81
The Enfolding
al-Takwīr
An early Makkan sūrah, al-Takwīr is most likely the seventh in the chronological order of revelation. It takes its name from the first verse, which refers to the enfolding of the sun as one of the signs of the Hour, and is also known by the title “When the Sun Is Enfolded” (Āl). Ibn ʿAjībah suggests that this sūrah is related to the previous one because it begins by describing the events that are related to the Last Day, the subject with which the previous sūrah ends. The sūrah can be viewed as having two sections, the first of which tells of the signs of the Hour and the Resurrection (vv. 1–14). These apocalyptic events are described in a manner that suggests an inversion of the apparent order of the created world. In this vein, a ḥadīth states, “Whosoever wishes to look at the Day of Judgment as if he is seeing it with his own eyes, let him read, When the sun is enfolded, and when the stars fade away; when the mountains are set in motion, and when pregnant camels are abandoned” (IK). The second section of the sūrah is a more elusive passage that discusses the revelation of the Quran through the Archangel Gabriel and its effect upon the human soul (vv. 15–29).
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
¡ When the sun is enfolded, * and when the stars fade away; + when the mountains are set in motion, J and when pregnant camels are abandoned; Z when the wild beasts are gathered, j and when the seas are made to swell over; z when the souls are coupled, { and when the female infant buried alive is asked | for what sin she was slain; Ċ when the pages are spread, Ě and when Heaven is laid bare; Ī when Hellfire is kindled, ĺ and when the Garden is brought nigh, Ŋ each soul shall know what it has made ready. Ś So I swear by those receding, Ū those that move and set, ź by the night as it approaches, Ɗ and by the morning as it breathes! ƚ Truly it is the speech of a noble messenger, Ȋ possessed of strength, before the Possessor of the Throne, of high rank, ! obeyed, trustworthy withal. " Your companion is not possessed. # He surely saw him upon the clear horizon. $ And he does not withhold grudgingly the Unseen. % Nor is it the speech of a satan outcast. & So where are you going? ' It is naught but a reminder for the worlds, ( for those of you who will to go straight. ) And you do not will but that God, Lord of the worlds, wills.
Commentary
¡ When the sun is enfolded,
1 Enfolded translates kuwwirat, which may be interpreted in various ways: it may mean that the sun is absorbed into the Divine Throne (Q), that the light of the sun is wiped out (IK, Q), or that one part of it will be folded into another and then it will be rolled up and thrown away (IK). In this vein a ḥadīth says, “The sun and the moon will be rolled up (kuwwirat) on the Day of Resurrection” (IK).
***
* and when the stars fade away;
2 Cf. 77:8. Fade away translates inkadarat, which could also mean to spill out, as a container spills out when it is broken (IK, Q), or to fall upon the ground (Q).
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+ when the mountains are set in motion,
3 Cf. 78:20. Elsewhere it is said that mountains are scattered (77:10), for the Day of Judgment is a day when the mountains are as carded wool (70:9; 101:5) or like heaps of shifting sand (73:14); see also 18:47; 19:90; 20:105–6; 27:88; 52:10; 56:5–6; 69:14.
***
J and when pregnant camels are abandoned;
4 Pregnant camels translates ʿishār, which is said to indicate the best type of camel when it has reached the tenth month of pregnancy (IK). Camels were central to Arabian livelihood, and a pregnant camel was doubly valuable. Abandoning a pregnant camel would thus have been a salient metaphor for the Arabs of the time, indicating that on the Day of Judgment people will be so preoccupied with their immediate state that they will have no concern for wealth, even their most precious property, or for the things of this world in general.
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Z when the wild beasts are gathered,
5 This verse is seen by most commentators as a reference to the gathering together of all created animals, other than jinn and human beings, after resurrection, even flies (IK, Q). It is said by many that God resurrects all of the animals and allows each of them to claim justice, so that those who had been wronged may retaliate against the offenders; then they all become dust (JJ, Q). For the resurrection of animals, see 6:38c. This verse could also be seen as another example of an apocalyptic inversion of the created order, since wild beasts (wuḥush) cannot be gathered in this world, but are gathered in the Hereafter.
***
j and when the seas are made to swell over;
6 Cf. 52:6. That the seas are made to swell over implies another apocalyptic inversion, in which the seas break the barrier which they transgress not (55:20), so that the sweet water mixes with the salty, becoming one (Q, R, Ṭ), and so that they burst forth (82:3), covering the earth or parts of it when the earth quakes. For the significance of the two seas, one sweet, satisfying, the other salty, bitter (25:53), see 25:53c; 35:12c; 55:19–20c. Made to swell over translates sujjirat, which could also mean “to be set on fire” and is treated in this way by several early commentators (IK, Q, Ṭ).
