Tafsir of Al-Qalam 68:42

"Uncovering the leg" and "revealing the anklets": This is a metaphor for the intensity of a matter and the difficulty of a situation. Its origin lies in times of terror, defeat, and the way women in seclusion tuck up their garments to flee, thereby revealing their anklets.

Hatim said: A brother of war; if war becomes difficult for him, he bites into it, And if war tucks up its leg, he tucks up his.

Ibn al-Ruqayyat said: It makes the old man forget his children, and reveals The anklets of the noble, chaste woman.

Thus, the meaning of {The Day when the leg shall be uncovered} is: "The Day when the matter becomes intense and grave." There is no literal uncovering, nor is there a literal leg, just as you might say to a stingy, amputated man: "His hand is shackled," when there is neither a hand nor a shackle; it is merely a metaphor for stinginess.

As for those who interpret it literally, it is due to their narrow-mindedness and lack of insight into the science of rhetoric (bayan). What deceived them was the hadith of Ibn Mas‘ud (may Allah be pleased with him): "The All-Merciful shall uncover His leg; the believers will fall in prostration, while the hypocrites will find their backs becoming like a single plate, as if there were skewers in them."

The meaning of this is: The matter of the All-Merciful becomes intense, and its terror becomes grave; it is the "Great Terror" on the Day of Resurrection. Furthermore, if the literalists were consistent, the "leg" should have been definite (al-saq), as it would be a specific, known leg according to them—the leg of the All-Merciful.

If you ask: Why did it come as an indefinite noun (nakirah) in the representation? I say: To indicate that it is a vague matter of intensity, an unfamiliar and extraordinary event, as in His saying: {The Day the Caller will call to a thing, something 'nukr' (horrible/unfamiliar)} (Al-Qamar: 6). It is as if it were said: "A day when a terrible, horrific event occurs."

This literalist interpretation is narrated from Muqatil. It is said that two men came from Khurasan: one who anthropomorphized to the point of literalism (Muqatil ibn Sulayman), and the other who negated attributes to the point of stripping them away (Jahm ibn Safwan). Whoever senses the great harm of losing this science (rhetoric) will realize the magnitude of its benefits.

Readings:

• "Yawma nakshifu" (with a nun).
• "Tukshafu" (with a ta), in the passive or active voice, referring to the Hour or the situation. That is: "The day the situation or the Hour becomes intense," as one says, "War has uncovered its leg," using it metaphorically.
• "Takshifu" (with a damma on the ta and a kasra on the shin), from akshafa, meaning to enter into a state of exposure.

The grammatical position of the adverbial phrase: It is linked to "Let them come," or it implies "Remember," or it implies "The day the leg is uncovered, such and such will happen," but it is omitted for the sake of profound awe, implying that there are events occurring that cannot be described due to their magnitude.

Regarding the hadith of Ibn Mas‘ud: "Their spines will become a single plate," meaning they will become bones without joints, unable to bend when rising or lowering.

If you ask: Why are they called to prostrate when there is no obligation (taklif)? I say: They are not called to it for worship or obligation, but as a rebuke and a reprimand for their refusal to prostrate in the world. By stiffening their spines and preventing them from the ability to do so, it serves to grieve them and make them regret what they neglected when they were called to prostrate while their spines and joints were sound, capable, and free of the ailments that now prevent them from what they were commanded to do.

{So leave Me and those who deny this discourse. We will lead them on from where they do not know. And I will give them time; indeed, My plan is firm.}