Tafseer of The Cave · Al-Kahf · 18:47
And [warn of] the Day when We will remove the mountains and you will see the earth prominent, and We will gather them and not leave behind from them anyone.
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 explanation of the words of the Exalted: وَيَوْمَ نُسَيِّرُ الْجِبَالَ وَتَرَى الأَرْضَ بَارِزَةً وَحَشَرْنَاهُمْ فَلَمْ نُغَادِرْ مِنْهُمْ أَحَدًا (18:47)
Allah, exalted be His praise, says:
وَيَوْمَ نُسَيِّرُ الْجِبَالَ — the day on which We set in motion the mountains of the earth, crush them to fragments, and make them into scattered dust; وَتَرَى الأَرْضَ بَارِزَةً — visible and laid bare: its visibility to the eyes of the beholders, without anything covering it of mountain or tree — that is its laying bare (burūz).
Concerning this sentence a group of the exegetes have spoken.
Mention of those who said this:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us — "ḥ" —; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning وَتَرَى الأَرْضَ بَارِزَةً : "There is no vegetation (khamar) in it, no hollow, no building, and no rock in it," he said.
Al-Qāsim related to me, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — with the same.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his words وَتَرَى الأَرْضَ بَارِزَةً : "There is no building and no tree upon it."
It has also been said: The meaning of this is: And you see the earth laid bare with its inhabitants who formerly were within its interior and have now come up onto its surface.
His words وَحَشَرْنَاهُمْ — He says: We gathered them together at the place of assembly for the reckoning. فَلَمْ نُغَادِرْ مِنْهُمْ أَحَدًا — He says: And We did not leave anyone behind and did not leave any of them remaining beneath the earth. One says: mā ghādartu min al-qawm aḥadan, and mā aghdartu minhum aḥadan — and from the usage of aghdartu derives the verse of the poet:
"هَـلْ لـكِ والعـارِضُ مِنـكِ عـائِضُ / فـي هَجْمَـةٍ يُغْـدِرُ مِنْهـا القـابِضُ"
(footnote 1)