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z when the souls are coupled,
7 Some say that this verse means when the souls and bodies are joined together on the Day of Judgment (Q). Others maintain that it indicates that the souls of believers are coupled with wide-eyed maidens, as in 44:54 and 52:20, And We shall wed them to wide-eyed maidens (coupled and wed translate the same verb, zawwaja), while the souls of disbelievers and hypocrites are joined to satans, as in 43:36, We assign to him a satan who is then a companion unto him. Others maintain that it indicates souls being joined with like souls, as this is the Day of Division (e.g., 37:21), on which God sorts the righteous from the evil and believers from disbelievers (Q), and they are no longer mixed together as they are in this world. The last interpretation seems to be the most consistent, as a famous ḥadīth says of this verse, “Every man will be joined to every person who did as he did” (Āl, IK, Q). In making this connection several commentaries refer to Sūrah 56, which speaks of the division of human beings into three categories: the companions of the left, the companions of the right, and the foremost; see commentary on 56:7–10.
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{ and when the female infant buried alive is asked
| for what sin she was slain;
8–9 These verses allude to the pre-Islamic Arabian practice of burying newly born females alive. Although the verses specifically reproach those who engaged in this practice, they can also be read as indicating that all who have been wronged in this world will have the opportunity to demand justice of their oppressors and be vindicated in this life or the next.
***
Ċ when the pages are spread,
10 When the pages are spread refers to the opening of the book in which people’s deeds are recorded. Upon witnessing this life review, they will say, “What a book this is! It leaves out nothing, small or great, save that it has taken account thereof.” And they find present [therein] whatsoever they did (18:49), since on the Day of Judgment no deed can be hidden. For the book in which deeds are recorded, see 17:71c; 18:49c; 50:17–18; 69:19–29; 82:11–12.
***
Ě and when Heaven is laid bare;
11 Laid bare translates kushiṭat, which could also mean “scraped off”; others interpret it to mean “rolled up,” similar to 21:104: That Day We shall roll up the sky like the rolling of scrolls for writings (Q).
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Ī when Hellfire is kindled,
12 Hellfire will be kindled by the Anger of God and the sins of human beings (Q, R).
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ĺ and when the Garden is brought nigh,
13 Those to whom the Garden is brought nigh are the believers who reverence God, as in 26:90: And the Garden will be brought nigh unto the reverent.
***
Ŋ each soul shall know what it has made ready.
14 Every soul will know the good and evil it has done, for the pages of its book will be spread open (v. 10), and people will no longer be able to hide their sins with lies and obfuscations, since their ears, their eyes, and their skins will bear witness against them for that which they used to do (41:20), and they will say, “We bear witness against ourselves” (6:130). A well-known ḥadīth says, “There is none among you, but that God will inform him of that which is between him and his two translators [i.e., the two angels who record his deeds; see 50:17–18c]” (Q).
***
Ś So I swear by those receding,
Ū those that move and set,
15–16 For the implications of I swear (lā uqsimu) here, see 75:1–2c. Those receding, those that move and set is taken by most as a reference to the planets; some say all planets; others say Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercury, which (along with the sun and the moon) are visible to the naked eye and thus appear to recede during the day and reappear at night (IK, Q, R). It could also be seen as a reference to the planets having both forward and retrograde motion.
***
ź by the night as it approaches,
17 Approaches translates ʿasʿasa, which is among a class of Arabic words that can mean either one thing or its very opposite. ʿAsʿasa thus means both “to approach” and “to leave” (Āl, IK, R) and can refer to either the beginning or the end of the night (Āl, IK, Q, R, Ṭ), the latter being similar in meaning to 74:33. It could also be seen as a reference to both the end and the beginning (Āl).
***
Ɗ and by the morning as it breathes!
18 The image of the morning as it breathes alludes to both the manner in which the morning appears to awaken from the night and the way its light expands and spreads like exhaled breath until it becomes day (Āl). If v. 17 is taken as the approach of night, this verse is interpreted to mean “by the morning as it rises” (IK), alluding to the beginning of the morning. When v. 17 is taken as the receding of the night, this verse is understood to indicate either the rising of the morning or the gradual illumination of the day.
