101- AL- QARIAH
THE CALAMITY
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
# The calamity; #what is the calamity? #And what shall apprise thee of the calamity? # A day wherein mankind shall be like scattered moths, # and the mountains shall be like carded wool. #As for one whose scales are heavy, # he shall enjoy a life contenting. #And as for one whose scales are light, #an abyss shall be his mother. # And what shall apprise thee of her? #It is a raging fire.
Commentary
# The calamity; # what is the calamity? #And what shall apprise thee of the calamity?
1–3 Calamity translates qāriʿah, which comes from the verb qaraʿa, meaning, “to beat or strike something so that it makes a deafening sound.” The repetition of the question in vv. 2–3 (which is similar to 69:2–3) is meant to emphasize that the true nature of the calamity, which is thought to be the Day of Judgment, is difficult if not impossible to comprehend. Thus the following verses do not define the calamity, but describe some of its marks.
# A day wherein mankind shall be like scattered moths,
4 Like scattered moths indicates that human beings will be bewildered, running to and fro with no direction, as if they were drunk, though drunk they will not be (22:2). This is similar to 54:7: With their eyes humbled they emerge from the graves as if they were scattered locusts (cf. 99:6), though 54:7 refers to the Resurrection, while the present verse most likely refers to the end of time. As the present verse is in the accusative in Arabic, there is an implied word before the sentence, which could be a command to the Prophet, such as “Mention” (udhkur; Āl), or a verb following upon the previous verse, such as “strike” (qaraʿa), meaning, “It strikes on a day when . . .”
# and the mountains shall be like carded wool.
5 Cf. 70:9. Several verses speak of mountains made firm (e.g., 13:3; 16:15; 21:31; 41:10) as one of the signs of God. But on the Day of Judgment, the mountains are set in motion (81:3), scattered (77:10), and are like heaps of shifting sand (73:14); see also 18:47; 19:90; 20:105–6; 27:88; 52:10; 56:5–6c; 69:14.
# As for one whose scales are heavy, # he shall enjoy a life contenting. # And as for one whose scales are light, # an abyss shall be his mother.
6–9. Cf. 7:8; 23:102. Scales are heavy with good deeds. Mawāzīn, here translated scales is the plural of mīzān, which elsewhere is translated balance (6:152; 7:85; 11:84–85; 42:17; 55:7–9; 57:25). Balance (mīzān) is employed in the Quran to indicate revelation itself and the establishment of a just order that accords with what has been revealed (see 57:25c), whereas scales (mawāzīn) is employed in relation to the measuring of one’s deeds on the Day of Resurrection (see 21:47). The plural, scales, speaks to how each individual will experience the weighing of his or her deeds, but according to most, it is in fact one scale, hence one balance, in which all deeds are weighed. From a Quranic perspective, the good deed and the evil deed are not equal (41:34), and good deeds remove those that are evil (11:114). Good deeds thus significantly outweigh evil deeds, as in 6:160: Whosoever brings a good deed shall have ten times the like thereof; but whosoever brings an evil deed shall be recompensed only with the like thereof. But it is the character and intention behind deeds that establish their true weight. Regarding character, a ḥadīth states, “There is nothing placed in the Balance that is heavier than goodness of character (ḥusn al-khuluq).” Regarding intention, another ḥadīth states, “Deeds are only in accord with their intentions. And every person has only what he intended.” From one perspective, although all deeds will be weighed, it is nonetheless through God’s Mercy that salvation occurs, for God is not bound by human actions. As a ḥadīth states, “None of you will enter Paradise by his deeds.” Someone asked, “Not even you, O Messenger of God?” He said, “Not even me, save that God shelter me with His Mercy.” For he shall enjoy a life contenting, cf. 69:21. For one whose scales are light, cf. 7:9; 23:103. Mother translates umm, which derives from the verb amma, meaning, “to betake oneself to” or “direct one’s course to.” In this context it indicates that those who do not perform good deeds direct themselves to the abyss of Hell. In this sense it is similar to verses that speak of those who wrong themselves (e.g., 3:117; 7:177; 9:70; 10:44; 16:33, 118) and to those verses that refer to Hell and the Fire as the refuge of the disbelievers (e.g., 3:162, 197; 9:73; 13:18).
# And what shall apprise thee of her? # It is a raging fire.
11 This verse is taken to mean that the Fire has reached the greatest heat possible and that, when viewed in relation to this Fire, no other fire is truly raging.
(Source: The study Quran, by Sayyed Hossein Nasr and 4 others)
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