69:3 Al-Haaqqa (The Reality)

{ الْحَاقَّةُ } من أسماء يوم القيامة، لأنها تحق وتنزل بالخلق، وتظهر فيها حقائق الأمور، ومخبآت الصدور، فعظم تعالى شأنها وفخمه، بما كرره من قوله: { الْحَاقَّةُ مَا الْحَاقَّةُ وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الْحَاقَّةُ } فإن لها شأنا عظيما وهولا جسيما، [ومن عظمتها أن الله أهلك الأمم المكذبة بها بالعذاب العاجل]

استفهام أيضا; أي أي شيء أعلمك ما ذلك اليوم. والنبي صلي الله عليه وسلم كان عالما بالقيامة ولكن بالصفة فقيل تفخيما لشأنها: وما أدراك ما هى; كأنك لست تعلمها إذ لم تعاينها. وقال يحيى بن سلام: بلغني أن كل شيء في القرآن "وما أدراك" فقد أدراه إياه وعلمه. وكل شيء قال: "وما يدريك" فهو مما لم يعلمه. وقال سفيان بن عيينة: كل شيء قال فيه: "وما إدراك" فأنه أخبر به, وكل شيء قال فيه: "وما يدريك" فإنه لم يخبر به.

Which was revealed in Makkah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Warning concerning the Greatness of the Day of Judgement

Al-Haqqah is one of the names of the Day of Judgement, because during it the promise and the threat will inevitably occur. Due to this, Allah has declared the greatness of this matter. So He says,

وَمَآ أَدْرَاكَ مَا الْحَاقَّةُ

(And what will make you know what Al-Haqqah is)

Mention of the Destruction of the Nations

Then Allah mentions the destruction of the nations that denied the Resurrection. He says,

فَأَمَّا ثَمُودُ فَأُهْلِكُواْ بِالطَّاغِيَةِ

(As for Thamud, they were destroyed by the Taghiyah!) It is the cry which will silence them, and the quake that will silence them. Qatadah said similar to this when he said, "At-Taghiyah is the shout." Mujahid said, "At-Taghiyah means the sins." This was also said by Ar-Rabi` bin Anas and bin Zayd. They said that it means transgression. After mentioning this, Ibn Zayd recited the following Ayat as proof for his statement,

كَذَّبَتْ ثَمُودُ بِطَغْوَاهَآ

(Thamud denied through their transgression.) Then Allah says,

وَأَمَّا عَادٌ فَأُهْلِكُواْ بِرِيحٍ صَرْصَرٍ

(And as for `Ad, they were destroyed by a wind Sarsar) meaning, a cold wind. Qatadah, As-Suddi, Ar-Rabi` bin Anas and Ath-Thawri all said about,

عَاتِيَةٍ

(`Atiyah) "This means severe blowing of the wind." Qatadah said, "It blew fiercely upon them until it pierced their hearts." Ad-Dahhak said,

صَرْصَرٍ

(Sarsar) "This means cold, and

عَاتِيَةٍ

(`Atiyah) means, it blew fiercely upon them without any mercy or blessing." `Ali and others said, "It blew fiercely upon their stored harvest until it was brought out worthless."

سَخَّرَهَا عَلَيْهِمْ

(Which Allah imposed on them) meaning, He made it overpower them.

سَبْعَ لَيَالٍ وَثَمَـنِيَةَ أَيَّامٍ حُسُوماً

(for seven nights and eight days Husum,) Husum means, complete, successive and unfortunately evil. Ibn Mas`ud, Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Ath-Thawri and others all said, "Husum means in succession." It has been reported that `Ikrimah and Ar-Rabi` bin Khuthaym both said, "It means it was unfortunately evil upon them." This is similar to Allah's statement,

فِى أَيَّامٍ نَّحِسَاتٍ

(in days of calamity) (41: 16) It has been said that it is that which people now call A`jaz (apparently used to mean evil devastation). It seems as though the people took this term from Allah's statement,

فَتَرَى الْقَوْمَ فِيهَا صَرْعَى كَأَنَّهُمْ أَعْجَازُ نَخْلٍ خَاوِيَةٍ

(so that you could see the people lying toppled, as if they were A`jaz (trunks) of date palms, Khawiyah!) Ibn `Abbas said about,

