Surah At-Takwir (The Overthrowing) - Verses 1-14

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

Surah At-Takwir (The Overthrowing)

(1) Idhā ash-shamsukuwwirat (When the sun is wrapped up [i.e., loses its light])

Know that the Almighty has mentioned twelve things, saying: When these things occur, then {On that Day, every soul will know what it has brought forth} [At-Takwir: 14].

The first is His saying, the Exalted: {When the sun is wrapped up}.

There are two interpretations for kuwwirat (wrapped up):

1. Folding/Rolling Up: Like wrapping a turban (imāmah). In the Hadith: "We seek refuge in Allah from the ḥawr after the kawr," meaning from dispersion after unity. Folding, rolling, kawr, and takwīr are synonymous. The dyer’s shop is called a kārah because he gathers the clothes into one cloth. Since a rolled object becomes hidden from sight, takwīr is used to signify the removal of light from the sun's mass, making it hidden from the eyes. Therefore, some said: kuwwirat means obscured (ṭumisa). Others said: eclipsed (inkasafat). Al-Hasan said: its light was erased. Al-Mufaḍḍal ibn Salmah said: kuwwirat means its light departed, as if it were hidden in a kārah (a wrapper).
2. Throwing Down/Toppling: It is said: kawwarta al-ḥā’iṭ (you toppled the wall) if you threw it down until it fell. Al-Aṣmaʿī said: If you stab someone and kawwartahu, it means you felled him. Thus, {When the sun is wrapped up} means it is thrown down and cast off its orbit.

There is a third opinion, narrated from ʿUmar, that it is a word borrowed from Persian, where kūr is said of a blind person.

Here are two questions regarding this verse:

First Question: Is the sun in the nominative case (rafʿ) due to the beginning of the sentence, or due to the active participle (fāʿiliyyah)? Answer: It is in the nominative case due to the active participle, with an implied verb that kuwwirat explains, because idhā (when) requires a verb due to its conditional meaning.

Second Question: It is narrated that Al-Hasan sat in Basra with Abū Salamah ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, who narrated from Abū Hurayrah that the Prophet (PBUH) said: "The sun and the moon are two spheres being thrown into the Fire on the Day of Resurrection." Al-Hasan asked: "What is their sin?" He replied: "I am narrating to you from the Messenger of Allah." So Al-Hasan remained silent. Answer: Al-Hasan’s question is invalid because the sun and the moon are inanimate objects (jamād). Throwing them into the Fire will not cause them harm. Perhaps this will only increase the heat in Hell, so this report is not contrary to reason.

(2) Idhā an-nujūmu inkadarat (When the stars become dark/scattered)

Meaning: they fall and scatter, as He the Exalted said: {And when the stars are scattered} [Al-Infiṭār: 2]. The root of inkidār is pouring down. Al-Khalīl said: inkadara ʿalayhim al-qawl means the saying came to them in succession, so they poured upon them. Al-Kalbī said: On that day, the sky will rain stars, and no star will remain in the sky except that it falls upon the face of the earth. ʿAṭā’ said: They are in lamps suspended between the heaven and the earth by chains of light, and those chains are in the hands of the angels. When the time comes, those chains will slip from the hands of the angels, and the stars will fall.

(3) Wa idhā al-jibālu suyyerat (And when the mountains are moved)

Meaning: moved away from the face of the earth, like His saying: {And when the mountains are moved and become as dust scattered} [An-Naba’: 20], or moved in the air, like His saying: {And you see the mountains, which you thought solid, passing like clouds} [An-Naml: 88].

(4) Wa idhā al-ʿishāru ʿuṭṭilat (And when the pregnant camels, ten months gone, are neglected)

There are two opinions:

1. The Famous Opinion: Al-ʿishār is the plural of ʿusharā’, like nifās is the plural of nufasā’. It refers to a female camel whose pregnancy has reached ten months, and this name remains until she gives birth, completing a year of gestation. These are the most precious and cherished possessions for their owners. {ʿUṭṭilat} (are neglected): Ibn ʿAbbās said: their owners abandon them due to the terrors of the Day of Resurrection. Nothing is dearer to the Arabs than pregnant she-camels. The Arabs were addressed concerning the ʿishār because most of their wealth and livelihood came from camels. The purpose here is the loss of wealth, the nullification of ownership, and people becoming preoccupied with themselves, as He said: {The Day when neither wealth nor sons will avail, except for one who comes to Allah with a sound heart} [Ash-Shuʿarā’: 88], and {And you have certainly come to Us individually as We created you the first time} [Al-Anʿām: 94].
2. Second Opinion: Al-ʿishār is a metaphor for clouds whose water is withheld (neglected). Although this is metaphorical, it is more consistent with what precedes it. Furthermore, the Arabs liken clouds to pregnant women, as He said: {And the carriers of heavy loads} [Adh-Dhāriyāt: 2].

