وَكُلٌّ فِي فَلَكٍ يَسْبَحُونَ (and by the Promised Day, and by that which attends, and that which is attended...85:2-3) With reference to a prophetic Hadith reported by Tirmidhi, the phrase 'the Promised Day' refers to the Day of Judgment; the phrase 'that which attends' refers to 'Friday'; and the phrase 'that which is attended' refers to the day of ` Arafah. Thus in this verse, Allah has taken oath by four objects: [ 1] 'the sky, the one having stellar formations'; [ 2] 'the Day of Judgment'; [ 3] 'Friday'; and [ 4] 'the Day of ` Arafah'. The relationship between the objects of oath and the subject of oath is as follows: They bear evidence to the Divine omnipotence, and they are a proof of reckoning and reward and punishment on the Day of Judgement. Friday and the day of ` Arafah (the main day of Hajj that is 9th Zul-Hijjah of the Islami Calender) are blessed days for the believers to accumulate treasures for the Hereafter. Further, the subject of oath curses the infidels who burned the Muslims on account of their faith, and gives cheerful news to the righteous believers of securing elevated ranks in the Hereafter.

The Story of the People of Trench

Verse 4 refers to the People of the Trench. Their story is recounted in a Hadith reported by Imam Muslim as follows: There was an infidel king who lived in bygone times. He had a soothsayer, or, according to some narrations, a magician. The infidel king is identified as the ruler of Yemen. His name, according to Ibn ` Abbas ؓ ، was Yusuf Dhu Nuwas, and he lived about seventy years before the birth of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . The soothsayer or magician [ occult teacher ] said to the king that he should be given an intelligent boy, so that he could train him in the skill of foretelling or the black magic. Accordingly, the king sent a boy, ` Abdullh Ibn Tamir by name, to be trained by the soothsayer or magician [ occult teacher ]. Whenever the boy went to his teacher, he had to pass by a Christian monk. He followed the true religion of ` Isa علیہ السلام and worshipped Allah. Since the religion of ` Ish (علیہ السلام) was the true religion in those days, the monk was, in fact, a Muslim. The boy sat with the monk and was very much impressed by his teachings. As a result, he frequented the monk's house and sat with him for long hours before proceeding to his teacher, and ultimately embraced Islam. Allah had blessed him with such a strong faith that he was prepared to bear any pain and persecution for the sake of Allah. His teacher used to beat him for his coming late. On his way back from the occult teacher, he would spend some time again with the monk and used to go home late. The family would then beat him up for being late. But he was so keen to have the company of the monk that he managed to sit regularly with the monk without fear of persecution. Through the blessings of this, Allah had gifted him with many miracles [ karamah ]. Once it happened that the boy saw a lion has blocked the path and prevented people from passing. They were perturbed. He picked a stone and prayed: "0 Allah! If the religion of the monk is true, then kill this beast with this stone [ so that people may pass ]. And if the soothsayer or magician is true, then the beast must not die with my stone." So praying, he aimed at the lion and it died instantly. The news spread among the people that the boy possesses wonderful knowledge. A blind man heard about this and came up to him. He requested him to restore his sight. The boy conceded on the condition that he embraces Islam. The blind man agreed. The boy prayed and Allah restored his sight. The blind man became Muslim. The king came to know about these incidents, and he got the boy, the monk and the blind were apprehended. They were brought before the king. He got the blind and the monk killed, and ordered that the boy be taken to the summit of a mountain and be thrown from there. But those who had taken him up there fell and died. The boy went home safely. Then the king ordered to have him drowned in the sea. The boy escaped safely, while the people who took him to the sea were drowned. The boy then himself told the king how to kill him. He told him to take an arrow from his quiver and place it in his bow, and reciting, بِاِسمِ اللہِ رَبِّی in the name of Allah, my Lord' they should shoot. They did that and they boy finally died. In this way, the boy gave his life away but seeing this, the entire nation of the king cried out spontaneously: "We believe in Allah." At this, the king was greatly enraged and, after consultation with his cabinet, ordered for deep trenches to be dug and filled with fire. An announcement was then made that the people must renounce their faith in Allah. If they refuse, they would be thrown into the fiery furnace. Eventually, a woman carrying her infant child was brought to a trench, but she hesitated. Allah granted speech to her child who said: "O mother, be steadfast, because you are certainly on the truth." In this way, many people were burned. According to some reports, about twelve thousand people were burned to ashes and, according to other reports, the number is put more than this. Consequently, Divine wrath descended on the People of the Trench and fiery furnace. Reference in verse 4 is made to this incident after taking an oath.

In a narration of Muhammad Ibn Ishaq, it is reported that the place where the boy ` Abdullah Ibn Tamir was buried had to be dug up for some important reason during the time of Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ . It was found that the body of ` Abdullah Ibn Thmir was intact, and he was sitting up. His hand was placed on his hip joint, where the arrow struck him. Someone moved his hand out from that place, and his wound started bleeding. When the hand was placed back in its position, the bleeding stopped. There was a ring in his finger which had the inscription: اللہُ رَبِّی "Allah is my Lord." The governor of Yemen informed Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ about this, and he wrote back in reply: "Bury the body back as it was with his finger-ring." [ Ibn Kathir ]

Special Note

Ibn Kathir, with reference to Ibn Abi Hatim, writes that the incidents of 'trenches of fire' took place many times in history in different parts of the world. Then Ibn Abi Hatim specifies three particular incidents: [ 1] a trench in Yemen. [ This incident took place during the period of fatrah (the interval between ` Isa (علیہ السلام) and the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، about seventy years before the advent of the Prophet ﷺ ]; [ 2] a trench in Syria; and [ 3] a trench in Iran. He further states that the incident the Qur'an refers to here in Surah Buruj is the first one that occurred in Najran, the trench of the kingdom of Yemen, because that was in Arabia.