Tafseer of The Resurrection · Al-Qiyaama · 75:24
And [some] faces, that Day, will be contorted,
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.
Muḥammad ibn Manṣūr al-Ṭūsī and Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿīd al-Jawharī related to me, both saying: ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Shaqīq related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn ibn Wāqid related to us, on the authority of Yazīd al-Naḥwī, on the authority of ʿIkrima, who said: tanẓuru ilā rabbihā naẓaran (it looks toward its Lord with a look).
Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Shaqīq related to me, saying: I heard my father say: al-Ḥusayn ibn Wāqid informed me concerning His word: Wujūhun yawmaʾidhin nāḍiratun (Faces that Day will be radiant) — from the bliss — ilā rabbihā nāẓiratun (looking toward their Lord); he said: Yazīd al-Naḥwī informed me, on the authority of ʿIkrima and Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid and the old masters of the people of Kūfa, that he said: it looks toward its Lord with a look.
Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī related to us, saying: Ādam related to us, saying: al-Mubārak related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His word: Wujūhun yawmaʾidhin nāḍiratun; he said: radiant, ilā rabbihā nāẓiratun; he said: it looks toward the Creator, and it befits it to be radiant while it looks toward the Creator.
Saʿd ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related to me, saying: Khālid ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Abū ʿArfaja related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya al-ʿAwfī, concerning His word: Wujūhun yawmaʾidhin nāḍiratun ilā rabbihā nāẓiratun; he said: they look toward Allah; their glances cannot encompass Him because of His grandeur, while His glance does encompass them. That is His word: The glances do not reach Him, but He reaches the glances.
Others said: No, the meaning of that is that it awaits the reward of its Lord.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿUmar ibn ʿUbayd related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: Wujūhun yawmaʾidhin nāḍiratun ilā rabbihā nāẓiratun; he said: it awaits the reward from Him.
He said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: ilā rabbihā nāẓiratun; he said: it awaits the reward of its Lord.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: ilā rabbihā nāẓiratun; he said: it awaits the reward.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: ilā rabbihā nāẓiratun; he said: it awaits the reward of its Lord; none of His creatures sees Him.
Yaḥyā ibn Ibrāhīm al-Masʿūdī related to me, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of his grandfather, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Mujāhid: Wujūhun yawmaʾidhin nāḍiratun; he said: radiant from the bliss, ilā rabbihā nāẓiratun; he said: it awaits His provision and His favor.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: there were people who said in a tradition: "then they will see their Lord." I said to Mujāhid: there are people who say that He is seen. He said: He sees, but nothing sees Him.
He said: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: ilā rabbihā nāẓiratun; he said: it awaits from its Lord what He has decreed for it.
Abū al-Khaṭṭāb al-Ḥassānī related to me, saying: Mālik related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid related to us, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, concerning His word: Wujūhun yawmaʾidhin nāḍiratun ilā rabbihā nāẓiratun; he said: it awaits the reward.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: al-Ashjaʿī related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Thuwayr, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, who said: "Indeed, the lowest in rank of the inhabitants of Paradise is he who looks upon his kingdom, his couches, and his servants over a distance of a thousand years; he sees the farthest of it as he sees the nearest of it. And indeed, the highest in rank of the inhabitants of Paradise is he who looks upon the Face of Allah, morning and evening."
He said: Ibn al-Yamān related to us, saying: Ashjaʿ related to us, on the authority of Abū al-Ṣahbāʾ al-Mawṣilī, who said: "Indeed, the lowest in rank of the inhabitants of Paradise is he who sees his couches, his servants, and his kingdom over a distance of a thousand years; he sees the farthest of it as he sees the nearest of it. And indeed, the most excellent of them in rank is he who looks upon the Face of Allah morning and evening."
The correct of the two opinions concerning that, in our view, is the opinion that we have related from al-Ḥasan and ʿIkrima, namely that the meaning of it is that it looks toward its Creator. With this too has come the report (athar) from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ:
ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Abjar related to me, saying: Muṣʿab ibn al-Miqdām related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl ibn Yūnus related to us, on the authority of Thuwayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Indeed, the lowest in rank of the inhabitants of Paradise is he who looks upon his kingdom over two thousand years; and indeed, the most excellent of them in rank is he who looks upon the Face of Allah twice every day." He said: then he recited: Wujūhun yawmaʾidhin nāḍiratun ilā rabbihā nāẓiratun; he said: in brightness and purity, ilā rabbihā nāẓiratun; he said: it looks upon the Face of Allah, Mighty and Sublime is He, every day.
And His word: Wa-wujūhun yawmaʾidhin bāsiratun (And faces that Day will be gloomy) — the Exalted says: and faces that Day will be changed in color, blackened and scowling. One says: basartu wajhahu absiruhu basran when one does that; and basara wajhuhu, so that it is bāsir, clearly gloomy (busūr).
And in accordance with what we have said concerning that, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* 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: bāsiratun; he said: the face contorting.
