'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying, exalted is He: "Bring me pieces of iron until when he has leveled between the two sides, he said, 'Blow!' Until when he made it a fire, he said, 'Bring me to pour upon it molten copper.'" "So they were not able to make it rise, nor were they able to pierce it." "He said, 'This is a mercy from my Lord. But when the promise of my Lord comes, He will make it level, and the promise of my Lord is true.'" "And We left some of them that day surging over each other, and the trumpet was blown, and We gathered them together in one gathering." "And We presented Hell that day to the disbelievers, a presentation." Al-A'sim and Hamzah read: "Bring me" meaning: "Come to me." Ibn Kathir, Nafi', Abu 'Amr, Ibn 'Amir, and Al-Kisai read: "Give me" meaning: "Grant me." All of this is similar. It is merely a call for handing over, not a call for a gift or donation; because it has been linked from his saying that he does not take from them the tribute, so there remains only a call for handing over and the exertion of strength. And "Bring me" is similar to his saying: "So help me with strength" [Al-Kahf: 95]. The accusative of "pieces" is like the saying of the poet: I commanded you to do good. The preposition was omitted, so the verb is in the accusative. The majority read: "pieces" with the opening of the letter 'ba', and Al-Hasan read it with a 'dhamma'. All of that is a plural of "piece," and it is the large piece of it. The meaning is: he arranged it and built it until when he leveled between the two sides, he abbreviated that for the indication of the apparent meaning. The majority read: "leveled," and Qatadah read: "equalized." "The two sides" are the two mountains that are facing each other, and it is not said for one: "side," but rather "the two sides" for two, one of which faces the other. Nafi', Hamzah, and Al-Kisai read: "the two sides" with the opening of the 'sad' and its doubling, and this is the reading of 'Umar ibn Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, and 'Umar ibn 'Abdul Aziz, may Allah be pleased with him. Ibn Kathir, Ibn 'Amir, and Abu 'Amr read: "the two sides" with a 'dhamma' on the 'sad' and 'dal', and this is the reading of Mujahid and Al-Hasan. Al-A'sim read - in the narration of Abu Bakr -: "the two sides" with a 'dhamma' on the 'sad' and a sukoon on the 'dal'. Qatadah read: "between the two sides" with an opening on the 'sad' and a sukoon on the 'dal'. All of that has one meaning; they are the two opposing sides. It was said: "the two sides" are the upper surfaces of the two mountains, and this is similar to the first. And His saying: "He said, 'Blow!'" means that he was commanding to place a layer of iron and stone, then it would be ignited until it becomes hot, then molten copper or lead or iron would be brought - according to the difference in "molten metal" - and he would pour it upon that stacked layer. When it fused and became strong, he would begin to stack another layer until the work was leveled. Some of the companions read: "with molten metal, pour it upon it."

And most of the commentators said: "The 'qitr' is molten copper, and this is supported by what has been narrated from the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, that a man came to him and said: O Messenger of Allah, I saw the barrier of Gog and Magog. He said: How did you see it? He said: I saw it like a patterned cloth, with a yellow path, a red path, and a black path. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: You have indeed seen it." And a group said: "The 'qitr' is molten lead," and another group said: "The 'qitr' is molten iron." It is derived from 'qatar' which means to drip.

And the pronoun in His saying: "So they could not" refers to Gog and Magog. And a group read: "So they could not" with the 's' of 'sina' being silent and the 'ta' being lightened. And a group read with the 'ta' being emphasized, and it is forced to combine the two readings. And "they could not overcome it" means: they could not ascend in it. From this is His saying in the Muwatta: "And the sun in its chamber before it appears." (And they could not find a way to penetrate it) due to its great width and strength, and there is no way other than these two, either to ascend or to penetrate. It has been narrated that the distance between the two mountain ends is one hundred farsakhs and its width is fifty farsakhs. And other narrations exist that have no authenticity as there is no limit to conjecture. And His saying in this verse: "Blow" means with horns. And His saying: "they could not" with the lightening of the 'ta' according to the reading of the majority, it is said: it is a dialect meaning: they were able, and it is said: they could with the same meaning has become common in the speech of the Arabs until some of them omitted the 'ta' and said: "istā'" and some omitted the 'ta' and said: "istā'a yastā'" meaning they were able to be able, and it is a well-known dialect. And Hamzah alone read: "So they could not" with the 'ta' being emphasized, and this reading is weak in its basis. Abu Ali said: it is not permissible. And Al-Amash read: "So they could not overcome it and they could not find a way to penetrate it" with the 'ta' in both places.

And His saying, the Exalted: "He said: This is a mercy from my Lord"—the speaker is Dhul-Qarnayn, and he referred to this as the barrier and the strength over it and the benefit from it. Ibn Abi Abla read: "This is a mercy." And "the promise" may be intended to mean the Day of Resurrection, and it may be intended to mean the time of the emergence of Gog and Magog. Ibn Kathir, Nafi', Abu Amr, and Ibn Umar read: "Dakkā" which is the source of 'dakka' meaning to demolish and crush. And Asim, Hamzah, and Al-Kisai read: "Dakkā" with elongation, and this is likened to the she-camel that has no hump. And in the speech, there is an omission whose estimation is: making it like 'dakkā'. As for the accusative in "dakkā", it is possible that it is a second object of "made", and it is possible that "made" means created and "dakkā" is in the accusative as a state, and likewise, the accusative in the reading of the elongation may have both meanings.

The pronoun in "We left" refers to Allah, glorified and exalted is He. His saying: "On that Day" may mean the Day of Resurrection because its pronoun has preceded. The pronoun in His saying: "some of them" refers to all people. It is also possible that by saying: "On that Day" He means the Day of the completion of the barrier. The pronoun in His saying: "some of them" refers to Ya'juj and Ma'juj. The metaphor of "the wave" for them is an expression of the confusion and hesitation of some of them among each other, like those who are distressed by worry and fear. He likened them to the waves of the sea that crash into each other.

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "And the trumpet will be blown" refers to the Day of Resurrection, and there is no possibility of anything else. Whoever interprets the entire verse in the context of the Day of Resurrection has a consistent interpretation. Whoever interprets the verse up to His saying: "They will surge into one another" regarding the matter of Ya'juj and Ma'juj interprets the saying: "And We left them surging" as a continuous state throughout the ages and the generations among them and their standing, then the trumpet will be blown, and they will gather. The "trumpets" according to the majority and the apparent authentic hadiths refer to the trumpet that will be blown for the Resurrection. In the hadith, the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "How can I enjoy life when the one responsible for the trumpet has taken the trumpet and has lowered his forehead and is listening for when he will be commanded?" This troubled the companions of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and they said: "Say: Allah is sufficient for us, and upon Allah we rely, even if the people of Mina were to gather, they would not delay that trumpet." As for the "blasts," Al-Tabari, may Allah have mercy on him, narrated from Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "The trumpets are a great horn in which there will be three blasts: the first is the blast of terror, the second is the blast of death, and the third is the blast of resurrection." Some people said: "The blasts are two: the blast of terror, which is the blast of death, and then the other one which is for resurrection." And the angel of the trumpet is Israfil, peace be upon him. A group said: The trumpet is the plural of image, as if he intended the images of humans and animals in which the spirit was blown. The first is clearer and more prevalent in the Shari'ah.

And His saying: "And We presented Hell" means: We made it evident to them to gather them and crush them. Then He emphasized with the source an expression of the severity of the situation. Al-Tabari narrated in this a hadith implying that the fire will be raised for the Jews and Christians as if it were a mirage, and they will be asked: "Do you have any need for water?" They will say: "Yes," and similar to this, which has no authenticity.