Meccan, and it consists of five or six and forty verses [revealed after the news]. 'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.'

He swears, glorified is He, by the groups of angels that take the souls from the bodies, and by the groups that bring them forth. This is like pulling the bucket from the well when it is drawn out, and by the groups that glorify in their course, meaning:

They hasten and precede to what they have been commanded, and they manage a matter of the servants that benefits them in their religion or worldly affairs as it has been prescribed for them. They are deeply involved in the taking, meaning: they take it from the extremities of the bodies, from their fingertips and nails.

Or He swore by the horses of the warriors that pull at their reins, pulling so that the reins are submerged due to their long necks, for they are thoroughbreds.

And those that go out from the abode of Islam to the abode of war, from your saying 'a vigorous bull' when it moves from one place to another, and those that glorify in their running so they precede to the goal and manage the matter of victory and triumph, and the management is attributed to them, for it is one of its causes. Or He swore by the stars that move from the east to the west. And their deep involvement in taking means:

That they traverse the entire sky until they descend in the far west, and those that move from one constellation to another, and those that glorify in the sky from the wandering stars so they precede and manage a matter of the science of calculation. And it has been said that the 'taking ones' are the hands of the warriors, or themselves taking the arrows with deep involvement, and those that bring forth the ropes of the livestock.

The thing being sworn upon is omitted, which is 'you will certainly be resurrected' as indicated by what follows it regarding the Day of Resurrection. And 'the day the earth shakes' is connected to this implied subject. The 'shaking' refers to the event that causes the earth and mountains to shake, which is the first blast:

It is described by what occurs with its occurrence, followed by the 'second shaking' meaning the event that follows the first, which is the second blast. It is also possible that the 'second shaking' is from Allah's saying, 'Say, perhaps some of what you are hastening for will follow you,' meaning the Day of Resurrection that the disbelievers hasten for in disbelief, and it is following them due to its proximity. It has been said that the 'shaking' refers to the earth and mountains, from His saying 'the day the earth and mountains shake,' and the 'second shaking' refers to the sky and stars, for it will split and its stars will scatter as a result of that.

If you say: what is the position of 'following it'? I say: it is an adverb, meaning: the following one shakes after the first shaking. If you say: how did you make 'the day the earth shakes' a circumstance for the implied subject which is 'you will certainly be resurrected,' and they will not be resurrected at the first blast? I say: the meaning is: you will certainly be resurrected in the broad time during which the two blasts occur, and they will be resurrected in some of that broad time, which is the time of the second blast. And it is indicated by the fact that the saying 'the following one shakes' is made an adverb for the shaking one.

And it is possible that 'the day the earth shakes' is made to indicate what is implied by 'hearts on that day will tremble,' meaning the day the earth shakes and the hearts tremble, trembling intensely, and 'trembling' and 'quaking' are two related terms meaning submissive and humbled. If you say: how is it permissible to begin with an indefinite noun? I say: 'hearts' is raised as a subject, and 'trembling' is its description, and 'their eyes are humbled' is its predicate, so it is like His saying: 'And a believing servant is better than a polytheist.' If you say: how is it correct to attribute the eyes to the hearts? I say: it means the eyes of their owners, as indicated by His saying 'they say.'

'In the grave' in the first state, meaning: life after death. If you say: what is the reality of this word? I say: it is said: so-and-so returned in his grave, meaning: in the path he came from, and he dug it, meaning: he left a trace in it by walking in it: he made the trace of his feet into graves, as it is said: his teeth left marks: if the food affected them. And the line dug in the rock. And it has been said: 'grave' as it is said: 'a pleasing life,' meaning: attributed to the digging and the pleasure, or as they say: 'your day is fasting,' then it was said to someone who was in a matter and then left it and returned to it: he returned to his grave, meaning his way and his original state.

A pitiful state of baldness and gray hair... May Allah protect us from foolishness and disgrace. [This was recited by Ibn al-A'rabi. The hamzah is for denial. The term 'hafirah' originally means: the path dug by walking, thus its naming as 'hafirah' is a mental metaphor. Or it means in terms of lineage, that is: one with pits, then it was used in every state one was in, then it returned to it. It is accusative with an omitted word, meaning: should I return to being a 'hafirah', that is in my original way of youth and childhood. Or it is in the sense of removing the preposition, meaning: should I return to it. And 'baldness' refers to the receding of hair from the forehead, which predominates in old age. And 'may Allah protect' is a source accusative with an omitted word. And 'foolishness' means ignorance and recklessness.]

He means: a return to 'hafirah'. It was said: the criticism at the 'hafirah', they mean at the initial state: which is the deal.

Abu Haywah read: in the pit. And 'pit' means: the dug one. It is said: I dug my teeth so I dug them, and it is a pit. This reading is evidence that 'hafirah' in the root of the word means the dug one. It is said: the bone is gnawed, so it is gnawed and gnawing, as you say: he desired, so it is desire and desiring; and the verb is more expressive than the doer. Both have been read: and it is the hollow, worn-out one through which the wind passes, and its sound is heard. And 'if' is accusative with an omitted word, its meaning: if we were bones, we would be returned and resurrected, a 'losing' return attributed to loss, or losing its owners. The meaning is: if it is true, then we are indeed losing for our denial of it, and this is mockery from them.

If you say: to what does his saying 'for it is but one cry' relate? I say: to an omitted word, its meaning: do not find it difficult, for it is but one cry, meaning: do not think that this return is difficult for Allah, the Exalted, for it is easy and light in His power; it is nothing but a single shout. [Mahamud said: 'If you say: how does it connect to what came before? And Ahmad answered: how good is the facilitation of the matter of resurrection by his saying 'one cry' instead of 'a shout', for the cry is lighter than the shout, and by his saying 'one' meaning it does not need to be dual, and this confirms what I answered regarding the question posed at His saying: 'So when the trumpet is blown, it is but one blow' where it was said: how is it singular while there are two blows? He renewed the covenant with it.]

He means the second blow: 'So when they are alive on the surface of the earth after they were dead in its depths', from their saying: he shouted at the camel when he called out to it. And 'sahira' refers to the flat white land, named so because the mirage runs in it, from their saying: a 'sahira' eye, flowing water. In contrast, it is 'napping'. Al-Ash'ath ibn Qays said: 'And the sahira, the mirage covers its corners... its edges have been veiled.' [For Al-Ash'ath ibn Qays, and 'sahira' refers to the white land, because the mirage runs in it resembling the flowing eye, due to its whiteness and the flow of its water, unlike the 'napping'. Or it was described as 'sahira', because the traveler in it is awake, fearing destruction, so it is a mental metaphor. 'Veiled' means: covering its corners and sides. He says: 'O Lord, a barren land covered by the day with a mirage resembling the coat of a horse', and the day can refer to the mirage, and to the chick of the houbara, and the intention of either is valid. I have come to it not wearing a veil, fearing the heat and the wind.]

Or because its traveler does not sleep, fearing destruction. And from Qatadah: 'And when they are in Hell.'