Surah 82. Al-Infitar

WHEN THE SKY is cleft asunder,¹

  - Mohammad Asad

An allusion to the Last Hour, when the world as known to man will come to an end and the ultimate reality of the hereafter will begin.

When the heaven will cleft asunder;

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

When the sky splits open,

  - Mustafa Khattab

When the heaven is cleft asunder,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

When the Sky is cleft asunder; ^{5997 5998}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. the passage lxxxi. 1-14 and notes. For the three parallel interpretations, see the Introduction to the Sura. There are four conditional clauses here, and the substantive clause is in verse 5. In S. lxxxi, there were 12 conditional clauses, and the conclusion was, similar, but not expressed in precisely the same terms. See lxxii. 5. n. 6002 below. The physical world as we see it now will be destroyed before the final Day of Judgment, establishing the true Reality. In the following four clauses we have a reference to the Lesser Judgment, the individual dawn of the true Reality at Death.

Cf. lxxiii. 18, n. 5769. The beautiful blue sky overhead, which we take for granted in sunshine and storm, will be shattered to pieces before the New World is established. The partition which seems at present to divide things divine from this phenomenal world has to be shattered before each soul knows the reality about itself.

and when the stars are scattered,

  - Mohammad Asad

when the stars will scatter;

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

and when the stars fall away,

  - Mustafa Khattab

When the planets are dispersed,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

When the Stars are scattered; ⁵⁹⁹⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. lxxxi. 2, where the word for "stars" (Nujum) is different, and the verb is different. Najm has reference to brightness, and the verb 'losing their lustre" was appropriate there, to show the opposite, Kaukab (used here) has more the meaning of a star as fixed in a costellation; and the opposite of a fixed and definite order is "scattered", the verb used here. In fact, throughout this passage, the dominating idea is the distrubance of order and symmetry. The metaphor behind the scattering of the constellations is that in the present order of things we see many things associated together, e.g., rank with honour, wealth with comfort, etc. In the New World this will be seen to have merely fortuitous.

and when the seas burst beyond their bounds,

  - Mohammad Asad

when the oceans will be torn apart;

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

and when the seas burst forth,

  - Mustafa Khattab

When the seas are poured forth,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

When the Oceans are suffered to burst forth; ⁶⁰⁰⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. lxxxi. 6, "when the oceans boil over with a swell". Here, "are suffered to burst forth" expresses the end of the present order of things. This may be in two ways, (1) The barrier which keeps within their respective bounds the various streams of salt and fresh water (lv. 20, n. 5185) will be removed; (2) the Ocean will overwhelm the whole Globe.

and when the graves are overturned

  - Mohammad Asad

and when the graves will be laid open:

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

and when the graves spill out,

  - Mustafa Khattab

And the sepulchres are overturned,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And when the Graves are turned upside down ⁶⁰⁰¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

This item is not mentioned in lxxxi. 1-14. Here it is introduced to show that the whole order of things will be so reversed that even Death will not be Death. We think there is tranquillity in Death: but there will be no tranquillity. Literally, and figuratively, Death will be the beginning of a new Life. What we think to be Death will bring forth Life.

every human being will [at last] comprehend what he has sent ahead and what he has held back [in this world].²

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., what he has done and what he has omitted to do. An alternative rendering would be, "what he has placed forward and what he has placed behind", i.e., what he prized more and what less in his erstwhile, subjective valuation. Thus, at the moment of resurrection man will suddenly understand the true motivations and moral implications of whatever he did - or consciously refrained from doing - during his life in this world: and this applies to all the good deeds he did and the sins he refrained from, as well as to all the sins he committed and the good deeds he failed to do.

then each soul shall know what it has sent forth and what it left behind.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'then' each soul will know what it has sent forth or left behind.

  - Mustafa Khattab

A soul will know what it hath sent before (it) and what left behind.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

(Then) shall each soul know what it hath sent forward and (what it hath) kept back. ⁶⁰⁰²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Sent Forward and kept back: may mean: the deeds of commission and omission in this life. Or the Arabic words may also be translated: sent forward and left behind: i.e., the spiritual possibilities which it sent forward for its other life, and the physical things on which it prided itself in this life, but which it had to leave behind in this fife. Or else, the things it put first and the things it put last in importance may change places in the new world of Reality. "The first shall be last and the last shall be first".

