The Soorah starts by calling the destruction of the world on the Last Day as “Al-Qaari‘ah” which literally means something that suddenly strikes something else producing a very loud knocking sound. In usage, this word describes a severe calamity that suddenly strikes a locality.

1 The loudly knocking calamity! 2 What is the loudly knocking calamity? 3 And what will make you comprehend what the loudly knocking calamity is? 4 The day on which men shall be like scattered moths, 5 and the mountains shall be like carded wool.

At the initial stages when destruction starts on the Last Day, people will be extremely terrified, running around, not knowing where to go. They will be thrown into the air like scattered moths. Because of the severe tremors, explosions collisions, etc., the mountains and rocks will be broken into small dust-like pieces and will be floating in the air like carded wool.

After going through all the stages of destruction, re-creation and raising of the dead, people will be judged according to their actions and intentions as described in the previous two Soorahs. The judgment will take place according to the weights of people’s faith, actions and intentions. If a person believed in Islam and performed more good deeds than committing mistakes such that his good deeds are heavier, he will have a life of comforts and pleasures in Jannah. If his bad deeds are heavier than good deeds, that person will be punished in the blazing fire. Disbelief will nullify any good deeds a disbeliever may have performed, so his balance of good deeds will be empty.

6 Then, anyone whose scales are heavy with good deeds 7 will live a pleasant life; 8 while anyone whose scales of good deeds are light, 9 his refuge will be a pit. 10 And what will make you know what it is? 11 Raging Fire!

Hell will be an extremely deep pit or an abyss of raging fire into which people to be punished will be thrown from above. It has been called "haawiyah" which comes from the root word that means dropping something from a height into a deep pit. The Arabic expression used to describe how they will be entrusted to the deep pit of fire is “His mother will be the deep pit”. A mother’s lap is refuge for a scared child. The abyss of raging fire will be the only place of refuge the evil doers will have.