فَإِنَّما هِيَ زَجرَةٌ واحِدَةٌ

فَإِذا هُم بِالسّاهِرَةِ

Yet it will be only a single shout,

and behold, they will be awake.

EXEGESIS

Hiya (it) in verse 13 refers to the return in verse 12, meaning that their return back to life again will be by means of a single shout (38:15). It can also refer to al-rādifah, the successor or the second trumpet blow.^{‎[1]Mizan‎, 20/186; Tibyan, 10/254.}

Zajrah in verse 13 comes from zajr, which is to expel by means of a loud sound or cry.

Idhā in verse 14 is used as a surprise particle that describes the sudden nature of the transition to the state of resurrection. Al-sāhirah is the flat ground or a large open field that is devoid of vegetation. Hence, the single zajrah is the second trumpet blow, the successor, that suddenly causes the souls of humankind to move from the state of death to the state of life and their bodies to emerge from beneath the ground to its surface again.^{‎[2]Mizan‎, 20/186.}

­Al-sāhirah in verse 14 comes from the root word sahara which means to stay up during the night. It is reported that Arabs used to call the open field al-sāhirah because it often robbed them of their sleep during the night in fear of unknown surrounding dangers.^{‎[3]Tibyan, 10/254.} Hence, not only will human beings be made to stand again above the ground, they would also be in great fear, distraught about what would happen next.

EXPOSITION

Verses 13 and 14 come as an answer to the question raised in scepticism by the disbelievers in verses 10 and 11. Verses 13 and 14 assert that it is not at all difficult for God to bring about this resurrection and final hour. With a single shout, those who lay beneath the earth will find themselves upright and alive above the ground in what is almost an immediate transition.^{‎[4]Zamakhshari, 4/694.} Indeed, the matter of the hour is just like the twinkling of an eye, or [even] swifter. Indeed Allah has power over all things (16:77).

[1] Mizan‎, 20/186; Tibyan, 10/254.
[2] Mizan‎, 20/186.
[3] Tibyan, 10/254.
[4] Zamakhshari, 4/694.