99. Al-Zalzalah
The Earthquake
Asad's Introduction
MOST PROBABLY revealed in the early part of the Medina period (itqan), although some authorities regard it as a Meccan revelation.
WHEN THE EARTH quakes with her [last] mighty quaking,
and [when] the earth yields up her burdens,
and man cries out, "What has happened to her?" -
on that Day will she recount all her tidings,
as thy Sustainer will have inspired her to do!
On that Day will all men come forward, cut off from one another,3to be shown their [past] deeds.
And so, he who shall have done an atom's weight of good, shall behold it;
and he who shall have done an atom's weight of evil, shall behold it.
Asad's Commentary (3 notes)
I.e., all that was hitherto hidden in it, including the bodies - or the remnants - of the dead.
I.e., on the Day of Judgment the earth will bear witness, as it were, to all that has ever been done by man: an explanation given by the Prophet, according to a Tradition on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (quoted by Ibn Hanbal and Tirmidhi).
Lit., "as separate entities" (ashtatan). Cf. 6:94 - "And now, indeed, you have come unto Us in a lonely state, even as We created you in the first instance": thus stressing the individual, untransferable responsibility of every human being.