The Explanation of the Verses

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The deeds will be handed overIntroduction

In the first verse of Surah Zilzaal the unraveling of the deeds has been mentioned thrice. It is said:

“On that Day men will proceed in selected groups to be shown their deeds.” This is about their rising from the graves. It then says: “Then shall anyone who has done an atom of good see it and anyone who has done an atom shall see it.”

The word “Ashtaat” is the plural of “Shatt” which means individual or singularly (1)

The gathering of the people separately or individually may be because every nation will come with its Imam or the group of the sinners will be come separate from the group of the pious and the groups of the Ulema, the students, the martyrs will come separately.

The word “Misqaal” me3ans to be heavy and “zarra’ means minuscule and so it sometimes means the dust particles and some time tiny flies.

The verses literally mean that the good and the bad deeds will be unraveled before the men though some commentators have taken the word “Jaza” as separate and their reluctance to see the deeds unraveled has been mentioned earlier. They feel that it means seeing the rewards and punishment for their deeds. Some commentators have said that the word “Ruiyat’ means knowledge and enlightenment that is connected with the vision. Some have said it means seeing the book of deeds. It is certain that all the three interpretations are against the literal meaning of the verse because considering the reward for the deed or the book of deeds to be separate is not compatible with the verse. “Ruiyat” means to see with the natural eyes and if it is used for knowledge and enlightenment it has two passive nouns but here it mentions only one. (Reflect).

The notable point is that Ibn Abbas who is a very ancient commentator has also agreed to the unraveling of the deeds. There is a hadith from him that says:

“God will show to every believer and sinner who may have done any good deed or an evil one what he did.

 He will forgive the believer and he will be rewarded for his goodness and the goodness done by the disbeliever will be rejected and he will be in despair.” (2)

The explanation about the above verse from the infallible ones about the unraveling of the deeds like the one from Amirul Muminin says:

“A Mumin (believer) will find (the reward) for whatever small goodness he does in this world and will (be punished) for whatever small sin he has committed.” (3)

Another des c r i p tion has been shown for the same issue. After speaking about the book of deeds the verse says:

“And they will find all that they did place before them.” It then adds, “Your Lord is not unjust with anyone.”

The commentators who do not believe in the unraveling of the deeds have taken this verse to mean the presentation of the book of deeds or the reward for the deeds and have at times mentioned the presentation of the deed too. (4)

According to Allama Tabatabai this verse is confirming this interpretation because the presence of the deed is more effective in denying that god is unjust. (Reflect).

The 3rd verse describes this generally and clearly because the first verse spoke about the disbelievers and the sinners but here it says:

“On the Day when every soul will be confronted with all the good it has done, and all the evil it has done and it will that there was a great distance between it and its evil.”

The interpretations of the verse are:

The first is that whoever does anything good or bad will see it on that Day.

The second is that whoever does anything good will see it and then will want that there should be a distance between him and that evil. (This depends on when we stop in the verse whether after Muhzaranw or after suuu’). (5) But the meaning of both is the same “His evil deeds too will be in front of him” though he will desire that they go far from him. Some commentators have expressed the idea that the sinners will wish that there be a great distance between them and that Day.

The point to note is that generally every person desires to distance himself physically with the unpleasant deeds while the verses uses the terms “‘amadam ba-iida” (6) or a great distance according to the times. This might be because there is more scope for confrontation physically due to proximity of places while distance in time lessens such a possibility e.g. a person who lived far from the area of the world war was also susceptible but those who were far from it in time had no such fear.

The word “ ‘amad” is always used for time as has been said by Raghib in Mafuradat it means close to “Abad” the difference is that “Abad” is a period which has no limitation but that is not so with “Amad”. The first verse spoke about the presence of the deeds while this verse speaks about the presentation of the deeds or that it is more meaningful.

According to this verse God will unravel all deeds through His immense power whether the doers like it or not. This is why the commentators have considered this verse more severe than the first and more admonishing.

