Surah Taa-Haa (20) — Ayah 15

(Ayah 15) ➊ { اِنَّ السَّاعَةَ اٰتِيَةٌ:} After emphasizing monotheism, worship, and prayer, another fundamental pillar of faith—the certainty of the Day of Resurrection—has been mentioned, so that every person may be rewarded for his efforts and striving. In this case, it will be about {’’ لِتُجْزٰى ‘‘ ’’ اٰتِيَةٌ ‘‘}. The certainty of the Resurrection is the very thing that motivates a person to worship Allah and obey Him; otherwise, if there is no conviction of accountability and standing before Allah, then who would distinguish between lawful and unlawful?

➋ {اَكَادُ اُخْفِيْهَا لِتُجْزٰى … : } Here, there is a well-known question that when {’’كَادَ يَكَادُ‘‘} is used regarding an action, it means that it is near to happening but has not yet occurred, as in Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayah (20): «{ يَكَادُ الْبَرْقُ يَخْطَفُ اَبْصَارَهُمْ }» (The lightning almost snatches away their sight). The commentators have given many answers to this, but I am satisfied with the answer of Ibn Juzayy (may Allah have mercy on him), that “Allah Almighty has kept the time of the Resurrection hidden and has not informed anyone; to the extent that it was almost as if He would have kept the very occurrence of the Resurrection hidden and not informed anyone about it, but it is His grace that He did not keep it hidden, rather He informed everyone of its occurrence, so that people would not remain completely heedless. In this case, both {’’كَادَ‘‘} and {’’ أُخْفِيْ‘‘ } retain their original meanings: it was almost as if the occurrence of the Resurrection would have been concealed, but that did not happen.” (Al-Tashil)

The exegesis of this verse has been done along with the previous verse.

15. Surely, the Hour is coming—I am about to manifest [11] it—so that every soul may be recompensed for its striving.

[11]
The Literal Meaning of Khafiy:

Akhfaha—The well-known meaning of khafiy is to hide and to be concealed, and akhfā means to conceal. In this sense, its meaning would be: "I am keeping it hidden." Then, this word is also from the category of words with opposite meanings in the language, whose meaning is to make apparent. It is said: khafiyat al-maṭar al-qāra, meaning the rain brought the mouse out of its hole and made it visible or exposed. Thus, we have preferred the second meaning because it makes the intended meaning clearer. That is, the voice that was coming in that field was being revealed by Allah, and according to the explicit statement of the Quran, Allah's speaking to His servant is also one of the three types of revelation. You had gone to fetch fire, and by Allah's mercy, you were granted prophethood, and no one had the slightest inkling of it. Even Sayyiduna Musa ؑ himself did not know beforehand that he was about to be granted prophethood, and in this revelation, the most important and fundamental matters of the religion were first conveyed to you.

The Fundamental Teachings of Islam:

The first is that Allah alone is the Creator and Owner of this universe. This universe did not come into existence by itself. The second is that in the creation and ownership of this universe, no one else is His partner. The third is that as a result of these matters, He alone is worthy of worship, and prayer is the most important means of establishing a connection with Allah. Therefore, it is necessary to establish prayer in order to remember Allah. One should never be negligent in this, and if one forgets, then when one remembers, it is necessary to perform the prayer. And the fourth is that the Day of Judgment will certainly come, and it will come soon. However, specifying its exact time is not expedient, and the purpose of establishing the Day of Judgment is that every person may be given the full recompense for his good or bad deeds. These are the principles of religion that have been revealed to all the Prophets and Messengers from Sayyiduna Adam ؑ to the Last Prophet, and there has never been any change or alteration in them.