✦ AT A GLANCE ✦

الإنفطار

Al-Infitar

The Cleaving · 19 verses · meccan · 1 min read

✦ Why this name

The Cleaving — al-Infitar, the splitting open of the sky.

✦ When it came

Meccan. A companion piece to At-Takwir, asking one question in particular.

✦ The story

The sky splits, the stars scatter, the seas burst forth, the graves are turned over — and then the surah asks its question, and it is not angry. It is bewildered:

*"O mankind, what has deceived you concerning your Lord, the Generous? — who created you, proportioned you, and balanced you, and in whatever form He willed He assembled you."*

Not "how dare you". *What deceived you?* Allah is described as *al-Karim*, the Generous, in the very verse asking why people turn from Him.

And then the honourable recorders, noble, writing — knowing what you do.

✦ How it unfolds

  1. AYAH 1-5

    When the sky splits

    Four events, and a soul knowing what it sent ahead and what it left behind.

  2. AYAH 6-8

    What deceived you

    The Generous Lord who created, proportioned, and balanced you.

  3. AYAH 9-19

    The recorders

    Noble scribes who know what you do, and a Day when no soul can help another.

✦ Verses to carry

Sources

Introductions to the surah in Tafsir Ibn Kathir and Mawdudi's Tafhim al-Qur'an; ayah numbering per the Madani mushaf.

Awaiting scholar review — please read alongside a trusted tafsir.