His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "On the Day the Spirit and the angels will stand in rows, they will not speak except for one whom the Most Merciful has permitted and he will say what is right." "That is the Day of Truth. So whoever wills may take to his Lord a place of return." "Indeed, We have warned you of a near punishment on the Day when a person will see what his hands have brought forth, and the disbeliever will say, 'Oh, I wish I were dust.'"

People have differed regarding the "Spirit" mentioned in this context. Al-Sha'bi and Al-Dahhak said: It is Gabriel, peace be upon him, mentioned specifically among the angels in honor. Ibn Mas'ud said: It is a great angel, the largest of the angels in creation, called "the Spirit." Ibn Zayd said: My father used to say it is the Qur'an, and Allah, the Exalted, has said: "We have revealed to you a Spirit from Our command."

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

So the standing in it is borrowed, intended to indicate its manifestation and the intensity of its effects, and the occurrences resulting from its affirmation or denial. Despite this, there is anxiety in the saying. Mujahid said: The Spirit is a creation in the form of the children of Adam; they eat and drink. Ibn Abbas, from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "The Spirit is a creation other than the angels, and the angels are guardians for the prophets and for us." Ibn Abbas, Al-Hasan, and Qatadah said: The Spirit here is a generic name, intended to mean the souls of the children of Adam. The meaning is: On the Day the Spirit will stand in its bodies after resurrection and the Hereafter, and all will be in rows from among humans and angels, and no one will speak out of awe and fear, except for one whom the Most Merciful has permitted, whether an angel or a prophet, and he is worthy to say what is right in that place. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: The pronoun in "they will not speak" refers specifically to the people, and the "right" referred to is "there is no deity except Allah." Ikrimah said: He said it in this world.

And His saying, exalted is He: "That Day is the True Day" means: the truth is its existence and reality. In His saying, exalted is He: "So whoever wills may take to his Lord a place of return," there is a promise, a warning, and an encouragement. And "the place of return" is the reference and the place of return. The pronoun, which is the 'kaf' and 'mim' in "I have warned you," refers to all of creation, even though the address is to those who were present with the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, from among the disbelievers. And "the near punishment" refers to the punishment of the Hereafter. Its description as near is due to the certainty of its occurrence, and that it is coming, and everything that is coming is near. All are included in the warning from it. "And the gaze of a person at what his hands have sent forth" is an establishment of proof against him. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "The person" here refers to the believer. Ibn Abi Ishaq read it as "the man" with a 'dhamma' on the 'mim', and Abu Hatim weakened it. And His saying, exalted is He: "And the disbeliever will say, 'Oh, I wish I were dust'" is said to be a wish to be something insignificant that is not held accountable and is not regarded. We find this in those who fear from among the believers. For Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "I wish I were a dung beetle." And Abu Huraira and Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, said that Allah, exalted is He, will bring forth the animals on the Day of Resurrection and will exact retribution from some of them against others. Then He will say to them after that: "Be dust," and all of them will return to dust. When the disbelievers see that, they will wish for the same. Abu al-Qasim ibn Habib said: I saw in some of the tafsir that the disbeliever here is Iblis. When he sees what has happened to the believers from among the children of Adam in terms of reward, he says: "Oh, I wish I were dust," meaning like Adam, who was created from dust and whom he despised at first.

The tafsir of [Surah An-Naba] is complete, and all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.