(5) Wa idhā al-wuḥushu ḥushirat (And when the wild beasts are gathered)

Al-wuḥush (wild beasts) refers to all land animals that are not domesticated. The plural is al-wuḥūsh. {Ḥushirat} (are gathered): gathered from every direction. Qatādah said: Everything will be gathered, even the flies, for retribution. The Muʿtazilah argue that Allah will gather all animals on that Day to compensate them for the pain they suffered in the world through death, slaughter, and so on. If they are compensated for those pains, Allah may choose to keep some in Paradise if they were pleasing, or annihilate them as the reports indicate. As for our scholars (Ahl al-Sunnah), they hold that nothing is obligatory upon Allah by way of desert. However, Allah will gather all wild beasts, and retribution will be exacted for the hornless animal from the horned one. Then they will be told: "Be dust," and they will die.

The wisdom in mentioning this event here has several aspects:

1. If Allah gathers all animals to demonstrate justice on the Day of Resurrection, how can it be permissible for Him not to gather the accountable humans and Jinn?
2. They will gather at the place of standing (Maḥshar) despite their strong aversion to humans in the world and their scattering in the deserts. This indicates that their gathering toward people is only due to the horror of that Day.
3. Some of these animals are food for others, yet on that Day, they will not gather or harm one another. This is only due to the severity of the horror of that Day. There is another opinion from Ibn ʿAbbās: that the gathering of wild beasts refers to their death. It is said: When a year severely afflicts people and their wealth, "the year has gathered them." It is also read with a shaddah (ḥushshirat).

(6) Wa idhā al-biḥāru sujjirat (And when the seas are set on fire)

It is read with a light shaddah (sujjirat) and a heavy shaddah (sujjirat). There are several interpretations:

1. The root of the word is sajartu at-tannūr (I stoked the oven). When something is stoked, its moisture dries up. Thus, nothing will remain in the seas except intense heat and burning. It is possible that as the earth dries up the sea waters, it swells and rises to the level of the mountaintops. Or, when the mountains are crushed and their particles scatter like dust, this dust falls to the bottom of the mountains, making the face of the earth level with the seas, and everything becomes one baḥr masjūr (a stoked sea).
2. Sujjirt means "made to flow together" (fujjirat). There is a barrier between the seas, as He said: {He has set free the two seas meeting, between them is a barrier which they do not transgress} [Ar-Raḥmān: 19]. When Allah removes this barrier, one sea will flood into the other, and the seas will become one sea. This is the view of Al-Kalbī.
3. Sujjirt means "ignited." Al-Qaffāl said this interpretation has several possibilities:
   • Hellfire is in the depths of the seas. It is not stoked now because the world is standing. When the duration of the world ends, Allah will cause the effect of those fires to reach the seas, making them entirely stoked because of it.
   • Allah will cast the sun, the moon, and the stars into the seas, making the seas stoked because of this.
   • Allah will create great fires in the seas so that the waters become intensely hot.

I say these interpretations are forced, and none are necessary. The One capable of destroying the world and establishing the Resurrection must be capable of doing whatever He wills to the seas—heating them, or turning their waters into fire—without needing to cast the sun and moon into them, or having Hellfire beneath them.

Know that these first six signs can occur at the beginning of the world's destruction, or after the Resurrection has already begun. The wording does not indicate a preference for either possibility. The remaining six signs are specific to the Resurrection.

(7) Wa idhā an-nufūsu zuwwijat (And when the souls are paired)

There are several interpretations:

1. Souls are reunited with their bodies.
2. Al-Hasan said: People will become three pairs, as He said: {And you will be of three kinds. Then those of the right hand—what are those of the right hand? And those of the left hand—what are those of the left hand? And the foremost—the foremost} [Al-Wāqiʿah: 7-10].
3. Every group will be joined with those of its own rank: the foremost in obedience with the foremost, the middling with the middling, and the sinful with the sinful. Tazwīj (pairing) means joining like with like. The meaning is that everyone is joined according to their rank in good or evil.
4. Every man will be joined with those to whom he was bound: rulers and sultans, as He said: {Gather those who wronged, and their spouses} [Aṣ-Ṣāffāt: 22]. It was said: "And their devils (spouses) too."
5. Ibn ʿAbbās said: The souls of the believers will be paired with the Ḥūr al-ʿĪn (wide-eyed maidens), and the souls of the disbelievers will be paired with the devils.
6. Every person will be joined with their sect: the Jew with the Jew, and the Christian with the Christian. A raised Hadith is reported concerning this.
7. Al-Zajjāj said: Souls will be paired with their deeds.

