Tafseer of The Resurrection · Al-Qiyaama · 75:2
And I swear by the reproaching soul [to the certainty 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.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, [concerning] His word: لا أُقْسِمُ بِيَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ وَلا أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ ("I swear by the Day of Resurrection, and I swear by the self-reproaching soul"), he said: He swore by both of them together.
And others said: no, He swore by the Day of Resurrection, but He did not swear by the self-reproaching soul. And he said: the meaning of His word وَلا أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ is: and I do not swear by the self-reproaching soul.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: al-Ḥasan said: He swore by the Day of Resurrection, but He did not swear by the self-reproaching soul.
The correct view concerning this, in my opinion, is the view of the one who said: Allah swore by the Day of Resurrection and by the self-reproaching soul, and He made the "lā" ("not/no") a refutation of a statement that had preceded it [in the time] of a [certain] people, and an answer to them.
We said that this is the correct view, because what is well-known from the speech-usage of people in their mutual conversations is: when one of them says "No, by Allah, I did not do such-and-such," that by "lā" he intends the refutation of a statement, and by his word "by Allah" the commencement of an oath; and likewise their word: "No, I swear by Allah, I did not do such-and-such." Since the well-known meaning of this is what we have described, it is necessary that everything else that comes with similar expressions proceed in the same manner, so long as nothing of it deviates from the well-known [usage] in a way that one must accept. Moreover: all those who count as bearers of proof (al-ḥujja) are in agreement that His word لا أُقْسِمُ بِيَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ is an oath, and likewise His word وَلا أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ is [an oath], unless a proof should come that demonstrates that the one is an oath and the other a statement of information. And we have already demonstrated that the reading of the one who reads the first word as "la-uqsimu," joining the "lām" to "uqsimu," is an impermissible reading, contrary to that upon which the bearers of proof are unanimous. The explanation of the sentence is then: No, the matter is not as you say, O people, namely that Allah will not raise His servants to life after their death; I swear by the Day of Resurrection. And a group used to say: the resurrection of every soul is its death.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān and Misʿar, on the authority of Ziyād ibn ʿIlāqa, on the authority of al-Mughīra ibn Shuʿba, he said: they say: "the resurrection, the resurrection," but the resurrection of any one of them is only his death.
He said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Misʿar and Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Qubays, he said: I was present at a funeral at which ʿAlqama was present, and when [the deceased] had been buried, he said: as for this one, his resurrection has already arrived.
And His word: وَلا أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ . The scholars of interpretation differed concerning the explanation of His word اللَّوَّامَةِ ("the self-reproaching"). Some of them said: its meaning is: and I swear by the soul that reproaches [itself] over the good and the evil.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muʾammal related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Muslim, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning His word: وَلا أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ , he said: it reproaches [itself] over the good and the evil.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, [concerning] وَلا أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ , he said: it reproaches [itself] over the good and the evil.
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, he said: I said to Ibn ʿAbbās [concerning] وَلا أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ , [and] he said: it is the blameworthy soul.
And others said: no, the meaning of that is: that it reproaches [itself] over what has escaped it and repents of that.
* Mention of who said that:
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 word: بِالنَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ , he said: it repents of what has escaped it and reproaches [itself] over that.
And others said: no, the "lawwāma" is the wicked one (al-fājira).
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, [concerning] وَلا أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ , that is to say: the wicked one.
And others said: no, it is the blamed one (al-madhmūma).
* 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: وَلا أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ , he says: the blamed one.
And these views which we have mentioned from those from whom we have mentioned them, although the wordings of those who uttered them differ, are close to one another in meaning. The view that most corresponds to the apparent meaning of the revelation is that it reproaches its owner over the good and the evil and repents of what has escaped it. And the reciters (al-qurrāʾ) are all unanimous in reading these [words] with the separation of "lā" from "uqsimu."
