Commentary
And when the Day of Resurrection becomes great by revealing the secrets in it and informing about it, and the matter is that a person is not informed except about what he is ignorant of or absent from, and among what is easy for a person in this world is forgetfulness. And that day is the Day of Unveiling the Veil, which is magnified by the informing that it clarifies the insight of a person until he becomes fully aware of all that concerns him. Thus, the decree is: and he is not ignorant of anything of that nor in need of being informed about it. He said, building upon this: "Rather, man" [meaning every one of this kind] "is upon himself" especially "a witness" meaning a clear proof against his deeds. The pronoun is for emphasis - meaning that he is in the utmost knowledge of the state of his soul. For when he reflects and gives it careful thought and does not stop at the whims, he knows well his good deeds from his bad ones. As for in this world, it is because the original natures testify to good and evil - as he indicated ﷺ by saying: "Righteousness is what the soul finds peace in and the heart is assured by, and sin is what stirs in the chest and causes the soul to hesitate, even if people give you a fatwa and permit you." Narrated by Imam Ahmad from Abu Thalabah [al-Khashani] may Allah be pleased with him. And his saying ﷺ: "People have only grasped from the words of the first Prophethood what they have not felt ashamed of, so do what you wish." - Narrated by al-Bukhari from Ibn Mas'ud may Allah be pleased with him. As for in the Hereafter, Allah will give him on that day the strength of remembrance until all his deeds become before his eyes. For He, the Exalted, removes from him the bodily distractions and uncovers the mental veils until his deeds become represented to him as if he sees them, and his excuses will not benefit him. For everything he uses as an excuse for himself is known to be false by the very existence of it, not by anything external to it. Sometimes its creator brought it into existence based on what it is in knowledge and the soundness of the causes that remove the defects, and sometimes by the utterance of his limbs.
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