يُعْرَفُ الْمُجْرِمُونَ بِسِيمَاهُمْ فَيُؤْخَذُ بِالنَّوَاصِي وَالْأَقْدَامِ
“The criminals will be recognised by their marks or signs, then the person will be seized by their forelocks and their feet”.
How grammar and voice sharpen the scene of recognition and personal recompense.
The plural in الْمُجْرِمُونَ “criminals” and in بِسِيمَاهُمْ “their signs” shifts to the singular يُؤْخَذُ “he will be taken”. This intensifies the rhetoric: no one is lost in the crowd—each person is seized personally.
The recogniser is not specified. This suggests that their marks make them recognisable generally—seen and known by everyone.
Bisimāhum can point to visible states—bright faces of rejoicing versus darkened faces of gloom.
يَوْمَ تَبْيَضُّ وُجُوهٌ وَتَسْوَدُّ وُجُوهٌ
3:106
Believers bright; disbelievers dark.
وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ مُسْفِرَةٌ . ضَاحِكَةٌ مُسْتَبْشِرَةٌ . وَوُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَلَيْهَا غَبَرَةٌ . تَرْهَقُهَا قَتَرَةٌ .
80:38-41
Rejoicing faces contrasted with faces veiled by dust and darkness (38–41).
كَأَنَّمَا أُغْشِيَتْ وُجُوهُهُمْ قِطَعًا مِّنَ اللَّيْلِ مُظْلِمًا
10:27
As if faces are covered with pieces of the night in darkness.
Beyond expressions, an actual light or darkness envelops faces as the outcome of deeds—making recognition immediate and undeniable.
Word choices in the Surah connect moral crime with the scale and measure.
Instead of الكافِرُونَ or الظَّالِمُونَ, the Surah uses الْمُجْرِمُونَ “criminals”. Earlier it commands: “وَأَقِيمُوا الْوَزْنَ بِالْقِسْطِ وَلَا تُخْسِرُوا الْمِيزَانَ” (9). Those who cheat and shortchange are criminals—tying crime to the “scale”.
مُجْرِم implies one burdened by a heavy crime, echoing weight. This resonates with الْمِيزَانَ — the scale that measures weight—linking moral gravity to measured justice.
A scene of humiliating control over the arrogant—stripped of dignity they misused.
Plural of نَاصِيَة: the hair at the start of the head before the forehead. Being grabbed by it conveys violent humiliation—likened to how an animal is led to slaughter.
Those who refused to benefit from الْبَيَانَ — the ability to communicate coherently based on thought, mentioned at the start of the Surah — are treated like animals on that Day who do not possess it.
What is not stated is understood through reasoned speech.
The outcome after being seized by forelocks and feet is not mentioned. Using الْبَيَانَ, the intended completion is understood: their being thrown into Hell.
Key takeaways aligned with the ayah’s wording and its thematic web.