Commentary
And when the speech was general, he clarified that it is specific to the recognition of the criminals from others without the punishment for the sin or other circumstances. He said, justifying the lack of questioning: "They will be recognized" meaning: for everyone, "the criminals" meaning: those deeply entrenched in this description, "by their marks" meaning: the signs that Allah has depicted their sins within, making them apparent after they were hidden, and clearly indicative of them, just as it is known that when night comes, it is not hidden from anyone at all, and likewise the day and the like for those who are not blind. And those marks - and Allah knows best - are the blueness of the eyes, the blackness of the faces, blindness, deafness, and walking on their faces, and the like. And just as the good-doers are recognized by their marks from the whiteness of their faces, their radiance, their smiling, the brightness on their foreheads, and the like. And the cause of this recognition is his saying, indicating by the passive construction the ease of taking from any taker: "So they will be seized by the forelocks" meaning: from them, which are the fronts of the heads, "and the feet" after they are gathered between them, just as they used to gather what Allah commanded to be separated and separate what Allah commanded to be gathered. They will be dragged by it from every dragger that Allah has appointed for that, and they will not be able to refrain in any way, so they will be thrown into the Fire.
Explore Other Scholars on This Verse
Compare different scholarly perspectives on Surah Ar-Rahman verse 41