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

1. That is, they will burst forth, cross boundaries and join up with each other (Ibn `Abbas, Qatadah, Hasan and others: Ibn Jarir). Hasan’s opinion is that the sea (beds) will split open, devour the waters, and the whole of the land will become a single flat dry bed (Zamakhshari, Razi, Ibn Kathir).

2. Ibn `Abbas has interpreted these words as: “When the graves shall be searched” (Ibn Jarir).

3. To Ibn `Abbas, `Ikrimah, Qatadah and others it means, “What a man fulfilled of his obligations and what he left undone.” But to Qurazi it means, “What a man did in his life and what he left behind as his example” (Ibn Jarir).

A hadith reported by Hudhayfah, classified authentic by Hakim, says: مَنْ اسْتَنَّ خَيْرًا فَاسْتُنَّ بِهِ كَانَ لَهُ أَجْرُهُ كَامِلًا وَمِنْ أُجُورِ مَنْ اسْتَنَّ بِهِ وَلَا يَنْقُصُ مِنْ أُجُورِهِمْ شَيْئًا وَمَنْ اسْتَنَّ سُنَّةً سَيِّئَةً فَاسْتُنَّ بِهِ فَعَلَيْهِ وِزْرُهُ كَامِلًا وَمِنْ أَوْزَارِ الَّذِي اسْتَنَّ بِهِ وَلَا يَنْقُصُ مِنْ أَوْزَارِهِمْ شَيْئًا وصحيح سنن ابن ماجة “Whoever left behind him a good example is rewarded for his good deed as well as for those who followed him in that good example after him, without they suffering the least loss. In contrast, whoever left behind a bad example will have the sin upon him as well as that of those who followed his example, without their sin suffering the least loss.” Hudhayfah then recited this verse (Shawkani).

4. `Umar and Ibn `Umar have said that it is ignorance that has deceived man (Ibn Jarir, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir).

Ghalib al-Hanafi and Saleh b. Mismar have reported a hadith also to this effect. Nevertheless, this does not rule out Shaytan’s seductions. In addition, some have said that it is the Graciousness of our Lord, who does not punish at the first instance of sin that deceives man (Qurtubi).

5. That is, He balanced you. So that He did not make one of your limbs longer than the other, or made part of your body dark and part fair, or one of the eyes larger than the other (Razi). It could also mean that He straightened you up so that you can stand erect in contrast to the animals (Ibn `Abbas: Razi).

6. It is reported that the Prophet (saws) asked one of his Companions what he thought his wife would give birth to? The man said he was not sure whether it would be a male or a female. He asked him whom he thought he or she would resemble. The man replied that it was obvious that the child would resemble either of the two parents. The Prophet told him: “Do not say that. With pregnancy Allah brings back all (the shapes and forms) that have passed earlier since Adam (to choose from). Have you not read in the Qur’an: 'In whatever shape He wished, He cast him’” (Ibn Jarir). This particular hadith is, however, weak. But there are authentic traditions in Bukhari and Muslim that speak of man inheriting from beyond his parents (Ibn Kathir).

Inherited Traits

The statement about man inheriting from beyond his parents is very near to today’s knowledge of biological inheritance. Each human cell has 46 chromosomes, half of which are contributed by each parent. Therefore, there is every likelihood of the earliest chromosome being there in every new fertilized egg. And the likelihood of inheritance from distant ancestors will increase if it is discovered that - by some complex mechanism - genes are also inherited directly and not merely whole chromosomes, since each cell carries anything between a hundred thousand to five million genes, the exact number being undetermined.

Another amazing discovery of modern science is that every newly fertilized egg receives a cellular organelle called mitochondria, from the mother's side alone (although occasionally, a male mitochondria might also slip through, but that perhaps is abnormal). And mitochondria has its own DNA within it, whose exact function is not very well understood. Thus, the mitochondria that each human has in every of his cell, could have been coming down from Hawwa' (asws).

Further, there is no difference in opinion among the scientists that since instructions at the cell level for all surviving life forms are written in similar language, they must have one origin. To which statement we can add the correction that the sudden appearance of Adam (asws) at the behest of Allah (swt), in the middle of the chain of evolutionary development, is not a remote impossibility. Currently, it is known to the scientists that the so called evolution of life on earth does not take place in gradual steps, as thought earlier, rather by a process - named by some as “Punctuated Equilibria” - in which new life forms, with new designs and advanced organs, appear abruptly and quite suddenly, all set to confront new life conditions. Consequently, the Being that is capable of such big steps in mutations that result in a new species, is also capable of giving rise to one independent of the chain (Au.).

A report of Bishr b. Jahsh says that, أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ بَصَقَ يَوْمًا فِي كَفِّهِ فَوَضَعَ عَلَيْهَا أُصْبُعَهُ ثُمَّ قَالَ قَالَ اللَّهُ ابْنَ آدَمَ أَنَّى تُعْجِزُنِي وَقَدْ خَلَقْتُكَ مِنْ مِثْلِ هَذِهِ حَتَّى إِذَا سَوَّيْتُكَ وَعَدَلْتُكَ مَشَيْتَ بَيْنَ بُرْدَيْنِ وَلِلْأَرْضِ مِنْكَ وَئِيدٌ فَجَمَعْتَ وَمَنَعْتَ حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغَتْ التَّرَاقِيَ قُلْتَ أَتَصَدَّقُ وَأَنَّى أَوَانُ الصَّدَقَةِ Once the Prophet spat in his palm and pointing at it with his finger said: “Allah says, 'Son of Adam. Do you think you will be able to frustrate Me when I have created you from a thing like this? When I shaped you and gave you symmetry you began to strut about, clad in two cloaks, while the earth is going to swallow you! Then you amassed (wealth) and refused to spend it until you approached death. Then you say, "I give (so much) in charity (to so and so)." But this is not the time for acceptance of charity.’" The report is in Musnad of Ahmad, of Hasan status, and another, similar, is in Ibn Majah (Ibn Kathir).

