Tafseer of The Prophets · Al-Anbiyaa · 21:104
The Day when We will fold the heaven like the folding of a [written] sheet for the records. As We began the first creation, We will repeat it. [That is] a promise binding upon Us. Indeed, We will do it.
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 Exalted says: لا يَحْزُنُهُمُ الْفَزَعُ الأَكْبَرُ — "The greatest terror will not grieve them" — on the day that We roll up the heaven; and "the day" is connected to (the description of) "who grieves them."
The scholars of exegesis differed concerning the meaning of al-sijill which Allah has mentioned here. Some said: it is the name of an angel.
Mention of those who said this:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, saying: Abū l-Wafāʾ al-Ashjāʿī related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, concerning His word يَوْمَ نَطْوِي السَّمَاءَ كَطَيِّ السِّجِلِّ لِلْكُتُبِ: he said: "Al-sijill is an angel — when he ascends with a supplication for forgiveness, he says: write it down as light."
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muʾammal related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, saying: he heard al-Suddī say, concerning His word يَوْمَ نَطْوِي السَّمَاءَ كَطَيِّ السِّجِلِّ: he said: "Al-sijill is an angel."
Others said: al-sijill is a man who used to write for the Prophet of Allah ﷺ.
Mention of those who said this:
Naṣr ibn ʿAlī related to us, saying: Nūḥ ibn Qays related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Mālik related to us, on the authority of Abū l-Jawzāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning this verse يَوْمَ نَطْوِي السَّمَاءَ كَطَيِّ السِّجِلِّ لِلْكُتُبِ: he said: "Ibn ʿAbbās said: it is the man."
He said: Nūḥ ibn Qays related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Kaʿb related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Mālik, on the authority of Abū l-Jawzāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: "Al-sijill is a scribe who used to write for the Prophet of Allah ﷺ."
Others said: rather it is the written page itself.
Mention of those who said this:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: ʿAbdullāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word كَطَيِّ السِّجِلِّ لِلْكُتُبِ: he said: "Like the rolling up of a sheet of paper over what is written."
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word يَوْمَ نَطْوِي السَّمَاءَ كَطَيِّ السِّجِلِّ لِلْكُتُبِ: he said: "Like the rolling up of the sheets of paper."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; 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, who said: "Al-sijill is the sheet of paper."
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word يَوْمَ نَطْوِي السَّمَاءَ كَطَيِّ السِّجِلِّ لِلْكُتُبِ: he said: "Al-sijill is the sheet of paper."
The most correct opinion on this matter, in our view, is the opinion of him who said: al-sijill in this place is the sheet of paper (al-ṣaḥīfa), for that is what is well known in Arabic usage; and we know of no scribe of our Prophet ﷺ whose name was al-sijill, nor of an angel by that name.
Should someone say: "How does one roll up a sheet of paper over what is written, if al-sijill is a sheet of paper?" — then the answer is: the meaning is not so; rather the meaning is: the day We roll up the heaven like the rolling up of al-sijill over what is written upon it; thus naṭwī is used as an indefinite verbal noun, and so is كَطَيِّ السِّجِلِّ لِلْكُتُبِ — and the lām in His word "lil-kitāb" has the meaning of "ʿalā" (over).
The reciters differed over its reading: most of the reciters of the cities, except Abū Jaʿfar al-Qāriʾ, read يَوْمَ نَطْوِي السَّمَاءَ with nūn; Abū Jaʿfar read يَوْمَ تُطْوَى السَّمَاءُ with tāʾ and ḍamma, in the passive voice.
The correct reading therein is what the reciters of the cities maintain — with nūn — on account of the unanimous decision of the authoritative reciters upon it and the deviation of whatever runs counter to it. As for al-sijill: in the reading of all, the lām is doubled. As for "al-kitāb": the reciters of Medina and some of the reciters of Kūfa and Baṣra read it in the singular — كَطَيِّ السِّجِلِّ لِلْكِتَابِ; most of the reciters of Kūfa read لِلْكُتُبِ as a plural.
The more correct of the two readings, in our view, is the reading of him who read the singular — "lil-kitābi" — on account of what we described of its meaning; for what is intended is: like the rolling up of al-sijill over what is written down within it, so that there is no reason — since this is the meaning — for the plural "al-kutub" except that we would be following a known way of Arabic usage. And at His word كَطَيِّ السِّجِلِّ ends the subordinate clause of His word لا يَحْزُنُهُمُ الْفَزَعُ الأَكْبَرُ; thereafter begins the report concerning what Allah will do with His creation on that day: كَمَا بَدَأْنَا أَوَّلَ خَلْقٍ نُعِيدُهُ.
