SURAT AL-ZALZALAH

Heeding the Day of Judgment on the basis of good deeds

Diagram of the Surah

The Earth is the substrate for the realization of the Lord’s command

When the earth is shaken with

its [final] earthquake

And the earth

discharges its burdens

That Day, it will report its news

Because your Lord has commanded

it.

So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it, And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it.

And man says:

What is [wrong] with it?"

That Day, the people will depart separated [into categories] to be shown [the result of] their deeds.

Words of the surah

Shake, Zal’za’la (zil’zal) Shaking lightly, zalzalah shows continuity and intensity of the shake

Heaviness and Weight, Thighl (athghal)

The opposite of light weight, spiritually or physically

Speak, Ha’da’tha (tu’ha’di’thu)

Appearance or making of something new. (informing others of something new or of what they don’t know about)

The news, Kha’bar (akh’baar)

Precise information and exact knowledge of all details about something

Inspire, command, Wa’ha’ya (aw’haa)

Inspiring something into someone, whether in genesis or by sending it into the heart

Depart, Separate, Sha’ta’ta (ash’tat)

Separation and deportation of the components of something, both spiritually or physicaly

Visualizing the words

Zal’za’la, shake Earthquake

Bring forth, Akh’ra’ja Pour out

weight, thighl Heavy objects

particle, Mith’ghaal Scale

Tu’ha’di’thuSpeaking and talking to others

NewsInforming others of something

Wa’ha’yaSecretly talking to someone; inducing someone

Structure of the surah

Defining the Earthquake

The components

of the earthquake

The conseque

nces of the

earthquake

Defining the EarthquakeShaking lightly, zalzalah shows continuity and intensity of the shake

The need for a substrate for its occurrence

(the Earth)

A process for showing people what they have

done

Components of the process of the shake

Because your Lord

commanded it

That day, it will report its news

And the Earth

discharges its burdens

Consequences of the shakeThe most significan

t consequence of the shake is showing people their deeds

When the earth is shaken with its [final] earthquake

And man says, "What is [wrong] with it?" -

That Day, the people will depart separated [into categories] to be shown [the result of] their deeds.

So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it,

And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it.

The truth of the Earth

The Earth is conscious.

is aware of whatever is done on it.

distinguishes between good and bad deeds

Is a substrate for the realization of the Divine

command

And Mankind (In’saan)…

Insaan is either derived from na’sa’ya which means to forget or from a’na’sa which means to get intimate

In earthquakes people get frustrated because of either forgetfulness

or intimacy

Beliefs about the Earth get shattered

and shake

The Lord Earthquake Discharging of the

burdens of the EarthViewing our

deeds

Reporting of its news

Departing of people separately

Shaking of the Earth is the beginning of an imbalance for the Earth which prepares the scene for evaluating man’s deeds. viewing the truth of man’s deed is the ultimate goal of this shake. People are

categorized based on the their different performances

Viewing the

deeds

No deed is insignifica

nt

Every one views his

deeds

The scale measures

the minuscule

Good and bad are counted

Good

Bad

Atom

’s w

eigh

t

Atom’s w

eight

That Day, the people will depart separated [into categories] to be shown [the result of] their deeds.