كَلَّآ إِذَا دُكَّتِ ٱلْأَرْضُ دَكًّا دَكًّا 21
Translations
No! When the earth has been leveled - pounded and crushed
Transliteration
Kalla idha dukkat al-ardu dakkan dakka
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah describes the Day of Judgment when the earth will be crushed and leveled repeatedly (dakkan dakka - an emphatic repetition emphasizing intensity). The word 'Kalla' (Nay/Never) is a refutation of the disbelievers' denial of the Hereafter, asserting that resurrection will certainly occur. Classical scholars like Ibn Kathir and Al-Qurtubi explain that the earth's crushing signifies the complete destruction and transformation of the current world order before the establishment of the afterlife.
Revelation Context
This ayah is part of Surah Al-Fajr, a Meccan surah that emphasizes the reality of the Day of Judgment and refutes the denials of the Quraysh. The surah builds an argument about divine punishment for the arrogant and unjust, with this particular verse reinforcing the inevitability of the Hour through vivid imagery of cosmic upheaval.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said in a hadith in Sahih Bukhari: 'The Hour will not be established till the sun rises from the west.' This relates thematically to the cosmic transformations before the Day of Judgment mentioned in this ayah. Additionally, Surah Az-Zilzal (99:1-5) provides complementary description of the earth's violent shaking on the Day of Judgment.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches believers to reflect on the certainty of the Hereafter despite worldly distractions and disbelievers' denials, and to recognize that no earthly power or structure is permanent—only accountability before Allah is absolute.
Related Ayahs
وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِى يَتَوَفَّىٰكُم بِٱلَّيْلِ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا جَرَحْتُم بِٱلنَّهَارِ ثُمَّ يَبْعَثُكُمْ فِيهِ لِيُقْضَىٰٓ أَجَلٌ مُّسَمًّى ۖ ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ مَرْجِعُكُمْ ثُمَّ يُنَبِّئُكُم بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ
And it is He who takes your souls by night and knows what you have committed by day. Then He revives you therein [i.e., by day] that a specified term may be fulfilled. Then to Him will be your return; then He will inform you about what you used to do.
وَنَزَعْنَا مِن كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ شَهِيدًا فَقُلْنَا هَاتُوا۟ بُرْهَـٰنَكُمْ فَعَلِمُوٓا۟ أَنَّ ٱلْحَقَّ لِلَّهِ وَضَلَّ عَنْهُم مَّا كَانُوا۟ يَفْتَرُونَ
And We will extract from every nation a witness and say, "Produce your proof," and they will know that the truth belongs to Allāh, and lost from them is that which they used to invent.
فَتَوَلَّ عَنْهُمْ ۘ يَوْمَ يَدْعُ ٱلدَّاعِ إِلَىٰ شَىْءٍ نُّكُرٍ
So leave them, [O Muḥammad]. The Day the Caller calls to something forbidding,
وَٱسْتَمِعْ يَوْمَ يُنَادِ ٱلْمُنَادِ مِن مَّكَانٍ قَرِيبٍ
And listen on the Day when the Caller will call out from a place that is near -