Sūrat al-Takwīr

Meccan. It contains 29 verses (revealed after al-Masad).

In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

1. When the sun is wrapped in darkness [and loses its light].

2. And when the stars fall, losing their luster.

3. And when the mountains are made to move [and vanish].

4. And when full-term pregnant camels are neglected [left untended].

5. And when the wild beasts are gathered together.

6. And when the seas are set aflame [or overflow].

7. And when the souls are paired [with their deeds or their counterparts].

8. And when the girl [who was] buried alive is asked—

9. For what sin she was killed.

10. And when the scrolls [of deeds] are spread open.

11. And when the sky is stripped away.

12. And when Hellfire is set ablaze.

13. And when Paradise is brought near.

14. [Then] a soul will [come to] know what it has brought [with it].

Regarding at-takwir, there are two interpretations:

1. From kawwara al-‘imama (wrapping the turban): Meaning its light is wrapped up, causing its expansion and diffusion across the horizons to cease. This signifies its removal and disappearance, for as long as it remains, its light is spread out, not wrapped. Alternatively, "wrapping" signifies its lifting and veiling; just as when one intends to remove a garment, it is folded and rolled up. Similar is His saying: "The day We shall roll up the heavens" (Al-Anbiya: 104).
2. From kawrahu (to throw/cast): Meaning it is cast away from its orbit, just as the stars are described as inkadarat (falling/dimming).

If you ask: Is the elevation of "the sun" (ash-shamsu) due to it being an initial subject (ibtida’) or an active agent (fa’iliyya)? I say: It is an active agent. Its raiser is a hidden verb explained by kuwwirat. This is because idha (when) requires a verb due to its conditional nature. Inkadarat means "it has passed/ended." A poet said: "He saw a hawk in the open space, so it descended (fankadara)."

It is narrated regarding the sun and stars that they will be cast into Hell so that those who worshipped them may see them, as He said: "Indeed, you and what you worship other than Allah are the fuel of Hell" (Al-Anbiya: 98).

"Suyyirat" (When the mountains are moved): Meaning moved across the face of the earth and cast away, or moved through the atmosphere like clouds, as in His saying: "And it passes like the passing of clouds" (An-Naml: 88).

"Al-‘isharu" (The pregnant camels): The plural of ‘ushara’, like nifas is the plural of nafa’sa’. It refers to a camel that has reached ten months of pregnancy; it is the most precious and cherished possession to its owners.

"‘Uttilat" (Neglected): Left abandoned and ignored. It is said: its owners neglected to milk or tend to them, being preoccupied with themselves.

"Hushirat" (Gathered): Collected from every direction. Qatada said: Everything will be gathered, even the flies, for retribution. Others say: Once judgment is passed between them, they will be turned to dust, leaving only those that bring joy to humans or are admired for their beauty, like the peacock. Ibn Abbas said: Its gathering is its death.

"Sujjirat" (Filled/Kindled): From sajara at-tannur (to fill the oven with firewood). Meaning they will be filled and burst into one another until they become a single sea. Others say: They will be filled with raging fire to punish the people of Hell. Al-Hasan said: Its water will vanish, leaving not a single drop.

"Zawwujat" (Paired): Every soul will be joined with its counterpart. Some say: Souls will be joined with bodies; others say with their deeds and records. Al-Hasan said it is like: "And you will be three kinds" (Al-Waqi‘a: 7). Others say: The souls of the believers with the Hur, and the souls of the disbelievers with the devils.

"Wa’d" (The burying alive of girls): Derived from ada ya’udu (to weigh down). It is called this because it is a burden of earth. When a man wanted to keep his daughter alive, he would dress her in wool or hair and have her tend to livestock in the desert. If he wanted to kill her, he would wait until she was six, tell her mother to adorn her, then take her to a pit he had dug, tell her to look inside, push her from behind, and shovel earth over her until the ground was level.

If you ask: What drove them to bury girls alive? I say: Fear of shame or fear of poverty, as Allah says: "Do not kill your children for fear of poverty" (Al-Isra: 31). They also claimed the angels were the daughters of Allah, so they felt they had a better right to them.

If you ask: What is the meaning of questioning the girl buried alive about the sin for which she was killed? Why is the killer not asked about the cause of his killing? I say: Her questioning and answering is a rebuke to her killer, similar to the rebuke in His saying to Jesus: "Did you say to the people, 'Take me...'" (Al-Ma’ida: 116). It is a clear proof that the children of polytheists will not be punished, and that punishment is only deserved through sin. If Allah rebukes the disbeliever with the innocence of the buried girl, how ugly it would be for Him—He who does not wrong anyone by an atom's weight—to then turn upon her after this rebuke and inflict upon her the severe, eternal torment.

"Nushirat" (The scrolls are spread): The records of deeds. A person's scroll is folded at death and spread open when they are brought to account. Qatada said: "O son of Adam, your scroll is folded upon your deeds, then spread on the Day of Resurrection, so let a man look at what he dictates into his scroll."

"Kushitat" (Stripped away): Uncovered and removed, just as skin is stripped from a slaughtered animal or a cover from an object.

"Su’irat" (Kindled): Ignited with intense fire. It is said: The wrath of Allah and the sins of the children of Adam kindled it.

"Uzlifat" (Brought near): Brought close to the righteous, as in: "And Paradise will be brought near to the righteous, not far" (Qaf: 31). These are twelve qualities: six in this world and six in the Hereafter.

"‘Alimat nafsun ma ahdarat" (A soul will know what it has brought): This is the agent of the accusative case for "the wicked" (al-fajara) when the sun is wrapped up.

If you ask: "Every soul will know" implies all souls, yet the text says "a soul" (nafsun). What is the meaning? I say: It is a rhetorical inversion used to express intensity, similar to "How many a disbeliever wishes..." (Al-Hijr: 2). It is a way of expressing a vast, certain reality through a form that implies universality. When Ibn Mas‘ud heard this recited, he said: "My back is broken [by the weight of this realization]."