Commentary
Meccan, and it has forty-nine verses, and it is said: forty-eight verses [revealed after As-Sajdah]. 'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.'
At-Tur: the mountain on which Allah spoke to Musa while he was in Midian. And the written book in the spread parchment, and the parchment: the sheet. It is said: the skin on which the book is written, which records the deeds. Allah, the Exalted, said: 'And We will bring forth for him on the Day of Resurrection a book which he will encounter spread open.' And it is said: it is what Allah wrote for Musa while he heard the sound of the pen. And it is said: the preserved tablet. And it is said: the Qur'an, and it is made indefinite because it is a specific book among the genre of books, like His saying: 'And the soul and He who fashioned it.'
And the inhabited house, which is the lofty house [[The saying 'and the inhabited house, which is the lofty house in the sky' is in the authentic reports 'the lofty' with a dammah: a house in the sky, and it is the inhabited house. From Ibn Abbas. (may Allah be pleased with him)]] in the fourth heaven. And its inhabitation: the multitude of its covering from the angels. And it is said: the Kaaba because it is inhabited by pilgrims, visitors, and those in proximity.
And the raised roof is the sky, and the filled sea. And it is said: the kindled one, from His saying: 'And when the seas are set ablaze.' It has been narrated that Allah, the Exalted, will make all the seas on the Day of Resurrection a fire with which the fire of Hell will be kindled. And from Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, that he asked a Jew: Where is the location of Hell in your book? He said: In the sea.
Ali said: I do not see him except truthful, [[Reported by At-Tabari from the narration of Dawood ibn Abi Hind from Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, who said: Ali said to a man from the Jews: Where is Hell? He said: The sea. He said: I do not see him except truthful: 'And the filled sea,' and 'And when the seas are set ablaze.']] for His saying: 'And the filled sea.'
It is a reality that is descending. Jubair ibn Mut'im said: I came to the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) to speak to him about the captives, and I found him in the Fajr prayer reading Surah At-Tur. When he reached: 'Indeed, the punishment of your Lord is a reality,' I embraced Islam out of fear that the punishment would descend. [[I did not find it like this. What has come in the authentic report is 'that this was in the Maghrib prayer,' and that he said when he heard: 'Were they created from nothing, or are they the creators?' - to the end: 'My heart almost flew.']] The sky is in turmoil, shaking and coming and going. And it is said: the turmoil is movement in undulation, and it is something that fluctuates in width like the kneecap [[The saying 'like the kneecap' refers to the round bone that moves at the knee joint, as in the authentic reports. (may Allah be pleased with him)]].
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