Surah 20

Surah 20:104

"We know what they will say, when the best of them in way (of life) will say, ‘You have remained only for a day.’"
The Blowing of the Sur and the Day of Resurrection Verses 20:102-104
Show Full Scripture Context (20:102-104) — 3 Verses
Verse 102

يَوۡمَ يُنفَخُ فِي ٱلصُّورِۚ وَنَحۡشُرُ ٱلۡمُجۡرِمِينَ يَوۡمَئِذٖ زُرۡقٗا

On the Day when there is a blast on the trumpet – and We shall gather the sinners on that Day blue –

Verse 103

يَتَخَٰفَتُونَ بَيۡنَهُمۡ إِن لَّبِثۡتُمۡ إِلَّا عَشۡرٗا

they will murmur among themselves: ‘You have remained (in the grave) only for ten (days).’

Verse 104

نَّحۡنُ أَعۡلَمُ بِمَا يَقُولُونَ إِذۡ يَقُولُ أَمۡثَلُهُمۡ طَرِيقَةً إِن لَّبِثۡتُمۡ إِلَّا يَوۡمٗا

We know what they will say, when the best of them in way (of life) will say, ‘You have remained only for a day.’

It has been confirmed in a Hadith that the Messenger of Allah was asked about the Sur and he replied,

“It is a horn that will be blown into.”

It has been related in a Hadith about the Sur, on the authority of Abu Hurayrah that it is a huge horn that has circumference as large as the heavens and the earth. The angel Israfil will blow into it. Another Hadith has been related which states that the Prophet said,

“How can I be comfortable when the one with the horn is holding it in his lips and his forehead is leaning forward, waiting to be given permission (to blow it).”

The people said, “O Messenger of Allah, what should we say?” He said,

“Say: Allah is sufficient for us and what a good protector He is. Upon Allah we place our trust.”

Concerning His statement,

Quoted Scripture
"And We shall gather the criminals blue-eyed."

It has been said that this means having blue eyes due to the severity of their horrifying situation.

Quoted Scripture
"They will speak in a very low voice to each other."

Ibn ‘Abbas said, “This means whispering among themselves.” This means that some of them will be saying to others,

Quoted Scripture
"You stayed not longer than ten"

meaning in the abode of the worldly life, you only tarried there for a little while. The time was equivalent to ten days or so. Allah, the Exalted, then says,

Quoted Scripture
"We know very well what they will say,"

This means in their condition of conversing amongst themselves.

Quoted Scripture
"when the best among them in knowledge and wisdom will say;"

the one with perfect intelligence amongst them,

Quoted Scripture
"You stayed no longer than a day!"

This is because on the Day of Judgement they will sense the shortness of the worldly life within themselves. For the worldly life, with its repetitious time periods and successive nights, days and hours, is as if it is just one day. For this reason, on the Day of Resurrection the disbelievers will think the worldly life was very short. By this they mean to prevent the establishment of the evidence against them due to the shortness of time that they had. Allah says about this,

{And on the Day that the Hour will be established, the criminals will swear that they stayed not but an hour} until His statement. {but you knew not.”} [30:55-56]

Allah also says,

{Did We not give you lives long enough, so that whosoever would receive admonition could receive it? And the wamer came to you.} [35:37]

Allah, the Exalted, also says,

{(Allah will say): What number of years did you stay on earth? They will say: "We stayed a day or part of a day. Ask of those who keep account." He (Allah) will say: "You stayed not but a little, if you had only known!"} [23:112-114]

This means that you only remained in it (the earth) a little while. If you only knew, you would have preferred the eternal life over the temporal life. Yet, you conducted yourselves in an evil manner. You gave the present, temporary life precedence over the eternal and everlasting life.

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.