سُوْرَةُ النَّمْلِ
Surah An-Naml (27) — Ayah 83
وَيَوْمَ نَحْشُرُ مِن كُلِّ أُمَّةٍ فَوْجًا مِّمَّن يُكَذِّبُ بِـَٔايَـٰتِنَا فَهُمْ يُوزَعُونَ ﴿83﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
And (remember) the Day when We shall gather out of every nation a troop of those who denied Our Ayât (proofs, evidence, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.), and (then) they (all) shall be driven (to the place of reckoning),
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
وَيَوْمَ
wayawma
And (the) Day
نَحْشُرُ
naḥshuru
We will gather
مِن
min
from
كُلِّ
kulli
every
أُمَّةٍۢ
ummatin
nation
فَوْجًۭا
fawjan
a troop
مِّمَّن
mimman
of (those) who
يُكَذِّبُ
yukadhibu
deny
بِـَٔايَـٰتِنَا
biāyātinā
Our Signs
فَهُمْ
fahum
and they
يُوزَعُونَ
yūzaʿūna
will be set in rows
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran — Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran (Facilitation of the Quran) is a comprehensive Quran commentary by Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar from Pakistan. Known for his eloquent and accessible writing style, Kilani authored this tafsir with a focus on clarity — making Quranic meanings understandable to the common reader. The tafsir provides detailed historical context for verses related to battles and expeditions, and firmly refutes modernist ideologies using strong scriptural evidence. It is widely regarded as an invaluable resource for understanding the Quran and countering deviant interpretations. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
And on the Day when We will gather from every nation a group of those who denied Our signs, and they will be kept in ranks. [87]
[87] In this verse: ﴿دَابَّةً﴾ the word is used. Its root is ﴿د ب ب﴾ and ﴿دبّ﴾ means general movement (walking), to walk with a light or slow pace. And dabbah refers to any living creature that walks with a light gait, whether it crawls on its belly like a snake or a lizard, or walks on two legs like a human or some types of monkeys, or on four legs like wild animals and cattle, etc. It is used equally for both masculine and feminine. And in the Quran, this word is also used for the termite, which, after the death of Prophet Sulaimanؑ, ate his staff and it broke. [38: 14]
In this verse, the dabbah mentioned seems to be in human form or something similar to it. The word takallamuhum supports this assumption. However, this is not necessary. Just as the emergence of this dabbah will be extraordinary, so too its speaking to people can also be extraordinary. In any case, it is certain that its emergence is one of the signs of the nearness of the Day of Judgment, as is clear from the following hadiths:
1.
The Reality of Dabbat al-Ard:
Hazrat Abu Hurairahؓ says that the Messenger of Allahﷺ said: "When three things appear, then at that time, the faith of anyone will not benefit him, except for the one who had already believed and continued to do good deeds: one, the rising of the sun from the west; second, the emergence of Dajjal; and third, the emergence of Dabbat al-Ard." [مسلم۔ کتاب الایمان۔ باب بیان الزمن الذی لایقبل فیه الایمان]
2. Hazrat Abu Hurairahؓ says that the Messenger of Allahﷺ said: When Dabbat al-Ard emerges, it will have the seal of Sulaiman and the staff of Musa. Then it will draw a line on the face of the believer (with the staff of Musa), which will make it shine, and it will seal the nose of the disbeliever (with the ring of Sulaiman). Until when all people are gathered at one table, it will say: "This is a believer and this is a disbeliever." (That is, believers and disbelievers will be distinguished.) [ترمذي۔ ابواب التفسير]
3. Hazrat Hudhaifah bin Asid Ghifariؓ says that once the Messenger of Allahﷺ came out to us while we were engaged in conversation. Heﷺ asked: "What were you talking about?" We said: We were mentioning the Day of Judgment. Heﷺ said: "The Day of Judgment will not be established until you see ten signs before it." Then heﷺ mentioned these signs: smoke, Dajjal, Dabbat al-Ard, the rising of the sun from the west, the descent of Isa son of Maryam, the emergence of Gog and Magog, the sinking of the earth in three places: in the east, in the west, and in the Arabian Peninsula. And after these signs, a fire will appear which will drive people from Yemen, herding them towards their place of gathering (the land of Syria)." [مسلم۔ کتاب الفتن واشراط الساعة]
From some other narrations, it is known that before the Day of Judgment, the Safa mountain will split, and from it a creature will emerge that will speak to people, telling them that the Day of Judgment is near, and will mark the true believers and the hidden disbelievers, separating them. Many baseless and fabricated statements and narrations regarding Dabbat al-Ard are mentioned in some tafsirs, but from authentic narrations, almost only what is mentioned above is established.
[87] In this verse: ﴿دَابَّةً﴾ the word is used. Its root is ﴿د ب ب﴾ and ﴿دبّ﴾ means general movement (walking), to walk with a light or slow pace. And dabbah refers to any living creature that walks with a light gait, whether it crawls on its belly like a snake or a lizard, or walks on two legs like a human or some types of monkeys, or on four legs like wild animals and cattle, etc. It is used equally for both masculine and feminine. And in the Quran, this word is also used for the termite, which, after the death of Prophet Sulaimanؑ, ate his staff and it broke. [38: 14]
In this verse, the dabbah mentioned seems to be in human form or something similar to it. The word takallamuhum supports this assumption. However, this is not necessary. Just as the emergence of this dabbah will be extraordinary, so too its speaking to people can also be extraordinary. In any case, it is certain that its emergence is one of the signs of the nearness of the Day of Judgment, as is clear from the following hadiths:
1.
The Reality of Dabbat al-Ard:
Hazrat Abu Hurairahؓ says that the Messenger of Allahﷺ said: "When three things appear, then at that time, the faith of anyone will not benefit him, except for the one who had already believed and continued to do good deeds: one, the rising of the sun from the west; second, the emergence of Dajjal; and third, the emergence of Dabbat al-Ard." [مسلم۔ کتاب الایمان۔ باب بیان الزمن الذی لایقبل فیه الایمان]
2. Hazrat Abu Hurairahؓ says that the Messenger of Allahﷺ said: When Dabbat al-Ard emerges, it will have the seal of Sulaiman and the staff of Musa. Then it will draw a line on the face of the believer (with the staff of Musa), which will make it shine, and it will seal the nose of the disbeliever (with the ring of Sulaiman). Until when all people are gathered at one table, it will say: "This is a believer and this is a disbeliever." (That is, believers and disbelievers will be distinguished.) [ترمذي۔ ابواب التفسير]
3. Hazrat Hudhaifah bin Asid Ghifariؓ says that once the Messenger of Allahﷺ came out to us while we were engaged in conversation. Heﷺ asked: "What were you talking about?" We said: We were mentioning the Day of Judgment. Heﷺ said: "The Day of Judgment will not be established until you see ten signs before it." Then heﷺ mentioned these signs: smoke, Dajjal, Dabbat al-Ard, the rising of the sun from the west, the descent of Isa son of Maryam, the emergence of Gog and Magog, the sinking of the earth in three places: in the east, in the west, and in the Arabian Peninsula. And after these signs, a fire will appear which will drive people from Yemen, herding them towards their place of gathering (the land of Syria)." [مسلم۔ کتاب الفتن واشراط الساعة]
From some other narrations, it is known that before the Day of Judgment, the Safa mountain will split, and from it a creature will emerge that will speak to people, telling them that the Day of Judgment is near, and will mark the true believers and the hidden disbelievers, separating them. Many baseless and fabricated statements and narrations regarding Dabbat al-Ard are mentioned in some tafsirs, but from authentic narrations, almost only what is mentioned above is established.
