They ask you, say, a group of the Jews said: O Muhammad, inform us when is the Hour if you are a prophet, for we know when it is. This was a test from them, despite their knowledge that Allah, the Exalted, has kept its knowledge to Himself. It is said that the questioners were from Quraysh. The Hour is one of the predominant names, like the star for the Pleiades. The Day of Resurrection is called the Hour, due to its sudden occurrence or the quickness of its reckoning, or conversely due to its length, or because with Allah, its length is like an hour among creation. Ayyan means when. It is said to be derived from 'ayy', which means any time and any action, from 'await' to it, because some lean on the whole for support, as said by Ibn Jinni. He rejected that it is from 'ayn' because that refers to place, while 'ayy' refers to time. Al-Sulami read 'Iyan', with a broken hamzah. 'Mur'saha' means its anchoring, or the time of its anchoring, meaning its establishment and confirmation. Everything heavy is anchored by its stability and settling. From it: the mountain anchored and the ship anchored. The anchor is the tool by which it is anchored, and nothing is heavier than the Hour, as indicated by His saying: 'It is heavy in the heavens and the earth.' The meaning is: when will Allah anchor it? Its knowledge, meaning the knowledge of the time of its anchoring, He has kept to Himself. He has not informed any of His close angels or sent prophets about it. He almost conceals it from Himself, so that this would encourage obedience and deter from disobedience, just as He concealed the specific term, which is the time of death, so that no one reveals it except Him. It remains hidden; its matter does not become apparent nor is its concealed knowledge revealed except by Him alone when He brings it at its time suddenly. No one from His creation reveals it before its coming, for the concealment of it continues for others until its occurrence. 'It is heavy in the heavens and the earth' means that all of its inhabitants, from angels and the two weights, are concerned about the Hour. They wish its knowledge to be revealed to them, and its concealment is burdensome for them. Or it is heavy in it because its inhabitants expect it and fear its hardships and terrors. Or because everything cannot bear it or stand for it; it is heavy in it except suddenly, unexpectedly from you. And about the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, it is reported: 'The Hour will strike people while a man is fixing his water trough, and a man is watering his livestock, and a man is adjusting his goods in the market, and a man is lowering his scale and raising it.' It has been narrated in the Sahih that 'the Hour will be established while two men are spreading a garment between them, and they will not finalize the sale, nor fold it, and the Hour will be established while a man is returning with milk from his she-camel, and he will not be able to drink it.' 'As if you are knowledgeable about it' means as if you are eloquent in asking about it. Its truth is: as if you are proficient in asking about it. It is said: 'They ask you about the Hour, when is its anchoring?' Then the mention of the answer included in the saying: 'Say, its knowledge is only with my Lord' until the saying: 'suddenly' is intended to complete their question about it with a form of denial against them, which is included in the saying: 'As if you are knowledgeable about it.' This is closely related to the question, and since it has been a long time, the mention of it is a reminder. We do not see it mentioned except in a general way, like a reminder of the first, without needing to detail it further. Therefore, it was said: 'They ask you' without mentioning the questioned matter, which is the Hour, sufficing with what has preceded. When the question was repeated for this benefit, the answer was also repeated in summary, saying: 'Say, its knowledge is only with Allah.' This can be observed in summarizing the speech after elaborating on it. One of the most precise things I have come across among the Arabs in this type of repetition, due to the long time, is the reminder of the mention.

Hasten for us this and join us with that... the fat, indeed we have become weary of it.

This means only, for the mention of the definite article is the conclusion of the first of the two verses. Then, when the second verse began, the reference to the first was deemed distant, so its mention was omitted and the first remained in its place. From this, Ibn Jinni inferred that what was in the verse in three parts is a complete line and not a half, as Abu al-Hasan claimed. He said: If it were a single line, the reference to the first would not be distant, thus there would be no need to repeat it. Do you not see that when Ubaid came with a long poem and made the end of the first hemistich 'Al', he did not count it as the beginning of the second hemistich, because it is one line, and he did not see its reference as distant? This is as in his saying:

'O my companions, four and inquire about the... abode of the one who studies from the people of the lawful.'

Like the crushing of the cold after your departure... the rain of my song and the turning of the north.

Then he continued in it for about a dozen lines. Observe this point how the Arabs have excelled in its preservation, so they counted the near as distant and the short as long. Reflect upon it, for it is a treasure that is only spent among the skilled in the arts of Arabic and eloquence, and Allah is the Helper. Because whoever excels in a matter about something and digs into it, his knowledge of it becomes firm and established. This phrase means to be excessive. From it: 'to trim the mustache.' And 'to uproot the greens': to eradicate it. And 'to delve into the matter,' if he insists. And 'to be excessive with someone': to excel in kindness towards him. And from Mujahid: 'I was excessively questioned about it until I knew.' And Ibn Mas'ud read: 'As if you are well-versed in it,' meaning knowledgeable about it and eloquent in that knowledge. And it was said that 'about it' is related to 'they ask you': meaning they ask you about it as if you are well-versed in it. And it was said that the Quraysh said to him that there is kinship between us and you, so tell us when is the Hour? It was said: 'They ask you about it as if you are well-versed,' meaning you favor them by teaching them its time due to the kinship and withhold its knowledge from others. If you had been informed of its time for a wisdom that Allah knows in informing you of it, you would have conveyed it to the near and the far without specification, like all that has been revealed to you.

And it was said: 'As if you are well-versed in the question about it, you love it and prefer it,' meaning that you dislike being asked about it because it is from the knowledge of the unseen that Allah has kept to Himself and has not granted to any of His creation. If you say: Why did he repeat 'they ask you' when its knowledge is with Allah?

I say: For emphasis, and for what has come with the addition of the saying 'as if you are well-versed about it.' And upon this, the repetition of knowledgeable scholars in their books does not lack the repeated from added benefit, among them Muhammad ibn al-Hasan, the companion of Abu Hanifa, may Allah have mercy on both of them. But most people do not know that he is the one knowledgeable about it, and that he is the one specifically knowledgeable about it.