بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِِ 

In the Name of Allah, The All-Merciful, the Mercy-giving.

Allah says in Suratul Qiyamah (The Resurrection), verses 1-2: 

لاَ أُقْسِمُ بِيَوْمِ الْقِيَـمَةِ – وَلاَ أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ

(Nay! I swear by the Day of Resurrection. And nay! I swear by An-Nafs Al-Lawwamah.) Qatadah said, “This means, I swear by both of these things.” This has also been reported from Ibn `Abbas and Sa`id bin Jubayr. Concerning the Day of Judgement, it is well known what it is.

In reference to An-Nafs Al-Lawwamah, Qurrah bin Khalid reported from Al-Hasan Al-Basri that he said about this Ayah, “Verily, by Allah, we think that every believer blames himself. He says (questioning himself), `What did I intend by my statement What did I intend by my eating What did I intend in what I said to myself’ However, the sinner proceeds ahead and he does not blame himself.”

Ibn Jarir recorded from Sa`id bin Jubayr that he said concerning Allah’s statement,

وَلاَ أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ

(And nay! I swear by An-Nafs Al-Lawwamah) “He criticizes himself in good and bad.” Similar has been reported from `Ikrimah. Ibn Abi Najih reported from Mujahid: “He is sorry for what he missed (of good deeds) and he blames himself for it.”

From: Tafsir Ibn Kathir