Tafseer of The Earthquake · Az-Zalzala · 99:4
That Day, it will report its news
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.
﴿ يَوْمَئِذٍ تُحَدِّثُ أَخْبَارَهَا ﴾ (On that Day she will tell her tidings.)
Ibn ʿAbbās used to say concerning this what Ibn Sinān al-Qazzāz related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of Shabīb, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning ﴿ وَقَالَ الإنْسَانُ مَا لَهَا ﴾ (and man says: "What is the matter with her?") — he said: that is the disbeliever (kāfir) — ﴿ يَوْمَئِذٍ تُحَدِّثُ أَخْبَارَهَا ﴾ (on that Day she will tell her tidings).
He says: on that Day the earth will tell her tidings. And her telling of her tidings comes about, according to the statement we have cited on the authority of ʿAbdallāh ibn Masʿūd, by her speaking and saying: indeed, Allah commanded me this, and revealed it to me, and permitted it to me.
As for Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, he used to say concerning this what Abū Kurayb related to us about it, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, saying: I heard Saʿīd ibn Jubayr recite at one time in the maghrib prayer: ﴿ يَوْمَئِذٍ تُنَبِّئُ أَخْبَارَها ﴾ (on that Day she will inform of her tidings), and at another time: ﴿ تُحَدِّثُ أَخْبَارَهَا ﴾ (she will tell her tidings).
It is thus as if the meaning of "tuḥaddith" (to tell) for Saʿīd was: "tunabbiʾu" (to inform), and her informing of her tidings is: that she casts out her burdens from her interior to her surface. And this statement is, in my view, correct in meaning, and the explanation of the word according to this meaning is: on that Day the earth will make clear her tidings through the shaking and the quaking, and by casting out the dead from her interior to her surface, on the basis of the revelation (waḥy) of Allah to her and His permission to her for that. And that is the meaning of His statement: ﴿ بِأَنَّ رَبَّكَ أَوْحَى لَهَا ﴾ (because your Lord has revealed it to her).
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this spoke the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl).
*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 the statement of Allah: ﴿ وَأَخْرَجَتِ الأرْضُ أَثْقَالَهَا * وَقَالَ الإنْسَانُ مَا لَهَا * يَوْمَئِذٍ تُحَدِّثُ أَخْبَارَهَا * بِأَنَّ رَبَّكَ أَوْحَى لَهَا ﴾ (and the earth brings forth her burdens * and man says: "What is the matter with her?" * on that Day she will tell her tidings * because your Lord has revealed it to her) — he said: He commanded her, and she cast out what was in her and emptied herself.
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 ﴿ بِأَنَّ رَبَّكَ أَوْحَى لَهَا ﴾ (because your Lord has revealed it to her) — he said: He commanded her.
And it has already been related on the authority of ʿAbdallāh that he used to recite it as: ﴿ يَوْمَئِذٍ تُنْبِّئُ أَخْبَارَها ﴾ (on that Day she will inform of her tidings). And it has been said: the meaning of that is that the earth tells her tidings about who was upon her surface, of the people of obedience and of disobedience, and about what they performed upon her of good or evil.
*Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, concerning ﴿ يَوْمَئِذٍ تُحَدِّثُ أَخْبَارَهَا ﴾ (on that Day she will tell her tidings) — he said: what was performed upon her of good or evil; ﴿ بِأَنَّ رَبَّكَ أَوْحَى لَهَا ﴾ (because your Lord has revealed it to her) — he said: He made that known to her.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His statement: ﴿ يَوْمَئِذٍ تُحَدِّثُ أَخْبَارَهَا ﴾ (on that Day she will tell her tidings) — he said: what was in her, and upon her surface, of the deeds of the servants.
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 statement: ﴿ يَوْمَئِذٍ تُحَدِّثُ أَخْبَارَهَا ﴾ (on that Day she will tell her tidings) — he said: she will inform the people about what they performed upon her.
