099- AL-ZALZALAH
THE EARTHQUAKE
Al-Zalzalah is believed to be either a late Makkan sūrah or a Madinan sūrah revealed in 623, soon after the Prophet’s emigration in 622 (Āl). It takes its name from the reference to the shaking of the earth in the first verse. The first five verses provide a powerful and extended discussion of the quaking of the earth, which is said to be one of the events of the Day of Judgment to which reference or allusion is made in many other verses. The last three verses convey details regarding the Final Judgment, in which every good and evil deed will be weighed.
According to a ḥadīth, “A man came to the Messenger of God and said, ‘Teach me what to recite, O Messenger of God!’ The Prophet said, ‘Recite three from those [that begin] with the letters Alif, Lām, Rā [i.e., Sūrahs 10–12, 14–15].’ The man then said to him, ‘I have become old in age, my heart has hardened, and my tongue has become harsh.’ The Prophet said, ‘Then recite from those [that begin] with the letters Ḥā, Mīm [i.e., Sūrahs 40–46].’ The man said the same thing that he had said before; so the Prophet said, ‘Recite three from the Musabbiḥāt [i.e., sūrahs whose first verse mentions the glorification of God by all of creation: 57, 59, 61, 62, 64].’ The man again said the same thing that he had said before. Then the man said, ‘Rather, give me something to recite that comprises [all of these], O Messenger of God.’ So the Prophet told him to recite, When the earth is shaken with her shaking. Then when he [the Prophet] finished reciting the sūrah to him, the man said, ‘By Him Who has sent you with the truth as a Prophet, I shall never add anything else to it.’ Then the man turned away and left, and the Prophet said, ‘The little man has prospered; the little man has prospered’” (IK).
According to a saying attributed to Ibn ʿAbbās, “When [the earth] is shaken is equal to half of the Quran”. In other words, if the Quran is divided into the edicts regarding the Hereafter and those regarding this world, this sūrah would comprise in summary fashion all of those edicts that pertain to the Hereafter.
(source: “The Study Quran” a new translation and commentary by Seyyed Hossein Nasr)
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