In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
A summary of the Tafsir of al-Tabari.
Abridged by Dr. 'Aqil ibn Salim al-Shamr.
Surah al-Nazi'at.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
By those who extract with violence.
By those who release with ease.
By those who swim along.
And those who race ahead in the race.
And those who arrange the command.
On the day the quaking one quakes.
Followed by the succeeding one.
Hearts that day will be trembling.
Their eyes humbled.
Our Lord, may His majesty be exalted, swore by those who extract with violence.
He did not specify one type of extractor over another.
Thus, every extractor that pulls with violence is included in His oath.
Whether it be an angel or death.
Or a star or a bow.
Or anything else.
And He swore by those who release with ease.
These are those that move from one place to another.
Proceeding toward it.
Allah did not specify this to one thing over another.
Rather, the oath encompasses all those that release.
The angels move from one place to another.
Likewise does death.
And likewise do the stars.
And He swore by those of His creation who swim along.
Death swims within the soul of the son of Adam.
And the stars swim in their orbits.
Allah did not specify some of these over others.
Thus, it applies to every swimmer.
And He swore by those who race ahead.
The angels and the horses are racers.
And the stars outpace one another in their movement.
Thus, it applies to every racer.
And He swore by the angels who arrange the command as they have been ordered by Allah.
On the day the earth and the mountains quake at the first blast.
Followed by another that succeeds the first.
Hearts of His creation on that day.
Will be fearful of the immense terror that has descended.
The eyes of their owners will be downcast due to the gloom that has overcome them.
From the immense terror of that day.
They will say, "Are we really being returned to our former state?"
“Even after we are crumbled bones?” (79:11)
“They say: Then that would be a vain proceeding.” (79:12)
It will be but a single blast.
And suddenly they will be upon the surface of the earth.
These people who deny the Resurrection will say:
"Are we really being returned to our original state before death?"
"And returning to life as we were before we died?"
"That return is now a return of loss."
It will be but a single shout.
And suddenly these deniers of the Resurrection will be upon the surface of the earth.
Which is the face of the earth.
Has the hadith of Musa reached you?
When his Lord called to him in the sacred valley of Tuwa.
"Go to Pharaoh, for he has transgressed."
“And say (unto him): Hast thou (will) to grow (in grace)?” (79:18)
“Then I will guide thee to thy Lord and thou shalt fear (Him).” (79:19)
Has the hadith of Musa ibn 'Imran reached you, O Muhammad?
And have you heard his story when his Lord spoke to him in the purified, blessed valley?
Regarding "Tuwa," some said it is the name of the valley.
Others said it means "tread the ground barefoot."
Others said the valley was sanctified twice.
"Go to Pharaoh, for he has acted with tyranny and exceeded his bounds in hostility."
And in arrogance toward his Lord.
"Say to him: 'Would you like to purify yourself from the filth of disbelief and believe in your Lord?'"
"'And would you like for me to guide you to what will make your Lord pleased with you?'"
"'So that you may fear His punishment by performing the obligations He has laid upon you.'"
"'And by refraining from the acts of disobedience He has forbidden you.'"
Then he showed him the greatest sign.
But he denied and disobeyed.
Then he turned his back, striving.
Then he gathered his people and called out.
“And proclaimed: "I (Pharaoh) am your Lord the Highest."” (79:24)
“So Allah seized him (and made him) an example for the after (life) and for the former.” (79:25)
“Lo! herein is indeed a lesson for him who feareth.” (79:26)
Musa showed Pharaoh the greatest proof that he was a messenger sent to him by Allah.
But Pharaoh denied Musa regarding the miraculous signs he brought.
And he disobeyed him in what he commanded him regarding obeying his Lord and fearing Him.
Then he turned away, acting in disobedience to Allah.
And in what angers Him.
He gathered his people and followers, then called out to them and said:
"I am your lord, and there is no lord other than me."
So Allah punished him with the punishment of the Hereafter for his statement.
Which is his saying, "I am your lord, the Most High."
And the first was his statement.
