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سُورَةُ الصَّافَّاتِ · 37:24
MeccanRevelation order ٥٦Juzʾ ٢٣Page ٤٤٦

وَقِفُوهُمْ ۖ إِنَّهُم مَّسْـُٔولُونَ

٢٤
Saheeh International · EN

And stop them; indeed, they are to be questioned."

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Introduction

This is āyah 24 of Sūrat As-Saaffaat (Those who set the Ranks), the 56th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Meccan period and sits within Juzʾ 23. Meccan verses tend to address faith, the oneness of God, and the hereafter.

This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.

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Revelation & occasion

Asbāb al-Nuzūl
Period
Meccan
Order revealed
56 of 114
Surah
As-Saaffaat (37)
Occasion of revelation · Al-Wahidi

And halt them. Surely they will be questioned. One group will be questioned by way of rebuke, and another group will be questioned because of chastisement. Those who are the folk of chastisement will be kept on the bridge of the Narrow Path and will be questioned before witnesses, while God is angry toward them. It will be said to them, “Today I have thrown your judgment back to you: Thy soul suffices thee today as a reckoner against thee [17:14].” Their black register and bad deeds will be held before their faces. It will be said, “When these are someone's works, what is his recompense?” Unwillingly they will say, “His recompense is the Fire.” Then the call will come, “Enter it by your own judgment!” It has been reported that when Pharaoh claimed Godhood and said, “I am your Lord the most high” [79:24], Gabriel came into his road in the form of a mortal man and asked him, “What do you say about a chieftain who pulls up his slave, gives him possessions, position, and blessings, and then makes him the headman and paragon for others, but the slave wants to be the paragon over his own chieftain. What is his recompense?” Pharaoh said, “His recompense is that he be drowned in water so that others may take heed of him.” From the Exalted Presence the command came, “O Gabriel, remember this fatwa on the day when I pull him into the sea and drown him by his own fatwa.” As for the group who are questioned by way of rebuke and not because of chastisement, they are those who are faithful in belief, tawḤīd-voicers through the affection in their hearts and the truthfulness of their love, but they are sinners and have fallen short in their deeds. The Real will question them, but He will conceal their defects from the people. He will remind them of their sins, but He will not hold back His pardon and forgiveness from them, and He will question them in seclusion. A sound report says, “God will bring the person of faith close, then place His wing over him and curtain him. He will say, 'Do you recognize this sin? Do you recognize that sin?' “He will say, 'Yes, my Lord,' until he confirms his sins and sees in himself that he will perish.

Commentary

Tafsir

4 works

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

They will say: "Woe to us! This is the Day of Recompense! (20)(It will be said:) "This is the Day of Judgement which you used to deny. (21)(It will be said to the angels:) Assemble those who did wrong, together with their companions and what they used to worship (22)Instead of Allah, and lead them on to the way of flaming Fire (Hell)(23)But stop them, verily, they are to be questioned (24)"What is the matter with you? Why do you not help one another? (25)Nay, but that Day they shall surrender (26) The Day of Recompense Allah tells us what the disbeliever will say on the Day of Resurrection, how they will blame themselves and admit that they wronged themselves in this world. When they see the horrors of the Day of Resurrection with their own eyes, they will be filled with regret at the time when regret will not avail them anything. وَقَالُوا يَا وَيْلَنَا هَٰذَا يَوْمُ الدِّينِ (They …
Provenance

Chains of transmission

Oral — isnād

  1. ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation

    Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.

  2. 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation

    Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.

  3. TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation

    Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.

Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.

Written — the manuscript record

  1. ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation

    The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).

  2. 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation

    Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.

  3. Modern printModern printawaiting curation

    The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.

A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.

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And now — what do you think?

The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.

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Provenance

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