0% studied · Top
Surah 99 · Madinah · 8 āyāt
Phase 05 · Hijrah and the building of Madinah(1–5 AH) — view in timelineAz-ZalzalahThe Earthquake
الزلزلة
A brief, forceful Madinan surah describing the final shaking of the earth: it casts out its burdens, and man, bewildered, asks what has happened to it. On that Day the earth itself will report its news, because its Lord has inspired it to do so. People will emerge in scattered groups to be shown their deeds, and the surah ends with the principle that closes every scale of accounting — whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it.
Why it was revealed
Scholars differ on whether this surah is Makkan or Madinan, with the more commonly held view among many commentators being Madinan; either way it belongs to the Qur'an's recurring warnings of the Hour delivered without narrative or address to a specific incident, aimed at instilling the reality of total accountability.
Drawn fromJāmiʿ at-Tirmidhī 2894 (on the surah's weight; Ibn Kathīr on 99:4–5; Ibn Kathīr on 99:7–8; Ibn Kathīr, introduction to Sūrat az-Zalzalah; graded and discussed by scholars)
The Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said that this surah is equivalent to half of the Qur'an, on account of its comprehensive summary of the reckoning; it is reported that when it was revealed, Abū Bakr wept, believing that any good or evil, however small, would be brought to account, until the Prophet ﷺ explained the verses concerning the believer's minor matters being overlooked and rewarded on the greater scale of mercy.
Cited toJāmiʿ at-Tirmidhī 2894 (on the surah's weight; graded and discussed by scholars); Ibn Kathīr, introduction to Sūrat az-Zalzalah
In the Prophet's ﷺ life
The earth commanded to testify
The surah reveals that the earth itself will speak on the Day of Judgement, reporting everything that occurred upon it, because Allah will have inspired it to do so.
Recalled in āyah 4, 5
يَوْمَئِذٍ تُحَدِّثُ أَخْبَارَهَا
That Day, it will report its news
بِأَنَّ رَبَّكَ أَوْحَىٰ لَهَا
Because your Lord has inspired [i.e., commanded] it.
Cited toIbn Kathīr on 99:4–5
- Madd — 2 vowels
- Madd — 2, 4 or 6 vowels
- Madd — 6 vowels (lāzim)
- Madd — 4 or 5 vowels (wājib)
- Ghunnah — 2 vowels
- Qalqalah
- Ikhfāʾ
- Ikhfāʾ shafawī
- Idghām shafawī
- Idghām with ghunnah
- Idghām without ghunnah
- Idghām mutajānisayn
- Idghām mutaqāribayn
- Iqlāb
- Hamzat al-waṣl
- Lām shamsiyyah
- Silent letter
Tajwīd markup and colour convention: Quran.com API (v4) — text_uthmani_tajweed. Recitation audio: Quran.com / Quran Foundation Audio API (v4).
The earth's final shaking and testimony
When the earth is shaken with its final earthquake, and discharges its burdens, and man asks in bewilderment what is wrong with it — on that Day it will report its news, because its Lord has inspired it.
Drawn fromAl-Ṭabarī on 99:5; Ibn Kathīr on 99:1–2
إِذَا زُلْزِلَتِ ٱلْأَرْضُ زِلْزَالَهَا
Tajwīd markup unavailable for this āyah — text shown uncoloured
When the earth is shaken with its [final] earthquake
وَأَخْرَجَتِ ٱلْأَرْضُ أَثْقَالَهَا
Tajwīd markup unavailable for this āyah — text shown uncoloured
And the earth discharges its burdens
وَقَالَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ مَا لَهَا
Tajwīd markup unavailable for this āyah — text shown uncoloured
And man says, "What is [wrong] with it?" -
يَوْمَئِذٍ تُحَدِّثُ أَخْبَارَهَا
Tajwīd markup unavailable for this āyah — text shown uncoloured
That Day, it will report its news
بِأَنَّ رَبَّكَ أَوْحَىٰ لَهَا
Tajwīd markup unavailable for this āyah — text shown uncoloured
Because your Lord has inspired [i.e., commanded] it.
From the tafsīr
'Its burdens' are explained as the dead within it, cast out at the resurrection, and the treasures and contents hidden inside it, all brought forth at once.
Cited toIbn Kathīr on 99:1–2
'Because your Lord has inspired it' shows the earth's testimony is not metaphorical eloquence but a real communication granted to it by its Creator, just as limbs will testify against their owners elsewhere in the Qur'an.
Cited toAl-Ṭabarī on 99:5
Key takeaways
- The earth itself is a witness that will speak, not an inert stage for events.
Drawn fromAl-Ṭabarī on 99:5; Ibn Kathīr on 99:1–2
- What the earth holds — the dead and its hidden contents — will all be cast out at once.
Drawn fromAl-Ṭabarī on 99:5; Ibn Kathīr on 99:1–2
- Even inanimate creation can be given real speech by its Creator's command.
Drawn fromAl-Ṭabarī on 99:5; Ibn Kathīr on 99:1–2
Reflect
What is happening on the earth beneath your feet right now that it will one day report?
Saved on this device · included in your printable study sheet
Check yourself
0 / 2 correctAnswer from memory before scrolling back — retrieval is what makes it stick.
Questions and options are reshuffled and reworded each attempt
Question 1 of 2
What does Ibn Kathīr say 'its burdens' in 99:2 refers to?
Question 2 of 2
How does al-Ṭabarī explain the earth's testimony in 99:5?
