Tafseer of The Overthrowing · At-Takwir · 81:1
When the sun is wrapped up [in darkness]
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 the statement of the Exalted: إِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ ("When the sun is wound up [rolled up]") (81:1).
The people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning the interpretation of His statement: إِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ ("When the sun is wound up"). Some said: its meaning is: when the light of the sun vanishes.
* Mention of who said that:
Al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Ḥarīth related to us, saying: al-Faḍl ibn Mūsā related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn Wāqid, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, who said: Ubayy ibn Kaʿb related to me, saying: Six signs precede the Day of Resurrection: while the people are in their markets, suddenly the light of the sun vanishes; while they are in that state, suddenly the stars scatter apart; while they are in that state, suddenly the mountains collapse upon the face of the earth, and it moves and shakes and burns; and the jinn flee to mankind, and mankind to the jinn, and the cattle, the birds, and the wild beasts become intermingled, and they jostle against one another — وَإِذَا الْوُحُوشُ حُشِرَتْ ("and when the wild beasts are gathered together"), he said: they became intermingled — وَإِذَا الْعِشَارُ عُطِّلَتْ ("and when the pregnant she-camels are neglected"), he said: their owners abandon them — وَإِذَا الْبِحَارُ سُجِّرَتْ ("and when the seas are set ablaze"), he said: the jinn said to mankind: we will bring you the news. He said: and they set off toward the seas, and behold, it was blazing fire. He said: while they are in that state, suddenly the earth splits with a single rending down to the seventh, lowest earth, and up to the seventh, highest heaven. He said: while they are in that state, suddenly the wind comes upon them which kills them.
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 statement: إِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ ("When the sun is wound up"), he says: it is darkened.
Mohammed ibn Saʿd related to me, 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: إِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ ("When the sun is wound up"), he means: it vanished.
Mohammed ibn ʿUmāra related to me, ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Mūsā related to me, saying: Isrāʾīl reported to us, on the authority of Abū Yaḥyā, on the authority of Mujāhid, إِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ ("When the sun is wound up"), he said: it perishes and vanishes.
Ibn Bashshār and Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, both of them saying: Mohammed ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: إِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ ("When the sun is wound up"), he said: its light vanished, so that it had no more light.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaʿqūb al-Qummī related to us, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Saʿīd, concerning His statement: إِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ ("When the sun is wound up"), he said: it is taken away (ghuwwirat); and that in Persian is "kūr takūr".
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh saying: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk saying, concerning His statement: إِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ ("When the sun is wound up"): as for the winding up (takwīr) of the sun: that is its vanishing.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Saʿīd, concerning His statement: إِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ ("When the sun is wound up"), he said: it was wound up (kuwwirat), a winding up in Persian.
And others said: its meaning is: it is cast away.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿAtthām ibn ʿAlī related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid related to us, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, concerning His statement: إِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ ("When the sun is wound up"), he said: it was turned downward.
Mohammed ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Masrūqī related to me, saying: Mohammed ibn Bishr related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, the like of it.
Mohammed ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Badal ibn al-Muḥabbar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: I heard Ismāʿīl, who heard Abū Ṣāliḥ, concerning His statement: إِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ ("When the sun is wound up"), he said: it was thrown down.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abū Yaʿlā, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Khuthaym, إِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ ("When the sun is wound up"), he said: it was cast away.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abū Yaʿlā, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Khuthaym, the like of it.
And the correct view concerning that, in our opinion, is that one says: كُوِّرَتْ ("it is wound up"), just as Allah, exalted be His praise, has said. Winding up (al-takwīr) in the language of the Arabs is: joining one part of a thing to another, like the winding of the turban, namely the wrapping of it around the head; and like the winding of the bundle of clothes (al-kāra), namely the gathering of the garments together and the rolling up of them. So too is it with His statement: إِذَا الشَّمْسُ كُوِّرَتْ ("When the sun is wound up"); its meaning is only: one part of it is joined to another, then it is wound up and cast away, and when that happens to it, its light vanishes. According to the interpretation that we have given and expounded, both statements that I have mentioned from the interpreters have a sound basis, for when it is wound up and cast away, its light vanishes.
