Surah Al-Infitar 82:1-19 - Quran Translation Commentary

1. In the past man had been thinking that this material world would continue to remain as it is for ever and that there was no possibility of its meeting any accident to change it. So far as the modern science is concerned, its progress has compelled man to admit that the energy of the sun is likely to diminish and this universe can experience a great catastrophe. However, such a contingency would? arise, according to the scientists, after billions of years.

But Quran, which is the Divine Word, does not talk of mere possibility. It informs in a very positive manner and clear words that soon this universe will meet with a great catastrophe and not only this earth but the system and order of the skies (space) will also be completely dislocated, so that a new world with a new system and order may be brought into being. It is obvious that for a new construction, destruction is necessary, and therefore, for the building of the new world the destruction of the existing world is not surprising.

The disturbance and dislocation in the earth and the heavens on the Doomsday is also mentioned in the Bible.

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heaven will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up,”(2 Peter 3 -10)

This is a proof that the great catastrophe About which the Quran is giving information is not a new or unknown thing that Quran is disclosing for the first time, but that mankind has been informed off and on by the divine revelation of such a happening in future. However, the detailed and the effective manner in which the Quran has drawn the picture of the Doomsday is unrivalled and its parallel cannot be found in any one of the modified divine books. And this is a fact that by this narration of the doomsday in Quran the reader’s mind unhesitatingly accepts this belief and his mind and heart receive such a shock that a great change takes place in his viewpoint about this world.

2. The star and planets are beautiful and decorative pieces in the sky. They are like bright lamps in the soiree of this world. But when this soiree of the world itself is to be wiped out, where is the question of lamps continuing to exist? A slight variation in the Law of Gravitation, which has kept them in a disciplined order in the space, is sufficient to send them in disarray.

A mention of the falling of the stars is also found in the Injeel:

“the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give Its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, ”(Mathew 24: 29)

3. That is: The oceans and seas will burst forth and cross their limits, and as stated in Surah Takveer, they will boil over with swell.

4. The meaning of the overturning of the graves is that as soon as the second bugle of the Doomsday will be sounded, the dead bodies will come out of the earth in such a way as if their graves have been overturned, and the dead bodies have been thrust out. All men, women and children who have been born and who have died till the Doomsday will be thrown out of the earth, irrespective of the fact whether a person might have been buried in the grave or might have been drowned in the sea or whether his body had been burnt or whether his parts might have been scattered in the space.

5. sending before (Ma-qaddamat) means a man’s good or bad deeds, which he has done for the life of the Hereafter. In other words a man sends a parcel of his good or bad deeds to the new world, where he is destined to go on the Doomsday. It is another matter what one actually sends. Some one sends a parcel of very fresh flowers which may make his life in Paradise happy. While some other sends a parcel of some explosive material which will serve as a fuel in a hell to burn him.

To keep back (Ma-Akh-kharat) means those deeds of righteousness and virtue which a man should have performed but has not. In this way on the Day of Judgment every person will know what were his acts of commission and omission.

6. Here an allusion to Allah’s attribute of being Beneficent is made to impress upon man Allah’s favours and man’s obligation to Him, so that a sense of responsibility may be created in man. These attributes of Allah demanded that man should have been unhesitatingly attracted Dawatul Quran 939 S. 82 towards Allah and should have become his loyal slave, out he actually adopts an indifferent attitude And does not acknowledge that he is answerable to Allah. This is a deception in which man lives. But there is no justifiable reason to continue to live in this deception. It is only due to man’s being a slave of his carnal desires that prompts him to rebel against his Lord.

7. Man is the best and the most remarkable creature in this world. In his creation is reflected the creative acumen of his Great Creator. For the creation of man, first a lump is made, then it is shaped and the lump takes on the shape of different parts, and then it is proportioned in such a way that it becomes the most balanced and proportioned creature of the world. In addition, every member of his limitless society of mankind is different from each other, in shape and features. Billions of persons are born, in the world, but the features of all these persons are different, so that every one of them may have a different personality and individuality. In short, from a study of man’s structure, his shape and features the perfect mastery and the wonderful acumen of his Creator can be easily imagined, and a feeling is created in our hearts about His beneficence and our obligation to Him as to how he has made us the best and the most significant creature of all in this world.

8. Your conjecture or your view is not correct that this world will go on like this forever and that there would be no Doomsday and that you would not be placed before Allah for accounting for your good or bad deeds in this world.

