Surah Az-Zumar 39:64-70 - Quran Translation Commentary

65.And verily it has been revealed to you and those who passed before you that if you ascribe a partner to Allah your deeds will come to nothing and you will be among the losers.¹¹³

66.Nay, but worship Allah and be among the thankful.¹¹⁴

67.And they do not esteem Allah as He had the right to be esteemed ¹¹⁵. On the Day of Resurrection the entire earth will be in His grasp and the heavens will fold up in His right hand.¹¹⁶ Immaculate is He and High Exalted above all that they ascribe to Him as partner.¹¹⁷

68.And the Trumpet will be blown, and all who are in the heavens and the earth will fall down fainting, except those whom Allah wills.¹¹⁸ Then it will be blown a second time, and suddenly they will be standing gazing.¹¹⁹

69.The earth will shine with the light of its Lord ¹²⁰, and the book (of records) will be laid open.¹²¹ The prophets and the witnesses will be brought in,¹²² and all will be judged with truth¹²³ (in fairness), and they will not be wronged.

70.And each soul will be paid in full for what it did. And Allah knows what they do.

Commentary

112. This is a stiff answer to those ignorant people who even after getting clear arguments about monotheism insisted that the Prophet should worship their idols. On such fools soft words have no effect. Therefore, the wise policy of communication demanded that they should be strictly warned and the benefit of addressing them as ignorant would perhaps result in their getting a jolt and waking up.

113. The addressee is the Prophet, S.A.W., that Allah had revealed to him and also to the earlier prophets the same message that if they committed polytheism their deeds will go waste and they will be destroyed. Every prophet was emphatically told to shun ‘shirk’, which shows that polytheism is such a sin that no quarters would be given to the guilty of polytheism, “Even if he is a Prophet” This not mean that a prophet is also likely to indulge in polytheism, but it was stated to show that in the matter of polytheism Allah’s law is indiscriminate.

114. It should be noted that only he call be grateful to Allah who worships Him. Idolaters and polytheists cannot be thankful to Him.

115. That is: They could not have the right concept of the greatness of Allah and they could not realise the significance of the High Exalted nature of His greatness.

116. This establishes the right concept of Allah’s greatness. On the Day of Resurrection the earth’s being in His grasp and the heavens folding up in His hand is the manifestation of His ability to do with them whatever He likes. When people will see this on the Day of Resurrection, they will have the correct estimate of Allah’s greatness and power. Here the discussion as to what is meant by Allah’s grasp and hands is useless. Without trying to interpret it, we should try to understand what is the main point to he understood, and the main point is quite clear. So far as our past elders were concerned they used to say that the main point is to inform the people of Allah’s greatness and power. But they did not consider His grasp and hands as physical items, and they used to consider Allah above any physical form (Please see Tafseer Roohul Ma’ni part 24 P. 26).

In fact the problem of belief in the matter of Allah’s attributes is very delicate, and scholars of later generation have made the problem very complicated by indulging in philosophical discussions. Therefore, the safe procedure is to follow the line of the elders of the past, and we should not try to interpret the words which were used for grasp and hands of Allah, and we should try to understand the main point of the wordings.

The purpose of the ayah is made further clear by this hadith which states: “The messenger of Allah read this ayah on the pulpit. He Was opening his fingers and closing them and was addressing his audience: Allah will take the earth and the heavens in His hands and will say: ‘I am Allah, I am the king.’ Abdullah bin Umar says that the pulpit (member) was shaking from the bottom so much so that he feared that the Prophet might fall from it.” -(Muslim Kitab Sifatul Munafiqeen).

117. When the earth and the heavens are under the sovereignty of Allah, then where is the existence of other gods?

118. When the first trumpet will be sounded all the creatures of the earth and the heavens, having soul and intellect will be terribly frightened (as is stated in Ayah No.87, Surah Naml), and all will faint and fall down, and all humans that will be on the earth will die. From the unconsciousness of the Doomsday only those angels and beings with souls will be exempted whom the will of Allah will permit, and only Allah knows who are those beings who will be exempted from fainting on the occasion.

119. The condition of mankind after the sounding of the second trumpet is being stated. On the second sounding of the trumpet all humans will at once get up and will be gazing around them as to where they are. Dawatul Quran 283 S. 39

120. The sun has already been made to disappear, therefore, there will be new arrangement for lighting in the ground of Hashr, and it will be that the whole earth will become bright with the light of Allah’s being. It is difficult for us to ascertain in what way this light is related to Allah, for it will only be mere guesswork, which should be avoided. However it becomes quite clear that when the earth will shine in this light, then everything will be seen in its original condition, Nothing will be hidden and invisible. Man’s sight will also be very powerful, and those realities which were unseen by eyes will now be seen by him.

121. That is: Allah’s court will be held and the Book of records of the deeds of every person, which the angels had been preparing will be brought and kept open.

122. The prophets will attend the Court of Allah and will give witness that they had conveyed the message of Allah to His slaves and they had responded in such and such manner. By other witnesses means the sincere followers of the prophets who had conveyed the message of the true religion to the people; they will also give witness that they had also conveyed the message of Allah to the people.

123. That is: After the presentation of the record and the evidence of the witnesses judgment will be delivered in the case of each and every individual, and this judgment will be with truth and justice.

And those who fear their Lord will be led to the Paradise in groups, till when they reach it, and its gates will be opened, and its warders will say to them: “Peace be to you! You are good, so enter you (the Paradise), to dwell therein for ever.” (AL-Quran)