Surah 82:8
Show Full Scripture Context (82:1-12) — 12 Verses
إِذَا ٱلسَّمَآءُ ٱنفَطَرَتۡ
When the sky is rent,
وَإِذَا ٱلۡكَوَاكِبُ ٱنتَثَرَتۡ
and when the stars are scattered,
وَإِذَا ٱلۡبِحَارُ فُجِّرَتۡ
and when the seas are made to gush forth,
وَإِذَا ٱلۡقُبُورُ بُعۡثِرَتۡ
and when the graves are ransacked,
عَلِمَتۡ نَفۡسٞ مَّا قَدَّمَتۡ وَأَخَّرَتۡ
(then each) person will know what he has sent forward and kept back.
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلۡإِنسَٰنُ مَا غَرَّكَ بِرَبِّكَ ٱلۡكَرِيمِ
Human! What has deceived you about your generous Lord,
ٱلَّذِي خَلَقَكَ فَسَوَّىٰكَ فَعَدَلَكَ
who created you and fashioned you and balanced you?
فِيٓ أَيِّ صُورَةٖ مَّا شَآءَ رَكَّبَكَ
He constructed you in whatever form He pleased.
كَلَّا بَلۡ تُكَذِّبُونَ بِٱلدِّينِ
By no means! No! You (still) call the Judgment a lie.
وَإِنَّ عَلَيۡكُمۡ لَحَٰفِظِينَ
Surely (there are) indeed watchers over you,
كِرَامٗا كَٰتِبِينَ
honorable, writing.
يَعۡلَمُونَ مَا تَفۡعَلُونَ
They know whatever you do.
An-Nasal recorded from Jabir that Mu‘adh stood and lead the people in the Night prayer, and he made the recitation of his prayer long. So the Prophet said,
“Are you putting the people to trial O Mu'adh? Why don't you recite {Glorify the Name of your Lord the Most High} (87), {By the forenoon} (93), and {When the heaven is cleft asunder} (82)?”
The basis of this Hadith is found in the Two Sahihs; however the mentioning of
{When the heaven is cleft asunder.} has only been mentioned by An-Nasal. It has been previously mentioned in a narration from ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar that the Prophet said,
“Whoever would be pleased to look at the Day of Resurrection with his own eyes, then let him recite, {When the sun is Kuwwirat.} (81) and; {When the heaven is cleft asunder} (82) and; {When the heaven is split asunder} (84).”
This is a threat. It is not an attempt to get a reply as some people mistakenly think. They consider it as if the Most Generous is asking them so that they will say, “His honor deceived him (or made him careless of his Lord).” rather the meaning of this Ayah is, “O Son of Adam! What has deceived you from your Lord, the Most Generous - meaning the Most Great - so that you went forth disobeying Him, and you met Him with that which was unbefitting.” This is similar to what has been reported in the Hadith,
“Allah will say on the Day of Judgement: "O Son of Adam! What has deceived you concerning Me? O Son of Adam? What was your response to the Messengers?"”
Al-Baghawi mentioned that Al-Kalbi and Muqatil said, “This Ayah was revealed about Al-Aswad bin Shariq who struck the Prophet and he was not punished in retaliation. So Allah revealed,
{What has made you careless about your Lord, the Most Generous?}”
Then Allah said,
meaning, ‘what has deceived you concerning the Most Generous Lord?’
meaning, ‘He made you complete, straight, and perfectly balanced and proportioned in stature. He fashioned you in the best of forms and shapes.’
Imam Ahmad recorded from Busr bin Jahhash Al-Qurashi that one day the Messenger of Allah spat in his palm and placed his finger on it. Then he said,
“Allah the Mighty and Sublime says: "O Son of Adam! How can you escape Me when I created you from something similar to this (spit)? Then I fashioned you and made your creation balanced so that you walked between the two outer garments. And the earth has a burial place for you. So you gathered (wealth) and withheld it until your soul reached your collarbone (i.e., death comes). Then, at that time you say, 'I will give charity now.' But how will there be time for charity?"”
This Hadith has also been recorded by Ibn Majah.
Concerning Allah’s statement,
Mujahid said, “In which resemblance: the father, the mother, the paternal uncle, or the maternal uncle.” In the Two Sahibs it is recorded from Abu Hurayrah that a man said, “O Messenger of Allah! Verily, my wife has given birth to a black boy.” The Prophet said,
“Do you have any camels?” The man said, “Yes.” The Prophet then said,
“What color are they?” The man said, “Red.” The Prophet said,
“Do any of them have patches of gray?” The man said, “Yes.” The Prophet asked him,
“How did this happen to them?” The man replied, “It is probably an inherited genetical strain.” The Prophet then said,
“Likewise, this (with your son) is probably an inherited genetical strain.”
The Cause of Deception and alerting to the Fact that Angels record the Deeds of the Children of Adam
Concerning Allah’s statement,
meaning, ‘you are only compelled to oppose the Most Generous and meet Him with disobedience, by your rejection in your hearts of the Hereafter, the recompense and the reckoning.’ Concerning Allah’s statement.
{But verily, over you to watch you (are) Kiraman Katibin, they know all that you do.} (82:10-12)
meaning, ‘indeed there are noble guardian angels over you, so do not meet them with evil deeds, because they write down all that you do.’