Tafseer of The Splitting Open · Al-Inshiqaaq · 84:6
O mankind, indeed you are laboring toward your Lord with [great] exertion and will meet it.
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 statement concerning the explanation of His word, the Exalted: يَا أَيُّهَا الإِنْسَانُ إِنَّكَ كَادِحٌ إِلَى رَبِّكَ كَدْحًا فَمُلاقِيهِ ("O man, indeed you are laboring toward your Lord with a labor, and you shall meet Him") (6).
The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: O man, indeed you are performing toward your Lord a work, and you shall meet Him therewith, whether that work of yours be good or evil. He says: so let your work be something that delivers you from His displeasure and that procures for you His good pleasure, and let it not be something that angers Him against you, so that you perish.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of those who said that:
Muḥammad 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: يَا أَيُّهَا الإنْسَانُ إِنَّكَ كَادِحٌ إِلَى رَبِّكَ كَدْحًا فَمُلاقِيهِ ("O man, indeed you are laboring toward your Lord with a labor, and you shall meet Him"). He says: you perform a work with which you shall meet Allah, whether it be good or evil.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his statement: يَا أَيُّهَا الإنْسَانُ إِنَّكَ كَادِحٌ إِلَى رَبِّكَ كَدْحًا فَمُلاقِيهِ ("O man, indeed you are laboring toward your Lord with a labor, and you shall meet Him"): indeed your labor, O son of Adam, is feeble; so whoever is able to make his labor be in obedience to Allah, let him do so, and there is no power except through Allah.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his statement: إِنَّكَ كَادِحٌ إِلَى رَبِّكَ كَدْحًا ("Indeed you are laboring toward your Lord with a labor"). He said: you perform for Him a work.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said — and I heard him say concerning this: إِنَّكَ كَادِحٌ إِلَى رَبِّكَ كَدْحًا ("Indeed you are laboring toward your Lord with a labor"). He said: you perform toward your Lord a work. He said: "kadḥan" (labor): the work.
