1. The word in the original is “adhinat” which, although literally means to seek permission, has been interpreted here as meaning, “will obey” (by authorities such as Ibn `Abbas, Sa`id, Mujahid, Qatadah and : Ibn Jarir) - Zamakhshari, Razi, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir, Shawkani.

2. According to a hadith, (which according to Suyuti is a trustworthy narration: Shawkani), the Prophet (saws) said:

تمد الأرض يوم القيامة لعظمة الرحمن ولا يكون فيها لأحد إلا موضع قدمه

“When the Day of Judgment is called the earth will be unfolded until every man will have just enough standing space on it” (Qurtubi).

3. Sayyid observes: “Man certainly labors here in this life, shouldering his responsibilities and exerting himself. All this he does in order to return, in the end, like all the rest of creation, to Allah. Man labors even for what he enjoys! Nothing in this life comes easily or without effort: if sometimes no physical labor is needed, then surely some mental and emotional effort will be required.”

4. Another possibility, as said by Ibn `Abbas is that you will, O man, meet with your deeds, good or bad (Ibn Kathir).

5. A hadith (preserved by Bukhari, Muslim and Tirmidhi: Ibn Kathir), reports `A’isha as having said: وَأَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ مَنْ حُوسِبَ عُذِّبَ قَالَتْ عَائِشَةُ فَقُلْتُ أَوَلَيْسَ يَقُولُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى{فَسَوْفَ يُحَاسَبُ حِسَابًا يَسِيرًا}قَالَتْ فَقَالَ إِنَّمَا ذَلِكِ الْعَرْضُ وَلَكِنْ مَنْ نُوقِشَ الْحِسَابَ يَهْلِكْ “I heard the Prophet say: 'Whoever is taken up for reckoning will surely be punished.’ I asked him, 'Hasn’t Allah said: "He shall surely be given an easy reckoning?"’ He said, ' It is not reckoning that is meant in the verse. It is the presentation. Anyone subjected to scrutiny will perish’" (Razi, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir).

According to another report (trustworthy by the standards of Muslim: Ibn Kathir; Hakim has evaluated it as Sahih: Shawkani) `A’isha reported: اللَّهُمَّ حَاسِبْنِي حِسَابًا يَسِيرًا فَلَمَّا انْصَرَفَ قُلْتُ يَا نَبِيَّ اللَّهِ مَا الْحِسَابُ الْيَسِيرُ قَالَ أَنْ يَنْظُرَ فِي كِتَابِهِ فَيَتَجَاوَزَ عَنْه إِنَّهُ مَنْ نُوقِشَ الْحِسَابَ يَوْمَئِذٍ يَا عَائِشَةُ هَلَكَ “I heard the Prophet say: 'O Allah, subject me to an easy reckoning.’ I asked him, 'What is 'easy reckoning.’ He replied, 'That evil deeds be glanced over and forgiven. Whoever is subjected that day to a strict censure of accounts will be destroyed’" (Ibn Jarir, Razi).

6. For, they had experienced a lot of pain and suffering in their lives on earth as the Qur’an said about them (52: 26, 27):

{قَالُوا إِنَّا كُنَّا قَبْلُ فِي أَهْلِنَا مُشْفِقِينَ (26) فَمَنَّ اللَّهُ عَلَيْنَا وَوَقَانَا عَذَابَ السَّمُومِ} [الطور: 26، 27]

“Earlier, while with our families (in the earthly life), we were in difficulties. But Allah favored us and has (in this world) saved us from the poisonous Fire” (Ibn Zayd: Qurtubi).

7. Ibn `Abbas is reported to have said: “I did not know what `Yahura’ was, until I heard a Bedouin woman urge her daughter, `Huri, huri’, i.e., 'come back, come back’” (Zamakhshari, Razi, Qurtubi).

8. Sayyid Qutb writes: “The oath, which is indirect in the Arabic text, serves to draw man’s attention to these scenes of the universe. The connotations here are in perfect harmony with those of the opening of the surah and the scenes portrayed there. The twilight refers to that period of stillness after sunset when the soul is overwhelmed by a deep feeling of awe. The heart feels, at such a time, the significance of parting with a beloved companion, and the feelings of quiet sadness and deep melancholy this involves. It also experiences a feeling of fear of the approaching darkness.”

9. According to Ibn `Abbas, (whose opinion is in Bukhari: Ibn Kathir), `Ikrimah, Hasan, Sa`id, Mujahid, and Qatadah, it is the Prophet who is the subject of this verse. It means to say that he will pass through various (difficult) stages in his mission. `Abdullah ibn Mas`ud’s opinion is that the allusion is to the Prophet passing through various heavens (during isra’). But Ibn Zayd’s opinion is that the allusion is to the people passing through various stages of (creation and resurrection) - Ibn Jarir, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir.

A fourth possible meaning expressed by Suddi is that you will, O Muslims, pass through various stages treading the footsteps of the Jews and Christians before the Day of Judgment arrives. Mak-hul has supported the statement by saying, as in a report of Abu Hatim, that Muslims will face a new situation every twenty years. Other meanings are also likely such as that the verse is addressing the people in general and saying that you will pass through various stages of life: youth and old age, poverty and richness, health and sickness, etc. (Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir).

Asad remarks: “Since the inexorable movement of all that exists from stage to stage or from one condition into another corresponds to a fundamental law evident in all creation, it is unreasonable to assume that man alone should be an exception, and that his onward movement should cease at the moment of his bodily death, not to be followed by a change-over into another state of being.”

10. A hadith in Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Da’ud, Tirmidhi, Nasa’i and Ibn Majah says that the Prophet (saws) prostrated himself (at this point) and so did those behind him when he recited this surah, and so he did when he recited surah Al-`Alaq (Alusi and Ibn Kathir in introduction).

However, there is a difference of opinion among the scholars over whether such prostration is obligatory or sunnah. According to Abu Hanifah it is wajib (Qurtubi, Alusi, Shafi`).

And, to the Hanafiyyah, wajib is one degree less than fard (Au.).

Introductory Remark

This chapter addresses the issue of persecution that the neo-Muslims were facing in Makkah at the hands of the Quraysh: death, exposure to the boiling sun in mid summer days, placement of hot rocks upon them, and torture in a variety of other ways. While it warns the persecutors of similar fate as their predecessors in these acts, it also soothes the believers by pointing out to them that if you are being persecuted, well, others before you were also tested with greater persecutions, but they withstood it, did not weaken down, rather, remained steadfast in their faith to the end (Alusi from Bahr).