(87–90) “On the Day the Trumpet is blown, all those in the heavens and on earth will be terrified, except those whom Allah wills. All will come before Him humbled. You will see the mountains, thinking them motionless, while they pass like clouds—the work of Allah, who has perfected all things. Indeed, He is All-Aware of what you do.”

Allah Most High warns His servants of what awaits them on the Day of Resurrection and of its trials, anguish, and heart-shaking terrors. He says: “On the Day the Trumpet is blown, all those in the heavens and on earth will be terrified” by its blast. That is, they will be alarmed and panic-stricken, surging chaotically against one another for fear of what it heralds. “Except those whom Allah wills”—those whom Allah honors, makes steadfast, and protects from terror. “All” creatures, when the Trumpet is blown, “will come before Him humbled,” abased and submissive. As Allah Most High says: “There is no one in the heavens and on earth who will not come to the Most Merciful as a servant.” On that Day, rulers and subjects alike will be equal in their abasement and submission before the Sovereign, the Possessor of all dominion.

Part of its terror is that “you will see the mountains, thinking them motionless”: you do not find [anything] missing from them and suppose them to remain in their familiar state, although the calamities and horrors will already have taken their fullest toll upon them. They will have crumbled, then vanish and become scattered dust. Thus He says: “While they pass like clouds,” because of their lightness and the intensity of that terror. This is “the work of Allah, who has perfected all things. Indeed, He is All-Aware of what you do,” and He will recompense you for your deeds.