Is It “the Last Day”? — Focusing on Qur’an, Sūrat al-Nāziʿāt 79:6–14
AI-Generated Summary
This essay attempts to reread Qur’an, Sūrat al-Nāziʿāt 79:6–14 not only as a description of “the Last Day,” but also as an occasion to reflect on the trembling and fear that human beings experience in this world, and on the possibility of awakening.
Returning to the Arabic roots of words such as al-rājifa, al-rādifa, wājifa, and al-ḥāfira, the essay examines the meanings of the trembling earth, the following tremor, the trembling heart, the lowered gaze, and the return to the original path.
Drawing also on al-Rāzī’s commentary, the essay reconsiders eschatological fear as a hope for walking again, here and now, without repeating the same tracks.
Was It Angels?
The world is composed of what may be called “particle-like things.” This is one of the ways of understanding the world that has been repeatedly considered from ancient times by philosophers, and in modern times also by scientists. Though invisible to the naked eye, they certainly exist. They form things as things, bring about various natural phenomena, surround human beings and their lives, and, while at times exposing them to destructive forces, for the most part sustain them.
Human beings themselves are also gatherings of such particles. We may think that we are separated from the outside world by our skin, but in fact that boundary is extremely ambiguous. For example, while meditating, simply becoming aware of the particles that enter and leave through breathing may allow us to realize that the realm called “I,” or rather my very existence, is wrapped in a mist of particles.
The opening five verses of Sūrat al-Nāziʿāt have often been read, down to the present day, as a discourse about “angels.”[1] From an Islamic perspective, angels are also beings that truly exist. Therefore, even if the word “angels” itself is not contained in the verses, there is no reason to object to interpreting them as speaking about angels. Yet this does not mean that other interpretations must be excluded.
What Happens “on That Day”?
If the opening five verses of Sūrat al-Nāziʿāt can be read not as a discourse about angels, but as a discourse about particle-like beings, then could the same not also be said of the verses that follow, which are usually understood as referring to “the Last Day”? Traditionally, these verses have been interpreted as depicting the catastrophic state of “that Day,” giving the reader fear and causing them to tremble. Of course, I do not intend to deny that interpretation. But it should not be possible to say that this is all there is. Let us examine the verses one by one.
First, the Qur’an says, “On that Day, the trembling one trembles” (v. 6). In a ḥadīth, it is also said that “the trembling one has come.” Ordinarily, this is understood to mean that an earthquake-like vibration has come. Yet the basic meaning of the verb rajafa, from which al-rājifa — “the trembling one” — derives, is “movement, shaking, tremor, agitation,” and it is not limited to earthquakes.[2] Indeed, in the ḥadīth concerning the beginning of revelation to Muḥammad, it is also said, “He returned, his chest trembling because of it.” This seems to indicate that his chest, shoulders, or fingertips were trembling.
The Trembling Earth
What follows is: “The one that follows follows it” (v. 7). Traditionally, this is understood as the second blowing of the Trumpet, which brings resurrection, following the first blowing of the Trumpet, which brings death.[3] The verb radafa is a word that indicates following after something in a sequence of before and after.
First comes the vibration of a great earthquake. Then, as though chasing after it, comes an aftershock or a subsequent earthquake. Yet such phenomena of preceding and following may also occur in human emotions. First, there is a trembling such as fear, sadness, anxiety, loneliness, emptiness, or exhaustion. These are what may be called primary emotions, and they correspond to the first wave. When this wave cannot be processed, they become triggers, and a secondary emotion — a second wave of trembling — comes to the surface. This second wave carries stronger energy. It may appear as shouting or aggressive speech and behavior. This too is “that which follows.”
The Trembling Heart
What, then, happens to the heart “on that Day”? “Hearts on that Day will be pounding” (v. 8). In other words, they are said to “move rapidly and violently in response to the vibration of the external world.” The trembling of the earth resonates within the human interior.
The basic meaning of the verb wajafa is “rapid movement.” It is used not only for the movement of camels and horses, or for traveling on them, but also for the movement of the heart: agitation, emotional disturbance, or the heart beating violently due to strong feeling. Therefore, beyond the trembling of the earth, the movement of things and the trembling of the heart can also fall within the range of this expression. Even the kind of trembling in which the heart shakes with emotion, agitation, or fear, and the heartbeat becomes violent, can be included within the interpretive scope of this wording.
One must be careful, however, regarding “hearts.” Here, a plural indefinite noun is placed at the beginning of the sentence. Since it cannot be read as referring to all hearts, it is interpreted as referring to the hearts of those who, on the Last Day, will be resurrected and will tremble in fear before the judgment — that is, the hearts of the unbelievers.
The Humbled Gaze
It is not only the heart. The unbelievers’ gaze too will be humbled and cast down. “Their gazes will be lowered” (v. 9). The vibration of the world resonates with the heart, and as a result, the gaze can no longer be held high; it is lowered toward the ground. Moreover, this may be understood not merely as the gaze being lowered out of fear, but even as human pride being broken, and the gaze itself losing its strength and collapsing because of fear and awe.
Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, in his commentary on these verses from verse 6 onward, introduces the majority interpretation that they describe events of “the Last Day.” At the same time, however, he also mentions another interpretation attributed to Abū Muslim al-Iṣfahānī: namely, the possibility of reading these expressions as referring to an enemy attack in this world, to fear, and to the agitation of the hypocrites. Al-Rāzī says that “the wording can bear this interpretation.” Here, a space opens up for reading these words not as confined to eschatology, but as referring also to the trembling and fear that human beings experience in this world.[4]
The Frightened Heart
Even without hearing the two blowings of the Trumpet, it sometimes seems that warning sounds of the end of the world are overflowing throughout this world. Reports of war. Countless lives lost as victims of battle. Social media posts by leaders who put national interest or private interest first, seemingly ignoring entirely the receptacle of Rabb al-ʿĀlamīn — “the Lord of all worlds” — and the news, markets, and trembling hearts that are shaken by them.
To give a very familiar example, even the unreasonable intimidation of everyday life can easily make a person’s heart tremble. One may encounter a dangerous motorcycle riding on a narrow sidewalk, and when one tries to object, one is attacked personally instead. Even such a small incident can cause fear and anger to return afterward like waves; inwardly the heart trembles, and one becomes unable even to raise one’s gaze. This cannot compare with the fear of “the Last Day.” Yet we know, even in daily life, what it means for the heart to tremble. If the heart must tremble, I would rather it tremble with deep feeling.
As Though It Were Nothing
In the revelation, the unbelievers deny “the Last Day” itself, or mock it and refuse to acknowledge it. “They say, ‘Are we really to be returned to our former state?’” (v. 10). “They say, ‘Then that would be a terribly losing return’” (v. 12). Even when they are told that they will be returned to their original state, and that this will bring them a great loss, they remain as though the wind simply passed by. They do not listen at all.
As verse 11 says, “Even though we have become decayed bones,” even if they have decayed into hollow, empty bones through which the wind passes and makes a sound, it somehow does not reach them when they are told that they will certainly be resurrected. From the perspective of those who think that everything ends once one dies, such a claim would simply be mocked and dismissed.
Yet from the perspective of a person whose heart trembles regularly, it is possible to read here not only fear, but also a hint toward living again.
The key is the word al-ḥāfira, which indicates the original place. The basic meaning of the verb ḥafara, from which al-ḥāfira derives, is “to dig.” If it refers to a grave pit, or to a grave as a dug place, then al-ḥāfira is easy to understand. But if it means returning to the grave, the meaning does not quite work. Why would the grave be the “original place”?
Tracks of Hope
This is because the active participle ḥāfir from the verb ḥafara also has the meaning of “the hoof of a horse,” and by extension, the footprint left by a horse’s hoof and the path by which one came. Returning by that path gives rise to the meaning of “the original place.”[5]
Before entering the grave, human beings can still choose how to return. Even if we are about to return to a path we once took, we can still avoid stepping into the same tracks again. Here lies the hope of living again, indicated by the word al-ḥāfira.
The unbelievers did not take this revelation seriously at all. Yet if we think about it in this way, could it not be said that this revelation offers each person living now a hope for living again and walking again?
After one has entered the grave, the “return” is no longer in human hands. The true Last Day will surely be completed in an instant, by one decisive call from Allah. “It is only a single commanding call” (v. 13). Before that happens, let us aim for the horizon of awakening, like a desert at night beneath a clear sky full of stars — “and then they are upon the awakened plain” (v. 14).[6] Yes, the field of vision is clear.
Allāhu aʿlam — Allah knows best.
Notes
[1] Qur’an, Sūrat al-Nāziʿāt 79:1–5. The interpretation of these expressions as referring to the actions of angels is widely found in both classical and modern tafsīr.
[2] For the meanings of these words, see the relevant entries in Ibn Manẓūr’s Lisān al-ʿArab: رجف, ردف, وجف, خشع, حفر, نخر, كرر, زجر, سهر, and خسر.
[3] Qur’an, Sūrat al-Nāziʿāt 79:6–7. In many commentaries, al-rājifa is interpreted as the first blowing of the Trumpet, and al-rādifa as the second blowing.
[4] Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī, al-Tafsīr al-kabīr (Mafātīḥ al-ghayb), commentary on Sūrat al-Nāziʿāt 79:6–14. Al-Rāzī introduces the majority eschatological interpretation, while also noting Abū Muslim al-Iṣfahānī’s alternative interpretation, saying that “the wording can bear it.”
[5] On the root حفر of al-ḥāfira, see the relevant entry in Lisān al-ʿArab. Al-Rāzī also explains that the meaning of returning to the original path or original state arises from the idea of a person leaving footprints on the path by which they came. See al-Tafsīr al-kabīr, commentary on Sūrat al-Nāziʿāt 79:10.
[6] Qur’an, Sūrat al-Nāziʿāt 79:13–14. Zajra is a word related to restraining, moving, and making something rise by means of a commanding voice, while al-sāhira means the earth or surface of the earth, and also resonates with the root سهر, meaning “not sleeping” or “being awake.”
Special Thanks to: ChatGPT
Cover Image:
Caravan in the Sahara desert, Morocco.
Acknowledgements
This English version was prepared with the support of ChatGPT.
The author gratefully acknowledges its assistance in translation and linguistic clarification.