Al-Qiyaama (The Resurrection)

7. When the sight shall be dazed out of fear.

8. And the moon shall be eclipsed.

9. And the sun and moon shall be joined.

10. On that Day man shall inquire: “Where is the escape?”

11. No! There is neither refuge nor an escape!

12. Unto your Lord [Alone] shall be the final place of rest.

The preceding blessed Verses closed with a rhetorical question as to the time of its arrival posed by those belying Resurrection. Theses Verses provide replies to the question.

Making a reference to the occurrences to happen prior to Resurrection, namely the great developments to happen in the world and destroy its order, the blessed Verses 7-9 say:

“When the sight shall be dazed out of fear. And the moon shall be eclipsed. And the sun and moon shall be joined.”

Qur’an exegetes have provided different exegeses as to the joining of the sun and the moon. Some hold that both of them rise in the east and set in the west and there are some who maintain that they share the characteristic of being eclipsed.

The moon may also approach the sun under the influence of the latter’s gravity and finally join it, hence their being eclipsed.

It is noteworthy that mention is herein made of two of the most significant phenomena at the end of the world, namely the eclipse of the moon and the joining of the sun and the moon.

Similar references to the twain phenomena are more or less reflected elsewhere in the Holy Qur’an, an instance of which is:

“When the sun is darkened”1 .

It is common knowledge that the moon reflects the light of the sun and when the sun is plunged into darkness, the moon is also darkened and the earth plunged into frightening shadows. Thus, the world shall come to an end with an immense development and it shall begin by another great development, namely the second blowing into the Trumpet as the breeze of life blown into the world.

Then, mankind shall be raised from the dead. In the blessed Verse 10, man shall ask:

“Where is the escape?”

Yes, the disbelievers and the sinners who had formerly belied the Day of Resurrection shall search for a safe haven out of shame and look for some escape from carrying the burden of sins and fear of torments; in the same manner that upon facing a perilous incident, they looked for an escape in this world. They falsely imagine that they can find some way out of the torments in the Hereafter.

As reflected in the blessed Verses 11 and 12, it shall be said unto them:

“There is neither refuge nor an escape! Unto your Lord [Alone] shall be the final place of rest.”

Other exegeses have been suggested, instances of which are as follows: the Final Judgment shall be in God’s Hands on that Day; the final abode in Paradise or Hell shall be decreed by God Almighty; mankind shall stand at His Threshold for Reckoning of their deeds and their Recompense. However, taking into account the following blessed Verse, what we have chose as the exegesis of the blessed Verse sounds further befitting.

Some Qur’an exegetes hold that the blessed Verse in question is one of the Qur’anic Verses treating of the everlasting path of human spiritual growth, as reflected elsewhere in the Holy Qur’an, e.g.

“To Him is the Final Return”2 ; “O man! You shall toil to return unto your Lord and you shall meet Him”3 ; “And all shall return unto your Lord”4 .

In other words, man is like a traveler having departed from the bounds of non-existence for the realm of existence and is proceeding toward the Absolute and Boundless Existence of God Almighty to proceed on this path of spiritual growth everlastingly, entering different stages of closeness unto God Almighty, unless they deviate from their course, fall down, and finally perish.