Al-Kahf (The Cave)

47. “And (remember) the day We shall set the mountains in motion, and you will see the earth a leveled plain and We muster them nor shall We leave out any one of them.”

48. “And they shall be presented before your Lord in ranks, (and Allah says:) ‘You have come to Us, as We created you upon the first time. But you thought that We should not appoint a tryst for you’.”

In order that the life of the world would not be loved, the remembrance of the Day of Judgment is necessary. This Day is forevery body and there is no exception for any one.

The words in the previous holy verses were upon a selfish proud man who, because of his haughtiness and pride, denied Resurrection. Here, following that subject, the Qur’an explains three stages concerning Hereafter. The first stage is before the resurrection of human beings. The second stage is the Resurrection itself. And the third stage is related to some events after Resurrection.

At first, the holy Qur’an implies that we should remember the Day when the system of the world of existence, as a preparation for a new system, will be disturbed and the mountains will be set in motion so that all the barriers of the surface of the earth will be removed and the land will be leveled in a shape that every thing can clearly be seen.

The verse says:

“And (remember) the day We shall set the mountains in motion, and you will see the earth a leveled plain…”

These current verses of the Qur’an point to the events which will happen at the threshold of Resurrection. Such events are a lot, and some of them are particularly pointed out in the short suras at the end of the Qur’an. These events are called as ‘the signs of Hereafter’ /’ašrat us sa‘ah/.

After that, the verse finally implies that at this time Allah will gather them all, so that even a single person will not be left out.

The verse continues saying:

“…and We muster them nor shall We leave out any one of them.”

The abovementioned sentence is an emphasis upon this fact that Resurrection is a general commandment and none will be exception from it.

In the second verse, the Qur’an refers to the circumstances of the resurrection and humankind. It says:

“And they shall be presented before your Lord in ranks…”

This expression may be an indication to the case that every group of people, who have the same belief or similar deeds, will be categorized in one row. Or, all of them, without any difference or privilege, will be set in a single row; like the mass of soldiers in front of the commander-in-chief of the army, where they are wholly seen.

However, standing in a row is a sign of order and tidiness. It is the secret of discipline and modesty. In the Qur’an, for the statement of the qualifications of the strugglers, and also angels, the expression of ‘row and rank’ has been used. Two suras of the Qur’an are also entitled ‘As-Saff’ (the Ranks, the Row) and ‘As-Saffat’ (the Rangers).

In the world, sometimes, the military army are presented to the chiefs in a particular order, while, in Hereafter, all human beings will automatically and regularly be presented to the Lord.

There, they will be told:

“...‘You have come to Us, as We created you upon the first time. But you thought that We should not appoint a tryst for you’.”

In Hereafter, there will be for them, no property, nor privileges and material ranks, nor any helpers. They will be in the same state that they were created at first.

But, they imagined that Allah would never appoint a time for them. This status was at the time when the pride of material facilities deluded them, and the love of the world, which they imagined to be eternal, caused them to be neglectful of the thought of the Hereafter, which is inside the nature of everybody.

But it is certain that the faithful persons, who are seekers of the truth and have enough capacity, will never fall in such ugly epithet when they reach to a social rank or some wealth. They not only will not be proud, but also no change will appear in their daily programs from this point of view.

It is narrated from the Prophet (S) and Imam Sadiq (as) that in Hereafter there will arrange one hundred and twenty thousand rows. Eighty thousand of them will be the Prophet’s community, from the beginning of his embassy until the end of resurrection, and the former communities will be only forty thousand rows.¹