***
ƚ Truly it is the speech of a noble messenger,
19 This verse is the response to the oath by which God swears in vv. 15–18. It is a reference to the Quran. A noble messenger is taken by most as a reference to the Archangel Gabriel, though some take it as a reference to the Prophet (Q). The verse is repeated in 69:40.
***
Ȋ possessed of strength, before the Possessor of the Throne, of high rank,
20 If v. 19 is seen as a reference to the Archangel Gabriel, possessed of strength would be similar to one of awesome power, which describes Gabriel in 53:5 (Z). Gabriel’s strength can be taken to mean his ability to withstand all forces from this earth, as he is said to have overcome the armies from the cities of Lot, or his steadfastness in being completely obedient to God from the beginning of creation until the end of time (Āl, Q). If v. 19 is understood as a reference to the Prophet, possessed of strength is taken to mean his ability to deliver God’s message (Q). For Possessor of the Throne, see 17:42; 40:15; 85:15. God is also described as Lord of the Throne (9:129; 21:22; 23:86; 23:116; 27:26; 43:82), which is borne by angels (40:7; 69:17).
***
! obeyed, trustworthy withal.
21 When vv. 19–20 are taken as a reference to Gabriel, obeyed refers to his position among other angels. When taken as a reference to the Prophet, it refers to the injunction for those who obey God to obey His Messenger (see 3:32; 4:59; 5:92; 24:54–56; 47:33; 64:12). Trustworthy translates amīn, which could also be rendered “faithful” or “secure,” and is understood to mean that the Prophet is faithful to the revelation and message with which he has been entrusted, delivering it as instructed by God. Al-Amīn, “the Trustworthy,” was one of the names by which the Prophet was known even before the advent of the revelation.
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" Your companion is not possessed.
# He surely saw him upon the clear horizon.
22–23 According to some, the Prophet had sought a vision of the Archangel Gabriel in his true form, and when he saw him upon the horizon with six hundred wings, he fell down prostrate, covering himself. So the idolaters of Makkah said that he was possessed by a jinn (majnūn) or that he was mad, and vv. 20–23 were revealed in response (Q). The clear horizon is understood by some as a specific reference to the east as the place where the sun rises (Q, R), or as a reference to 53:7, which says that Gabriel was upon the highest horizon during the Night Journey and Ascension (see 17:1c; introduction to Sūrah 53). The verse could also be rendered, “The one who makes clear saw him upon the horizon,” a reading preferred by several scholars when v. 24 is read as describing the Prophet (Q).
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$ And he does not withhold grudgingly the Unseen.
24 Most take he in this verse as a reference to the Prophet; others as a reference to the Archangel Gabriel. In both cases it means that he teaches the Quran and the rulings (aḥkām) of God that he has been instructed to teach, withholding nothing. Many prefer an alternate reading, in which the word translated withhold grudgingly, ḍanīn, is read as ẓanīn, meaning “suspect, unreliable, or untrustworthy” (Āl, Q, R), meaning, “he is not unreliable with regard to the Unseen.”
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% Nor is it the speech of a satan outcast.
25 This verse is a response to those who are reported to have said that the Quran was inspired by Satan and that the Prophet was a sorcerer (R), an accusation made against other prophets as well (see 38:4–5; 51:52).
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& So where are you going?
26 This verse asks essentially, “Where will you, who do not follow God and His Messenger, turn, for none guides but God?”
***
' It is naught but a reminder for the worlds,
( for those of you who will to go straight.
) And you do not will but that God, Lord of the worlds, wills.
27–29 Cf. 76:29–31. As translated, v. 27 refers to the Quran. It could also be rendered as a reference to the Prophet Muhammad: “He is naught but a reminder,” as in 88:21: Thou art but a reminder. But it most likely refers to the Quran, as the Quran and previous revelations are referred to as reminders in many verses (e.g., 6:90; 15:9; 16:44). That it is a reminder for the worlds is taken to indicate that it is a universal revelation for any people who desire guidance (Ṭb).
For whosoever wishes to go straight, the Quran and the Prophet will serve as a reminder, but for those who do not, He misleads many by it (i.e., the Quran; 2:26). These verses are taken to indicate that the act of traveling the straight path is dependent upon one’s will and desire to do so (R). Yet none will to follow the straight path unless God wills that they will it, for the manifestation of desire within human beings is determined by God’s Desire (Ṭb). From this perspective, one’s will and desire to follow the path is a manifestation of God’s Will and Desire within; for more on the relation between human choice and Divine determinism, see 54:49c.