Surah 18

Surah 18:47

"On the Day when We shall cause the mountains to move, and you see the earth coming forth, and We gather them so that We do not leave any of them behind,"
Tafsir Ibn Kathir Verses 18:47-49
Show Full Scripture Context (18:47-49) — 3 Verses
Verse 47

وَيَوۡمَ نُسَيِّرُ ٱلۡجِبَالَ وَتَرَى ٱلۡأَرۡضَ بَارِزَةٗ وَحَشَرۡنَٰهُمۡ فَلَمۡ نُغَادِرۡ مِنۡهُمۡ أَحَدٗا

On the Day when We shall cause the mountains to move, and you see the earth coming forth, and We gather them so that We do not leave any of them behind,

Verse 48

وَعُرِضُواْ عَلَىٰ رَبِّكَ صَفّٗا لَّقَدۡ جِئۡتُمُونَا كَمَا خَلَقۡنَٰكُمۡ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةِۭۚ بَلۡ زَعَمۡتُمۡ أَلَّن نَّجۡعَلَ لَكُم مَّوۡعِدٗا

and they are presented before your Lord in lines: ‘Certainly you have come to Us as We created you the first time. Yet you claimed that We had not set an appointment for you!’

Verse 49

وَوُضِعَ ٱلۡكِتَٰبُ فَتَرَى ٱلۡمُجۡرِمِينَ مُشۡفِقِينَ مِمَّا فِيهِ وَيَقُولُونَ يَٰوَيۡلَتَنَا مَالِ هَٰذَا ٱلۡكِتَٰبِ لَا يُغَادِرُ صَغِيرَةٗ وَلَا كَبِيرَةً إِلَّآ أَحۡصَىٰهَاۚ وَوَجَدُواْ مَا عَمِلُواْ حَاضِرٗاۗ وَلَا يَظۡلِمُ رَبُّكَ أَحَدٗا

And the Book will be laid down, and you will see the sinners apprehensive because of what is in it, and they will say, ‘Woe to us! What (kind of) Book is this? It omits nothing small or great, but it has counted it?’ And they will find what they have done presented (to them), and your Lord will not do anyone evil.

will be visible to their Lord, and not one of them will ibe hidden from Him. Mujahid and Qatadah said,

4 and you will see the earth as a levelled plain, $

“No one will be hidden or absent.”* 1 * Qatadah said, “There ViU be no buildings and no trees.”* 2 *

iand we shall gather them, so that We will not leave one them behind.}

means, ‘We shall gather them all, the first of them and the last of them, and We shall not leave anyone behind, young or old.’ As Allah says:

4Say: “(yes) verily, those of old, and those of later times. Ah will surely be gathered together for an appointed meeting of <| known Day.} [56:49,50]

4 That is a Day whereon mankind will be gathered together, ant jf that is a Day when all will be present} [1 1:103].

iAnd they will be set before your Lord, aligned.}

This may mean that all of creation will stand before Allah one row, as Allah says:

4The Day that Ar-Rilh (Jibrtl) and the angels will stand aligned, they will not speak except him whom the Most Gracious (Allah) allows, and he will speak what is right} [78:38];

or it may mean that they will stand in rows, as Allah says:

iAnd your Lord comes ivith the angels in rmvs. j» [89:22]

iNow indeed, you have come to Us as We created you the first time.} J

This is a rebuke to those who denied the Hereafter, a reprimand before all creation. This is why Allah says to them:

iNay, but you thought that We had appointed no meeting for you (with Us).},

meaning, you did not think that this would happen to you or that it would come to pass.

iAnd the Book will be produced,} the Book of deeds, which contains a record of everything, major or minor, significant or insignificant, great or small.

iand you will see the criminals, fearful of that which is therein.} of their evil deeds and reprehensible actions.

iTItey will say, "Woe to us!"} expressing words of regret for having wasted their lives.

iWhat sort of Book is this tlwt leaves neither a small thing nor a large thing, but has recorded it with numbers!}

it has left no sin, major or minor, and no action, no matter how small, but it has recorded it with the utmost precision and accuracy.

iAnd they will find all that they did, present,} everything, both good and evil, as Allah says,

iOn the Day when every person will be confronted with all the good he has done} [3:30].