خَاوِيَةٍ

(Khawiyah) "It means ruined." Others besides him said, "It means dilapidated." This means that the wind would cause one of them (palm tree) to hit the ground, and it will fall down dead on his head. Then his head would shatter and it would remain a lifeless corpse as if it were without branches, motionless. It has been confirmed in the Two Sahihs that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«نُصِرْتُ بِالصَّبَا وَأُهْلِكَتْ عَادٌ بِالدَّبُور»

(I was helped by an easterly wind and the people of `Ad were destroyed by a westerly wind.)

فَهَلْ تَرَى لَهُم مِّن بَاقِيَةٍ

(Do you see any remnants of them) meaning, `do you find any one of them left or anyone who even attributes himself to being from them' Rather they are all gone, right down to the last of them, and Allah did not make for them any successors. Then Allah says,

وَجَآءَ فِرْعَوْنُ وَمَن قَبْلَهُ

(And Fir`awn and those before him committed (sin)) This has been recited with a Kasrah under the letter Qaf (in the word Qabalahu, as Qiblahu), which changes the meaning to those who were with him in his time, and they were his followers who were disbelieving Coptic people. Others recited it with a Fathah over the letter Qaf (as the word Qablahu), which means those nations before him who were similar to him. Concerning Allah's statement,

وَالْمُؤْتَفِكَـتِ

(the overthrown cities) those nations that rejected their Messengers.

بِالْخَاطِئَةِ

(committed Al-Khati'ah.) Al-Khati'ah means their rejection of what Allah revealed. Ar-Rabi` said,

بِالْخَاطِئَةِ

(committed Al-Khati'ah.) "This means disobedience." Mujahid said, "They committed errors." Thus, Allah says,

فَعَصَوْاْ رَسُولَ رَبِّهِمْ

(And they disobeyed their Lord's Messenger, ) meaning they were all of the same type, they all denied the Messenger of Allah ﷺ who was sent to them. As Allah says,

كُلٌّ كَذَّبَ الرُّسُلَ فَحَقَّ وَعِيدِ

(Everyone of them denied the Messengers, so My threat took effect.) So whoever denies a Messenger, then verily, he denies all of the Messengers. This is as Allah says,

كَذَّبَتْ قَوْمُ نُوحٍ الْمُرْسَلِينَ

(The people of Nuh belied the Messengers)

كَذَّبَتْ عَادٌ الْمُرْسَلِينَ

(`Ad belied the Messengers.)

كَذَّبَتْ ثَمُودُ الْمُرْسَلِينَ

(Thamud belied the Messengers.) However, only one Messenger came to every nation. Thus, Allah says here,

فَعَصَوْاْ رَسُولَ رَبِّهِمْ فَأَخَذَهُمْ أَخْذَةً رَّابِيَةً

(And they disobeyed their Lord's Messenger, so He seized them with a punishment that was Rabiyah.) Rabiyah means, great, severe and painful. Mujahid said, "Rabiyah means severe." As-Suddi said, "It means destructive."

A Reminder about the Blessing of the Ship

Then, Allah says,

إِنَّا لَمَّا طَغَا الْمَآءُ

(Verily, when the water rose beyond its limits,) meaning, it rose up over its shores by the leave of Allah and it overcame all that existed. Ibn `Abbas and others said, "The water rising beyond its boundary means it increased abundantly." This happened due to the supplication of Nuh against his people when they denied him, opposed him and worshipped other than Allah. Therefore, Allah answered his supplication and the people of the earth were covered with the flood except for those who were with Nuh in the ship. Thus, are humans all from the loins of Nuh and his progeny. For this reason Allah reminds humanity of His blessing,

إِنَّا لَمَّا طَغَا الْمَآءُ حَمَلْنَـكُمْ فِى الْجَارِيَةِ

(Verily, when the water rose beyond its limits, We carried you in the ship.) meaning, a ship running along upon the surface of the water.

