This Surah was revealed in the second stage of the Prophet's residence at Makkah, i.e. from the third year of the Prophethood to the fifth year, when antagonism from disbelievers had become quite intense but had not yet become tyrannical.
- Life after death is a reality and there is nothing strange about it.
- Allah has assigned two angels to each person for noting down each single word that he utters.
- Every disbeliever will be thrown into hell and hell shall be asked, "Are you full." Hell will answer, "Are there some more?"
- Admonish people with The Qur'an and bear with them in patience.
Authentic traditions show that the Prophet used to recite this Surah generally in the Prayer on the Eid days. A woman named Umme Hisham bin Harithah, who was a neighbor of the Prophet, said that she was able to commit Surah Qaf to memory only because she often heard it from the Prophet in the Friday sermons. According to some other traditions, he often recited during Fajr Prayer. This makes it abundantly clear that this was an important Surah in the sight of the Prophet. That is why he made sure that its contents reached as many people as possible over and over again.
The reason for its importance can be easily understood by careful study of the Surah. The theme of the entire Surah is the Hereafter. When the Prophet started preaching his message in Makkah, what surprised the people most was the news that people would be resurrected after death, and they would have to render an account of their deeds. In this Surah, arguments are given for the possibility and occurrence of the hereafter in a brief way, in short sentences, and the people are warned, as if to say: "Whether you express wonder and surprise, or you regard it as something remote from reason, or deny it altogether, in any case it cannot change the truth. The absolute, unalterable truth is that Allah knows the whereabouts of each and every particle of your body that has decomposed in the earth, and knows where and in what state it is. Allah's one signal is enough to make all the decomposed particles gather together again and to make you rise up once again as you had been created in your earthly life. Likewise, the idea that you have been created alone in the world and that you are not answerable to anyone, is no more than a misunderstanding. The fact is that not only is Allah Himself directly aware of each act and word of yours; even of the ideas that pass in your mind, but His angels also are attached to each one of you and are recording whatever you do and utter. On the Day of Judgment you will come out of your graves at one call just as the young shoots of vegetable sprout up from the earth after the first rain shower. Then, this heedlessness which obstructs your vision will be removed and you will see with your own eyes all that you are denying today. At that time, you will realize that you have not been created to be irresponsible in this world but accountable for all your deeds and you will be awarded paradise as a reward or hell as a punishment. The paradise and the hell which you regard as impossible and imaginary things will, at that time, become visible realities. In consequence of your enmity and opposition to the truth, you will be cast into the same hell which you deny today and those who fear Allah and adopt the path of righteousness, will be admitted to the same paradise at the mention of which you express wonder and surprise.