Tafsir of An-Naml 27:87

"And the Day the Trumpet will be blown..."

If you ask: Why was it said fazi‘a (past tense: "they became terrified") instead of yafza‘u (present tense: "they become terrified")?

I say: For a subtle point, which is to signal the certainty and establishment of this terror, and that it is inevitable and will surely befall the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth. This is because the past tense verb indicates the existence of the action and that it is definitively settled.

The intended meaning is their terror at the first blowing of the Trumpet, when they will be struck unconscious, "except whom Allah wills"—those whose hearts Allah has made firm among the angels. It is said: They are Gabriel, Michael, Israfil, and the Angel of Death, peace be upon them. It is also said: The martyrs. From al-Dahhak: The Houris, the keepers of Hell, and the bearers of the Throne. From Jabir: Among them is Moses, peace be upon him, because he was struck unconscious once [before]. Similar to this is His saying, the Exalted: "And the Trumpet will be blown, and whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth will fall dead except whom Allah wills" (Az-Zumar: 68).

It has been recited as atuhu (they came to Him) and atahu (he came to Him), and dakhirin (submissive). The plural form is based on the meaning, while the singular is based on the wording. Al-dakhir and al-dakhr mean the humiliated/submissive. It is said that the "coming" refers to their presence at the Standing Place after the second blowing of the Trumpet. It is also permissible that it means their return to His command and their submission to Him.

"And you see the mountains, thinking them rigid, while they will pass as the passing of clouds. [It is] the work of Allah, who perfected all things. Indeed, He is Acquainted with what you do. Whoever comes [on the Day of Resurrection] with a good deed will have better than it, and they, from the terror of that Day, will be safe. And whoever comes with an evil deed—their faces will be cast into the Fire. Are you being recompensed except for what you used to do?"