and the mountains are moved off so that they remain a semblance” (78:17-20). “The day when the quaking one shall quake — The consequence will follow it. Hearts that day will palpitate, their eyes cast down … It is only a single cry, when lo! they will be awakened” (79:6-14). “They ask thee about the Hour: When will that take place about which thou remindest? … To thy Lord is the goal of it” (79:42-44). “When the earth is shaken with her shaking, and the earth brings forth her burdens … On that day men will come forth in sundry bodies that they may be shown their works” (99:16). “The day when they come forth from the graves in haste, as if hastening on to a goal” (70:43). “So when the trumpet is blown with a single blast, and the earth and the mountains are borne away and crushed with one crash; on that day will the Event come to pass … On that day you will be exposed to view — no secret of yours will remain hidden” (69:13-18). “When the Event comes to pass — there is no belying its coming to pass — abasing (some), exalting (others)” (56:1-3). “On the day when the earth will be changed into a different earth and the heavens (as well)” (14:48).
The two words used most frequently regarding the Resurrection are alqiyāmah and al-sā‘ah. The first of these refers, apparently, to the rising, which is its literal significance, the second to destruction, being the hour of doom. As regards this latter word, Rāghib says that there are three sā‘ahs in the sense of resurrection: viz., the greater resurrection (kubrā) which is the rising up of the people for reckoning, the middle resurrection (wusṭā) which is the passing away of one generation, and the minor resurrection (sughrā) which coincides with the death of the individual. An example of the last use of the word sā‘ah from the Holy Qur’ān is: “They are losers indeed who reject the meeting with Allāh, until when the hour comes upon them suddenly” (6:31). Here the hour (al-sā‘ah) clearly stands for the death of the person. As regards the use of al-sā‘ah in the sense of the end of a generation, a ḥadīth of the Holy Prophet is quoted according to which he is reported to have said about ‘Abd Allāh ibn Unais, who was then only a boy: “If the life of this boy is lengthened, he will not die till the hour (al-sā‘ah) comes to pass” (R.); and it is related that he was the last to die from among the