9. You are denying or refuting the coming of the Doomsday, the information about which is being given by Quran, because you do not want to accept the reality of reward and punishment, as after accepting this reality you will have to lead a responsible life as against a life given to carnal desire.

Even today, to escape from the religious view of reward and punishment, man has put forth such a scientific explanation of the creation, etc., of the universe that our minds are not directed either towards God or towards the Last Day.

10. If you want, you may deny the reality of the Day of Judgment, but your denial will not change the reality. The reality is that the Day of Judgment is essentially to occur, and for this Allah has made arrangement to record our deeds.

By watchers are meant those angels who are appointed by Allah to record every word and act of man. With every person are attached two angel one on the right side and the other on the left side.

11. Refer to those angels who record the words and deeds. Their attribute, which is stated here to show that they are performing their duties with complete responsibility, is honourable. They cannot be expected to fail to record a righteous act nor there is any fear of their, recording one man’s bad deed in another man’ s account. These angels perform their duties secretly but in an honourable way and most honestly. They cannot, therefore, be compared with the members of the Criminal Investigation Department of the worldly governments, for the latter’s area of knowledge is also limited, and they are not unknown to indulge in irresponsible acts and give false reports. However, this reality also should not be lost sight of that the good or bad deeds of the worldly C.I.D. officials are also being recorded by the “Secret Police” of Allah, the Recording Angels.

The nature of the records maintained by the angels is known to Allah only, but in the modern times of high scientific and technological advances, it is not difficult for us to understand that man’s every movement and action and every word coming out of his mouth can be recorded. Film, radio, photo; television and tape recording are prominent examples of these advances. And now due to further advances in this direction it has been possible to get the photographs from the moon, mars, and other planets, crores and crores of miles away from our earth. In fact the modern science has made two very important discoveries, which can provide guidance to those who are ready to accept them. The first one is that every moment our photographs are projected in the atmosphere and that the science has been successful in developing a technique to preserve these photographs. Similarly our voice causes waves to be created in the atmosphere, and through these waves our voices can be preserved in the cassettes and our voices can be heard again by playing these cassettes. When all this has been possible for man to achieve, and this has been achieved to such an extent that the edifice of modern civilization is built on it, then what is the difficulty in believing that the God who has made this law of nature has also made arrangement for filming the entire life of every person and to show this very film to that person on the Day of Judgment. On that day on seeing this talking film of one’s own life, man will be shocked out of his senses. If today a man may start believing that his whole life is being filmed and that his own talking film will be shown to him, then he will be very careful in his attitude and very responsible in his behaviour; and he will not be prepared to do such an act or utter such a word as he would not like to see and hear on the Hereafter’s television.

“When the two receivers receive (record), sitting on the right and the left.He does not utter even a word but there is with him a watcher ready.”(Surah Qaaf 17-18)

12. Here the mention is of deeds and acts, and in Surah Qaf it is explained that whatever word a man may utter from his mouth it will be noted down by an angel who is always present with the man. And there is further clarification that these recording angels are two, who are positioned, one on the right and the other on the left, to carefully watch every word and every act of man.

13. The theme of the Surah proves that the righteous persons are those whose basic attribute is their sense of being answerable to their Beneficent Lord.

14. Those who do not believe in being answerable to the Beneficent Lord and deny the belief in the Reward and Punishment on the Day of Judgment, are, in the words of Quran, wicked, because where the idea of accountability before Allah is absent there the whole life becomes wrongful and misguided.

15.That is. They will definitely go to hell and after entering it there would be no chance of escape for them from internal burning. They will remain there for ever.

16. The question is repeated so that the importance of the Day of Judgment be made clear and the very thought of appearing in the Court of Allah may shake man out of his disbelief.

17. In the world man appears to have some authority and power, but in the Hereafter he will be totally helpless, regardless of the fact whether he was a king or a beggar in this world. On that day he will be so helpless that he will not be able to do anything for himself, let alone for others. Authority and power will be totally in the hands of Allah alone and He himself will deliver judgments in all cases.

This is the concept of appearing in the Court of Allah that Quran presents, and which is an essential part of the belief in the Hereafter. As against this, the concept of Transmigration of souls is a revolving circle in which there is no chance of appearing before any Divine Court at any stage. From this, the basic difference between Islam’s concept of the Hereafter and the polytheists’ concept of Transmigration of soul can be easily understood.