His saying, exalted and glorified is He:

"On the Day We fold the heaven like the folding of a scroll for the books, as We began the first creation, We will return it. This is a promise upon Us. Indeed, We were doing."

"And We had certainly written in the Psalms after the mention that the earth is inherited by My righteous servants."

A group read: "We fold" with the pronoun of greatness. Another group read: "He folds the heaven" with an open 'ya' meaning: Allah folds. Another group read: "It will be folded" with a 'ta' that is pronounced with a dhamma and with "the heaven" in the nominative case, indicating that its doer has not been named.

People have differed regarding "the scroll." One group said: The scroll is an angel who folds the pages. Another group said: The scroll is a man who used to write for the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. All of this and similar interpretations are weak. Another group said: The scroll is the page in which it is written. The meaning is: "like the folding of the scroll," meaning: as the scroll is folded for the book that is in it. Thus, the source is attributed to the object, and it is possible that the source is attributed to the doer, meaning: as the scroll folds the book that is in it. It is as if He said: On the Day We fold like the manner in which the scroll is folded for the book. In this comparison, there is a figure of speech.

Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan read: "the scroll" with a heavy 's' and a silent 'j' and a light 'l'. Abu al-Samal opened the 's' and read it: "the scroll." Abu Zur'ah ibn Amr ibn Jarir read: "the scrolls" with a heavy 's' and a heavy 'j'. The majority read: "for the books," while Hamzah, al-Kisai, and Hafs from Asim read: "for the books."

His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "As We began the first creation, We will return it" has two possible meanings: One of them is that it is news about resurrection, meaning: just as We created the creation at first without a model, so We will create them again and resurrect them from the graves. The second is that it is news that every person will be resurrected on the Day of Judgment in the form in which he came to this world. This interpretation is supported by the fact that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "People will be gathered on the Day of Judgment barefoot, naked, and uncircumcised, as We began the first creation, We will return it." The 'kaf' in His saying: "as We began" is related to His saying: "We will return it." And His saying: "Indeed, We were doing" is an affirmation of the matter, meaning that the matter is obligatory in that.

A group said: "the Psalms" is a name that encompasses all the revealed books, because it is derived from "I wrote the book." One group said: And "the mention" refers to the preserved tablet. Some of them said: The mention that is in the heavens. Another group said: The Psalms is the Psalms of David, peace be upon him, and the mention refers to the Torah. Another group said: The Psalms are what came after the Torah from the books, and the mention is the Torah. Hamzah alone read: "the Psalms" with a heavy 'z'.

And a group said: "The earth" refers to the earth of this world, meaning all that the believers will attain from the earth. And another group said: It refers to the earth of Paradise. They supported their view with His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿And they said, 'Praise be to Allah, who has fulfilled His promise to us and has made us inherit the earth, we may settle in Paradise wherever we wish.'﴾ [Az-Zumar: 74]. And another group said: What is meant by this verse is the reporting of what He did with the Children of Israel; meaning: Know that we were with them regarding what We promised them, so likewise We will fulfill for you what We have promised you of victory.