2. MEANING OF SURAH ZAILZAL
• 1. When the earth is shaken with its [final]
earthquake
• 2. And the earth discharges its burdens
• 3. And man says, “What is [wrong] with it?”
• 4. That Day, it will report its news
• 5. Because your Lord has commanded it.
• 6. That Day, the people will depart
separated [into categories] to be shown
[the result of] their deeds.
• 7. So whoever does an atom’s weight of
good will see it,
• 8. And whoever does an atom’s weight of
evil will see it
3. إ
ِ
ذ
َا
ز
ُ
ﻟْ
ﺰ
ِ
ﻟ
َ
ﺖ
ِ
ا
ﻷ
ْ
َ
ر
ْ
ض
ُ
ز
ِ
ﻟْ
ﺰ
َ
ا
ﻟ
َ
ﮭ
َ
ﺎ
The earth was always meant to shake.
• When the earth is shaken with its [final] earthquake.” (99:1)
• Note the pronoun ‘its’ going back to the earth. Islahi (rahimahullah)
explains the significance of this minute point:
• ‘When the earth shall be shaken the way it is destined to be shaken’.
• In other words, what is really being implied here is that the extent to
which it will be shaken cannot be imagined today.
• The actual way in which it will reel, totter and stagger as pre-ordained by
the Almighty is an event beyond imagination.
• But one thing which is absolutely certain is that all this is bound to happen.
• Therefore, it is in the well being of a person to remain alert about its
arrival and not spend his life remaining unmindful to it.” (Islahi 2)
4. و
َ
أ
َ
ﺧ
ْ
ﺮ
َ
ﺟ
َ
ﺖ
ِ
ا
ﻷ
ْ
َ
ر
ْ
ض
ُ
أ
َ
ﺛ
ْ
ﻘ
َ
ﺎ
ﻟ
َ
ﮭ
َ
ﺎ
The earth will, literally, vomit the things we put in it.
• “And the earth discharges its burdens.” (99:2)
• “The word ‘ ﺛ
ﻘ
ل
‘ means ‘weight’ or ‘burden’.
• Here, its foremost connotation are the dead who have been buried
in the earth and who will be thrown overboard by it on the Day of
Judgement.
• But, since the word is also used in the general sense, it can also
imply the buried riches and treasures as well as
• Any traces of the hidden offences committed by criminals.” (Islahi 2-
3)
5. ﯾ
َ
ﻮ
ْ
ﻣ
َ
ﺌ
ِ
ﺬ
ٍ
ﺗ
ُ
ﺤ
َ
ﺪ
ِّ
ث
ُ
أ
َ
ﺧ
ْ
ﺒ
َ
ﺎ
ر
َ
ھ
َ
ﺎ
Witnesses to our deeds who speak out on the Day
• That Day, it will report its news Because your Lord has commanded it.” (99:4-5)
• When we sin, we often don’t think about the witnesses who can see us. Among
these witnesses, there are some we might consider as dumb witnesses – our own
body parts, our hands and feet, and the earth. But these objects will be given the
ability to speak and testify against us on the Day of Judgment.
• “The earth will … narrate its story at the intimation of the Almighty, enabling its
inhabitants to have a clear idea of all what they had said or done upon its surface or
hidden beneath it.” (Islahi 1)
• “Whatever a person does in this world is either done upon or beneath the earth. As
such, it must be regarded as the greatest witness to all his deeds. Just as the
Almighty will endow man’s limbs and organs with the faculty of speech to narrate
his life’s record and bear witness against him, the earth also will be made vocal by
Him that it may also recount his history.” (Islahi 4)
6. ﯾ
َ
ﻮ
ْ
ﻣ
َ
ﺌ
ِ
ﺬ
ٍ
ﯾ
َ
ﺼ
ْ
ﺪ
ُ
ر
ُ
ا
ﻟ
ﻨ
ﱠ
ﺎ
س
ُ
أ
َ
ﺷ
ْ
ﺘ
َﺎ
ﺗ
ًﺎ
ﻟِ
ﯿ
ُ
ﺮ
َ
و
ْ
ا
أ
َ
ﻋ
ْ
ﻤ
َ
ﺎ
ﻟ
َ
ﮭ
ُ
ﻢ
ْ
People won’t have family, friends and supporters
• That Day, the people will depart separated [into categories] to be shown [the
result of] their deeds.” (99:6)
• Allah (swt) says elsewhere in the Quran:
• “And all of them are coming to Him on the Day of Resurrection alone.” (19:95)
• “And We will inherit him [in] what he mentions, and he will come to Us alone.”
(19:80)
• “[It will be said to them], ‘And you have certainly come to Us alone as We created
you the first time, and you have left whatever We bestowed upon you behind
you. And We do not see with you your ‘intercessors’ which you claimed that they
were among you associates [of Allah ]. It has [all] been severed between you, and
lost from you is what you used to claim.’” (6:94)
• People will be stripped of all the worldly fame and pomp they had earned in life.
They will not have their supporters around them, nor their close ones, to pump
them up in the hardest test of their existence.
8. ﻓ
َ
ﻤ
َ
ﻦ
ْ
ﯾ
َ
ﻌ
ْ
ﻤ
َ
ﻞ
ْ
ﻣ
ِ
ﺜ
ْ
ﻘ
َ
ﺎ
ل
َ
ذ
َ
ر
ﱠ
ة
ٍ
ﺧ
َ
ﯿ
ْ
ﺮ
ً
ا
ﯾ
َ
ﺮ
َ
ه
ُ
Never underrate a good or bad deed.
• “So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it.” (Quran, 99:7)
• Often we wait for big occasions like Laylatul Qadr or the day of Arafah to amass
good deeds by praying all night and making dua and dhikr all day. But we tend to
overlook those thousands of little moments when doing seemingly insignificant
everyday actions and words can add up drop by drop to make an ocean of
rewards.
• The Prophet (sa) said, “Don’t consider anything insignificant out of good things
even if it is that you meet your brother with a cheerful countenance.” (Muslim
2626)
• And the same applies the other way round too.
• “And whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.” (Quran, 99:8)
• The Prophet (sa) is reported to have said: “Beware of the sins that are belittled.
For verily, they are gathered in a man until they destroy him.” (Ahmad, qt in Ibn
Kathir 99.1)