78. As regards to the nature of the blowing of the Trumpet on the Day of Resurrection, it may be likened to the blowing of the bugle in the army to muster or disperse the soldiers. It is obvious that these words and terms have been used because these are known to the people. Therefore it will be wrong to consider the Trumpet to be exactly like the bugles and trumpets of this world.
79. According to some commentators, it means this: The bodies of the criminals will turn white as if no drop of blood had been left in them.
80. The original text may also be interpreted to mean: After your death, you may have passed hardly ten days till now. As regards to the interpretation adopted in the translation, it is supported by (Surah Ash-Shuara, Ayats 112-113): When Allah will ask them, for how many years did you stay on the earth? They will say: We stayed there for a day or part of a day. You may ask those who have kept the record. The second interpretation is supported by (Surah Ar-Room, Ayats 55-56): And on the day when Resurrection will take place, the criminals will declare under oaths: We have not remained in the state of death for more than an hour. And likewise they were deluded on the earth. On the other hand, those who have been given knowledge and faith will say: According to the Book of Allah, you have remained in this state up to the Day of Resurrection, and this is the very Day of Resurrection, but you did not know of it. Both the interpretations are supported by other verses of the Quran. It is clear from these that they will consider both the life on the earth and the life in the interval between death and Resurrection to be very short. They will consider the earthly life to be very short because, against all their expectations, they will have to face the eternal life in the Hereafter which they denied in their earthly life. As they had made no preparation for this life, they will regret that they had ruined their eternal life for the sake of a few transitory pleasures of the short life they had been given on the earth. As regards to the duration of the interval between death and Resurrection, they will consider it to be very short, for they will imagine that they had been suddenly awakened by the Trumpet from their last sleep or unconsciousness in their earthly life. Thus, they will not at first realize that the Trumpet was the signal for the Day of Resurrection because they had no expectation whatever that the Day of Resurrection would ever come. As a matter of fact, they used to make fun of this Day as a nonsensical thing.
81. This is a parenthesis that has been inserted to remove this doubt of the hearers: How has it been known today what the people will be talking in whispers on the Day of Resurrection?
82. This is another parenthesis which has been inserted in answer to another objection raised by some hearer. It appears that when this Surah was being recited, someone might have raised this question as a ridicule: Where will these high mountains go on the Day of Resurrection, for it appears from your description of Resurrection that all the people of the world will be running about in a level plain? In order to understand the background of the question, it should be kept in mind that Makkah, where this Surah was first recited on the occasion of its revelation, is surrounded on all sides by high mountains. The answer to this question follows immediately: Allah will reduce them to fine dust and scatter it away.
83. According to the Quran, the earth will take a new shape in the Hereafter:
The earth will be spread. (Surah Al-Inshiqaq, Ayat 3).
The bottoms of the oceans will be split (and the whole water will sink down in the earth). (Surah Al-Infitar, Ayat 3).
The oceans will be filled up. (Surah At-Takweer, Ayat 6).
The mountains will be reduced to fine dust and scattered away and there will be left no curve or crease in the earth. (Surah Taaha, Ayats 105-107).
On that day the earth will be totally changed. (Surah Ibrahim, Ayat 48).
And it will be turned into a garden and given to the pious people to dwell therein forever. (Surah Az-Zumur, Ayat 74).
This shows that ultimately this earth will be turned into Paradise which will be inherited by the pious and righteous servants of Allah. The whole earth will become one country, and there will be no mountains, oceans, rivers and deserts which today divide it into countless countries and homelands and divide mankind as well into as many tribes, races and classes. Ibn Abbas and Qatadah have the same view that Paradise will be established on this very earth.
84. The original Arabic word hams is used for the sound of footsteps, the sound of whispering and other low sounds. What it implies here is that the people will be so awestricken on that Day that there will be no sound other than that of footsteps and whispering.
85. This also has another interpretation: On that Day intercession will not be effective except in the case of the one for whom the Merciful may allow it and be pleased to hear it for him. Both these interpretations are supported by the following:
Who is there that can intercede with Him except by His own permission? (Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayat 255).
On that Day when the spirit and the angels will stand with folded hands, they will not be able to say anything except what the Merciful will permit, and they will say the right thing. (Surah An-Naba, Ayat 38). They do not intercede for anyone except for whom the Merciful may be pleased to listen to, and they are always fearful of Him. (Surah Al-Anbia, Ayat 28).
There are many angels in the heavens whose intercession avails nothing at all except when it is made after getting permission from Allah, and for the one for whom He wills to hear and approves of it. (Surah An-Najam, Ayat 26).
86. Here the reasons for the restrictions on intercession have been stated. On the one hand, no angel, no prophet, no saint, nor anyone else knows, nor can know, the full details about the records of others. On the other hand, Allah has full knowledge of all the deeds and misdeeds of everyone and He knows who deserves pardon or punishment, and how much. If, therefore, there had been full freedom for intercession, the whole purpose of the creation of man would have become meaningless. According to this verse, the door against intercession has not been entirely closed. The righteous people will be allowed to show their sympathy for other human beings as they did in the world, but they will have to get permission for this beforehand and even then make only a right sort of recommendation.
87. From this, it is clear that in the Hereafter the case of every individual will be decided on merits. If a man had been guilty of iniquity and injustice in regard to the rights of God or the rights of man or even his own rights, he shall be dealt with accordingly. On the other hand, those, who are both believers and workers of righteous deeds, shall have no fear that they would be deprived of their rights or punished even though they were innocent.