74. That is, no act which is performed along with shirk will be adjudged as a righteous act, and no one who, being a mushrik, performs many acts as good acts in his personal judgment, will deserve any reward for them, and his whole life work will be deemed to have gone waste.
75. That is, they have no conception of the greatness and glory of Allah; they have never tried to understand how high is the position of the Lord of the Universe and how insignificant are the beings whom these foolish people have made associates in Godhead and worthy of their worship.
76. This is a figurative way of describing the complete control and authority of Allah over the earth and heavens. Just as a man encloses a small ball in the hollow of his hand with perfect ease, or a person rolls up an handkerchief in his hand without any difficulty, so will all men (who fail to conceive the greatness and glory of Allah) see with their own eyes, on the Day of Resurrection, that the earth and the heavens are like an ordinary ball and a small scroll in the hand of Allah. Traditions have been related in Musnad Ahmad, Bukhari, Muslim, Nasai, Ibn Majah, Ibn Jarir and others, on the authority of Abdullah bin Umar and Abu Hurairah, that once during a sermon the Prophet (peace be upon him) recited this verse and then said: Allah will hold the heavens and the earths (i.e. the planets) in His grasp and will roll them about in such a way as a child rolls a ball, and will say: I am God, the One: I am the King: I am the All-Mighty, Owner of glory: Where are the kings of the world? Where are the tyrants? Where are the arrogant? Saying these words he started so shaking that we feared that he might topple over along with the pulpit.
77. That is, there is no comparison whatever between Allah’s greatness and glory and the insignificance of those who are associated with Him in Godhead.
78. For the explanation of Thoor (Trumpet), see (Surah Al- Anaam, Ayat 73); (Surah Ibrahim, Ayat 48); (Surah Al-Kahf, Ayat 99); (Surah TaHa, Ayats 102-103); (Surah Al-Hajj, Ayat 1); (Surah Al-Momioon, Ayat 101); (Surah An-Naml, Ayat 87) and the E,Ns thereof.
79. Here, mention has been made of the Turmpet’s being blown only twice. Besides, in Surah An-Naml there is the mention of another blowing of the Trumpet before these two, on hearing which everything in the earth and the heavens will be struck with terror (verse 87). On this very basis, the Ahadith mention that the Trumpet will be blown thrice:
(1) Nafakhat al-Fazaon, hearing which everything will be struck with terror.
(2) Nafakhat as-Saaq, on which everyone will fall down dead,
(3) Nafakhat al-qiyam li-Rabbit-alamin, i.e. the Trumpet on the blowing of which all dead men will return to life and arise from their graves to present themselves before their Lord.
80. “The witnesses”: those who will bear witness to the effect that the Message of Allah had been conveyed to the people as well as those who will bear witness to the acts and deeds of the people. It is not necessary that these witnesses will be only human beings. The angels, the jinns, the beasts, men’s own limbs, their dwelling places and the trees and stones, will all be included among the witnesses. 7