Tafseer of The Cave · Al-Kahf · 18:99
And We will leave them that day surging over each other, and [then] the Horn will be blown, and We will assemble them in [one] assembly.
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 discussion of the explanation of the word of Allah the Exalted: وَتَرَكْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ يَمُوجُ فِي بَعْضٍ وَنُفِخَ فِي الصُّورِ فَجَمَعْنَاهُمْ جَمْعًا (And We left them on that day surging like waves over one another; and the trumpet was blown, and We gathered them all together) (verse 99)
Allah the Exalted says: On the day when Our promise to them arrives — when We smash the mountains to rubble and sweep them away from the earth and leave the earth level and empty — We left Our servants surging like waves over one another; He says: their jinn and their humans become intermingled with one another.
As Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaʿqūb al-Qummī related to us, on the authority of Hārūn ibn ʿAntara, on the authority of a sheikh from Banū Fazāra, concerning His word (وَتَرَكْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ يَمُوجُ فِي بَعْضٍ): he said: "When the jinn and the humans surge like waves over one another, Iblīs says: 'I know for you the way out of this matter.' He then sets off toward the East and finds that the angels have cut off the earth. Then he sets off toward the West and finds that the angels have cut off the earth. Then he ascends to the right and the left to the farthest extent of the earth and finds that the angels have cut off the earth. He says: 'There is no escape.' While he is in this state, there appears before him a path like a sandal-strap; he takes that way with his progeny. While they are walking upon it, they suddenly come upon the Fire. Allah brings forth a keeper from among the keepers of the Fire who says: 'O Iblīs, did you not have a high rank with your Lord? Were you not in the gardens?' To which he says: 'This is not the day for reproaches. Had Allah but imposed an obligation upon me — I would have rendered Him therein a worship such as none of His creation has ever offered.' The keeper says: 'Allah has indeed imposed an obligation upon you.' He says: 'What is that?' The keeper says: 'Allah commands you to enter the Fire.' Then he hesitates; [the keeper] then strikes him together with his progeny with his two wings and casts them into the Fire. The Fire then lets out a sigh, upon which there remains no angel brought near nor prophet sent who does not fall upon his knees."
Yūnus related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word (وَتَرَكْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ يَمُوجُ فِي بَعْضٍ): "This is the beginning of the Resurrection, after which the trumpet was blown immediately, and We gathered them all together."
(وَنُفِخَ فِي الصُّورِ) — We have previously mentioned the disagreements of the exegetes concerning the ṣūr — what it is and what is meant by it — and have chosen the correct view regarding it together with its proofs; that is sufficient so as not to repeat it here. We do, however, mention here some narrations that we did not mention in that connection.
Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of his father, saying: Aslam related to us, on the authority of Bishr ibn Shughāf, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, that a Bedouin asked him about the ṣūr; he said: "A horn into which one blows."
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Hishām related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Sulaymān al-Taymī, on the authority of al-ʿAdjlī, on the authority of Bishr ibn Shughāf, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ — similar to it.
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥārith al-Qanṭarī related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Abī Bukayr related to us, saying: I was at a funeral of ʿUmar ibn Dharr and I came upon Mālik ibn Mighwal; he related to us on the authority of ʿAṭiyya al-ʿAwfī, on the authority of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "How shall I take delight, while the owner of the horn has already taken up the horn and bowed his forehead and held his ear aside, awaiting when he is commanded?" This weighed heavily upon the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, upon which he said: "Say: Ḥasbunā Allāh wa-ʿalā Allāh tawakkalnā (Allah is sufficient for us and upon Allah we rely), for if the people of Minā were to gather together, they could not lift that horn" — thus he said; properly it is "they could not lift it."
Abū al-Sāʾib related to us, saying: Ḥafṣ related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥajjādj, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya, on the authority of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "How shall I take delight, while the owner of the horn has already taken up the horn, bent his back and devoted his eyes?" They said: "What shall we say, O Messenger of Allah?" He said: "Say: Ḥasbunā Allāh, tawakkalnā ʿalā Allāh (Allah is sufficient for us, upon Allah we rely)."
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of Muṭarrif, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "How shall I take delight, while the owner of the horn has already taken up the horn, bowed his forehead and listens for when he is commanded to blow into it?" The companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "How then shall we say it?" He said: "You say: Ḥasbunā Allāh wa-niʿm al-wakīl, tawakkalnā ʿalā Allāh (Allah is sufficient for us and the best Disposer of affairs; we rely upon Allah)."
Abū Kurayb and al-Ḥasan ibn ʿArafa related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of Muṭarrif, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ — similar to it.
Yaʿqūb related to us, saying: Shuʿayb ibn Ḥarb related to us, saying: Khālid Abū al-ʿAlāʾ related to us, saying: ʿAṭiyya al-ʿAwfī related to us, on the authority of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "How shall I take delight, while the owner of the horn has already taken up the horn and bowed his forehead and held his ear aside, awaiting when he is commanded to blow? And even if the people of Minā were to gather together to lift the horn from the ground, they could not do it." He said: The companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ were then bewildered and it weighed heavily upon them. Upon which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Say: Ḥasbunā Allāh wa-niʿm al-wakīl, ʿalā Allāh tawakkalnā (Allah is sufficient for us and the best Disposer of affairs; upon Allah we rely)."
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad al-Muḥāribī related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Rāfiʿ al-Madanī, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Fulān, on the authority of a man from the Anṣār, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī, on the authority of a man from the Anṣār, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "When Allah finished the creation of the heavens and the earth, He created the ṣūr and gave it to Isrāfīl; he has placed it upon his mouth and gazes with wide-open eyes toward the Throne, awaiting when he is commanded." Abū Hurayra said: "O Messenger of Allah, what is the ṣūr?" He said: "A horn." He said: "How is it?" He said: "A great horn into which one blows three times: the first blast is the blast of terror, the second is the blast of swooning, and the third is the blast of rising up for the Lord of the worlds."
His word (فَجَمَعْنَاهُمْ جَمْعًا) — He says: then at that moment We gather the whole of creation together for the standing-place of judgment, all of them together.
