that will be enough for me,” the man said.

Ibn ʿAbbās continued:

Concerning Allah’s words, “On that Day no bonds of kinship shall remain between them, nor will they question one another,”—this applies to the first blast of the Horn: the Horn will be blown and everyone in the heavens and on earth will be struck down save those whom Allah wills; on that Day no family ties will matter and they will not question one another. (1)

Then, when the second blast is sounded, they will rise and turn to one another, questioning each other.

As for Allah’s statement, “By Allah, our Lord, we were never polytheists,” (2) together with His statement, “They will not be able to hide any statement from Allah,” (3) the meaning is that on the Day of Resurrection Allah Most High will forgive (4) the sins of those who were sincere; no sin is too great for Him to pardon, yet He does not forgive polytheism. When the polytheists (5) see this, they will say, “Our Lord forgives sins but does not forgive polytheism; let us say, then, that we were merely sinners and not (6) polytheists.” Allah, however, will declare, “Since they have concealed their polytheism, I shall seal their mouths,” whereupon their hands and feet will speak about what they used to do. It is then that the polytheists will realize that nothing can be hidden from Allah; thus His words:

“On that Day those who disbelieved and disobeyed the Messenger will wish they could be levelled with the earth, and they will not be able to hide any statement from Allah.” (7)

Regarding His words,

“Has He constructed the heaven? (27) He raised its vault and perfected it, (28) He darkened its night and brought forth its daylight, (29) and after that He spread out the earth,” (8)

He created the earth in two days before creating the heaven; then He turned toward the heaven and fashioned them in another two days—meaning that He then spread out the earth. Spreading it out entailed bringing forth from it the water and the pasture, cleaving its rivers, and making