Intro. to S. 99.
INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY: SURAT AJ·Zl1ztJJ or AJ·Zalzalah99
This Sura is close in date to the last: it is generally referred to the early
Madinah period, though it may possibly be of the late Makkan period.
It refers to the tremendous convulsion and uprooting which will take place
when the present order of the world is dissolved and the new world of Justice
and Truth takes its place. The sign used is that of an earthquake which will
shake our present material and phenomenal world to its very foundations. The
words in which the earthquake is described are remarkable for both power and
graphic aptness. With that shaking all hidden secrets will be brought to light.
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Sura AI-Zilzal or AI-Zalzalah 99 Ayatl-5 Juz'30 ..J.J'~I,.):-I
l) l) f) 1',. I', II I', ~1I1,I', I', I', f) f) f) l)
"
Al-Zilzal, or The Convulsion.
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious,
Most Merciful.
1. When the Earth is
Shaken to her (utmost)
convulsion,6235
2. And the Earth throws up
Her burdens (from within),6236
3. And man cries (distressed);
'What is the matter with her?,_6237
4. On that Day will she
Declare her tidings:
5. For that thy Lord will
Have given her inspiration. 6238
6235. To the ordinary human observer a violent earthquake is a terrifying
phenomenon, in its suddenness, in its origin, and in its power to destroy and uproot the
strongest buildings and to bring up strange materials from the bowels of the earth. The
Overwhelming Event (S. Ixxxviii.) which ushers in the Judgment will be a bigger and more
far-reaching convulsion than any earthquakes that we know. And yet the incidents of
earthquakes may give us some idea of that supreme world-shaking Event.
6236. An earthquake, if accompanied by a volcanic eruption, throws up enormous
boulders and lava from beneath the crust of the earth. They are thrown up as if they
were a burden to the Earth personified. They may be all kinds of minerals, or treasures
buried for secrecy. So in the great and final Convulsion, the dead who had been buried
and forgotten will rise; and will be brought to the light of day, and justice will be done
in the fun glare of absolute Truth.
6237. The puzzled agony suffered by the victims of violent earthquakes is as
nothing compared to the experience of the new and wonderful world which will then open
out of the gaze of man.
6238. The present order may be personified as the earth. It will pass away, but the
Deeds done therein, even the most secret, will be brought to the full light of day. And
this will be because Allah will give the Command, the inspiration or Word, by which
alone all events do proceed. The "inspiration" is the Command or direction conveyed by
instruction breathed into the Earth personified: she is directed to tell the whole story of
what she knows. Cf. xvi. 68, n. 2C1J7.
"'.
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8.99, A.6-8
6. On that Day will men
Proceed in groups sorted out,6239
To be shown the Deeds
That they (had done).
7. Then shall anyone who
Has done an atom's weight 6240
Of good, see it!
8. And anyone who
Has done an atom's weight
Of evil, shall see it.
6239. In this world good and evil are mixed together. But then they will be soned
out, and each grade of good and evil will be soned out. So they will proceed in
companies to receive judgment. And they will be shown the exact impon of everything
that they had thought, said, or done, in this life of probation, however they may have
concealed or misinterpreted it in this life. Everything will be considered in taking the
account, and the account will convince the persons concerned themselves.
6240. Zarrdt: the weight of an atom, the smallest living weight an ordinary man can
think of. Figuratively the subtlest form of good and evil will then be brought to account,
and it will be done openly and convincingly: he "shall see it".
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