Know that if you contemplate the opinions mentioned, you can add more as you wish.

(8) Wa idhā al-maw’ūdatu su’ilat (And when the female infant buried alive is asked)

(Bi-ayyi dhanbin qutilat) (For what sin she was killed)

There are several issues here:

First Issue: Wa’d (burying alive) is the reverse of āda ya’ūdu (to weigh heavily). Allah says: {and it does not weary Him to guard them} [Al-Baqarah: 255], meaning it does not burden Him. This practice involved weighing down with earth. If a man had a daughter and wanted to keep her alive, he would dress her in a garment of wool or hair so she could herd camels and sheep in the desert. If he wanted to kill her, he would let her grow until she was the height of six spans. He would tell her mother: "Adorn her and beautify her so I can take her to her relatives." He would dig a well in the desert, take her to the well, tell her to look inside, and then push her from behind, pouring earth over her until the well was level with the ground. Another account says that when a pregnant woman was near labor, she would dig a pit, give birth over the pit, and if she bore a girl, she would throw her in; if a boy, she would keep him.

Here are two questions:

First Question: What compelled them to bury daughters alive? Answer: Fear of shame brought upon them because of them, or fear of poverty, as He said: {And do not kill your children for fear of poverty} [Al-Isrā’: 31]. They used to say that the angels were daughters of God, so they associated their daughters with the angels. Saʿsaʿah ibn Nājiyah was one who prevented the practice of wa’d, and Al-Farazdaq boasted of him, saying:

And among us is he who prevented the female infanticides, So he revived the buried alive, and she was not buried.

Second Question: What is the meaning of asking the buried infant about the sin for which she was killed, instead of asking the killer about the justification for killing her? Answer: Asking her and her response is a form of severe reprimand (tabkīt) for her killer. This is like rebuking the Christians in His saying to Jesus: {Did you say to the people, 'Take me and my mother as two gods besides Allah'? He said, 'Exalted are You! It was not for me to say that which I have no right to say'} [Al-Mā’idah: 116].

Second Issue: It is read su’ilat (she asks), meaning she disputes on her own behalf, or asks Allah, or asks her killer. It is also read qutilat (she was killed) with a shaddah. If one reads sā’alat (she asks), the corresponding reading should be bi-ayyi dhanbin qutilat (for what sin she was killed). Why is the famous reading {su’ilat} (she is asked)? Answer: There are two ways to answer this:

1. The implied meaning of the verse is: "And when the female infant buried alive is asked [i.e., the killers are asked] about her condition: 'For what sin was she killed?'"
2. A person may be asked about their own state using the third-person pronoun, as if speaking in the third person while addressing the person directly. For example, if you want to ask Zayd about one of his circumstances, you might say: "What did Zayd do in that matter?" Zayd is both the one being asked and the subject of the question. Similarly here.

(9) Wa idhā aṣ-ṣuḥufu nushirat (And when the scrolls are spread open)

It is read with a light or heavy shaddah. This refers to the scrolls of deeds. A person's scroll is folded upon their death, then spread open when they are brought to account. It is also possible that it means they are spread open among their owners, meaning distributed among them.

(10) Wa idhā as-samā’u kushitat (And when the sky is stripped away)

Meaning: uncovered and removed from what is above it, which is Paradise and the Throne of Allah, just as the skin (ihāb) is stripped from a slaughtered animal, or a covering is removed from something. Ibn Masʿūd read it as qushitat. The interchangeability of Qāf (ق) and Kāf (ك) is common; for example, labakta ath-tharīd and labaqta-hu, and alkāfūr and alqāfūr. Al-Farrā’ said: It means pulled off and folded up.

(11) Wa idhā al-jaḥīmu suʿʿirat (And when the Hellfire is fiercely blazed)

It is intensely ignited. It is read with a shaddah (suʿʿirat) for emphasis. It is said that Allah’s wrath and the sins of the children of Adam fuel it. Those who argue that the Fire is not yet created use this verse as proof, saying that it indicates its stoking is deferred until the Day of Resurrection.

