ﳏ ﳐ ﳑ ﳒ ﳓ ﳔ ﳕ ﳖ ﳗ ﳘ ﳙ ﳚ ﳛ ﳜ ﳝ ﳞ ﳟ ﳠ ﳡ ﳢ
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 that which you do.
Tafsir
Verse range: 27:88
{Stationary}: From the verb jamada (to freeze/remain) in one’s place, meaning they do not depart. The mountains are gathered and move just as the wind moves the clouds. When the observer looks at them, he thinks they are standing still, fixed in one place, {while they pass} by, moving swiftly just as clouds pass. Such is the case with massive, numerous bodies: when they move, their motion is barely perceptible, as Al-Nabigha said describing an army: “With a massive force like a mountain, you would think them standing for a need, while the horses are trotting.”
{The craftsmanship of Allah}: This is an emphatic verbal noun (masdar), like His saying: {The promise of Allah} (An-Nisa: 95) and others, and {The baptism of Allah} (Al-Baqarah: 138), except that the verb governing the masdar here is omitted. It is the one that would govern "the day the Trumpet is blown." The meaning is: "And on the day the Trumpet is blown, and such and such happens, Allah will reward the doers of good and punish the criminals." Then He said: {The craftsmanship of Allah}, intending by it: the rewarding and the punishing.
He placed this "craftsmanship" among the things He perfected and brought forth according to wisdom and correctness, as He said: {The craftsmanship of Allah, who perfected all things}. This means that His countering of good with reward and evil with punishment is part of His perfecting of things and His executing them according to the dictates of wisdom; for He is All-Knowing of what the servants do and what they deserve, so He recompenses them accordingly.
Then He summarized this by saying: {Whoever comes with a good deed...} until the end of the two verses. Observe the eloquence of this speech, the beauty of its arrangement and order, the placement of its components, and the solidity of its interpretation, where each part holds onto the waist of the other, as if it were poured out in a single casting. It is for this reason that it rendered the eloquent and the masters of rhetoric incapable.
A masdar like this, when it follows a statement, acts as a witness to its truth and a herald of its correctness, indicating that it could not have been otherwise. Do you not see His saying: {The craftsmanship of Allah}, {The baptism of Allah}, {The promise of Allah}, and {The natural disposition of Allah} (Ar-Rum: 30)? After marking them with the attribute of glorification by attributing them to Himself, how He followed them with: {Who perfected all things}, {And who is better than Allah in baptism?}, {Allah does not break His promise}, {There is no changing the creation of Allah}.
{Then he shall have better than it}: He intends the multiplication [of the reward], that the deed passes away but the reward remains—and how vast is the difference between the deed of the servant and the deed of the Master. It is also said: "He shall have better than it" means he shall have the good resulting from it, which is Paradise. Ibn Abbas said: "The good deed is the word of testimony (Shahada)."
{On that day}: It is read with a fatha (damma-less) with the genitive construction (idafa) because it is annexed to an indeclinable word; and it is read with a tanwin (accusative) meaning "terror."
If you ask: What is the difference between the two "terrors"? I say: The first terror is that which no one is free from when sensing a sudden, overwhelming calamity—a sense of awe and dread—even if the doer of good is secure from harm, just as a man enters upon a king with a trembling chest and a fearful heart, even if it is a time of honor, generosity, and appointment. As for the second, it is the fear of punishment.
If you ask: What is the meaning for one who reads "from terror" (min faza'in) with tanwin? I say: It admits two meanings:
{Secure}: It is made transitive by a preposition or directly, as in His saying: {Are they secure from the plan of Allah?} (Al-A'raf: 99).
It is said: {The evil} is polytheism. The whole is expressed by the face, head, and neck, as if it were said: "They were cast into the Fire," like His saying: {They were tumbled into it} (Ash-Shu'ara: 94). It is also possible that the mention of the faces is to indicate that they are cast into it upon their faces, inverted.
{Are you being recompensed?}: It is permissible here to interpret it as a shift in address (iltifat) and a narration of what is said to them upon being cast, by implying the verb "saying."
