Tafseer of Defrauding · Al-Mutaffifin · 83:6
The Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds?
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.
And His statement: يَوْمَ يَقُومُ النَّاسُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ("On the Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds") (83:6). "On the Day when they stand" (yawma yaqūmu) is an explanation of the first "Day" (al-yawm), which was put in the genitive. But since the lām was not repeated upon it, it is referred back to "raised" (mabʿūthūn), as though He said: do those not suppose, then, that they will be raised on the Day when mankind stands? It is also permissible to put it in the accusative while it has the meaning of the genitive, because it constitutes an impure annexation (iḍāfa). And had one put it in the genitive by referring it back to the first "Day," that would not be a linguistic error; and had one put it in the nominative, that would be permissible, as the poet said:
And I was like one with two legs: one leg sound, and one leg into which time has cast, so that it became lame.
And it was mentioned that mankind, on the Day of Resurrection, will stand before the Lord of the worlds, until the sweat becomes a bridle for them. Some say: for about three hundred years, and some say: for about forty years.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī ibn Saʿīd al-Kindī related to me, saying: ʿĪsā ibn Yūnus related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿAwn, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, concerning his statement: يَوْمَ يَقُومُ النَّاسُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ("On the Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds"), he said: one of you will stand in his sweat up to the middle of his ears.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Khālid al-Aḥmar related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿAwn, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ: يَوْمَ يَقُومُ النَّاسُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ("On the Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds"), he said: one of them will sink into his sweat up to the middle of his ears.
Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Ibn ʿAwn related to us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, he said: Ibn ʿUmar said: يَوْمَ يَقُومُ النَّاسُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ("On the Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds"), until one of them stands in his sweat up to the middle of his ears.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, he said: the Prophet ﷺ said: "Indeed, mankind will be brought to a standstill on the Day of Resurrection on account of the Tremendousness of Allah, until the sweat truly becomes a bridle for them up to the middle of their ears."
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yūnus ibn Bukayr related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, he said: I heard the Prophet ﷺ say: " يَوْمَ يَقُومُ النَّاسُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ("On the Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds") — on the Day of Resurrection, on account of the Tremendousness of the Most Merciful." Then he mentioned something similar.
Muḥammad ibn Khalaf al-ʿAsqalānī related to me, saying: Ādam related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Salama related to us, on the authority of Ayyūb, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, he said: "the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited this verse: يَوْمَ يَقُومُ النَّاسُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ("On the Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds") and said: they stand until the sweat reaches the middle of their ears."
Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Ḥabīb related to us, saying: Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Ṣāliḥ, he said: Nāfiʿ related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, he said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: يَوْمَ يَقُومُ النَّاسُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ("On the Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds") — on the Day of Resurrection, until one of them sinks up to the middle of his ears in his sweat.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa ibn Saʿīd, on the authority of Muḥārib ibn Dithār, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, concerning his statement: يَوْمَ يَقُومُ النَّاسُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ("On the Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds"), he said: they stand for a hundred years.
Tamīm ibn al-Muntaṣir related to us, saying: Yazīd informed us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq informed us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, he said: I heard the Prophet ﷺ say: يَوْمَ يَقُومُ النَّاسُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ("On the Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds") — on the Day of Resurrection, until the sweat truly becomes a bridle for the man up to the middle of his ears.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, in similar manner.
Ibn al-Muthannā and Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, both of them saying: Yaḥyā related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, he said: "Mankind stands before the Lord of the worlds until one of them stands in his sweat up to the middle of his ears."
Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Sulaymī, known as Ibn Ṣudrān, related to me, saying: Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Salām ibn ʿAjlān related to us, saying: Yazīd al-Madanī related to us, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to Bashīr al-Ghifārī: "How will you fare on: يَوْمَ يَقُومُ النَّاسُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ("On the Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds") for a span of three hundred years of the days of the world, in which no tidings from heaven reach them, and concerning which no command is given?" Bashīr said: help is sought from Allah, O Messenger of Allah. He said: "When you betake yourself to your bed, take refuge in Allah from the distresses of the Day of Resurrection and the evil of the reckoning."
Yaḥyā ibn Ṭalḥa al-Yarbūʿī related to me, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of al-Minhāl ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, concerning his statement: يَوْمَ يَقُومُ النَّاسُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ("On the Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds"), he said: they remain standing for forty years with their heads raised toward heaven, no one speaking to them, the sweat having become a bridle for every pious one and every wicked one. He said: then a caller calls out: is it not just on the part of your Lord that He, who created you, then fashioned you, then sustained you, and you then turned to other than Him, that He should entrust each servant of yours to that to which he turned in the world? They said: yes indeed. Then he mentioned the report in its entirety.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Abū Bakr related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of al-Minhāl ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of Qays ibn Sakan, he said: ʿAbd Allāh narrated, while he was with ʿUmar, يَوْمَ يَقُومُ النَّاسُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ("On the Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds"), he said: when the Day of Resurrection comes, mankind stands for forty years before the Lord of the worlds, with their gazes fixed toward heaven, barefoot and naked, while the sweat becomes a bridle for them and no human speaks to them for forty years. Then he mentioned something similar.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his statement: يَوْمَ يَقُومُ النَّاسُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ("On the Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds"), he said: it was mentioned to us that Kaʿb used to say: they stand for three hundred years.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān and Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning يَوْمَ يَقُومُ النَّاسُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ("On the Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds"), he said: Kaʿb used to say: they stand for a span of three hundred years.
Qatāda said: and al-ʿAlāʾ ibn Ziyād al-ʿAdawī related to us, saying: it reached me that the Day of Resurrection is shortened for the believer, so that it becomes for him like one of his prescribed prayers.
He said: Mihrān related to us, saying: al-ʿUmarī related to us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, he said: I heard the Prophet ﷺ say: يَوْمَ يَقُومُ النَّاسُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ("On the Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds"), he said: the man stands in his sweat up to the middle of his ears.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿAwn, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, he said: " يَوْمَ يَقُومُ النَّاسُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ("On the Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds"), until one of them stands in his sweat up to the middle of his ears."
Yaʿqūb said: Ismāʿīl said: I said to Ibn ʿAwn: did he mention the Prophet ﷺ in this report? He said: "yes, if Allah wills."
Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: Mālik ibn Anas informed me, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, that the Prophet ﷺ said: "Mankind stands before the Lord of the worlds, until one of them truly sinks in his sweat up to half of his ears."
------------------------
Footnotes:
(3) The verse is by Kuthayyir ʿAzza; the author cited it as evidence in volume (3: 194), and al-Farrāʾ recited it in Maʿānī al-Qurʾān (361). He said: and His statement يوم يقوم الناس ("on the Day when mankind stands") is an explanation of the "Day" put in the genitive; when the lām of the second was omitted, one referred it back to "raised" (mabʿūthūn), "on the Day when mankind stands." Had you put "yawm" in the genitive by referring it back to the first verse, that would be correct, and it can be in a genitive position, except that it is annexed to "yafʿalu" (a verb), so that it was put in the accusative because it is annexed to something non-genitive. And one could put it in the nominative on that basis: "yawma yaqūmu," as the poet said: "And I was like one with two legs…," end of citation. See also the Dīwān of Kuthayyir, Algiers edition (1: 49).
