Tafsir al-Baghawi - Al-Baghawi - (6/300)

Tafsir al-BaghawiAl-Baghawi

“He directs the affair from heaven to earth; then it ascends to Him in a day whose measure is a thousand years of those which you count.” (5)

“He directs the affair”: that is, He determines all matters and sends down the divine decree and predestination “from heaven to earth.” It was also said: He sends down revelation with Gabriel from heaven to earth. “Then it ascends”—that is, it rises—“to Him”: Gabriel ascends with the command, “in a day whose measure is a thousand years of those which you count.” That is, in one day of the days of this world, covering the distance of a thousand years’ journey: five hundred years for its descent and five hundred for its ascent, since the distance between heaven and earth is five hundred years. In other words, if one of the children of Adam were to travel it, he could traverse it only in a thousand years, whereas the angels traverse it in a single day.

This concerns the description of an angel’s ascent from the earth to heaven. As for His words, “The angels and the Spirit ascend to Him in a day whose measure is fifty thousand years” (al-Ma‘arij 4), this refers to the distance between the earth and the Lote Tree of the Furthest Boundary, which is Gabriel’s station. Gabriel and the angels with him, from among those belonging to his station, traverse a distance of fifty thousand years in one day of the days of this world. This is the full sense of the statement of Mujahid and al-Dahhak (1). His words, “to Him,” mean: to Allah. It was also said, according to this interpretation, that it means: to the place of the angel whom Allah, exalted is He, commanded to ascend to it.

Some said that the thousand years [and fifty thousand] (2) years are all on the Day of Resurrection, being longer for some and shorter for others. Its meaning is: He directs the affair from heaven to earth throughout the days of this world; then it ascends—that is, the affair and its governance return to Him after the passing away of the world and the cessation of the authority of rulers and the judgments of judges—on a day whose measure is a thousand years, namely the Day of Resurrection. As for His words, “fifty thousand years,” this refers to the disbeliever: Allah will make that day equivalent to fifty thousand years for him, while for the believer it will be less than that. Indeed, it is related in the hadith: “For the believer, it will be like the duration of an obligatory prayer which he performed in this world.” (3) Ibrahim al-Taymi said: “For the believer, it will be no more than the time between noon and mid-afternoon.” (4)

(1) See al-Tabari, 21:91. (2) Omitted from manuscript A. (3) Imam Ahmad reported, 3:75, on the authority of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri: “By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, it will be made so light for the believer that it will be lighter for him than an obligatory prayer he performs in this world.” The compiler also reported it with this wording in Sharh al-Sunnah, 15:129. Shaykh al-Arnaout said: “Its chain includes Ibn Lahi'ah, who had poor retention, and Darraj Abu al-Samh, whose narrations from Abu al-Haytham are weak.” Al-Haythami graded it hasan in Majma' al-Zawa'id, 10:337, despite a weakness in one of its transmissions. (4) Al-Hakim cited it, 1:84, with the wording: “On the Day of Resurrection, it will be for the believers like the period between noon and the afternoon.”

