Surah at-Takwir (The Wrapping ) 81 : 12

Overview (Verses 11 - 14)

“When the sky is stripped bare.” (Verse 11) This image corresponds closely to throwing open people’s secrets. When the word ‘sky’ is used, our first thoughts reach to the blue cover hoisted over our heads. Its stripping means the removal of that cover. How this happens remains a matter of conjecture. It is enough to say that when we look up we will no longer see our familiar blue dome.
 
The last scene of that fearful day is portrayed by the next two verses: “When hell is made to burn fiercely, when paradise is brought near.” (Verses 12-13) Where is hell? How does it burn? What fuel is used in lighting and feeding its fire? The only thing we know of it is that it “has the fuel of men and stones.” (66: 6) This is, of course, after they have been thrown in it. Its true nature and its fuel prior to that is part of God’s knowledge. Heaven, on the other hand, is brought near to those who have been promised admission. They see it to be of easy access. Indeed, the expression here shows it ready to receive its dwellers.
 
When all these great events take place throughout the universe, changing the status of all life, no one can entertain any doubt about what they have done in this present life, or what they have carried with them to the next life: “Every soul shall know what it has put forward.” (Verse 14) In the midst of all these overwhelming events, every soul shall know for certain what sort of deeds it has brought and that it cannot change, omit from or add to what it has done.
 
People will find themselves completely separated from all that has been familiar to them, and from their world as a whole. Everything will have undergone a total change except God. If man turns to God, he will find that His support is forthcoming when the whole universe is overwhelmed by change. Thus ends the first part of this surah, leaving us with a vivid impression of the universal upheaval on the Day of Resurrection.