“And Pharaoh said: O chiefs! I know not that ye have a god other than me, so kindle for me (a fire), O Haman, to bake the mud; and set up for me a lofty tower in order that I may survey the god of Moses; and lo! I deem him of the liars.” (28:38)
Others said:
Rather, He meant by that...
So Allah seized him with the punishment of this world and the Hereafter.
Indeed, in the punishment with which Allah punished Pharaoh in this fleeting world.
And in His seizing of him.
Is a lesson and a warning for whoever fears Allah and dreads His punishment.
“Are ye the harder to create, or is the heaven that He built?” (79:27)
He constructed it.
He raised its ceiling and proportioned it.
“And He made dark the night thereof, and He brought forth the morn thereof.” (79:29)
Are you, O people, a more difficult creation, or is the heaven?
Your Lord constructed it, and He proportioned the heaven.
Nothing is higher than anything else.
And nothing is lower than anything else.
Rather, all of it is uniform in height and extension.
For He who constructed the heaven and raised it as a ceiling.
Finds your creation and the creation of those like you easy.
And your resurrection after your death.
Your creation after your death is not more difficult than the creation of the heaven.
He darkened the night of the heaven and brought forth its day, making it manifest.
And He brightened its morning.
“And after that He spread the earth,” (79:30)
“And produced therefrom the water thereof and the pasture thereof,” (79:31)
And the mountains He set firm.
“And after that He spread the earth,” (79:30)
He caused its rivers to flow and its vegetation to grow.
And He brought forth from it its water and its pasture.
As a benefit for us and a provision for a time.
And the mountains He established therein.
As a provision for you and your livestock.
Meaning that He created these things.
As a benefit for us and a provision for a time.
But when the greatest catastrophe comes.
“The day when man will call to mind his (whole) endeavour,” (79:35)
“And hell will stand forth visible to him who seeth,” (79:36)
When that which overwhelms every terrifying matter comes.
And submerges everything else with its immense terror.
Man will remember what he did in the world of good and evil.
That is his striving.
And Hell will be made manifest to the eyes of those who see.
So as for he who transgressed.
And preferred the life of this world.
“Lo! hell will be his home.” (79:39)
As for he who acted with tyranny toward his Lord and disobeyed Him.
And grew arrogant toward His worship.
And preferred the enjoyment of the life of this world over the honor of the Hereafter.
And what Allah has prepared therein for His allies.
So he worked for the world and strove for it.
And abandoned working for the Hereafter.
Then the Fire of Allah, which is called Hell.
Is his dwelling and abode.
And his destination to which he will return on the Day of Resurrection.
But as for he who feared the position of his Lord.
“But as for him who feared to stand before his Lord and restrained his soul from lust,” (79:40)
“Lo! the Garden will be his home.” (79:41)
As for he who feared being questioned by Allah.
When he stands before Him on the Day of Resurrection.
And feared Him by performing His obligations and refraining from His disobedience.
And restrained his soul from its desires in what Allah dislikes.
And does not approve of from it.
So he forbade it from that.
And opposed its desires in favor of what his Lord commanded him.
Then Paradise is his abode and dwelling on the Day of Resurrection.
They ask you about the Hour, when is its arrival?
In what capacity are you mentioning it?
To your Lord is its finality.
“Thou art but a warner unto him who feareth it.” (79:45)
“On the day when they behold it, it will be as if they had but tarried for an evening or the morn thereof.” (79:46)
These deniers of the Resurrection ask you, O Muhammad.
About the Hour in which the dead will be resurrected from their graves.
When is its arrival?
When will it be established and appear?
What knowledge do you have to mention the Hour and inquire about its state?
To your Lord is the finality of its knowledge.
Meaning, to Him alone the knowledge of the Hour ends.
No one knows the time of its establishment except Him.
You are only a messenger sent to warn of the Hour.
To those who fear the punishment of Allah therein for their crimes.
So leave what you have not been tasked to know.
And act according to what you have been commanded regarding warning those you were ordered to warn.
It will be as if these deniers of the Hour.
On the day they see that the Hour has arrived.
Due to its immense terror, they had not remained in the world except for an evening.
Or the morning of that evening.
A summary of the Tafsir of al-Tabari.