(12) Wa idhā al-jannatu uzlifat (And when Paradise is brought near)

Meaning: brought close to the pious, like His saying: {And Paradise will be brought near for the righteous} [Ash-Shuʿarā’: 90].

After Allah the Exalted mentioned these twelve signs, He mentioned the recompense tied to the conditions, which is the sum of these events: {On that Day, every soul will know what it has brought forth}.

It is understood that deeds themselves cannot be physically brought forth. Therefore, what is meant is what the soul has brought forth in its scrolls, and what it has brought forth at the time of reckoning and the scales—the effects of those deeds. What is meant is what it has brought forth in terms of deserving Paradise or Hellfire.

(If it is asked): Every soul knows what it has brought forth, due to His saying: {The Day when every soul will find what it has done of good present, and what it has done of evil present} [Āl ʿImrān: 30]. So what is the meaning of {every soul will know}? Answer: There are two ways to answer this:

1. This is an instance of reversing speech intended for exaggeration, even if the word is used for the lesser degree. An example is His saying: {The disbelievers will wish} [Al-Ḥijr: 2] (implying they will wish intensely). It is like someone asking an obvious question and then asking, "Do you have anything on this?" and the respondent replies, "Perhaps something has come up," intending to indicate that he has a view on the matter that others do not hold. Similarly here.
2. Perhaps the disbelievers exerted themselves in things they believed to be acts of obedience, but on the Day of Resurrection, they realized otherwise. This is what is intended by this verse.

(13) Falā uqsimu bil-khunnas (So I swear by the retreating stars)

The discussion regarding {No! I swear by...} has already been covered in His saying: {No! I swear by the Day of Resurrection} [Al-Qiyāmah: 1].

Regarding {al-jawārī al-kunnas} (the stars that run their course and hide themselves), there are two opinions:

1. The Famous Opinion: They are the stars that retreat (al-khunnas), the plural of khānis. Khunūs, inqibāḍ, and istikhfā’ (retreating, drawing in, and hiding) are related. It is said: khanasa min bayn al-qawm (he withdrew from among the people). In the Hadith: "Satan whispers to the servant, and when Allah is mentioned, he retreats (khanasa)," meaning he draws back. That is why he is called al-Khannās (the Retreating One). {Al-kunnas} is the plural of kānis or kānisah. It is said: kanasa when it enters the kanās, which is the dwelling place of wild animals. It is said kanasat aẓ-ẓabā’u fī kunasihā (the gazelles entered their dens). Takannasat al-mar’ah means she entered her litter/palanquin, resembling a gazelle entering its den.

They differed on the retreating and hiding of the stars in three ways: * The most apparent view: This refers to the return of the five wandering planets (al-kawkab as-sayyārah). Their return is the khunūs, and their kunūs is their disappearance under the sunlight. This is undoubtedly a wondrous state with profound secrets. * Second Opinion: Narrated from ʿAlī (PBUH), ʿAṭā’, Muqātil, and Qatādah: They are all the stars. Their khunūs is their setting from sight during the day, and their kunūs is their appearance to sight at night, emerging in their places like wild animals in their dens. * Third Opinion: The seven wandering planets vary in their rising and setting points, as He said: {I swear by the Lord of the easts and the wests} [Al-Maʿārij: 40]. There is no doubt that there is one rising point and one setting point closest to our zenith. Then they begin to move away from that rising point to other rising points throughout the year, and then return to it. Thus, their khunūs refers to their moving away from that rising point, and their kunūs refers to their return to it. This is plausible. Based on the first view, the oath is taken by the five wandering planets. Based on the second view, the oath is taken by all stars. Based on this third possibility, the oath is taken by the seven wandering planets. Allah knows best His intent.

2. Second Opinion: This is the view of Ibn Masʿūd and An-Nakhaʿī: they are wild cows (baqar al-waḥsh). Saʿīd ibn Jubayr said: they are gazelles. In this case, al-khunnas refers to the concavity in the nose (al-khans in the nose). Cows and gazelles have noses described this way. {Al-kunnas} is the plural of kānis, meaning those that enter the kanās (den). The first opinion is stronger, supported by two points:

(14) Wal-layli idhā ʿasʿas (And by the night as it departs)

The first point is that He said immediately after this: {Al-kunnas, and the night as it departs}... (The text cuts off here, implying the second point relates to the structure of the oath).