Tafseer of The Ascending Stairways · Al-Ma'aarij · 70:4
The angels and the Spirit will ascend to Him during a Day the extent of which is fifty thousand years.
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.
His word: ( the angels and the Spirit ascend to Him in a day whose measure is fifty thousand years ) — the Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: the angels and the Spirit, that is Jibrīl, peace be upon him, ascend to Him, that is to say to Allah, mighty and exalted is He. The personal pronoun in His word ( to Him ) refers back to the name of Allah. ( in a day whose measure is fifty thousand years ) — he says: the measure of their ascension occurs in a day that, for the other creatures, would amount to fifty thousand years, and that is because they ascend from the furthest point of His decree, from the bottom of the seventh earth, to the furthest point of His decree, above the seven heavens.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Ḥakkām ibn Salm related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Maʿrūf, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, ( in a day whose measure is fifty thousand years ) he said: the furthest point of His decree, from the bottom of the earths to the furthest point of His decree above the heavens, is a distance of fifty thousand years; and a day whose measure is a thousand years, by that he means the descent of the decree from the heaven to the earth, and from the earth to the heaven, in one day, and that has a measure of a thousand years, for the distance between the heaven and the earth is a journey of five hundred years.
And others said: no, the meaning of that is: the angels and the Spirit ascend to Him on a day on which He carries out the judgment between His creatures, and the measure of that day on which He carries out the judgment between them amounts to fifty thousand years.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Simāk ibn Ḥarb, on the authority of ʿIkrima, ( in a day whose measure is fifty thousand years ) he said: in one day on which, on that day, the judgment is carried out, with the measure of fifty thousand years.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, ( in a day whose measure is fifty thousand years ) he said: the Day of Resurrection.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, he said: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, about this verse ( fifty thousand years ) he said: the Day of Resurrection.
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, ( the angels and the Spirit ascend to Him in a day whose measure is fifty thousand years ): that is the Day of Resurrection.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid; Maʿmar said: and it also reached me, on the authority of ʿIkrima, about His word: ( whose measure is fifty thousand years ): no one knows how much has passed, nor how much remains, except Allah.
ʿAlī related to me, he said: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, about His word: ( the angels and the Spirit ascend to Him in a day whose measure is fifty thousand years ): this is the Day of Resurrection, which Allah has made for the disbelievers (kāfir) the measure of fifty thousand years.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say about His word: ( in a day whose measure is fifty thousand years ): by that the Day of Resurrection is meant.
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said about His word: ( in a day whose measure is fifty thousand years ) he said: this is the Day of Resurrection.
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥārith informed me that Darrāj related to him, on the authority of Abū al-Haytham, on the authority of Saʿīd, that he said to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: ( in a day whose measure is fifty thousand years ) — how long that is! Then the Prophet ﷺ said: "By Him in whose hand my soul is, for the believer that day will truly be lightened so that it will be lighter for him than the prescribed prayer which he performs in the worldly life."
And there has been related from Ibn ʿAbbās about this another statement than the one we have mentioned from him, and that is what:
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, he said: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Ayyūb, on the authority of Ibn Abī Mulayka, that a man asked Ibn ʿAbbās about "a day whose measure is a thousand years," whereupon he said: and what is "a day whose measure is fifty thousand years"? He said: I only asked you so that you would tell me. He said: they are two days that Allah has mentioned in the Qurʾān; Allah knows most about them. And he refused to say about the Book of Allah what he did not know.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, he said: Ayyūb related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Mulayka, he said: a man asked Ibn ʿAbbās about "a day whose measure is a thousand years," he said: he was suspicious of him, and he was spoken to about that, and then he said: and what is "a day whose measure is fifty thousand years"? He said: I only asked you so that you would tell me. Then he said: they are two days that Allah, mighty and exalted is He, has mentioned; Allah knows most about them, and I refuse to say about the Book of Allah what I do not know.
Most of the reciters of the cities recited His word: ( the angels and the Spirit ascend ) with the tāʾ, except al-Kisāʾī, for he used to recite it with the yāʾ, on the basis of a narration which he transmitted from Ibn Masʿūd, that he recited it thus.
And the correct view regarding this reading is, in our opinion, what the reciters of the cities follow, namely with the tāʾ, because of the consensus of the authoritative proof among the reciters concerning it.
