Al-Fajr: (21) Nay! When the Earth is ground to dust,

Translation and Exegesis

[21] كلا إذا دكت الأرض دكا دكا

Kallā (Nay/Indeed not)! When the Earth is ground to dust, grinding, grinding.

Note: The word {Kallā} is a reprimand to them for their actions, rejecting their conduct. It means that the state of affairs should not be such that one is excessively eager for worldly gain, limits their ambition to acquiring it, relies upon it, refrains from sharing wealth, and accumulates it through lawful or unlawful means, presuming there will be no reckoning or punishment.

Whoever is in this state will regret it when regret is of no avail. They will wish they had spent their entire life drawing near to God through righteous deeds and sharing their wealth with Him. Then, the verse explains that this regret and wishing will occur when the Day is described with three characteristics.

{إذا دكت الأرض دكا دكا} (When the Earth is ground to dust, grinding, grinding)

• Linguistics: Al-Khalil said that Dakk (دك) means breaking a wall or a mountain. Dakkāk (الدكداك) is compacted sand. A Maddūk (مدك) man is one who treads heavily upon the earth. Al-Mubarrid said that Dakk is leveling what is high by flattening it; the hump of a camel indakka (انْدَكَّ) when it flattens on its back, and a Dakkā’ (دكاء) she-camel is one like that. From this comes Dukkān (دكان - shop/bench) because of its flatness when spread out.
• Meaning: According to Al-Khalil, Dakk means the breaking of everything on the face of the earth—mountains or trees—when it is shaken, leaving nothing upon its surface. According to Al-Mubarrid, it means the Earth becomes leveled and flattened, causing its mounds, palaces, and all structures to disappear, turning it into a smooth desert. This aligns with Ibn Abbas's statement: "The Earth is stretched out on the Day of Resurrection."

Repetition: The repetition in {دكا دكا} signifies successive grinding, like saying, "I counted him one by one" (bāban bāban) or "I knew it letter by letter" (harfan harfan). It means the grinding was repeated until everything became scattered dust.

Sequence: This grinding must occur after the initial earthquake. When the Earth is shaken repeatedly, and moved again and again, the mountains upon it will be broken, the hills demolished, the valleys filled, and the surface made smooth. This happens at the collapse of the world. God Almighty says: {The Day the earth will be violently shaken, Followed by the subsequent shaking} (An-Nazi'at: 6-7), and {And the earth and the mountains will be carried away and crushed with a single crushing} (Al-Haqqah: 14), and {When the earth is shaken with a violent shaking, And the mountains are ground to complete dust}.

{وجاء ربك والملك صفا صفا} (And your Lord will come, and the angels, rank upon rank.)

Note on Divine Movement: It is established by rational proof that movement is impossible for God, as anything that moves must be a body, and a body cannot be eternal. Therefore, interpretation (Ta’wīl) is necessary. This interpretation involves the omission of a word (the muḍāf) and the substitution of the muḍāf ilayhi (the possessed/attributed thing) in its place. What is this omitted word? There are several views:

1. The Command of your Lord: The coming of your Lord's command regarding accountability and recompense.
2. The Power/Overwhelming Force of your Lord: As when one says, "The Banu Umayyah came to us," meaning their power overwhelmed us.
3. The Great Signs of your Lord: Since this occurs on the Day of Resurrection, when great and magnificent signs appear. Their coming is attributed to God for the glorification of those signs.
4. The Manifestation of your Lord: Because knowledge of God becomes necessary (self-evident) on that Day, it is likened to His manifestation and unveiling to creation. Thus, {Your Lord will come} means doubt and ambiguity will be removed.
5. A Metaphor: This is a metaphor for the manifestation of God's signs and the clarification of His power and dominion. The situation is likened to a king who attends in person; merely by his presence, the signs of awe and governance appear in a way that the presence of all his armies cannot achieve.
6. The Sustainer (Rabb): Rabb can mean the one who nurtures/sustains. Perhaps the greatest of angels, who is the sustainer of the Prophet (PBUH), will come, and he is intended by the phrase {Your Lord will come}.

Regarding {والملك صفا صفا} (and the angels, rank upon rank): This means the angels of every heaven will descend and stand in rows upon rows, surrounding humankind and jinn.

{وجيء يومئذ بجهنم} (And Hell will be brought forth that Day.)

This is similar to His saying: {And Hellfire will be displayed for all to see} (Ash-Shu'ara: 91).

A group of commentators said that Hell will be brought forth on the Day of Resurrection, led by seventy thousand reins, with seventy thousand angels pulling each rein. It will be positioned to the left of the Throne. It will recoil with such a fright that if left alone, it would consume all those gathered.

The scholars of Usul (principles of jurisprudence) state that it is known that Hell is not detached from its place (i.e., it is a fixed location). Therefore, {will be displayed} means it will appear so that the creation sees it, and the disbeliever knows his destination is towards it.

Then He says: {That Day, man will remember}.

The structure of the statement implies: When the Earth is ground to dust, and all these events occur, {That Day, man will remember}. There are several aspects to his remembrance:

1. Remembering what he neglected: While in the world, his focus was on worldly acquisition. In the Hereafter, he remembers that this was misguidance, and he should have focused on the Hereafter.
2. Remembering to take heed (I'tizāz): Meaning, he did not take heed in the world, so in the Hereafter, he becomes one who takes heed, saying: {Oh, would that we had been returned [to the world] and not denied the signs of our Lord} (Al-An'am: 27).
3. Remembering to repent: This is narrated from Al-Hasan.

Then the Almighty says: {And how will the remembrance be of any use to him?} {When a clear messenger has already come to them} (Ad-Dukhan: 13).

Note on Contradiction: There appears to be a contradiction between {man will remember} and {how will the remembrance be of any use to him?}. Therefore, an implied word must be assumed: "And how will the benefit of remembrance be available to him?"

Jurisprudential Issue: This verse leads to a principle in jurisprudence: According to us (the Ash'aris/Sunnis), accepting repentance is not rationally obligatory upon God. The Mu'tazila argue that it is obligatory.

Our Proof: This verse indicates that in the Hereafter, man knows that what he did in the world was not the best course, and what he abandoned was better. Once he knows this, he must regret it. When regret occurs, repentance has taken place. Yet, God negates the benefit of this repentance by saying: {And how will the remembrance be of any use to him?}. Thus, we know that accepting repentance is not rationally obligatory.

The Mu'tazila Objection: They argue that the people are only regretting their actions because of the punishment attached to them, not because of the inherent ugliness of the deeds. Therefore, their repentance is not valid.

Our Reply: When they realize that regret over an ugly deed must be based on its inherent ugliness for it to be beneficial, it necessitates that their regret is based on the ugliness itself. In that case, they would have performed valid repentance, yet it remains unaccepted. This confirms our position (that acceptance is not obligatory).