Sūrat al-Infiṭār

Classification: Meccan. Verses: 19 (Revealed after al-Nāziʿāt).

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

1. When the sky splits asunder,

2. And when the stars scatter,

3. And when the seas are made to gush forth,

4. And when the graves are overturned,

5. A soul shall know what it has sent forth and what it has left behind.

{انفطرت} (is cleft asunder): It is split open.

{والبحار فجرت} (and the seas are made to flow forth): Some are opened into others, so the fresh water mixes with the salt, the barrier between them is removed, and the seas become one single sea. It is narrated that the earth will split to receive the water after the seas are filled, becoming level; this is the meaning of tasjir (filling/overflowing) according to al-Hasan. It has been recited as fujjirat (with a shaddah) and fujirat (with a lightened/takhfif reading).

Mujahid recited it as fajarat (active voice, lightened), meaning: it transgressed (baghat) due to the removal of the barrier, in view of the Almighty’s saying: "They do not transgress" (Ar-Rahman: 20), because transgression (baghy) and wickedness (fujur) are siblings.

{بعثرت} (are overturned/scattered): Ba‘thara and bahthara have the same meaning; both are compound words derived from ba‘th (resurrection/sending forth) and bahth (searching/digging), with a ra added to them. The meaning is: it is dug up and its dead are brought forth. It is also said that this refers to the Bara’ah (Surah at-Tawbah), which is called al-Mu‘athirah because it exposed the secrets of the hypocrites.