ভূমিকা

Commentary: The first stage; the events as a preliminary to the Resurrection, viz: the destruction of the world, was described in the former verses. Now, in the following verses, the second stage of the Resurrection is pointed out, that is, the appearance of the Next World with its record and reckoning. ,And when the scrolls (of the deeds of mankind) are spread.

The term /suhuf/ is the plural form of the term /sahifa/ meaning 'a thing spread open like a face, or pages of a book; a book on which something is written'. In the Hereafter, the records are spread in front of their owners to view, read and count the deeds themselves, Sura Isra', No. 17, verse 14 says: Read thin (own) record: sufficient is thy soul this day to make out an account against thee.

It is also open before the eyes of others; that which is a praise for the good-doers and a pain and punishment for the astray evildoers. And when the heaven shall be unveiled. The term /kushitat/ is based on /kasht/ which as Raqib cites in his book Mufradat , originally means 'to remove, take off -- the covering or skin of an animal', and as Ibn-Manthur cites in Lisan-ul-Arab it means 'to remove a curtain from something' , then the sense, from verse 11, the 'cloud!

separate and scatter' is derived from this word. The term, in this verse, means that the curtains over the subjects hidden; such as angels, Heaven and Hell, which do exist, but are secret to people in this world, will be removed and Man can see the Reality of the existing Universe, and as the next verses denote, the blazing Hell and eternal Heaven are brought near. Verily, the Day of Judgment is when the reality of everything will be made manifest and the heavens will be unveiled.

According to the above commentary, this verse points to the incidents of the second stage of the Resurrection in which the process of Mankind's rebirth will come forth and their new life will begin.