فَإِذَا نُفِخَ فِى ٱلصُّورِ فَلَآ أَنسَابَ بَيْنَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ وَلَا يَتَسَآءَلُونَ
"When the trumpet is blown, on that day there will be no ties of kinship between them, nor will they ask after one another."
The word and the matter were treated at al-Nāziʿāt 79/6-7, al-Ḥāqqa 69/13 and Yāsīn 36/51. I do not repeat it here.
And the passive of the verb must be recorded: nufikha — the one who blows is not named. The same point was recorded in al-Nāziʿāt.
Two ties must be recorded: nasab — kinship that comes by birth; ṣihr — kinship established by marriage. … the preceding verse described two waters that do not mingle; this verse describes two lines that join.
I rely on that treatment. And the two verses must be compared, because the same word is used in two opposite directions:
| al-Furqān 25/54 | al-Muʾminūn 23/101 | |
|---|---|---|
| The sentence | wa huwa'lladhī khalaqa mina'l-māʾi basharan fa-jaʿalahū nasaban wa ṣihrā | fa-lā ansāba baynahum yawmaʾidhin |
| The verb | jaʿala — He established | lā — there is none left |
| How many ties | Two — nasab and ṣihr | One — only ansāb |
| Number | Singular — nasaban | Plural — ansāba |
| Time | In this world — the discussion of creation | yawmaʾidhin — on that day |
The two verses must be read together, and I record this as my own reading, its ground being the use of the same word with two different verbs: al-Furqān says that the human being created from water is woven with ties of descent and of marriage — the ties, that is, are a part of the creation. al-Muʾminūn says that those same ties will be lifted on a day.
And it must be recorded: what is described is not the tie's ceasing to exist but its ceasing to work — indeed the verse continues wa lā yatasāʾalūn. The question, that is, is not the existence of the tie of kinship but the impossibility of asking anything by way of it.
| Place | Sentence | What it says |
|---|---|---|
| al-Ṣāffāt 37/27 | wa aqbala baʿḍuhum ʿalā baʿḍin yatasāʾalūn | They ask — in the Fire |
| al-Ṣāffāt 37/50 | fa-aqbala baʿḍuhum ʿalā baʿḍin yatasāʾalūn | They ask — in the garden |
| al-Ṭūr 52/25 | wa aqbala baʿḍuhum ʿalā baʿḍin yatasāʾalūn | They ask |
| al-Muddaththir 74/40 | fī jannātin yatasāʾalūn | They ask |
| al-Muʾminūn 23/101 | wa lā yatasāʾalūn | They do not ask |
This makes an apparent contradiction, and the exegetes dwell on it. The explanations given are these:
| # | Explanation | Ground |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Different times — at the moment the trumpet is blown they do not ask; afterwards they do | The verse sets the qualification yawmaʾidhin (on that day) |
| 2 | Different contents — there is no asking for something by way of a tie of kinship; asking after one another there is | The sense of the verb tasāʾul as "requesting" |
| 3 | Different parties — those who do not ask are some, those who ask are others | The difference of setting |
I pass the disagreement on; I do not impose a preference. And in al-Ṣāffāt it was recorded that the same verb is repeated in two tables (the Fire and the garden); I rely on that treatment.
And I record an observation: in the hundred and eleventh verse the sūra will describe the relation between the one who mocked and the one mocked; in the hundred and twelfth a question will be asked (kam labithtum). The state of "not asking" is therefore not absolute — indeed the sūra itself sets up a scene of speech a few verses later.
This is a datum within the sūra supporting the first explanation, and I record it as an observation; I do not impose a preference.