Al-Haaqqa (The Reality)

16. And the heavens shall be rent asunder, for that Day it shall be frail and shall collapse.

17. And the angels shall be on the sides of the heaven [and shall be prepared for assignments], and eight angels shall, on that Day, bear the Throne of your Lord above them.

The blessed Verse 16 is saying that not only the mountains and the earth shall be shattered, but the heavens shall be rent asunder and be frail. Such awe inspiring even shall affect celestial spheres and bodies, since they shall be shattered, scattered, and rent asunder in spite of their previous firmness.

It is mentioned elsewhere in the Holy Qur’an¹ :

“Then, when the heaven shall be rent asunder and it shall be rosy like molten oil.”

In other words, the earth and the heaven shall be destroyed and instead another world, far better, exalted, and perfect, shall be established on the ruins.

The blessed Verse 17 says:

“And the angels shall be on the sides of the heaven.” The Arabic nominal form arja’ is the plural form of raja’ denoting “side.” The singular nominal form malak (“angel”) connotes plurality, as if on that Day, the angels shall be prepared like agents surrounding a field to receive orders to fulfill some assignment. They seemingly stand in lines surrounding the heavens expecting the Commands of the Truth.

The blessed Verse proceeds to say that

“eight angels shall, on that Day, bear the Throne of your Lord above them.”

Such bearers of the Divine Throne are not explicitly specified to be angels or otherwise, but the contextual meaning of the blessed Verse reflects that they are angels, though it is not specified whether they are eight angels or eight small or large groups of them.

According to Islamic traditions, the bearers of the Divine Throne are four angels or four groups of them, but the number shall be twofold on the Day of Resurrection. In this vein, it is narrated from the Noble Prophet of the Islamic faith (S) that now they are four in number, though they shall be reinforced by a twofold increase thus making eight of them.²

What is the Divine Throne and who are these angels?

The Arabic word

‘arsh (“throne”)

does not herein denote a royal and hence material throne, but as it was mentioned above on the explanation of the word, it connotes the constituents of the world of existence as the Throne of Divine Sovereignty whose affairs are being fulfilled by the angels.

It would be of interest to make mention of a tradition as per which the eight bearers of Divine Throne on the Day of Resurrection will be four angels from the first ones and four from the last ones. The first four consist of Prophets Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus (as) and the last ones are Muhammad (S), ‘Ali, Hasan, and Husayn (as).³

The expression may reflect their exalted rank of intercession with God Almighty for the first and the last time, though interceding with God Almighty shall be on the behalf of those deserving the same; however, such interpretation reflects the semantically broad scope of the word

“Throne.”

Now, if the eight bearers of the Divine Throne be eight groups, it may be the case that groups of angels and those of the Prophets and Friends of God Almighty be vested to fulfill the task. Thus, the affairs of the Day of Resurrection shall be vested with the angels and the Prophets, though they shall all rest on Divine Command.

It is needless to say, however, that the events to befall on the Day of Resurrection may not be precisely known to us let alone the affairs of the bearers of the Divine Throne on that Day to us, the inhabitants of this limited and shadowy world. It would suffice to say that we merely behold the reflections from afar in the light of Divine Signs and Verses, though the Truth about such affairs shall be perceived on that Day.