Allah until the Day of Resurrection"} (Ar-Rūm: 56).
• For those who permit lying on the Day of Resurrection, there is no issue. For those who do not permit it: Allah revived them in the grave, punished them, then caused them to die, and then resurrected them on the Day of Judgment. They did not know the exact duration of their stay in the grave, so some thought it was equivalent to ten days, and others thought it was one day. When they faced punishment again, they wished for the time of death (which was a time of relief) due to the horror of the torment they experienced.

• The majority hold that {ten} means ten days. Thus, the saying {only a day} is a lesser duration.
• Al-Muqātil said {ten} means ten hours, similar to {as if they had not remained [in the world] except an evening or the following morning} (An-Nāzi‘āt: 46). In this case, a day would be longer. (And Allah knows best.)

Allah (Exalted is He) clarified through this speech the greatest bewilderment that drove them to this kind of secret whispering.

{And they ask you about the mountains, so say, "My Lord will blow them away with a blast.} (20:100) {And He will leave them a level plain.} (20:101) {You will see therein no crookedness or elevation.} (20:102) {That Day, they will follow the Caller, no deviation from Him, and all voices will be hushed for the Most Merciful, so you will hear nothing but a whisper.} (20:103) {That Day, intercession will not benefit, except for one whom the Most Merciful has permitted and whose statement He has accepted.} (20:104) {He knows what is before them and what is behind them, while they encompass not His knowledge.} (20:105) {And faces will be humbled before the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of all existence, and he who carried injustice will despair.} (20:111) {But whoever does righteous deeds while he is a believer, he will not fear injustice or deprivation.} (20:112)

(Note: The provided excerpt jumps from 20:104 to 20:111/112 in the final lines. The translation follows the structure of the source text provided.)

{And they ask you about the mountains, so say, "My Lord will blow them away with a blast.} (20:100) {And He will leave them a level plain.} (20:101) {You will see therein no crookedness or elevation.} (20:102)

This describes the state of the earth on the Day of Resurrection.

{That Day, they will follow the Caller, no deviation from Him, and all voices will be hushed for the Most Merciful, so you will hear nothing but a whisper.} (20:103)

Issue 1: Yatakhāfatūn (Whispering Secretly)

• Yatakhāfatūn means they speak secretly. It is derived from khafata and mukhāfata (secrecy), similar to {except a faint sound} (Tā-Hā: 108).
• They whisper because their breasts are filled with terror and horror, or because fear has rendered them extremely weak, unable to speak loudly.

Issue 2: Meaning of "Lingered" (Labithum)

• There is a difference of opinion whether this refers to lingering in the world or in the grave... (This section is a repetition from the previous verses' exegesis, likely due to the source text structure, but it is summarized here as per instructions.)

Issue 3: The Duration (Ten Days vs. One Day)

• The majority hold that {ten} means ten days... (Summarized as above.)

Allah (Exalted is He) clarified through this speech the greatest bewilderment that drove them to this kind of secret whispering.

{That Day, intercession will not benefit, except for one whom the Most Merciful has permitted and whose statement He has accepted.} (20:104)

{He knows what is before them and what is behind them, while they encompass not His knowledge.} (20:105)

{And faces will be humbled before the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of all existence, and he who carried injustice will despair.} (20:111)

{But whoever does righteous deeds while he is a believer, he will not fear injustice or deprivation.} (20:112)