Al-Qiyamah · Makki · ayah 6 of 40

Al-Qiyamah 75:6

يَسْـَٔلُ أَيَّانَ يَوْمُ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ

“He asks, "When is the Day of Resurrection?"”

Saheeh International

Essence

The two words Allah swore by come back in man's mouth as a sneer, and the surah answers his 'When?' with his own eyes.

A reflection

The same two words, sworn and sneered

Read the first six ayat aloud, pausing at each one, and listen to the endings. Al-qiyāmah. Al-lawwāmah. ʿIẓāmah. Banānah. Amāmah. Al-qiyāmah. One soft sound, six times over.

Now notice where it lands. The first ayah ended on yawmi al-qiyāmah: Allah swearing by the Day of the Standing. The sixth ends on the very same two words, yawmu al-qiyāmah, in a different mouth. Man takes the words of the oath and hands them back as a question. When is it, this Day of yours?

So the opening movement of the surah is a ring. It begins with the Day sworn by and ends with the Day mocked. Between the two sit the self, the bones, the fingertips and the will. Everything the sceptic doubts is placed inside the circle of the oath he is sneering at.

The commentators describe the tone. One calls it the question of someone obstructing and dismissing, who thinks the Hour is far-fetched. Another says it is asked in mockery. It is the same tone as 'When is this promise, if you are truthful?' (34:29). A question built not to be answered but to close the matter.

Then, at exactly this point, the sound of the surah changes. The next four ayat end on a harder note: al-baṣar, al-qamar, al-qamar, al-mafarr. Sight, moon, moon, escape. The soft ring breaks and something sharper begins, as the answer to 'When?' arrives.

You do not need Arabic to feel this. Ask someone who knows the surah to recite the first ten ayat to you, or play a recitation. Listen for the turn after the sixth. The sneer finishes, and the sky starts to go dark.

It is a small lesson in how the Quran argues. It does not only reply to the mocker. It lets you hear his words fall inside a structure built before he spoke, and then answers in a different voice.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.