'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

Tafsir of Surah Al-Infitar

And it is a Makki surah, by consensus of the mufassirun.

His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿When the heaven is split apart﴾ ﴿and when the stars fall, dispersing﴾ ﴿and when the seas are erupted﴾ ﴿and when the graves are turned upside down﴾ ﴿a soul will [then] know what it has brought [with it] and kept back﴾ ﴿O mankind, what has deceived you concerning your Lord, the Generous﴾ ﴿who created you and fashioned you and assembled you﴾ ﴿in whatever form He willed has He assembled you﴾ ﴿No! But you deny the Recompense﴾ ﴿and indeed, [appointed] over you are keepers﴾ ﴿noble and recording﴾ ﴿they know whatever you do﴾

These are the descriptions of the Day of Resurrection. And

Then, the Most High addressed the kind of the children of Adam, placing them in a position of reprimand and warning, regarding what necessitated them to be deceived by their Lord, the Most Generous, to disobey Him and to make rivals for Him, and other types of disbelief, while He is the Creator who brings into existence after non-existence. It has been narrated that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, recited: "What has deceived you regarding your Lord, the Most Generous?" and said: "His ignorance." Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said it and recited: "Indeed, he was unjust and ignorant" [Al-Ahzab: 72]. Qatadah said: "His enemy who is empowered over him deceived him." Some scholars said: "The concealment of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, over him deceived him." Others said: "The generosity of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, deceived him." The term "the Generous" teaches this answer, for this is from the kindness of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, towards His disobedient servants from among the believers. Ibn Jubair and Al-A'mash recited: "What has deceived you?" in the form of 'Afa'lak, and the meaning is: What has called you to be deceived? This could be understood as pure astonishment. The majority of people recited: "He has adjusted you" with a strong 'd', while the Kufans, Al-Hasan, Abu Ja'far, Talhah, Al-A'mash, Abu Rajaa, 'Isa, and 'Amr ibn Ubaid recited: "He adjusted you" with a light 'd', and the meaning is: He adjusted your limbs in relation to one another, meaning He balanced them. His saying, the Most High: "In whatever form He wills, He creates you," the majority held that "in" relates to "He creates you," meaning: in an ugly form or a beautiful one or a distorted one or a sound one, and so on. Some of the interpreters went to the meaning: He adjusted you in whatever form, meaning: to whatever form, until some of them said: The meaning is that He did not make you in the form of a pig or a donkey. Some interpreters went to the meaning of warning and threat, meaning: the One who, if He wills, can create you in the form of a donkey or a pig or otherwise. The "what" in His saying, the Most High: "What He wills" is extra, containing the meaning of emphasis, composition, and gathering something to something. Khurijah narrated from Nafi': "He created you all" with the 'k' assimilated into the 'k'. Then, the Most High responded to all their sayings and refuted them with His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "No." Then, the Most High affirmed for them their denial of the religion, and this address is general, but its meaning is specific to the disbelievers. The majority of people recited: "You deny" with a 't' from above, while Al-Hasan and Abu Ja'far recited: "They deny" with a 'y'. And "the religion" here may refer to the law, and it may refer to recompense and accountability.

And "the guardians" are the angels who write the deeds of the son of Adam. His description, the Most High, with generosity is the negation of blame, and "they know what they do" is due to their witnessing the state of the children of Adam. His description, the Most High, with generosity is the negation of blame, and "they do what they do" is due to their witnessing the state of the children of Adam. It has been narrated that a hadith mentioned by Sufyan indicates that when a servant commits a sin that is neither seen nor heard, like the accompanying thoughts and the like, the King finds the scent of that sin with a perception that Allah, glorified and exalted is He, has created for them.