O MAN! What is it that lures thee away from thy bountiful Sustainer,³

  - Mohammad Asad

A rhetorical question implying that no human being is ever entirely immune against "that temptation to evil (fitnah) which does not befall only those among you who are bent on denying the truth" (see 8:25 and the corresponding note [25]). The answer is given in verse {9} below.

O man! What has lured you away from your gracious Rabb,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

O humanity! What has emboldened you against your Lord, the Most Generous,

  - Mustafa Khattab

O man! What hath made thee careless concerning thy Lord, the Bountiful,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

O man! what has seduced thee from thy Lord Most Beneficent?

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

who has created thee, and formed thee in accordance with what thou art meant to be,⁴ and shaped thy nature in just proportions,⁵

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., "endowed thee with all the qualities and abilities relevant to the exigencies of thy individual life and thy environment".

Lit., "made thee proportionate", i.e., a being subject to physical needs and emotional urges, and at the same time endowed with intellectual and spiritual perceptions: in other words, a being in whom there is no inherent conflict between the demands of "the spirit and the flesh", since both these aspects of the human condition are - as stressed in the next verse - God-willed and, therefore, morally justified.

Who created you, fashioned you, proportioned you,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Who created you, fashioned you, and perfected your design,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Who created thee, then fashioned, then proportioned thee?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Him Who created thee. Fashioned thee in due proportion and gave thee a just bias; ^{6003 6004}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xv. 29. Allah not only created man, but fashioned him in due proportions, giving him extraordinary capacities, and the means wherewith he can fulfil his high destiny.

See n. 834 to vi. 1. Having given a limited free-will, He gave us a just bias through our reason and our spiritual faculties. If we err, it is our will that is at fault.

having put thee together in whatever form He willed [thee to have]?

  - Mohammad Asad

and moulded you in whatever form He pleased?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

moulding you in whatever form He willed?

  - Mustafa Khattab

Into whatsover form He will, He casteth thee

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

In whatever Form He wills does He put thee together. ⁶⁰⁰⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

By "Form" (Surat) here I understand the general shape of things in which any given personality is placed, including his physical and social environments, his gifts of mind and spirit, and all that goes to make up his outer and inner life. The Grace of Allah is shown in all these things, for His Will is formed from perfect knowledge, wisdom, and goodness.

Nay, [O men,] but you [are lured away from God whenever you are tempted to] give the lie to [God's] Judgment!⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

In view of the fact that the whole of this passage is addressed to "man" or "men" in general, and not merely to deniers of the truth, I believe that the expression "you give the lie" does not, in this context, necessarily imply a conscious denial of God's ultimate judgment but, rather, a tendency inherent in most human beings to close one's mind - occasionally or permanently, as the ease may be - to the prospect of having to answer before God for one's doings: hence my rendering, "you are tempted to give the lie".

Nay! In fact you deny the Day of Judgement!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

But no! In fact, you deny the 'final' Judgment,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Nay, but they deny the Judgment.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Nay! but ye do Reject Right and Judgment! ⁶⁰⁰⁶

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The goodness and mercies of Allah, and His constant watchful care of all His creatures should make men grateful, instead of which they turn away from the Right and deny the Day of Sorting Out, the Day when every action performed here will find its fulfilment in just reward or punishment.

And yet, verily, there are ever-watchful forces over you,

  - Mohammad Asad

You should know that guardian angels have indeed been appointed over you,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

while you are certainly observed by vigilant,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Lo ! there are above you guardians,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But verily over you (are appointed angels) to protect you ⁶⁰⁰⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Besides the faculties given to man to guide him, and the Form and Personality through which he can rise by stages to the Presence of Allah, there are spiritual agencies around him to help and protect him, and to note down his Record, so that perfect justice may be done to him at the end. For these Guardian Angels, see 1. 17-18, and n. 4954.