—namely, the ultimate outcome of a person’s affair, whether felicity or misery. And it is said to the one upon whom the agony of death has come: “That is what you were trying to evade”—that is, to turn away from. Al-Hasan said: “To flee.” Ibn ‘Abbas said: “To dislike.” The root meaning of ḥayd is inclination or turning aside. One says: “I turned away from something,” when one inclined away from it.

“And the Trumpet will be blown: that is the Day of Warning. And every soul will come, accompanied by a driver and a witness. You were certainly heedless of this, so We removed your covering from you; and today your sight is sharp. And his companion will say, ‘This is what I have ready.’ ‘Cast into Hell every stubborn disbeliever.’” (20–24)

“And the Trumpet will be blown”: that is, the blast of resurrection. “That is the Day of Warning”: that is, that day is the Day of Warning, in which Allah has warned the disbelievers that He will punish them. Muqatil said: By “warning” He means punishment—that is, the day when the warning comes to pass.

“And every soul will come” on that day, “accompanied by a driver,” who drives it to the place of gathering, “and a witness,” who bears witness against it concerning what it did. Al-Dahhak said: The driver is one of the angels, while the witness is from the people themselves—their hands and feet. This is also the narration of al-‘Awfi from Ibn ‘Abbas. (1) Others said: Both are angels. Then Allah says:

“You were certainly heedless of this”—that is, of this Day while you were in the life of this world—“so We removed your covering from you,” the covering that had been over your heart, hearing, and sight in the world; “and today your sight is sharp,” penetrating, so that you see what you used to deny in the world. It is related from Mujahid that he said: It means your looking at the pointer of your scale when your good and evil deeds are weighed.

“And his companion will say”—the angel entrusted with him—“This is what I have ready”: that is, prepared and brought forth. It was also said that “what” here means “one who.” Mujahid said: He says, “This son of Adam whom You entrusted to me is present before me: I have brought him, and I have brought the record of his deeds.” Then Allah, exalted is He, says to his companion: “Cast into Hell.” This is an address to one person expressed in the dual form, in accordance with Arab usage. They would say to one person: “Woe to you! Drive her on, restrain her, take her, and release her!” Al-Farra’ said: (2) The origin of this is that the minimum number of a man’s helpers in tending his camels, sheep, and during travel is two; thus, speech addressed to one person came to be phrased as though addressed to his two companions. Likewise, in poetry they would say to one person, “My two companions.” Al-Zajjaj said: This is a command to the driver and the witness. It was also said: to the two recording angels. “Every stubborn disbeliever”: one who is disobedient and turns away from