It is also narrated from ‘Ikrimah that he said: “When the souls are paired, the spirits will be restored to their bodies.” (1)

“And when the girl buried alive is asked (8) for what sin she was killed (9), and when the records are spread open (10), and when the heaven is stripped away (11).”

“And when the girl buried alive is asked”: this is the young girl who was buried alive. She was given this name because the earth cast over her weighs her down—that is, it burdens her until she dies. The Arabs used to bury their daughters alive out of fear of disgrace and poverty. [The derivation from awd is morphologically incorrect, since maw’ūdah derives from wa’d, not awd. One says:] wa’ada, ya’idu, wa’dan; thus, the one who does it is a wā’id, and its object is maw’ūd.

‘Ikrimah narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas: “In the Age of Ignorance, when a woman was pregnant and the time of her delivery came, she would dig a pit and go into labor at its edge. If she gave birth to a girl, she would throw her into the pit; but if she gave birth to a boy, she would keep him.” (3)

“For what sin she was killed”: the majority recited both verbs in the passive voice. Abu Ja‘far recited: “was repeatedly killed,” with emphasis. Its meaning is that the girl buried alive will be asked, and it will be said to her: “For what sin were you repeatedly killed?” The purpose of asking her is to rebuke her killer, for she will say: “I was killed without any sin.”

It is narrated that Jabir ibn Zayd used to recite: “And when the girl buried alive is asked: for what sin was she killed?” Abu al-Duha recited likewise.

“And when the records are spread open”: the reciters of Madinah and Syria, as well as ‘Asim and Ya‘qub, recited “are spread open” without emphasis, while the others recited it with emphasis, as in His saying: “scrolls spread open” (al-Muddaththir: 52). That is, the records of deeds will be opened for the reckoning.

“And when the heaven is stripped away”: al-Farra’ said: “It will be removed and then folded up.” (4) Al-Zajjaj said: “It will be pulled away, just as a roof is pulled up.” Muqatil said: “It will uncover what is within it.” The meaning of stripping away is to remove one thing from another which had covered it, just as skin is stripped from a camel’s hump.