Tafsir of Al-Haqqah 69:13

"Then when the Trumpet is blown with a single blast" The verb is attributed to the verbal noun (masdar). Its masculine form is appropriate due to the separation between the verb and the subject. Abu al-Samal read it as nafkhah wahidah (accusative), attributing the verb to the prepositional phrase.

If you ask: "There are two blasts, so why is it called 'a single one'?" I say: It means it is not doubled at that specific moment.

If you ask: "Which of the two blasts is it?" I say: The first, because the corruption of the world occurs at that time. This is the narration from Ibn Abbas, though it is also narrated from him that it is the second.

If you ask: "But did He not say later, 'On that Day you will be presented,' and the presentation only occurs at the second blast?" I say: He made "the Day" a name for the vast duration in which both blasts, the swooning, the resurrection, the standing, and the reckoning occur. Thus, it is said, "On that Day you will be presented," just as you say, "I came to him in such-and-such a year," even though your arrival was only at one specific moment within it.

"And the earth and the mountains are lifted" They are lifted from their foundations by a wind that reaches such intensity in its violence that it carries the earth and the mountains. Or, it is by a creation of angels, or by the power of Allah without a cause. It is also read wa-humilat (omitting the carrier, which is one of the three).

"And crushed with a single crushing" Both groups—the group of the earths and the group of the mountains—are crushed. They are struck against one another until they are pulverized and return as shifting sand, or scattered dust. Dakk (crushing) is more intense than daqq (pounding). It is also said: they are flattened into a single expanse, becoming an earth in which you see no crookedness or unevenness, derived from the saying: "The camel's hump became indakka (flattened/spread out)."

"Then on that Day, the Event will occur" At that moment, the inevitable calamity—the Resurrection—will descend.

"And the heaven will split, for it is that Day, frail" It will be relaxed and lose its strength entirely, after having been firm and held together.

"And the angels will be on its edges" He refers to the creation called "the angels" (al-malak). The pronoun is returned to them in the plural in His saying "above them" based on the meaning.

If you ask: "What is the difference between saying al-malak and al-mala'ikah?" I say: Al-malak is more general than al-mala'ikah. Do you not see that saying "There is no angel (malak) but that he is a witness" is more general than saying "There are no angels (mala'ikah)..."?

"On its edges" Meaning its sides. The singular is raja', written with a shortened alif. It means the heaven will split—as it is the dwelling of the angels—and they will retreat to its extremities and surrounding borders.

"And eight will bear the Throne of your Lord above them that Day, eight" Meaning eight of them. From the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): "They are four today, but when the Day of Resurrection comes, Allah will support them with four others, so they will be eight."

It is narrated: Eight angels whose feet are in the foundations of the seventh earth, and the Throne is above their heads; they are bowing their heads and glorifying. It is said some are in the form of humans, some lions, some bulls, and some eagles. It is narrated they are eight angels in the form of mountain goats, the distance between their hooves and their knees being a seventy-year journey.

From Shahr ibn Hawshab: Four of them say, "Glory be to You, O Allah, and with Your praise; Yours is the praise for Your pardon after Your power." And four say, "Glory be to You, O Allah, and with Your praise; Yours is the praise for Your forbearance after Your knowledge."

From al-Hasan: Allah knows best how many they are—eight, or eight thousand? From al-Dahhak: Eight rows, the number of which only Allah knows. It is possible that the "eight" are from the Spirit, or from another creation, for He is capable of every creation.

"On that Day you will be presented" Al-'ard (presentation) is an expression for reckoning and questioning. It is likened to a ruler presenting his army to know their conditions. It is narrated that on the Day of Resurrection there are three presentations: two are for excuses, argumentation, and rebuke; the third is when the records are spread out, so the successful one takes his book in his right hand, and the doomed one takes his book in his left.

"Not a secret of yours will remain hidden" A secret and a condition that was hidden in the world due to Allah’s covering of you.