ما يَنظُرونَ إِلّا صَيحَةً واحِدَةً تَأخُذُهُم وَهُم يَخِصِّمونَ
They do not await but a single cry that would seize them as they wrangle.
EXEGESIS
Mā yanẓurūna (they are not awaiting); according to Rāghib, the Arabic stem naẓara means the physical sighting and the metaphysical insight through a thought process to perceive something or to look into it. It can also be used to mean awaiting. This awaiting could be when someone is expecting or waiting for something good or evil to befall him or betide him. Several verses contain the word yanẓurūna indicating awaiting, such as, These [pagans of Mecca] do not await (yanẓurūna) but a single cry which will not grant any respite (38:15).
Ṣayḥah (blast) originally means a rising sound from cleaving a piece of wood or cloth. From there, it is used for increasing loud sounds, such as a cry. It is also used for a sudden evil, such as punishment, castigation, or chastisement. In addition, it could indicate a surprising hostile attack.
Yakhiṣṣimūn (they wrangle), originally yakhtaṣimūn, is a diphthong in which the letters ṣād and tāʾ have been merged together. It means to contend in an altercation, to dispute, and to wrangle.
EXPOSITION
The cry (ṣayḥah) referred to in this verse is the hallmark of the end of the world. All the messengers of God have informed us that one day this present world will come to an end, and the entire world of creation will enter a new realm which is called the hereafter (ākhirah). The Quran tells us that the end of the world will come about violently and terrifyingly such that every sentient being, including the souls of human beings, jinn, and angels, will be stunned; The day when the trumpet will be blown, whoever is in the heavens will be terrified and whoever is on the earth (27:87), where whoever is in the heavens refers to the angels, and whoever is on the earth refers to mankind and jinn, both in the material world and in barzakh.
They do not await but a single cry indicates promptness, which reflects that it would not be difficult upon God to do; the single cry signifies the blowing of the trumpet. The promptness also indicates that God does not require any extra prerequisites to lead this world to the hereafter. When the sudden end of the world happens, no one will be able to escape it nor have any refuge when the unexpected heavenly cry happens.
The expression as they wrangle may refer to the wrangling in business as people usually do or to disputation over the promise of resurrection, as mentioned in the previous verse. Based on the former view, this cry comes so suddenly that it overtakes them while they are arguing and disputing in their marketplaces and places of work. According to some narrations, it occurs so unexpectedly that people who have taken some food from the plate to eat will die before it reaches their mouths; and people who have spread a roll of fabric, bargaining over its price, are seized before they can roll it back.
The cry will create such a cataclysm that it will cause the earth to go through unprecedented convulsions, Indeed the quake of the final hour is a terrible thing (22:1). The sun will be extinguished, the stars will fade, and the seas will burst into flame (81:1-3). The skies will be rent asunder, and the ground will be pounded to the extent that it will become featureless (84:1-3). All these occur in the wake of a fearsome blast of sound, which is itself the cause of the end of the world. This blast shall be generated by Isrāfīl, one of the greatest angels of God, and it will be of a nature unknown and previously unexperienced. The Quran refers to the action of Isrāfīl as the blowing of the trumpet, And when the trumpet is blown with a single blast, and the earth and the mountains are carried away and crushed with a single crushing; then, on that day, will the imminent [hour] befall, and the sky will be split open – for it will be frail that day (69:13-16). Obviously, the cry is no ordinary loud sound because it affects the corporeal world and the world of souls, and beyond that it encompasses the angelic realm. No creature remains sentient in the entire cosmos except a handful who remain alive by God’s will. Death encompasses all; all perceptions are silenced; and total stillness and darkness take over the world. It is as if life never existed at all; indeed, God is needless of everything.
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
- The Messenger of God said: ‘The hour will come and stop bargaining men from folding their cloth they had spread for sale; it would stop a person who has lifted a bite of his food to eat from placing it into his mouth, A person fixes his tub to give water to his cattle, and the hour will prevent him from feeding them.’
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
- Enter into the rock and hide in the dust from before the terror of the Lord and from the splendour of his majesty. The haughty looks of man shall be brought low, and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. For the Lord of hosts has a day against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up – and it shall be brought low …And people shall enter the caves of the rocks and the holes of the ground, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendour of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth. In that day, mankind will cast away their idols of silver and their idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats, to enter the caverns of the rocks and the clefts of the cliffs, from before the terror of the Lord, and from the splendour of his majesty, when he rises to terrify the earth.
[1] Amthal, 14/205.
[2] Lane, p. 2188.
[3] Amthal, 14/205.
[4] Lane, p. 1752.
[5] Lane, p. 752.
[6] Tabrisi, 4/427.
[7] Isaiah 2:6-22.