Tafsir of Al-Haqqah 69:12

Al-Haqqah (The Inevitable Reality): Verse 12

{لنجعلها لكم تذكرة} (That We may make it a reminder for you.)

Regarding the pronoun in {لنجعلها} (that We may make it), there are two views:

1. The first view (Al-Zajjaj): It refers to the event (the salvation of the believers and the drowning of the disbelievers), which is understood even if not explicitly mentioned here. The meaning is: "That We may make the salvation of the believers and the drowning of the disbelievers a lesson and an admonition."
2. The second view (Al-Farra'): It refers to the Ark (the ship). This view is weak.

The first view is correct, supported by the subsequent verse: {وتعيها أذن واعية} (and that a hearing ear may retain it). The pronoun in {وتعيها} refers back to what the first pronoun referred to. Since the pronoun in {وتعيها} cannot refer to the Ark, the first pronoun also cannot refer to it.

{وتعيها أذن واعية} (and that a hearing ear may retain it.)

There are two issues concerning this phrase:

Linguistically, 'to retain' (wa'a) means to guard something in your self (e.g., "I retained the knowledge," "I retained what you said"). Conversely, 'to store' (aw'a) means to keep something in something external to yourself (e.g., "I stored the goods in the container"). The poet says:

The purpose of this reminder is that the salvation of a people by the Ark and the drowning of others demonstrates:

1. The power of the World's Designer.
2. The execution of His Will.
3. The height of His Wisdom and Mercy.
4. The intensity of His Overpowering Force and Might.

It is narrated that upon the revelation of this verse, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "(I asked Allah to make it your ear, O Ali.) Ali replied: 'I have not forgotten anything since then, nor was it possible for me to forget.'"

If it is asked: Why was it phrased as {أذن واعية} (a hearing ear) in the singular and indefinite form? The answer is:

1. To indicate that those who truly retain (the lessons) are few.
2. To rebuke the people for the scarcity of those who comprehend.
3. To signify that a single ear that truly retains and understands from Allah is considered the greatest majority in the sight of Allah, and everything else is disregarded, even if the world is full of them.

The recitation of the majority (Qurra') is {وتعيها} (with a kasra on the 'ayn). It is narrated from Ibn Kathir that he recited it as {وتَعْيَها} (with a sukūn on the 'ayn).

He treated the present tense prefix letter (the tā' in ta'i) together with the following letter as if they were one unit, similar to the structure of words like fakhidh (thigh), kabid (liver), or katif (shoulder), where the middle letter is quiescent. He did this because the present tense prefix cannot be separated from the verb, making it seem like part of the word itself, similar to the recitation of {ويتقه} (and fear Him) by those who quiescent the qāf.

When the Almighty recounted these three stories and thereby pointed to the establishment of the Creator's Power and Wisdom, it consequently established:

1. The possibility of the Resurrection (based on the establishment of Power).
2. The likelihood of the Resurrection occurring (based on the establishment of Wisdom).

Once this is established, the Exalted One begins to detail the conditions of the Resurrection, starting first with its preliminaries. He says:

{فإذا نفخ فى الصور نفخة واحدة} (Then when the Trumpet is blown with a single blast,)