Tafseer of The Resurrection · Al-Qiyaama · 75:1
I swear by the Day of Resurrection
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 reciters differed over the reading of His words: ( لا أُقْسِمُ بِيَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ ) "I swear by the Day of Resurrection." Most of the reciters of the cities read it: ( لا أُقْسِمُ ) with [lā] detached from uqsim, with the exception of al-Ḥasan and al-Aʿraj, for it is related from both of them that they read this as ( لأقسِمُ بِيَوْمِ القِيامَةِ ) with the meaning: I swear by the Day of Resurrection, with the lām of the oath then prefixed to it.
The reading which I do not permit otherwise in this place is "lā" detached, with uqsim as the opening word, in accordance with what the reciters of the cities have, on account of the unanimous agreement of the authoritative proof of the reciters upon that.
Now those who read it in the manner that we have chosen for reading differed over its interpretation. Some of them said: "lā" is a connective particle (without negating meaning), and the meaning of the words is only: I swear by the Day of Resurrection.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Hishām al-Rifāʿī related to us, saying: Ibn al-Yamān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Muslim ibn Yannāq, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: ( لا أُقْسِمُ بِيَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ ) he said: I swear by the Day of Resurrection.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Muslim, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: ( لا أُقْسِم ) he said: I swear.
And others of them said: no, "lā" is inserted as a reinforcement of the words.
* Mention of who said that:
I heard Abū Hishām al-Rifāʿī say: I heard Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh say: His words ( لا أُقْسِمُ ) are a reinforcement of the oath, like his expression "lā wallāhi" (no, by Allah). And some of the grammarians of Kūfa said: "lā" is a refutation of something that preceded it in the words of the polytheists (mushrikīn) who denied the Garden and the Fire; then the oath was begun, and it was said: I swear by the Day of Resurrection. He used to say: every oath that is preceded by a refutation of words must necessarily have "lā" before it, in order thereby to distinguish between the oath that is a negation and the oath that begins on its own. And he says: do you not see that at the beginning you say: "wallāhi inna al-rasūla la-ḥaqq" (by Allah, the Messenger is truly true); but when you say: "lā wallāhi inna al-rasūla la-ḥaqq" (no, by Allah, the Messenger is truly true), then it is as though you have contradicted a people who denied it.
They also differed over this: is it an oath or not? Some of them said: it is an oath; our Lord swears by the Day of Resurrection and by the self-reproaching soul (al-nafs al-lawwāma).
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Abū al-Khayr ibn Tamīm, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās said to me: "From whom are you?" I said: "From the people of Iraq." He said: "Which of them?" I said: "From the Banū Asad." He said: "From their destitute, or from those upon whom Allah has bestowed favors?" I said: "No, rather, from those upon whom Allah has bestowed favors." He said to me: "Ask." I said: "Lā uqsimu bi-yawmi al-qiyāma." He said: your Lord swears by what He wills of His creation.
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Footnotes:
(4) ( لا ) is an addition that the meaning requires.
(5) Perhaps by al-ḥarīb here is meant: the poor person who has been robbed, that is to say: the one whose property has vanished.
