In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The concise commentary
on the book "Identification Cards
for the Surahs of the Noble Qur'an"
by Dr. Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Aziz Ibn Umar Nasif,
may Allah preserve him.
Surah at-Takwir.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah,
and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.
We are continuing with the identification cards
for the surahs of the Noble Qur'an,
and specifically with Surah at-Takwir.
We have three points of reflection here.
The first reflection
concerns what has been mentioned regarding its virtue.
He, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said:
"Whoever is pleased
to look at the Day of Resurrection
as if
with their very eyes,
let them recite: 'When the sun
is wrapped up...'" — the hadith.
Notice the expression: "Whoever is pleased."
"Being pleased" means being delighted by something,
and a human being
naturally takes pleasure in beautiful,
reassuring, and glad-tiding things.
So how can a person be pleased
and delighted to see such a terrifying event?
"When the sun is wrapped up,
and when the stars fall dispersing,
and when the mountains are moved..." These verses
inspire fear, so how
does one derive
joy from this?
The reality is that a sensible person,
when alerted to an impending danger
and made deeply aware of that threat,
will be pleased with receiving this warning;
for having been cautioned
about the matter before it happens,
they are enabled to prepare for it.
The same applies here:
a person should be eager
to look at the Day of Resurrection
as if seeing it with their very eyes
through reciting such a surah as this.
Thereby,
one attains such an amount of fear
and hope
as will drive them to righteous action
before this momentous appointment arrives.
The second reflection
concerns the chronological order of the surah's revelation.
He stated that it is considered the sixth,
according to the well-known narration,
which indicates its early revelation.
There is also internal evidence supporting this early date:
he noted that the mention of seeing Gabriel
likewise suggests an early period of revelation,
as in it occurs the words of the Exalted:
"And he certainly saw him on the clear horizon."
And Gabriel—
it is established in the Seerah
from general evidence
that this event took place early on,
meaning the visual sighting of Gabriel.
Thus, this serves as corroborating evidence
reinforcing that the surah was among the earliest
of what was revealed.
As for the third
and final reflection,
it pertains to the opening of the surah
and its initial section.
He remarked that the opening of the surah begins with conditional clauses (idhā),
and I may have previously paused
to reflect upon these conditional clauses
in Surah al-Waqi'ah,
noting that these are future
appointments
which we must pay utmost attention to:
"When the Inevitable Event befalls,"
"When the sky breaks apart,"
"When the sun is wrapped up,"
"When the sky is split open."
"Idhā" denotes a future condition.
He said that the repeated "when" (idhā)
signifies that this future condition
is bound
to happen.
This aligns seamlessly
with his saying, peace be upon him:
"Whoever is pleased to look at the Day of Resurrection
as if with their very eyes..."
It means that you ponder every single
word in these verses,
so that it aids you in actively bringing to mind
this momentous scene.
Among these is "when" (idhā), with its implication
that the event is inevitable;
then the verses follow consecutively,
word by word,
each word further increasing
your capacity
to
visualize this momentous scene.
It goes without saying
that this cannot be achieved through hurried
recitation, nor
at a time when a person is
distracted; rather, you must dedicate
a night of your
nights to this surah,
or dedicate this surah
to one of your nights,
standing in prayer during it
for half an hour, an hour,
or more,
according to what Allah opens up for you,
pondering deeply over this surah.
I ask Allah to grant me and you success
in doing what He loves and is pleased with.
May Allah send peace and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his family
and Companions, and all praise is due to Allah,
the Lord of the worlds.