﴿يُدَبِّرُ الْأَمْرَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ ثُمَّ يَعْرُجُ إِلَيْهِ فِي يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ مِمَّا تَعُدُّونَ (٥) ﴾ ﴿يُدَبِّرُ الْأَمْرَ﴾ أَيْ: يُحْكِمُ الْأَمْرَ وَيُنْزِلُ الْقَضَاءَ وَالْقَدَرَ، ﴿مِنَ السَّمَاءِ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ﴾ وَقِيلَ: يُنْزِلُ الْوَحْيَ مَعَ جِبْرِيلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ، ﴿ثُمَّ يَعْرُجُ﴾ يَصْعَدُ، ﴿إِلَيْهِ﴾ جِبْرِيلُ بِالْأَمْرِ، ﴿فِي يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ مِمَّا تَعُدُّونَ﴾ أَيْ: فِي يَوْمٍ وَاحِدٍ مِنْ أَيَّامِ الدُّنْيَا وَقَدْرِ مَسِيرَةِ أَلْفِ سَنَةٍ، خمسمائة نزوله، وخسمائة صُعُودُهُ، لِأَنَّ مَا بَيْنَ السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ خَمْسُمِائَةِ عَامٍ، يَقُولُ: لَوْ سَارَ فِيهِ أَحَدٌ مِنْ بَنِي آدَمَ لَمْ يَقْطَعْهُ إِلَّا فِي أَلْفِ سَنَةٍ، وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ يَقْطَعُونَ فِي يَوْمٍ وَاحِدٍ، هَذَا فِي وَصْفِ عُرُوجِ الْمَلَكِ مِنَ الْأَرْضِ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ، وَأَمَّا قَوْلُهُ: "تَعْرُجُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ إِلَيْهِ فِي يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ خَمْسِينَ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ" (الْمَعَارِجِ-٤) ، أَرَادَ مُدَّةَ الْمَسَافَةِ بَيْنَ الْأَرْضِ إِلَى سِدْرَةِ الْمُنْتَهَى الَّتِي هِيَ مَقَامُ جِبْرِيلَ، يَسِيرُ جِبْرِيلُ وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ الَّذِينَ مَعَهُ مَنْ أَهْلِ مَقَامِهِ مَسِيرَةَ خَمْسِينَ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ فِي يَوْمٍ وَاحِدٍ مِنْ أَيَّامِ الدُّنْيَا. هَذَا كُلُّهُ مَعْنَى قَوْلِ مُجَاهِدٍ وَالضَّحَّاكِ (١) وَقَوْلُهُ: "إِلَيْهِ" أَيْ: إِلَى اللَّهِ. وَقِيلَ: عَلَى هَذَا التَّأْوِيلِ، أَيْ: إِلَى مَكَانِ الْمَلَكِ الَّذِي أَمَرَهُ اللَّهُ ﷿ أَنْ يَعْرُجَ إِلَيْهِ. وَقَالَ بَعْضُهُمْ: أَلْفُ سَنَةٍ [وَخَمْسُونَ أَلْفَ] (٢) سَنَةٍ كُلُّهَا فِي الْقِيَامَةِ، يَكُونُ عَلَى بَعْضِهِمْ أَطْوَلَ وَعَلَى بَعْضِهِمْ أَقْصَرَ، مَعْنَاهُ: يُدَبِّرُ الْأَمْرَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ مُدَّةَ أَيَّامِ الدُّنْيَا، ثُمَّ يَعْرُجُ أَيْ: يَرْجِعُ الْأَمْرُ وَالتَّدْبِيرُ إِلَيْهِ بَعْدَ فَنَاءِ الدُّنْيَا، وَانْقِطَاعِ أَمْرِ الْأُمَرَاءِ وَحُكْمِ الْحُكَّامِ فِي يَوْمٍ كَانَ مِقْدَارُهُ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ، وَهُوَ يَوْمُ الْقِيَامَةِ، وَأَمَّا قَوْلُهُ: "خَمْسِينَ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ" فَإِنَّهُ أَرَادَ عَلَى الْكَافِرِ يَجْعَلُ اللَّهُ ذَلِكَ الْيَوْمَ عَلَيْهِ مِقْدَارَ خَمْسِينَ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ، وَعَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِ دُونَ ذَلِكَ حَتَّى جَاءَ فِي الْحَدِيثِ: "أَنَّهُ يَكُونُ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِ كَقَدْرِ صَلَاةٍ مَكْتُوبَةٍ صَلَّاهَا فِي الدُّنْيَا" (٣) . وَقَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ التَّيْمِيُّ: لَا يَكُونُ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِ إِلَّا كَمَا بَيْنَ الظُّهْرِ وَالْعَصْرِ (٤) .

(١) انظر: الطبري: ٢١ / ٩١. (٢) ساقط من "أ". (٣) أخرج الإمام أحمد: ٣ / ٧٥ عن أبي سعيد الخدري: "والذي نفسي بيده إنه ليخفف على المؤمن حتى يكون أخف عليه من صلاة مكتوبة يصليها في الدنيا" وبهذا النص أخرجه المصنف في شرح السنة: ١٥ / ١٢٩ وقال الشيخ الأرناؤوط وفيه ابن لهيعة سيئ الحفظ، ودراج أبو السمح في حديثه عن أبي الهيثم ضعيف، وحسنه الهيثمي في مجمع الزوائد: ١٠ / ٣٣٧ على ضعف في رواية. (٤) أورده الحاكم: ١ / ٨٤ بلفظ: "يوم القيامة على المؤمنين كقدر ما بين الظهر والعصر".