Tafseer of The Mount · At-Tur · 52:9
On the Day the heaven will sway with circular motion
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 explanation of His exalted word: يَوْمَ تَمُورُ السَّمَاءُ مَوْرًا ("On the Day that the heaven will sway with a [violent] swaying" — (9)).
The Exalted One, whose praise is mentioned, says: indeed, the punishment of your Lord shall come to pass يَوْمَ تَمُورُ السَّمَاءُ مَوْرًا . Thus "Yawm" (Day) is grammatically connected to "wāqiʿ" (coming to pass). And by His word "tamūru" He means: it revolves and tilts. Maʿmar ibn al-Muthannā used to recite the verse of al-Aʿshā:
"It is as though her gait, from the house of her neighbor, is the billowing of the cloud — neither slow, nor hurried." (9)
According to his transmission, then, al-mawr means: the tilting and swaying in the gait. But someone other than him transmitted it as "marru al-saḥāba" (the passing of the cloud).
The exegetes differed over its explanation. Some of them said concerning it something along the lines of what we have said about it.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his word يَوْمَ تَمُورُ السَّمَاءُ مَوْرًا , he said: that means: setting in motion.
Ibn al-Muthannā and ʿAmr ibn Mālik related to us, both of them saying: Abū Muʿāwiya al-Ḍarīr related to us, on the authority of Sufyān ibn ʿUyayna, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his word يَوْمَ تَمُورُ السَّمَاءُ مَوْرًا , he said: the heaven revolves, a revolving.
Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣudāʾī related to us, saying: Ibrāhīm ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Sufyān ibn ʿUyayna related to us, saying: I was informed on the authority of Muʿāwiya al-Ḍarīr, from me, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid يَوْمَ تَمُورُ السَّمَاءُ مَوْرًا , he said: it revolves, a revolving.
Hārūn ibn Ḥātim al-Muqriʾ related to us, saying: Sufyān ibn ʿUyayna related to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to me, from me, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid يَوْمَ تَمُورُ السَّمَاءُ مَوْرًا , he said: it revolves, a revolving.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his word يَوْمَ تَمُورُ السَّمَاءُ مَوْرًا , its mawr: the setting of it in motion.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word يَوْمَ تَمُورُ السَّمَاءُ مَوْرًا : that means: its revolving and its being set in motion by the command of Allah, and the surging of one part of it into another.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, saying: al-Ḍaḥḥāk said يَوْمَ تَمُورُ السَّمَاءُ مَوْرًا , he said: one part of it surges into another, and its being set in motion by the command of Allah.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word يَوْمَ تَمُورُ السَّمَاءُ مَوْرًا , he said: this is the Day of Resurrection; as for al-mawr, of that we have no knowledge.
Others said: its mawr means: its splitting open.
* Mention of who said that:
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 تَمُورُ السَّمَاءُ مَوْرًا , he said: on the Day that the heaven splits open.