With reference to the wonders of the body, Sayyid Qutb quotes A.C. Morrison: “A part of the human ear is a series of some four thousand minute but complex arches graduated with exquisite regularity in size and shape. These may be said to resemble a musical instrument, and they seem adjusted to catch, and transmit in some manner to the brain, every cadence of sound or noise, from the thunderclap to the whisper of the pines and the exquisite blending of the tones and harmonies of every instrument in the orchestra. If in forming the ear the cells were impelled to evolve strict efficiency only that man might survive, why did they not extend the range and develop a superacuteness? Perhaps the power behind these cells’ activities anticipated man’s coming need of intellectual enjoyment, or did they by accident build better than they knew?” (Man Does Not Stand Alone, London, 1962, pp. 63-64)

7. Ibn `Abbas has said that these are four angels, two during the day and two during the night, who record everything that a man does (Shawkani).

One of them is on the right side and the other on the left. The Qur’an said (50: 17-18): {إِذْ يَتَلَقَّى الْمُتَلَقِّيَانِ عَنِ الْيَمِينِ وَعَنِ الشِّمَالِ قَعِيدٌ (17) مَا يَلْفِظُ مِنْ قَوْلٍ إِلَّا لَدَيْهِ رَقِيبٌ عَتِيدٌ } [ق: 17، 18] “When the two angels meet together, one sitting on the right and another on the left, not a word does he utter, but by him is an observer ready (to jot down).”

It is also known (from a hadith: Au.) that they do not write down an evil deed for the first six hours after it has been committed, in the hope that the man will repent. If he does, it is not recorded at all (Alusi).

Shanqiti adds: An additional possible meaning is that they guard him, as in verse (6: 61):

{وَيُرْسِلُ عَلَيْكُمْ حَفَظَةً} [الأنعام: 61]

“And He sends guards over you.”

8. It is reported that the Prophet said: أكرموا الكرام الكاتبين الذين لا يفارقونكم إلا عند إحدى حالتين: الجنابة والغائط. فإذا اغتسل أحدكم فليستتر بحرم حائط أو ببعيره، أو ليستره أخوه “Honor the honored scribes. Those, who do not part company except in two situations: in the water closet and during intercourse. Therefore, when one of you takes a bath let him either get behind a wall, or a camel, or seek a brother’s help in shielding him with a piece of cloth” (Qurtubi).

The report is in Sahih of Ibn Hibban (Ibn Kathir).

Also see ch. 6, note 97 of this work.

9. Thanwi observes: Their knowledge includes people’s intentions. As for the hadith in Suyuti that they do not hear the dhikr ‘l-khafiyy (sub-vocal remembrance), taken as a special case, it does not contradict the general rule that they are aware of intentions.

10. It is said that Sulayman b. Abdul Malik passed by Madinah on his way to Makkah. When Abu Hazim met him, he asked him: حكي أن سليمان بن عبد الملك مر بالمدينة وهو يريد مكة ، فقال لأبي حازم : كيف القدوم على الله غداً ؟ “What kind of presentation will it be tomorrow before our Lord?” Abu Hazim replied: قال : أما المحسن فكالغائب يقدم من سفره على أهله ، وأما المسيء فكالآبق يقدم على مولاه ، قال : فبكى ، ثم قال : “As for the virtuous, it will be like a man returning home after a journey. But for the evil-doer, it will be like a runaway slave (arrested) and brought before his lord.” Sulayman wept and said:

ليت شعري ما لنا عند الله

“Only if we knew how we will be treated.” Abu Hazim told him: فقال أبو حازم : أعرض عملك على كتاب الله ، قال : في أي مكان من كتاب الله؟ > “You can know that from the Qur’an.” “From which part?” Sulayman asked anxiously. Abu Hazim recited these verses: قال : {إِنَّ الابْرَارَ لَفِى نَعِيمٍ * وَإِنَّ الْفُجَّارَ لَفِى جَحِيمٍ} “Surely, the pious shall be in bliss; and surely the wicked shall be in a fiery furnace” (Razi, Sabuni).

11. This does not negate intercession. Rather, it negates an independent interference on the part of the intercessors. When Allah wishes, He will allow intercession for a deserving person (Ma`arif).

Relationship

Suyuti has said that Allah’s grace inspired in him the key to a subtle connection between this chapter, the two earlier ones and the one that follows it. Most of the two preceding chapters, i.e.., surah Al-Takwir and Al-Inshiqaq dealt with the breaking in of the Day of Judgment. When that would have taken place, there will be a lull. That is referred to in this surah Al-Mutaffifin. The next major event on that Day will be that of the handing over of Records of deeds to the people, either in the right or the left hand. This theme is taken up in the next surah i.e. Al-Inshiqaq (Alusi).