Tafseer of The Night Journey · Al-Israa · 17:52
On the Day He will call you and you will respond with praise of Him and think that you had not remained [in the world] except for a little."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The exposition of the meaning of the word of Allah the Exalted: يَوْمَ يَدْعُوكُمْ فَتَسْتَجِيبُونَ بِحَمْدِهِ وَتَظُنُّونَ إِنْ لَبِثْتُمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا (The day He calls you and you respond with His praise, and you think that you tarried only a little) (17:52).
Allah the Exalted says: Say: "Perhaps your resurrection, O polytheists, is near" — that is the day your Lord calls you to rise from your graves to the standing-place of the Resurrection, and you respond with His praise.
The exegetes differed concerning the meaning of His word فَتَسْتَجِيبُونَ بِحَمْدِهِ (And you respond with His praise). Some said: with His command.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word يَوْمَ يَدْعُوكُمْ فَتَسْتَجِيبُونَ بِحَمْدِهِ: he says: "With His command."
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, concerning فَتَسْتَجِيبُونَ بِحَمْدِهِ: he said: "With His command."
Others said: the meaning of that is: then you respond with His knowledge and obedience to Him.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word يَوْمَ يَدْعُوكُمْ فَتَسْتَجِيبُونَ بِحَمْدِهِ: "That is to say: with His knowledge and obedience to Him."
And the view that is closest to correctness in this is to say: the meaning is — you respond to Allah from your graves, by His power and His calling of you; and to Allah belongs praise in all circumstances. As one says: "I did that deed bi-ḥamd Allāh" — that is to say: to Allah belongs praise for all that I did. And as the poet said:
For I am — praise be to God — not a rake's garment that I have worn, nor did I cover myself with a treachery.
Bi-ḥamd Allāh here means: and praise be to God.
And His word وَتَظُنُّونَ إِنْ لَبِثْتُمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا (And you think that you tarried only a little) — that is to say: you think, when you arrive at the Resurrection, because of the terror that you behold therein, that you tarried on earth only a little. As the Exalted in His glory said: قَالَ كَمْ لَبِثْتُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ عَدَدَ سِنِينَ * قَالُوا لَبِثْنَا يَوْمًا أَوْ بَعْضَ يَوْمٍ فَاسْأَلِ الْعَادِّينَ (He said: "How many years did you tarry on earth?" They said: "We tarried a day or part of a day — so ask those who keep count").
A view similar to what we said is shared by the exegetes.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning وَتَظُنُّونَ إِنْ لَبِثْتُمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا: "That is to say: in the world — the world being made small and diminished in their eyes, when they beheld the Day of Resurrection."
