(1–14) “In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. When the sun is wrapped up * and when the stars fall and scatter * and when the mountains are set in motion * and when the precious she-camels are left untended * and when the wild beasts are gathered * and when the seas are set ablaze * and when souls are paired * and when the infant girl buried alive is asked * for what sin she was killed * and when the records are laid open * and when the sky is stripped away * and when Hellfire is fiercely kindled * and when Paradise is brought near * then every soul will know what it has brought forth.”
That is, when these momentous events occur, people will be clearly distinguished from one another, and everyone will know what they sent ahead for the Hereafter and what good or evil they brought with them. On the Day of Resurrection, the sun will be wrapped up—that is, gathered and folded—the moon will be eclipsed, and both will be cast into the Fire.
“And when the stars fall and scatter”—that is, they will change and fall (1) from their orbits.
“And when the mountains are set in motion”—that is, they will become heaps of shifting sand, then like fluffed wool, after which they will change into scattered dust and be moved from their places. “And when the precious she-camels are left untended”—that is, people will then abandon their most valuable possessions, which they had always cared for and guarded, because something will come upon them that makes them oblivious to these possessions. The precious she-camels—those followed by their young—are mentioned because they were the Arabs’ most valuable property at that time, thus drawing attention to every valuable possession of a similar kind.
“And when the wild beasts are gathered”—that is, they will be assembled for the Day of Resurrection so that Allah may exact retribution among them and show His servants the perfection of His justice. Retribution will even be taken from the horned animal on behalf of the hornless one (2), after which He will say to them, “Become dust.”
“And when the seas are set ablaze”—that is, they will be ignited and, despite their vastness, become a blazing fire.
“And when souls are paired”—that is, everyone will be joined with those whose deeds resemble their own. The righteous will be gathered with the righteous and the wicked with the wicked; the believers will be joined with the maidens of Paradise, while the disbelievers will be joined with the devils. This is like the words of Allah Most High: “Those who disbelieved will be driven to Hell in groups”; “Those who feared their Lord will be led to Paradise in groups”; and “Gather those who did wrong and their counterparts.”
“And when the infant girl buried alive is asked.” This refers to what the people of the benighted pre-Islamic age used to do: bury their daughters alive for no reason other than fear of poverty. She will be asked, “For what sin was she killed?” It is well known that she committed no sin; the question therefore rebukes and severely reprimands her killers (3).
“And when the records”—containing the good and evil deeds people performed—“are laid open” and distributed to their owners: some will receive their records in their right hands, while others will receive them in their left hands or from behind their backs.
“And when the sky is stripped away”—that is, removed, as Allah Most High says: “On the Day the sky will split open with clouds”; “On the Day We shall roll up the heaven as a scroll is rolled up for writings”; and “The whole earth will be in His grasp on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens will be folded in His Right Hand.”
“And when Hellfire is fiercely kindled”—that is, it will be set alight, blaze fiercely, and burn with an intensity it never had before. “And when Paradise is brought near”—that is, brought close to the God-fearing. “Then every soul will know”—meaning every single soul, since the expression occurs within a conditional construction.
“What it has brought forth”—that is, the deeds it finds present before it [that it sent ahead], as Allah Most High says: “And they will find all that they did present before them.” These features with which Allah describes the Day of Resurrection are enough to alarm hearts, intensify distress, make limbs tremble, and spread fear everywhere. They spur people of sound understanding to prepare for that Day and restrain them from everything that incurs blame. Hence, one of the early Muslims said, “Whoever wishes to behold the Day of Resurrection as though seeing it with his own eyes should contemplate the surah, ‘When the sun is wrapped up.’”