Allah says:

iOn that Day man will be informed of ivhat he sent forward, and what he left behind .} [75:13]

And Allah says:

iThe Day when all the secrets will be exposed.} [86:9]

meaning, everything that is hidden in people’s hearts will become known. Imam Ahmad recorded from Anas that the Prophet jg said,

« Every traitor will have a banner on the Day of Resurrection, by which he ivill be knmvn.^ 1 ^

It was also narrated in the Two Sahths, where one narration

“On the Day of Resurrection, for every traitor a banner ivill bt erected by his backside, and it will be said, "This is the betrayer of so-and-so the son of so-and-so. "n 121

iand your Lord treats no one with injustice.}

means, He will judge between His creatures for all of their deeds, and He will not treat any of His creatures \yith injustice. He will overlook and forgive and have mercy, and He will punish whomever He wills by His power, wisdom and justice. He will fill Hell with the disbelievers and those who have been disobedient. Then He will rescue the disobedient, and leave the disbelievers there for eternity. He is the Judge Who never wrongs or oppresses. Allah says:

iSurehj, Allah wrongs not even of the weight of a speck of dust, but if there is any good, He doubles it > [4:40]

[iAnd We shall set up Balances of justice on the Day of Resurrection, then none will be dealt with unjustly in anything.} Until His saying;

ito take account } 21:47]

And there are many similar Ayat.

Imam Ahmad recorded that ‘Abdullah bin Muhammad bin ‘Aqll heard Jabir bin ‘Abdullah say, “I was told about a Hadith which a man heard from the Prophet jg, so I bought a camel and put my saddle on it, then I traveled on it for a month until I came to Ash-Sham,^ 1 * where ‘Abdullah bin Unays was. I said to the doorkeeper, Tell him that Jabir is at the door.’ He said, ‘Jabir bin ‘Abdullah?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ So he came out, still putting his garment on, and embraced me, and I embraced him, and said: 1 heard a Hadith narrated by you, that you heard from the Messenger of Allah 3^5 about reciprocal punishments. I was afraid that you or I would die before I could hear it.’ He said, “I heard the Messenger of Allah sg say:

“ Allah will gather the people - or His servants - on the Day of Resurrection, naked, uncircumcised and Buhman . » I asked, “What is Buhman?’ He said,

«They will have nothing with them. Then a voice ivill call out to them that will be heard by those far away just as easily as it will be heard by those near: “I am the Sovereign, I am the fudge. None of the people of Hell should enter Hell if he is owed something by one of the people of Paradise, until I have settled the matter, and none of the people of Paradise should enter Paradise if he is owed something by one of the people of Hell, until I settle the matter - even if it is only the case of a slap." »

We said, ‘How will that be, when we have come before Allah barefooted, naked, uncircumcised and having nothing with us?’ He said,

[merit for] good deeds, and [ recompense ] for evil deeds .» |)|

Shuhah narrated from Al-‘Awwam bin Muzahim from Abu ‘Uthman from ‘Uthman bin ‘Affan, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allah jg said:

«77?e animal who lost a horn will settle the score with the one that has horns on the Day of Resurrection .» |21

It was recorded by ‘Abdullah the son of Imam Ahmad, a there are corroborating narrations through other routes.

About this Source & Scholarly Authority (Tafsir Ibn Kathir)

Universal Sunni Consensus: Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Azim by Hafiz Ibn Kathir (701–774 AH / 1301–1373 AD) is universally regarded across all major schools of Sunni Islam (traditional, Salafi, Ash'ari) as the most authoritative classical exegesis. It is prized because it relies on Tafsir bil-Ma'thur—interpreting the Quran using the Quran itself, authentic Hadiths of Prophet Muhammad, and recorded statements of the early Companions (Sahabah).

Standard English Edition: This text is from the standard 10-volume English abridgment published by Dar-us-Salam Publications (supervised by Shaykh Safiur-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri), which is the official, most widely distributed English Quranic commentary in mosques and Islamic libraries worldwide today.