Another des c r i p tion is presented in the fourth. It is said:

““And all the evil deeds shall confront them and they will be encircled by that which they used to mock.”

The origin of “Bada” is “badu” which means to be completely unraveled. “Badiya’ is so termed because it is an open land but this is not so in the cities. The houses of the olden times used to be hidden due to the zigzagging roads behind the walls of the cities.”

The term “Sayyi-‘aatu Maa Kasabuu” means the deeds but some have taken it to mean the punishment for wrongful deeds. They have taken the word “jaza” separately and literally it does mean that the wrongful deeds will be unraveled on that Day because the word “Sayyi-’aatu” is plural of “Sayyah” which means wrongful deeds and not the punishment for wrongful deeds. (Reflect)

This may possibly be hinting that the faces of many wrongful deeds are covered in this world like hypocrisy done for other and not for God but since that Day is the Day for unraveling things so the truth about all deeds will be revealed. There is a hadith of the Messenger about this verse in which he says:

These are those deeds which he considered to be goodness and he will see them on the side of sins on that Day.”(7)

 The 5th verse brings another des c r i p tion on this issue. It criticizes the misers and then say that miserliness will not help them but hurt them instead it says:

“It will be tied to their necks like twisted collars.”

It means the wealth that has not been legalized by paying the dues and when it has not been beneficial for others will be put on the neck of the misers like twisted collars. They never used to use it in this world and it remained like a burden on them.

Tafsir Ayyashi records a hadith from Imam Baqir explaining this verse and it says:

“The wealth of the person who did not give Zakat will be put as a yoke on the neck of the person like a python.”(8)

What does miserliness mean in the wealth endowed by God? Some commentators have taken it to mean miserliness about knowledge and have quoted the tradition from Ibn Abbas to support their contention. It says that it is about the Jews who hid the sign about the Messenger (9) while other commentaries say that this is about not giving Zakat. It will not be wrong to say that this verse has a vast meaning and may include all the gifts of God whether mentioned or not.

Some commentators have not taken the verse literally and have taken it to mean the reward for the deeds or said that they will be forced to bring their wealth but they will be unable to do so. (The yoke in the neck is about the wealth and not the wealth itself)

But this interpretation has no proof and is not compatible to the words of the verse and does not conform to what the infallible ones have spoken about it in their hadiths.

The 6th verse again speaks about the presence of the deeds. God says:

“When the blazing fire is turned to fierce heat and the Garden is brought near each soul shall know what it has put forward.”

The late Tabrisi opines in Majmaul Bayan that “Maaa-‘Ahzarat” means the deeds that he will find present.

Surprisingly after this he says that the presence of the deed is something symbolic because deed is not something that can last and fades after the deed is over. What he means is that no ones accounts will be exempted. Some commentators have said that it means the presentation of the book of deeds. (10)

Some have said it means the retribution for the deeds but as we will discuss later deeds are not finite and they will remain forever and it is not impossible that they are manifest on the Day of Judgment in some form.

The “Ahzar’ of the deed may mean to present, or be present (because both these explanations have been mentioned) and both confirm our views.

 


 

1 Tajol Uroos fi Sharah Qamoos for the origin of “Shatt”. Some have called it shaiyyat and some have termed it as a plural of shatat.
2. Tafsir Ruhul Bayan vol.10 page 494
3. Tafsir Nurus Saqlain vol.5 page 650
4. Tafsir Ruhul Ma’ani vol.15 page 267 and Ruhul Bayan vol.5 page 254
5. This depends on the use of “Wau”
6. See Tafsir Ruhul Bayan vol.2 page 21 and Tafsir Fi Zalol Qura’n vol. 1 page 569
7. Tafsir Ruhul Bayan vol.8 page 121.
8. Tafsir Ayyashi vol.1 page 207 and 150
9. The tradition from Ibn Abbas has been recorded in many commentaries lie Qartabi, Tafsir Ruhul Ma’ani and Tafsir Minar for this verse.
10. Tafsir Majmaul Bayan vol.1 page 444

 

The deeds will be handed overIntroduction
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