خافِضَةٌ رافِعَةٌ

[It will be] lowering and exalting.

EXEGESIS

Khafaḍa is to lower and abase, as opposed to rafaʿa, which is to exalt and raise.^{‎[1]Raghib, under kh-f-ḍ.} Khafaḍa is used elsewhere in the Quran when talking about the need to show lenience and modesty to the believers and to one’s parents (15:88, 17:24, 26:215).

It may be that the letter tāʾ at the end of the words wāqiʿah, kādhibah, khāfiḍah and rāfiʿah is not for feminine, but for exaggeration. That would be an extra emphasis on the meaning of these words, which describe the overwhelming occurrence of the resurrection.^{‎[2]Razi, 29/385; Furqan, 28/60.}

EXPOSITION

When the hour comes about, it will lower a group of people and raise another group. The lowering and raising is not something that happens suddenly, only at that time. Each person, through his actions and intentions, sets his soul either on a course rising to perfection or falling to damnation. All that happens upon the hour is that the veils are lifted and these differences of spiritual perfections become evident.^{‎[3]Sadra, 7/17.}

The hereafter will abase those who had acquired worldly superiority and glory by their material endowments, and it will exalt and honour the disadvantaged and destitute believers who were abased according to worldly standards. Worldly life has been glamorised for the faithless, and they ridicule the faithful. But those who are God-wary shall be above them on the Day of Resurrection (2:212); Indeed the guilty used to laugh at the faithful … So today the faithful will laugh at the faithless (83:29 and 83:34).

Another interpretation is that the occurrence of the hour will abase those who refused to believe in it as their error becomes evident, and it will raise those who believed in it as their guidance is proven.^{‎[4]Furqan, 28/61.} A group is abased as they are flung into hell, while a group is elevated to the exalted ranks of paradise. The pious will be in the elevated stations of ʿilliyyūn (83:18), while the hypocrites will be in the lowest pit of the fire (4:145). The verse is about the element of honour and disgrace, which is an essential aspect of the rewards and punishments in the hereafter. In a more general sense, [It will be] lowering and exalting is a reference to the immense transformations and upheavals that occur in the whole universe on the Day of Resurrection: The day the earth is transformed into another earth and the heavens [as well] (14:48).

Finally, an interpretation suggested by Rāzī is that when the hour befalls, no one will deny it, whether lowering their voice in denial or raising it.^{‎[5]Razi, 29/386.}

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. Imam al-Sajjād (a) identified this group of verses as God’s consolation for the difficulties and tribulations of this world. He said: ‘With regard to this world, if one does not find God’s consolation as a source of relief, then his heart will be torn into pieces out of grief. By God, this world and the hereafter are but like the two pans of a scale: whichever goes down, the other goes up.’ Then he recited these verses: ‘When the imminent [hour] befalls, meaning the resurrection; There is no denying that it will befall; lowering: by God it will lower the enemies of God to fire; exalting: by God it will raise the friends of God to paradise.’ Then he turned to one of the people attending his sitting and told him: ‘Be wary of God – curtail your seeking [of this world], and do not seek that which has not been created [i.e. beyond your apportioned provision] …’^{‎[6]Khisal, 1/64, h. 95.}

Note: These verses – and the chapter as a whole – console the soul in that they turn one’s attention from the transient and trivial affairs of this world to a tremendous event and an imminent happening.

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

The contrast between exaltation and abasement in this world and the hereafter is mentioned in several Biblical passages:

1. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.^{‎[7]Matthew 23:12.}
2. For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.^{‎[8]Luke 14:11.}
3. Every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.^{‎[9]Luke 18:14.}

[1] Raghib, under kh-f-ḍ.
[2] Razi, 29/385; Furqan, 28/60.
[3] Sadra, 7/17.
[4] Furqan, 28/61.
[5] Razi, 29/386.
[6] Khisal, 1/64, h. 95.
[7] Matthew 23:12.
[8] Luke 14:11.
[9] Luke 18:14.