Scattered before the scale, down to an atom's weight
That Day, people will emerge in separate groups 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.
Drawn fromAl-Saʿdī on 99:7–8; Ibn Kathīr on 99:6
يَوْمَئِذٍ يَصْدُرُ ٱلنَّاسُ أَشْتَاتًا لِّيُرَوْا۟ أَعْمَـٰلَهُمْ
Tajwīd markup unavailable for this āyah — text shown uncoloured
That Day, the people will depart separated [into categories] to be shown [the result of] their deeds.
فَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُۥ
Tajwīd markup unavailable for this āyah — text shown uncoloured
So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it,
وَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرًّا يَرَهُۥ
Tajwīd markup unavailable for this āyah — text shown uncoloured
And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it.
From the tafsīr
'Scattered' (ashtātan) describes people departing the plain of judgement in different directions according to their deeds — some to Paradise, some to the Fire.
Cited toIbn Kathīr on 99:6
The 'atom's weight' (mithqāla dharrah) is the smallest conceivable measure, established here to remove any excuse of a deed being 'too small to matter', whether good or bad.
Cited toAl-Saʿdī on 99:7–8
Key takeaways
- No deed is too small to be recorded and shown, for good or for evil.
Drawn fromAl-Saʿdī on 99:7–8; Ibn Kathīr on 99:6
- People will not remain a single mass at judgement; they will be sorted by their deeds.
Drawn fromAl-Saʿdī on 99:7–8; Ibn Kathīr on 99:6
- This surah is reported to summarise the entire principle of accountability in a few lines.
Drawn fromAl-Saʿdī on 99:7–8; Ibn Kathīr on 99:6
Reflect
Which small good deed have you dismissed as too minor to matter, and which small wrong have you excused the same way?
Saved on this device · included in your printable study sheet
Check yourself
0 / 2 correctAnswer from memory before scrolling back — retrieval is what makes it stick.
Questions and options are reshuffled and reworded each attempt
Question 1 of 2
What does 'ashtātan' in 99:6 describe about people on that Day?
Question 2 of 2
What does the phrase 'an atom's weight' establish, according to al-Saʿdī?
Upload your handwritten notes
Photograph or scan the pages you wrote in class — several at once. Each page is transcribed, translated into English if you wrote in Arabic or Urdu, matched to the theme it belongs to, and added to your notes for this surah.
Up to 3 pages at a time · JPG, PNG or HEIC
10 of 10 free AI pages left today
Roots from this surah
Learn the three-letter root and you unlock every word built from it — across the whole Qur'an, not just this surah.
ز ل ز ل
āyāt 1to shake violently
- زُلْزِلَتِis shaken
- زِلْزَالearthquake
- زَلْزَلَةshaking
ث ق ل
āyāt 2to be heavy
- أَثْقَالَهَاits burdens
- ثَقِيلheavy
- مِثْقَالweight
خ ب ر
āyāt 4to inform, report
- أَخْبَارَهَاits news
- خَبِيرAll-Aware
- إِخْبَارinforming
و ح ي
āyāt 5to inspire, reveal
- أَوْحَىٰHe inspired
- وَحْيrevelation
- مُوحٍone who inspires
ش ت ت
āyāt 6to scatter, disperse
- أَشْتَاتًاscattered groups
- شَتَّىٰdiverse
- تَشَتُّتdispersal
ذ ر ر
āyāt 7, 8atom, tiny particle
- مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍan atom's weight
- ذُرِّيَّةoffspring
- ذَرَّةa tiny particle
Carry this with you
- The earth itself will be a speaking witness on the Day of Judgement.
- Everything the earth holds — the dead and its hidden contents — will be cast out at once.
- Even inanimate creation can be granted real speech by its Creator's command.
- People will not remain undivided at the reckoning; they will be sorted according to their deeds.
- No deed, however small, is excused from account — good or evil, down to an atom's weight.
- This short surah is reported to summarise the entire principle of accountability.
Where this surah connects
Cross-surah threads
Parts of the Qurʾān explain other parts. Each thread below opens the same subject as it is argued across every other surah you have studied, in revelation order.
Sources behind Sūrah Az-Zalzalah
Every line of context, tafsīr and takeaway on this page traces back to one of these references. Ḥadīth numbers open on sunnah.com and āyah references open on quran.com, so you can check the claim rather than take it on trust. The Arabic text itself is fetched live from a verified public corpus.
Tafsīr7
- Al-Saʿdī on 99:7–8
- Al-Ṭabarī on 99:5
- Ibn Kathīr on 99:1–2
- Ibn Kathīr on 99:4–5
- Ibn Kathīr on 99:6
- Ibn Kathīr on 99:7–8
- Ibn Kathīr, introduction to Sūrat az-Zalzalah
Other references1
- graded and discussed by scholars)
Full exam — the whole surah, from memory
Every question from every theme, interleaved and reworded. Interleaving is what turns recognition into recall. Each answer updates your review schedule, your mistakes list and your mastery score for that theme.
Az-Zalzalah — full exam
1 / 4 · 0 correct
4 questions across 2 themes.
Az-Zalzalah · The earth's final shaking and testimony
How does al-Ṭabarī explain the earth's testimony in 99:5?
Arabic (Uthmānī script) and the Ṣaḥīḥ International translation are fetched live from the Quran.com API (v4), sourced from the King Fahd Complex muṣḥaf — api.quran.com API docs · Translation: Ṣaḥīḥ International · Integrity & testing protocol