وَكُنتُم أَزواجًا ثَلاثَةً

And you will be three groups.

EXEGESIS

And at the beginning of this verse involves a subtle point that should be explained. Verses 1, 4, and 5 serve as a conditional clause that needs a complement. Apparently, what is meant is to ‘remember’ these events: remember when the imminent [hour] befalls, and remember when the earth is shaken violently, and remember when the mountains are shattered into bits. Therefore, ‘remember’ (udhkurū) is omitted, as is the case in many similar instances in the Quran (see 46:21). However, such reminder may still need a closure.

There are a few possible interpretations in this regard: 1. Verse 2 could be the complement of verse 1: When the imminent [hour] occurs, then there will be no denying in its occurrence. Likewise, verse 6 would be the complement for verses 4 and 5: When the earth is shaken violently, and when the mountains are shattered into bits, then they become scattered dust. This complies with the third interpretation for verse 2 mentioned earlier. 2. Verse 2 is not the complement of verse 1; rather, it is only a description of that day mentioned as a side note, and the conditional clause continues. Then verse 6 could be a closure to that. This meaning is confirmed by verses 69:13-15 (quoted earlier). 3. What complements these verses is verse 7, which says: then, on that day, you will be three groups. 4. Though the aforementioned verses are apparently in the form of a conditional clause, they are complete sentences. This is an effective form of rhetoric (balāghah), where a discussion is left to the audience to ponder upon. It is often used when the closure is evident – as a means of brevity – or when a sense of ambiguity is deliberately intended to inspire a desired feeling in the reader. The latter seems to be the case here, where the verses arouse a notion of apprehension and alertness in the reader.

Of course, verse 7 complements the scenario pictured in the first six verses, but there is more to the story than you will be three groups. This is deduced from the word And at the beginning of the verse, which indicates that when the hour befalls, there will be several events that happen, one of which is that you will be three groups, but the rest are not described. Hence, And subtly hints at the other events and characteristics of the hour that are not mentioned here.

EXPOSITION

In this verse and the following few verses, the chapter continues its description of the Day of Resurrection by describing how people will be classified into three groups. These are three main categories which can have other classes and degrees within them (3:163, 4:145, 6:132, 17:21, 46:28, 57:10).

A similar three-fold classification of the people is mentioned elsewhere in the Quran with regard to how people respond and react to the book of God: Then We made heirs to the book those whom We chose from Our servants. Yet some of them are those who wrong themselves, and some of them are average, and some of them are those who take the lead in all the good works by Allah’s will. That is the greatest grace [of Allah]! (35:32). Some of the rewards mentioned in chapters 55 and 83 as well as verse 57:20 may also suggest a similar distinction between the people of the right hand and the close ones. Otherwise, the Quran generally talks about a dichotomous classification of people in the hereafter: people of salvation and people of damnation. Hence, these verses can be considered as a commentary and elaboration on those other Quranic classifications.

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. In a famous narration, Imam Ali (a) classified the people into three groups that could be one interpretation for the three groups discussed here. The Imam told his companion Kumayl: ‘People are of three groups: there are godly scholars, learners on the path of salvation, and a rabble of flies that follow every caller and move with every wind …’^{‎[1]Kafi, 1/271-272, h. 1.}

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

In order to explain the three-fold classification of people here, some exegetes have tried to draw on the three main faculties of mankind: sensation (ḥiss), imagination (khayāl), and intellect (ʿaql). Each person is born with these three faculties in their potential state, and the person can actualise these potentials through his life.^{‎[2]Sadra, 7/19-20.}

Though this classification of the three levels of comprehension and the human faculties is backed with the Quran, traditions, and reason, it is perhaps not the best way of interpreting this and the next few verses. This interpretation would suggest that the people of misery (or the left hand) are those who remain at the level of sensation, the people of the right hand are those who actualise their faculty of imagination, and the foremost ones are those who excel to the realm of intellect. The problem with this is that all of these three faculties have their own vices and pitfalls. In other words, it is possible to have a strong faculty of intellect – or especially imagination – and yet be a deceptive and evil person, much like Satan. Likewise, one cannot claim that those who do not actualise their higher levels of cognition and comprehension will be prevented from paradise and salvation.

I rather be devoid of this kind of a brain,

I’ve had it with the mind, I’m going insane.

I’ve tried my reason, time and again;

I rather be mad and tear up this chain.^{‎[3]Rūmī, Mathnawī, vol. 2, lines 2336 and 2340.}

[1] Kafi, 1/271-272, h. 1.
[2] Sadra, 7/19-20.
[3] Rūmī, Mathnawī, vol. 2, lines 2336 and 2340.