Surah Al-Haaqqa (69): Read Online and Download - English Translation

Commentary

This Surah is almost wholly devoted to the subject of inevitability of the Resurrection, its horrors, the punishment of unbelievers and the reward of believers. The Day of Judgment is variously referred to in the Qur'an, and in this Surah we encounter the following three names: الْحَاقَّةُ Al-Haqqah 'Imminent Happening', الْقَارِ‌عَةِ Al-Qari'ah 'Shocking Event' and الْوَاقِعَةُ -waqi` ah 'Happening'.

The word الْحَاقَّةُ Al-haqqah means an 'established fact, or inevitable event, reality or truth'. The word Al-haqqah also means 'Something that provide evidence that something is true.' It can be applied to the Day of Judgment in both senses of the word, because in the first sense the Day of Judgment itself is an established truth, and its occurrence is a certainty. And in the other sense the Day of Judgment will prove to the believers the reality of Paradise and to the unbelievers the reality of Hell. This name of the Day of Judgment is followed by two questions regarding it. The questions have been put to make the readers realise how horrifying the experience would be - beyond normal experience or even imagination.

The word الْقَارِ‌عَةِ Al-Qari'ah, literally, means 'rumbling'. The Day of Judgment is so called because there will be rumbling sound which will cause agitation or terror in the hearts of people, and will dreadfully destroy the heavenly and earthly bodies and scatter them apart.

The word الطَّاغِيَةِ At-Taghiyah is derived from tughyan which means 'to exceed the limit', signifying an extremely severe punishment, that is, 'it would be such high pitched sound which would exceed the limit of any of the sounds of the mortal world, and the human heart or brain would not be able to bear'. When Thamud exceeded the limit in denying the Day of Judgment, they were destroyed by that dreadful cry which exceeded all limits. It was a combination of most high pitched sound of thunderbolt together with a flash of lightning that struck them which rent their hearts.

The phrase رِ‌يحٍ صَرْ‌صَرٍ‌ (rihin sarsarin) (in verse 6) refers to a violent windstorm which is also severely cold.

سَبْعَ لَيَالٍ وَثَمَانِيَةَ أَيَّامٍ (seven nights and eight consecutive days'... 69:7). According to some of the narratives, the punishment of windstorm started on Wednesday morning, and lasted till the following Wednesday evening. In this way, it makes up eight days and seven nights.

The word husuman (in verse 7) is the plural of hasim and means 'cutting them off entirely' or 'causing them to perish completely'.

The word مُؤْتَفِكَاتُ mu'tafikat (in verse 9) means 'adjacent to one another'. The towns of Sayyidna Lut Sodom and Gomorrah, are so called because they were adjacent to each other or because when the punishment overtook the disbelievers and criminals overthrowing their towns ], they were all jumbled up.1

(1) Another possible meaning of mu'tafikat is 'overthrown' as mentioned by several exegetes. The translation in the text is based on this meaning. Muhammad Taqi Usmani