(Revealed before Hijrah)
This is the last of the group of seven Chapters which begin with Surah Qaf. These seven Chapters were revealed at Mecca, more or less at the same time, in the early years of the Holy Prophet’s ministry. Naturally, therefore, they are very much similar in tone and tenor; but in no other case perhaps, is this similarity so marked as it is between this Surah and its predecessor, Surah Ar-Rahman. The subject in Surah Ar-Rahman is completed in this Surah and thus it forms a befitting sequel to Surah Ar-Rahman. In Surah Ar-Rahman, for instance, three groups of people—(a) those fortunate ones who are granted special nearness to God, (b) the general body of believers who have achieved Divine pleasure, and (c) the rejectors of Divine Messengers—were referred to only by implication. In the present Surah, however, they have been expressly mentioned. The Surah dealing particularly with the important subjects of the Resurrection, Revelation and the repudiation of idolatry, was quite appropriately revealed early at Mecca where the preaching of the Qur’anic Message was directed exclusively to the idolatrous Quraish, who believed neither in Resurrection nor in Revelation. The seven Chapters also contain certain prophecies about the great and glorious future of Islam, side by side with direct and emphatic mention of the inevitability of the Resurrection, thus drawing attention to the inescapable conclusion that the fulfilment of those prophecies about the progress of Islam would prove that the Resurrection was also an undeniable fact.
The Surah opens with a firm and emphatic declaration that the great and Inevitable Event, which was foretold in the preceding Surah, will most surely come to pass, and when it came to pass it will shake the earth to its depths, and the mountains shall be shattered, causing a new world to emerge from the ashes of the old. Further, as a result of this Great Event people will become sorted out into three groups: (a) The fortunate ones who will enjoy God’s special nearness, (b) the true and righteous believers who will receive handsome rewards for their good deeds and (c) the unfortunate disbelievers who will be punished for their evil deeds. The Surah then gives a graphic description of the Divine blessings and favours in store for the first two classes, following with a description of the punishment to be meted out to the deniers of the Divine Message. Next, it advances the usual argument of the creation of man and of his development from a seminal drop into a full-fledged human being, to prove his second birth after death. Towards its close the Surah reverts to the subject with which it had begun, and explains that the great reformation to which it refers in its opening verses will be brought about by the Qur’an which is indubitably the revealed Word of God, and which is protected and guarded like a precious treasure. The Surah closes with a beautiful homily that when the inevitable end of all life is death, from which there is no escape, then why should people be neglectful of this hard fact and consign God to oblivion?