According to some reports, this sūrah is a Madinan revelation, but other reports suggest that it was revealed in Makkah. The latter reports seem to be more valid, because the sūrah’s mode of expression and subject matter are more in line with the style and subjects of Makkan sūrahs.

The sūrah makes a violent wake-up call to drowsy hearts; the subject matter, scene drawn and rhythm all contributing to the effect of this jolt. It is a powerful blast that makes the earth and all that is on it quake and tremble. Men hardly recover their senses when they find themselves confronted with the reckoning, weighing and evaluating of actions and deeds. They immediately receive their recompense. All this is expressed in just a few short phrases, which is characteristic of this part of the Qur’ān as a whole and forcefully portrayed in this particular sūrah.

When the earth is rocked by her [final] earthquake, when the earth shakes off her burdens, and man asks: ‘What is the matter with her?’ On that day she will tell her news, for your Lord will have inspired her. (Verses 1-5)

It is the Day of Judgement when the firm earth trembles and quakes violently and yields up her long-carried loads of bodies and metals and other matters which have weighed heavily on her. It is a scene that makes every firm and solid object under the feet of the listeners shake and totter. They think themselves to be staggering and toddling along and the earth beneath them shuddering and quaking. It is a scene which separates one’s heart from everything on earth it clings to, assuming it to be firm and everlasting. The Qur’ān imparts to these scenes a kind of movement which is transmitted almost to the very sinews of the listener. Such immediate impact is all the more forceful because man is portrayed as confronting and reacting to it all: “And man asks: ‘What is the matter with her?’“ (Verse 3)

It is the question advanced by one who is bewildered, astonished, surprised and puzzled, who sees something unfamiliar, encounters what is imperceptible, and beholds what makes him impatient and agitated. o he blurts out: What is the matter with her? What is quaking and shaking her so violently? He cries as he reels and staggers, trying to hold on to anything which may support or keep him upright. But all around him waver and totter violently.

Man has experienced earthquakes and volcanoes which have filled him with awe and ,terror, and have brought to him ruin and destruction. But when man witnesses the quake of the Day of Resurrection he will see no similarity between it and the earthquakes and volcanoes of this world. He neither knows its secrets, nor does he remember anything similar to it. It is something dreadful, taking place for the very first time.

“On that day”, when this quake occurs, leaving man entirely shaken, “she will tell her news, for your Lord will have inspired her.” (Verses 4-5) This earth will then tell her news, describe her condition and what has happened to her. It will all have been brought about simply because ‘your Lord has inspired her,’ ordered her to shake and quake so fiercely and shake off her burdens. She obeys only the Lord’s orders ‘in true submission!’ (84: 5) She will relate her news because what will take place is a simple and clear account of what lies behind it of God’s orders and inspiration to the earth.

At this point when man is astonished, puzzled and crying out, and as the rhythm gasps with dread and terror, surprise and wonder, tottering and shuddering, crying out: What is the matter with her? What has happened to her? — at this point he encounters the scene of resurrection, reckoning, weighing and recompense. “On that day people will come forward, separated from one another, to be shown their deeds. Whoever does an atom’s weight of good shall see it then, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil shall see it then also.” (Verses 6-8)