Tafseer of The Ascending Stairways · Al-Ma'aarij · 70:43
The Day they will emerge from the graves rapidly as if they were, toward an erected idol, hastening.
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 statement, the Exalted: يَوْمَ يَخْرُجُونَ مِنَ الأَجْدَاثِ سِرَاعًا كَأَنَّهُمْ إِلَى نُصُبٍ يُوفِضُونَ ( The Day they will come forth from the graves in haste, as though they were hastening toward an erected sign ) (70:43)
His statement: ( The Day they will come forth ) is a clarification and further specification of the first Day mentioned in His statement: ( their Day which they are promised ). The explanation of the words is: until they meet their Day which they are promised, the Day on which they come forth from the graves — al-ajdāth are the graves; its singular is jadath — ( in haste, as though they were hastening toward an erected sign ).
As Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: ( The Day they will come forth from the graves in haste ): that is, in haste from the graves.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, something similar. And we have already previously explained al-jadath with its supporting evidences, and what the people of knowledge have said about it.
His statement: ( hastening toward an erected sign ) He says: as though they were hastening toward a banner erected for them, for battle.
The reciters of the cities were unanimously agreed that the nūn of His statement ( naṣb ) is read with a fatḥa, except for al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, for it is related from him that he pronounced it with a ḍamma together with the ṣād. Whoever read it with a fatḥa understands al-naṣb as a verbal noun of the expression: naṣabtu al-shayʾa anṣibuhu naṣban (I erected the thing, I erect it, erecting). The explanation of it according to them is: as though they were hastening quickly toward an erected idol. And whoever read it with a ḍamma together with the ṣād understands it as the singular of al-anṣāb, namely their gods whom they used to worship.
As for His statement ( yūfiḍūn ): al-īfāḍ means hastening; and to this belongs the saying of the poet:
Indeed, I shall describe an ostrich, hastening, broad-hipped, swift, seeking a refuge.
He says: she seeks a refuge to shelter herself in; and al-īfāḍ is speed. And Ruʾba said:
Earnestness drives us forward in haste.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us on the authority of ʿAwf, on the authority of Abī al-ʿĀliya, that he said concerning this verse ( as though they were hastening toward an erected sign ): toward signs over which they vie with one another.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to us, 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 statement: ( as though they were hastening toward an erected sign ) he said: toward a banner toward which they hurry.
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 His statement: ( yūfiḍūn ) he said: they vie with one another.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: ( as though they were hastening toward an erected sign ): toward a banner toward which they hurry.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: ( as though they were hastening toward an erected sign ) he said: toward a banner they hasten, he said: they hurry.
ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to us, saying: al-Walīd ibn Muslim related to us, saying: I heard Abū ʿAmr say: I heard Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr say: ( as though they were hastening toward an erected sign ) he said: toward a goal over which they vie with one another.
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 statement: ( hastening toward an erected sign ): toward a banner they go forth.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān: ( hastening toward an erected sign ) he said: toward a banner over which they vie with one another.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: ( as though they were hastening toward an erected sign ) he said: al-naṣb: stones which they used to worship, long stones called naṣb.
And concerning His statement ( yūfiḍūn ) he said: they hasten toward it just as they hasten toward an erected sign toward which they hurry. Ibn Zayd said: and the idols (al-anṣāb) which the people of ignorance (jāhiliyya) used to worship, visit, and venerate — one of them would carry it about with him, and when he saw a finer one, he would take that and cast this one away, and so it was said concerning him: A burden upon his master, wherever he directs him, he brings no good. Is he equal to one who calls to justice and is on a straight path? .
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀmir related to us, saying: Marra related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His statement: ( as though they were hastening toward an erected sign ) he said: they hasten toward their idol, vying with one another as to which of them touches it first.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Qurra related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, something similar.