لِنَجْعَلَهَا لَكُمْ تَذْكِرَةً

(That We might make it an admonition for you) The pronoun "it" here refers to the species of the object (ships) due to the general meaning alluding to this. Thus, the meaning is, `We caused its type of creation (ships) to remain (in the earth) for you, so that you ride upon the currents of the water in the seas. ' This is as Allah says,

وَجَعَلَ لَكُمْ مِّنَ الْفُلْكِ وَالاٌّنْعَـمِ مَا تَرْكَبُونَلِتَسْتَوُواْ عَلَى ظُهُورِهِ ثُمَّ تَذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَةَ رَبِّكُمْ إِذَا اسْتَوَيْتُمْ عَلَيْهِ

(and has appointed for you ships and cattle on which you ride; In order that you may mount on their backs, and then may remember the favor of your Lord when you mount thereon) (43:12,13) And Allah said,

وَءَايَةٌ لَّهُمْ أَنَّا حَمَلْنَا ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ فِى الْفُلْكِ الْمَشْحُونِ - وَخَلَقْنَا لَهُمْ مِّن مِّثْلِهِ مَا يَرْكَبُونَ

(And an Ayah for them is that We bore their offspring in the laden ship. And We have created for them of the like thereunto, on which they ride.) (36:41,42) Qatadah said, "Allah caused this ship to remain until the first people of this Ummah saw it." However, the first view (that it refers to all ships in general) is the most apparent. Allah continues saying,

وَتَعِيَهَآ أُذُنٌ وَعِيَةٌ

(and that it might be retained by the retaining ears.) meaning, that a receptive ear may understand and reflect upon this bounty. Ibn `Abbas said, "This means an ear that is retentive and hearing." Qatadah said,

أُذُنٌ وَعِيَةٌ

(by the retaining ears.) means, "An ear that Allah gives intelligence, so it benefits by what it hears from Allah's Book." Ad-Dahhak said,

وَتَعِيَهَآ أُذُنٌ وَعِيَةٌ

(and that it might be retained by the retaining ears.) (69:12) means, "An ear that hears it and retains it, meaning the person who has sound hearing, and correct intellect." And this is general concerning everyone who understands and retains.

And how would you know what the Reality is? repeated as an extra emphasis of its enormity; the first mā of the previous verse is the subject the second one its predicate; the second mā and its predicate also function as the second direct object of the verb ‘knowing’.

Commentary

This Surah is almost wholly devoted to the subject of inevitability of the Resurrection, its horrors, the punishment of unbelievers and the reward of believers. The Day of Judgment is variously referred to in the Qur'an, and in this Surah we encounter the following three names: الْحَاقَّةُ Al-Haqqah 'Imminent Happening', الْقَارِ‌عَةِ Al-Qari'ah 'Shocking Event' and الْوَاقِعَةُ -waqi` ah 'Happening'.

The word الْحَاقَّةُ Al-haqqah means an 'established fact, or inevitable event, reality or truth'. The word Al-haqqah also means 'Something that provide evidence that something is true.' It can be applied to the Day of Judgment in both senses of the word, because in the first sense the Day of Judgment itself is an established truth, and its occurrence is a certainty. And in the other sense the Day of Judgment will prove to the believers the reality of Paradise and to the unbelievers the reality of Hell. This name of the Day of Judgment is followed by two questions regarding it. The questions have been put to make the readers realise how horrifying the experience would be - beyond normal experience or even imagination.

The word الْقَارِ‌عَةِ Al-Qari'ah, literally, means 'rumbling'. The Day of Judgment is so called because there will be rumbling sound which will cause agitation or terror in the hearts of people, and will dreadfully destroy the heavenly and earthly bodies and scatter them apart.

The word الطَّاغِيَةِ At-Taghiyah is derived from tughyan which means 'to exceed the limit', signifying an extremely severe punishment, that is, 'it would be such high pitched sound which would exceed the limit of any of the sounds of the mortal world, and the human heart or brain would not be able to bear'. When Thamud exceeded the limit in denying the Day of Judgment, they were destroyed by that dreadful cry which exceeded all limits. It was a combination of most high pitched sound of thunderbolt together with a flash of lightning that struck them which rent their hearts.