The kāf in His word كَمَا is connected to "nuʿīdu" and precedes it; and the meaning of the text is: We bring back the creation on the Day of Resurrection barefoot, naked, and uncircumcised, just as We began them the first time in the state in which We created them in the wombs of their mothers — in accordance with the differences among the scholars of exegesis concerning its interpretation.
In accordance with what we have said about this, a group of the scholars of exegesis spoke, and there is a narration from the Prophet ﷺ concerning this; for that reason I preferred that view over others.
Mention of those who said this and the narration that has come concerning it:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; 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 أَوَّلَ خَلْقٍ نُعِيدُهُ: he said: "Barefoot, naked, and uncircumcised."
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word أَوَّلَ خَلْقٍ نُعِيدُهُ: he said: "Barefoot and uncircumcised." Ibn Jurayj said: Ibrāhīm ibn Maysara informed me that he heard Mujāhid say: the Prophet of Allah ﷺ said to one of his wives: "They will enter it barefoot, naked, and uncircumcised" — she concealed herself behind her sleeve and said: "Oh, how shameful!" The Prophet of Allah ﷺ said: Ibn Jurayj: I was informed that it was ʿĀʾisha. She said: "O Prophet of Allah, will the people not be ashamed before one another?" He said: "For every person on that day there is something that fully occupies him."
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, saying: al-Mughīra ibn al-Nuʿmān related to me, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, who said: "The people will be gathered barefoot, naked, and uncircumcised; and the first to be clothed is Ibrāhīm." Then he recited: كَمَا بَدَأْنَا أَوَّلَ خَلْقٍ نُعِيدُهُ وَعْدًا عَلَيْنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا فَاعِلِينَ.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Isḥāq ibn Yūsuf related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Mughīra ibn al-Nuʿmān, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: "The Prophet of Allah ﷺ stood among us with an admonition and related the same to like effect."
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of al-Mughīra ibn al-Nuʿmān al-Nakhaʿī, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: "The Prophet of Allah ﷺ stood among us and related to like effect."
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, who said: al-Mughīra ibn al-Nuʿmān al-Nakhaʿī related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — to like effect.
ʿĪsā ibn Yūsuf ibn al-Ṭabbāʿ Abū Yaḥyā related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: I heard the Prophet ﷺ deliver a sermon and he said: "Verily, you will meet Allah walking, uncircumcised."
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, who said: "The Prophet of Allah ﷺ came in upon me, and with me was an old woman of the Banū ʿĀmir. He said: 'Who is this old woman, O ʿĀʾisha?' I said: 'One of my aunts.' She said: 'Pray to Allah that He admit me into Paradise.' He said: 'Old women do not enter Paradise (al-janna).' She was struck by the words with what struck her; he said: 'Verily, Allah will bring them forth in a creation other than their present one.' Then he said: 'They will be gathered barefoot, naked, and uncircumcised.' She said: 'May Allah preserve us from that!' The Prophet of Allah ﷺ said: 'No, for Allah has said: كَمَا بَدَأْنَا أَوَّلَ خَلْقٍ نُعِيدُهُ وَعْدًا عَلَيْنَا... to the end of the verse; and the first to be clothed is Ibrāhīm the Friend of Allah (khalīl Allāh).'"
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmāra al-Asadī related to us, saying: ʿUbaydullāh related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of ʿUqba ibn ʿĀmir al-Juhanī, who said: "The people will be gathered on a level plain over which the eye reaches and the caller penetrates to them, barefoot and naked, just as they were created the first day."
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: ʿAbbād ibn al-ʿAwwām related to me, on the authority of Hilāl ibn Ḥabbān, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, on the authority of the Prophet of Allah ﷺ, who said: "The people will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection barefoot, naked, walking, and uncircumcised." I asked: "O Abū ʿAbdullāh, what is al-ghurl?" He said: "The uncircumcised." One of his wives said: "O Messenger of Allah, will not one then look at the private parts of another?" He said: "For every person on that day there is something that occupies him so that he does not look at the private parts of his brother." Hilāl said: Saʿīd ibn Jubayr recited: وَلَقَدْ جِئْتُمُونَا فُرَادَى كَمَا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ: he said: "As on the day his mother bore him — everything that was lacking to him is restored to him just as on the day he was born."
Others said: rather the meaning of this is: just as We were, and nothing existed other than Us before We created anything, so do We bring things to an end and bring them back to nothing, until there remains nothing besides Us.
Mention of those who said this:
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning كَمَا بَدَأْنَا أَوَّلَ خَلْقٍ نُعِيدُهُ... the verse: he said: "We bring everything to an end just as it was the first time."
And His word وَعْدًا عَلَيْنَا means: "We have promised you this as a true promise that We are bound to fulfill; We are the ones who do what We promised you, O people; for it is already foreordained in Our judgment and Our decree that We shall do it" — with certainty that this shall come to pass; so make yourselves ready and prepare yourselves.