7. ونفخ فی الصّور فإذا هم مّن الأجْداث إلى ربّهمْ ینسلون
8. قالوا یا ویْلنا من بعثنا من مّرْقدنا هذا ما وعد الرّحْمن وصدق الْمرْسلون
9. إن کانتْ إلاّ صیْحةً واحدةً فإذا همْ جمیعٌ لّدیْنا محْضرون

“And when the Trumpet is blown, behold, there they will be, scrambling from their graves towards their Lord!”

“They will say, ‘Woe to us! Who raised us from our place of sleep?’ ‘This is what the All-Beneficent had promised, and the prophets had spoken the truth!”

“It will be but a single Cry, and, behold, they will all be presented before Us!”

Last week in our explanation of the previous ayahs of Surah Yasin we said, as per the Will of God, Who has for ages, through a long line of prophets, had forewarned of the eventual end of transient life, the mortal world will come to its end with a deafening cry or blast of the Great Trumpet from heaven that will make all people die a sudden death, before there is any time to extricate themselves from the materialist life in which they have trapped themselves, oblivious of the promised end.

The ayahs which we recited now refers to the second deafening blast of the Great Heavenly Trumpet that will revive the dead, and all mankind, beginning from the first ever pair of human beings, will be raised to life. They will be scrambling from their graves, as if the earth is giving birth. All mankind will be resurrected in original form and shapes with flesh intact, despite the fact that the dead had been reduced to rotten bones which had decayed and even become dust.

According to hadith, the Angel in charge of the double-horned trumpet of the two deafening blasts, is Israfeel, and cry will be raised: “O decayed bones! O disintegrated flesh! Get up for accounting, come towards the field of judgment.”

So, at the sound of the second blast, without any delay, all rise up from their graves and run speedily towards their Lord for giving accounts of their deeds during their worldly lives. The wrongdoers will say: Woe unto us; who made us rise from our graves? This was the same promise of God that the prophets had informed us about and we did not heed and continued our evil ways.

On coming to life and seeing with they own eyes fellow humans restored to life from rotten bones as all bodily parts are automatically assembled and covered with fresh flesh, the deniers of Resurrection will curse themselves for having ridiculed the messages of the prophets and Infinite Power of God Almighty, Who in the first instance created us from nothing. But this realization of facts will be too late, and all will be assembled in the Divine Court for the judgment of deeds.

A loud and clear voice would be heard by all, saying: “For whom is the kingdom, today?” It means to say how miserable is the fate of those who used to take pride on their wealth, their power, and their might, by accumulating riches, gaining possession of lands, and suppressing the rights of others, by boasting: my wealth, my kingdom, my power, my prestige! God Himself will then reply: Sovereignty is only for the Almighty and All-Powerful Lord.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. The resurrection is physical and all mankind will be restored to life in original shapes and forms for the final judgment.
2. Resurrection is the day of regret; the regret of unbelievers for their sins and denial of truth that warrants severe punishment; and also the regret of the believers for not having done more good in order to avail of better divine rewards.
3. Real Power belongs only to God Almighty and not to those who had wasted their life in the pursuit of power, prestige, wealth and possessions, through hook or by crook.

Now we listen to ayahs 54 to 58 of Surah Ya Sin:

7. فالْیوْم لا تظْلم نفْسٌ شیْئًا ولا تجْزوْن إلاّ ما کنتمْ تعْملون
8. إنّ أصْحاب الْجنّة الْیوْم فی شغلٍ فاکهون
9. همْ وأزْواجهمْ فی ظلالٍ على الأرائک متّکؤون
10. لهمْ فیها فاکهةٌ ولهم مّا یدّعون
11. سلامٌ قوْلا من رّبٍّ رّحیمٍ

“Today no soul will be wronged in the least, nor will you be requited except for what you used to do.”

“Indeed today the inhabitants of paradise rejoice in their engagements”

“—they and their mates, reclining on couches in the shades.”

“There they have fruits and they have whatever they want.”

“Peace!’—a watchword from the All-Merciful Lord.”

These ayahs mean to say that if one has done a bad deed, he/she would not be punished more than what he/she is liable for. Good deeds will be taken into consideration and given due rewards. Those who did not sin, will not be punished. The punishment of every sin will be on the one who has committed it, not on anyone else. For example, if one had lied, used foul and vulgar words, wronged others with his/her tongue, the mouth of such a person will give a stench on that day. Likewise, the mouths of those who had used their tongues for words of goodness and virtue, including recitation of the heavenly scripture, supplications to God, advise to others in good sooth and to abstain from sins, and speeches to promote faith in society, their tongues will give fragrance.

God is Just and He never wrongs anyone. As a matter of fact so all-encompassing is Divine Mercy that during the life of the mortal all had been given ample respite to reform themselves, rectify their behaviour, and seek repentance so as to avail of forgiveness. Another important point to note is that during Barzakh or the Intermediary Period between death and resurrection, there will be rewards and punishment. And according to hadith, the believers who had done good deeds of a lasting nature such as establishing charities, orphanages, schools, mosques, libraries, trusts for the poor, and the like, as well as leaving behind virtuous offspring that pray for the souls of the departed, will have their rewards increased during Barzakh along with the deletion of their faults and shortcomings. Even some sort of punishment for the believers during Barzakh or the Intermediary Period between death and resurrection, will purify them and make them more deserving of divine rewards and mercy on the Day of Judgment.

The ayahs then describe the people of paradise and some of the heavenly blessings that are understandable to us in transient life, like the comforts and enjoyment of food, clothing, housing and wives. There are many other blessings in paradise for the believers that are beyond human understanding, and which only God knows, which means there is no exhaustion, boredom or becoming tired of heavenly comforts in paradise.

Of course, along with material blessings, paradise has its own spiritual delights and these include the greetings of the Almighty Creator for the believers with the watchword being “Peace”, which is a sign of God's special mercy for people of the Paradise.

The aim of these ayahs is to make us yearn for paradise by being obedient to God’s commandment and abstaining from all things and acts that He the All-Wise has prohibited.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. The Day of Resurrection is the day of the Divine Justice, and no one will be wronged and no favourtism shown to anyone by God the All-Just, Whose mercy is more encompassing than His wrath, and who punishes only those who in fact opted for punishment themselves by choosing the path of unbelief and sins, and thereby depriving themselves of the ample opportunities for Divine Grace that were available to them during transient life.
2. Paradise is the place of prosperity, joy and happiness, and there is no sadness in it.
3. The people of paradise are provided all comforts and blessings that human nature requires in healthy and lawful ways, including spouses, friends, foods and refreshing drinks, all in clean and purified manner, without the uncleanness and the refuse that follows such enjoyment in material life.
4. In Paradise, there is no limit for any blessing, whatever the believers desire of God’s bounties are fulfilled.