The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 5) — Page 173
CHAPTER 56 AL-WAQI'AH (Revealed before Hijrah) Title, Date of Revelation, and Context This is the last of the group of seven chapters beginning with Surah Qaf. These seven Surahs were revealed at Mecca, more or less at the same time, in the early years of the Holy Prophet's ministry. Naturally, therefore, they are very much similar in tone and tenor; but, in no other case perhaps, is this similarity so marked as it is between this Surah and Surah Ar-Raḥmān. The subject in Sūrah Ar-Raḥmān is completed in this Sūrah, and thus the Surah forms a befitting sequel to Surah Ar-Raḥmān. In Sūrah Ar-Raḥmān, for instance, three groups of people (a) those fortunate ones who are granted special nearness to God, (b) the general body of believers who have achieved Divine pleasure, and (e) the Rejecters of Divine Messengers were referred to only by implication. In the present Surah, however, they have been expressly mentioned. The Surah takes its title, like the Surahs of this group, from its first verse, and like them, it deals particularly with the important subjects of the Resurrection, Revelation, and the Repudiation of idolatry, appropriately revealed early at Mecca when the preaching of the Quranic Message was directed exclusively to the idolatrous Quraish. The seven Surahs also contain prophecies about the great and glorious future of Islam, side by side with direct and emphatic mention of the inevitability of the Resurrection, thus drawing attention to the inescapable conclusion that the fulfilment of those prophecies would prove that the Resurrection is also an undeniable fact. Subject Matter The Surah opens with a firm and emphatic declaration that the great and inevitable event which was foretold in the preceding Surah will most surely come to pass, and when it comes to pass the earth will be shaken to its depths, and the mountains shall be shattered, causing a new world to emerge from the ashes of the old. As a result of this great event people will be sorted out into three classes: (a) the fortunate ones enjoying God's special nearness, (b) the true and righteous believers receiving handsome reward for their good deeds, and (c) the unfortunate disbelievers who rejected God's Message and opposed and persecuted His Messengers being punished for their evil deeds. The Surah then proceeds to give a graphic description of the Divine blessings and favours in store for the first two classes, which is followed by a description of the punishment which will be meted out to the deniers of the Divine Message. Then, the Surah advances the usual argument of the creation of man from a seminal drop and of its development into a full-fledged human 3069