He then mentioned that on the Day of Resurrection all people—the first and the last—will be gathered on a single plain, just as the Almighty has said: “Say: the former peoples and the later ones will all be gathered at the appointed time of a known Day” (Q 56:49-50). They will be brought together on one level expanse, and on that day the earth will be stretched out; it will not be the rounded globe we know today, where when you look out you can see only what lies directly in front of you. Rather, on the Day of Resurrection the earth will be spread flat like a tanned hide: no mountains, no valleys, no rivers, no seas—one continuous surface. Everyone upon it will hear the caller and every eye will reach the whole assembly: if a person speaks, even the very last of them will hear, and each person will see the others, for there will be no curvature to conceal anyone; all will stand together on that vast plain.

On that day the sun will draw so near to the creation—a mere mile away—that they will be overwhelmed by an anguish and distress they cannot bear. The earth will feel constricted around them, and they will seek intercession, hoping that someone might plead for them before Allah the Exalted to rescue them from this tremendous standing, or at least to begin the reckoning. Allah will then inspire them to go to Adam, the father of humankind. They will come to him, enumerate his virtues, and implore him to intercede: “You are Adam, the father of humanity; every man and woman from the children of Adam until the Day of Resurrection descends from you. Allah created you with His own hand,” as He said while rebuking Iblis, “What prevented you from prostrating to one I created with My two hands?” (Q 38:75). Allah fashioned him with His hand, whereas He created the rest of humankind with the command ‘Be,’ and it is. They will go on: “He created you with His own hand and commanded the angels to prostrate to you,” for He, the Exalted, said: “And when We said to the angels, ‘Prostrate before Adam…’” (Q 2:34).