وَوُجوهٌ يَومَئِذٍ باسِرَةٌ
تَظُنُّ أَن يُفعَلَ بِها فاقِرَةٌ
And some faces will be scowling on that day,
knowing that they will be dealt out a punishment breaking the spine.
EXEGESIS
Taẓunnu (knowing): ẓanna means to assume and is a degree lower than knowledge. However, it can also be used to intend knowing, when the estimation becomes strong enough. In this verse it may then mean either to know or to estimate. Some have preferred the meaning of estimation here, while others have preferred the meaning of knowing. Both meanings are viable – depending on which stage of the Day of Judgement they are. In the beginning, many of those destined to hell may still entertain hope that they will be saved. As the day progresses, they will become increasingly aware of what awaits them. Eventually, they will reach a stage of realisation that they will indeed be taken to the terrible punishment of hell. At that point their ẓann will become certainty, and the expression of anxiety will consequently worsen with each stage.
Bāsirah (scowling) is from basara, like in the verse, Then [he] frowned and scowled (basara) (74:22). It originally means anything that is premature. The unripe fruit of a palm tree is for example called busr. It is used to intend the anxious expression that precedes a distasteful experience in anticipation of it, even though it has not yet occurred. Here it intends the expression and look on the face of someone who is expecting to soon receive bad news. In other words, an expression of anxiety.
We may also note how all of this supports our earlier assertion that these verses are talking about events on the Day of Judgement, prior to entry into heaven or hell.
Fāqirah (breaking the spine) derives from the root faqara. Faqr is used to mean poverty; a poor man is called faqīr. The mafqūr is the one whose fiqār (spinal column) of his back have been shattered due to the severity of poverty. This meaning of being broken is the original meaning of faqara, similar to the English expression ‘broke’ to mean someone who is poor. The vertebrae of the spine are apparently called faqarāt because the spine is a bone that is ‘broken’ into pieces, divided into vertebrae. Here, fāqirah intends that punishment which breaks the spinal column (fiqār al-ẓahr).
It is also said that the original meaning is the act of branding the camel’s nose with iron or fire in a manner that reaches the bone. In this case, here it would mean a painful punishment that brands their faces. While this fits with the mention of faces in verse 22, the first meaning is much more linguistically appropriate.
EXPOSITION
These two verses turn the attention away from the joyous and eager faces of the faithful, to the dismal state of the faces of the wicked, and how in contrast they will be filled with intense fear and extreme anxiety. Different verses in the Quran describe the anxious state of the faces of the wicked: Some faces on that day will be humbled (88:2); And some faces on that day will be covered with dust, overcast with gloom (80:40-41); When they see it brought near, the countenances of the faithless will be distorted (67:27); this is because they realise and understand that they will be soon taken to hell. The extreme difficulty of that day and the intense fear of facing the punishment of God will be such that no one who is burdened with grave sins can maintain their composure or keep a brave face. As per the surah’s theme of externalisation of the internal, the face is used here as the looking glass which exposes the inner state of a person, or his heart. The Quran actually reverses this imagery as well in some situations, such as in Sūrat al-Nāziʿāt: Hearts will be trembling on that day, bearing a humbled look (79:8-9), where the heart is described as bearing the countenance of humility, even though it is the face that is actually revealing it.
The punishment they fearfully await is described as fāqirah, a back-breaking punishment. It is the kind of punishment that leaves a person paralyzed and helpless. It is figurative for the ultimate punishment that does not kill a person, but rather leaves them suffering for the rest of their lives. The expression is powerful and laden with meaning and depth. It evokes thoughts of the rich and powerful tyrants, now humbled and dishevelled; those who stood strong and tall, using their prowess to cower the weak, now bent and broken; those who were arrogant and proud, puffing their chests and refusing to humble themselves and prostrate before God, now shattered and wishing they could have submitted willingly.
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
Tabatabai suggests that it is also possible that taẓunnu means ‘you surmise’, intending the Prophet. In other words, the Prophet would surmise by looking at the scowling faces of the faithless on the Day of Judgement that they would soon be dealt a painful punishment.
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
- ‘May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever.’
- ‘Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming … At the sight of them, nations are in anguish; every face turns pale.’
[1] Raghib, p. 539.
[2] Tabrisi, 10/603; Razi, 30/733; Tantawi, 15/204. Ṭabrisī argues that in this verse taẓunnu an means to surmise. He bases this on his assertion that when the verb ẓanna is used with the preposition an (as it is here) it has the meaning of speculation, and only when it is used with anna does it have the meaning of knowing.
[3] Such as Tabari, 29/121; Baghawi, 5/186; Zamakhshari, 4/663; Ibn Kathir, 8/288; Mizan, 20/112.
[4] Nemuneh, 25/305. See also Raghib, p. 122, b-s-r; Tahqiq, 1/288, b-s-r.
[5] Tibyan, 10/199.
[6] Lisan, 5/61-62, f-q-r.
[7] Raghib, p. 642, f-q-r.
[8] Tibyan, 10/199; Thalabi, 10/88; Zamakhshari, 4/663; Lisan, 5/62, f-q-r.
[9] Thalabi, 10/89.
[10] Related in Tabrisi, 10/603.
[11] Mizan, 20/113.
[12] Psalms 69:23; Romans 11:10.
[13] Joel 2:1-6.