Tafsir of Al-Inshiqaq 84:16

Al-Shafaq: The redness seen in the west after the sun sets. With its disappearance, the time for Maghrib ends and the time for 'Atama (Isha) begins, according to the majority of scholars. An exception is one of the two narrations from Abu Hanifa (may Allah be pleased with him), who held that it is the whiteness. Asad ibn 'Amr narrated that he retracted this view. It is named shafaq due to its thinness (riqqa). From this comes shafaqah (compassion) for a person: the tenderness of the heart toward them.

{Wa ma wasaq} (And what it gathers): Meaning what it collects and brings together. It is said: wasaqahu (he gathered it), so it became ittasaqa (gathered) and istawsaqa (became collected). It is said:

"Collected together, if they could find a driver."

Its equivalent in the occurrence of ifta'ala and istaf'ala as intransitive forms is ittasa'a and istawsa'a. Its meaning is: what it gathers, covers, and shelters of animals and other things.

{Idha ittasaq} (When it becomes full): When it gathers and becomes complete, on the night of the fourteenth (the full moon).

Readings:

• {La-tarkabunna} (You shall surely ride): With a fatha on the ta, addressing the human being mentioned in "He created the human being."
• {Lu-rkabunna}: With a damma on the lam, addressing the genus (mankind), as the address is for the species.
• {La-tarkabinna}: With a kasra on the ba, addressing the self (the Prophet).
• {La-yarkabunna}: With a ya, referring back to "the human being."

{Al-Tabaq}: That which matches another. It is said: "This is not a tabaq (match) for that," meaning it does not correspond to it. From this, the lid is called a tabaq. Itbaq al-thara refers to the layers of the earth that match one another. Then, a state that matches another is called a tabaq.

{Tabaqan 'an tabaq} (State after state): Meaning state after state, each one matching the other in severity and terror. It is also permissible that it is the plural of tabaqa (a rank/layer), from the saying: "He is in ranks." From this is the tabaq of the back for its vertebrae; each one is a tabaqa. The meaning is: You shall surely ride states after states, which are layers in severity, some higher than others, namely death and the stations of the Resurrection and its terrors that follow it.

If you ask: What is the grammatical position of 'an tabaq? I say: It is in the accusative as an adjective for tabaqan, meaning "a state surpassing another state." Or it is a state (hal) from the pronoun in la-tarkabunna, meaning "you shall ride a state, surpassing another state." Or it is mujawizan (surpassing) or mujawizatan (surpassing), depending on the reading. Makhul said: "Every twenty years, you will find a matter you were not previously upon."

{So what is [the matter] with them that they do not believe? * And when the Qur'an is recited to them, they do not prostrate? * But those who have disbelieved deny. * And Allah is most knowing of what they keep inside. * So give them tidings of a painful punishment. * Except for those who believe and do righteous deeds; for them is a reward uninterrupted.}