99
The Earthquake
al-Zalzalah
Al-Zalzalah is believed to be either a late Makkan sūrah or a Madinan sūrah revealed in 623, soon after the Prophet’s emigration in 622 (Āl). It takes its name from the reference to the shaking of the earth in the first verse. The first five verses provide a powerful and extended discussion of the quaking of the earth, which is said to be one of the events of the Day of Judgment to which reference or allusion is made in many other verses. The last three verses convey details regarding the Final Judgment, in which every good and evil deed will be weighed.
According to a ḥadīth, “A man came to the Messenger of God and said, ‘Teach me what to recite, O Messenger of God!’ The Prophet said, ‘Recite three from those [that begin] with the letters Alif, Lām, Rā [i.e., Sūrahs 10–12, 14–15].’ The man then said to him, ‘I have become old in age, my heart has hardened, and my tongue has become harsh.’ The Prophet said, ‘Then recite from those [that begin] with the letters Ḥā, Mīm [i.e., Sūrahs 40–46].’ The man said the same thing that he had said before; so the Prophet said, ‘Recite three from the Musabbiḥāt [i.e., sūrahs whose first verse mentions the glorification of God by all of creation: 57, 59, 61, 62, 64].’ The man again said the same thing that he had said before. Then the man said, ‘Rather, give me something to recite that comprises [all of these], O Messenger of God.’ So the Prophet told him to recite, When the earth is shaken with her shaking. Then when he [the Prophet] finished reciting the sūrah to him, the man said, ‘By Him Who has sent you with the truth as a Prophet, I shall never add anything else to it.’ Then the man turned away and left, and the Prophet said, ‘The little man has prospered; the little man has prospered’” (IK).
According to a saying attributed to Ibn ʿAbbās, “When [the earth] is shaken is equal to half of the Quran” (Āl, Q, Sy). In other words, if the Quran is divided into the edicts regarding the Hereafter and those regarding this world, this sūrah would comprise in summary fashion all of those edicts that pertain to the Hereafter (Āl).
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
¡ When the earth is shaken with her shaking, * and the earth yields up her burdens, + and man says, “What ails her?” J That Day she shall convey her chronicles; Z for thy Lord inspired her. j That Day mankind shall issue forth upon diverse paths to witness their deeds. z So whosoever does a mote’s weight of good shall see it. { And whosoever does a mote’s weight of evil shall see it.
Commentary
¡ When the earth is shaken with her shaking,
1 The shaking of the earth is considered to be one of the signs of the Hour (cf. 19:90; 27:88; 56:4–6; 69:14; 73:14; 89:21). Many other verses also refer to the distress that human beings will experience when the world comes to an end (e.g., 22:1–2).
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* and the earth yields up her burdens,
2 This verse is similar to 84:3–4: And when the earth is stretched out, and casts forth what is in it, emptying itself (cf. 54:7; 101:4). A ḥadīth says of this event, “The earth will throw out the pieces of its liver [i.e., its contents]. Gold and silver will come out like columns. A murderer will come and say, ‘I killed for this!’ The one who broke the ties of kinship will say, ‘For this I severed the ties of kinship!’ The thief will say, ‘For this I had my hands amputated!’ Then they will leave it there, and no one will take anything from it” (IK).
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+ and man says, “What ails her?”
3 This verse can be seen as a reference to all human beings who are alive when this event occurs or only to the disbelievers (Bḍ, Q, Sh). With regard to the latter, the believers know that the world is ephemeral, whereas the disbelievers will be astonished when it fades away.
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J That Day she shall convey her chronicles;
4 The earth will speak of what its inhabitants did while upon it. It is reported that the Prophet said, “Verily, her chronicles means that she will testify against every male and female servant, about what they did upon her surface. She will say that he did such and such on such and such a day. So this is her chronicles” (IK).
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Z for thy Lord inspired her.
5 The earth is inspired or instructed to convey all of the deeds performed by those who dwelled upon her.
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j That Day mankind shall issue forth upon diverse paths to witness their deeds.
6 Upon diverse paths translates ashtātan, implying that people’s ends will diverge greatly and thus alluding to the contrast between those destined for Heaven and those destined for Hell. Ashtātan could also be taken to imply that they are dispersed and scattered, as in 101:4: A day wherein mankind shall be like scattered moths (see also 54:7). Though on the Day of Judgment people are said to stand in groups according to their particular religious communities (see 16:84, 89; 28:75; 36:69), every person will be resurrected alone and stand in judgment alone, with none of the things people rely upon in this life or thought they might be able to rely upon in the Hereafter. See 6:94: And [God will say], “Now you have come unto Us alone, just as We created you the first time, and you have left behind that which We had bestowed upon you. We see not with you your intercessors—those whom you claimed were partners [unto God]. Now the bond between you has been severed, and that which you once claimed has forsaken you.”
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z So whosoever does a mote’s weight of good shall see it.
{ And whosoever does a mote’s weight of evil shall see it.
7–8 Cf. 34:3: Not a mote’s weight evades Him in the heavens or on earth, nor smaller than that, nor larger, but that it is in a clear Book (cf. 10:61; 54:52–53). According to Muqātil ibn Sulaymān, one of the earliest Quran commentators, “These two verses were revealed about two men. One of them deemed it unworthy to give beggars one date, a small piece of bread, or one walnut, saying to himself, ‘Such things are nothing. We only get rewarded when we give away something that we love.’ The other man used to belittle minor sins such as small lies, backbiting, and looking at that which is unlawful, saying to himself, ‘No onus is upon me because of engaging in this, for God only threatens those who commit major sins with Hellfire.’ And so God revealed these two verses, encouraging people to perform even small acts of goodness, since they add up in the end, and cautioning them against even small sins, since they add up in the end” (W). There are many aḥādīth that reinforce this message, among them, “Fear the Fire, even if by giving half a date in charity, and even if by saying a single word of good” (IK). The Prophet’s wife ʿĀʾishah is reported to have said, “He used to say, ‘O ʿĀʾishah! Beware of the sins that are belittled, for indeed they will be taken account of by God’” (IK). That everything will be recorded in a book or in a clear book is reiterated in several verses (6:59; 10:61; 11:6; 20:52; 22:70; 27:75; 34:3; 35:11; 57:22; 78:29). Sometimes this record is understood as a reference to all deeds and at other times as a reference to all that exists. For a discussion of the book in which the deeds of human beings are recorded, see 18:49c and 69:19–29.