Exegesis of Az-Zalzala (Q. 99)

In the Name of Allah the Most Merciful the Most Gracious...
He, upon him be peace, was asked about the interpretation of: {When the earth is shaken and its quaking, and the earth extracts its burdens, and humankind says: "What is with it?!—On that Day, it will disclose its news. It is because thy Lord hast inspired it}
{...its quaking} is: its shaking and its people thereon
From the affair of the Final Hour and its condition there upon.
Regarding that, what we say about that as an explanation
Is what Allah has said about the Final Hour as an explication:
{O humankind, be conscious of thy Lord. Verily, the quaking of the Hour is a grave thing!} (Q. 22:1).
What we have said about the {quaking} is made explicitly clear here.
For, it will be a monumental happening and will be a calamitous affair.
The Lord says about it on the believers among the Confederates there:
{...when they came upon thee from above and below, and thy eyes moved away and thy hearts reached your throats, and thou assumed about Allah what thou assumed, and the believers were tested and shaken by a severe quaking (zilzāla)} (Q. 33:10-11).
{...the earth extracts its burdens} means: manifest its constituents.
{...its burdens} is what the earth carries; what Allah makes upon it.
The earth‟s {burdens} refers to the people on it—dead and alive,
Sinner and saint. How can there not be an extraction of them thereby?!
All of them will be moved to the Place of Perpetuity and Permanence (dār al-Qirār).
For, the earth of this world‟s life is subject to annihilation and transience.
The earth of the next world‟s life is subject to eternity, life everlasting.
Amongst this earth‟s {burdens} are the graves in which whom lie passing
Those upon their backs with their deeds subsumed,
Before, they were worn out and their bodies consumed.
In spite of all of that, they will be extracted therefrom.
So sayeth Allah, the One Majestic and Wholly Sovereign:
{When the earth is extended and throws out what‟s in it and relinquishes it} (Q. 84:3-4).
This means: the earth will cast out and relinquish the people therein;
Its dead will be spread out and gathered in a mass gathering in position.
Regarding the earth relinquishing its burden, this will be its condition:
{...and humankind says...}
Humankind refers to everyone who will see the quaking
And the extraction of its burdens. They will start saying:
"What is wrong with the earth and wrong with its state?!"
Then, at that time, the earth will speak about it for its own sake.
This is because it will be inspired by Allah, Glorified be He.
Its duration shall be cut off and its destruction in finality.
{On that Day, the people will depart in groups to be shown their deeds} (Q. 99:6).
{...in groups} means: they will depart from their places in gatherings:
One group to Paradise and the other to Hell to dwell therein everlastingly.
They will be destined to their destination. They will see the weight
Of their deeds—an atoms weight of the bad or good they would make.
It is those deeds which precede their souls—righteous or reprobate.
{Whosoever commits an atoms weight of good shall see it. Whosoever commits an atom‟s weight of evil shall see it}
The expression {see it} means:
To be recompensed for one‟s deeds.

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