The Quran

وَنُفِخَ فِي الصّورِ فَصَعِقَ مَن فِي السَّماواتِ وَمَن فِي الأَرضِ إِلّا مَن شاءَ اللَّهُ ۖ ثُمَّ نُفِخَ فيهِ أُخرىٰ فَإِذا هُم قِيامٌ يَنظُرونَ

Ali Unal

The Trumpet will be blown, and so all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth will fall dead, except those whom God wills to exempt. Then it will be blown for the second time, and see, they have all stood upright, looking on (in anticipation).¹

The Qur’ān mentions three results of blowing the Trumpet. (1) The Trumpet will be blown, and so all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth will fall dead, except those whom God wills to exempt (39: 68). (2) Then it will be blown for a second time, and see, they have all stood upright, looking on (39: 68). (3) On the Day when the Trumpet is blown, all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth will be stricken with shock and terror, except those whom God wills to exempt. All will come to His Presence, utterly humbled (27: 87). And the Trumpet will be blown, and see, out of the graves they rush forth to their Lord (36: 51).
If we consider the results of blowing the Trumpet, we might conclude that it will be blown three times. However, the second part of this verse says that it will be blown for the second time, and see, they have all stood upright, and verse 36: 51 states that upon blowing the Trumpet, the dead will rush forth to their Lord out of their graves. We learn from verse 27: 87 that when the Trumpet is blown, all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth will be stricken with shock and terror, except those whom God wills to exempt, and all will come to His Presence, utterly humbled. So it is understood from verses 27: 87, 36: 51 and the second part of this verse (39: 68), that the dead will be raised from their graves, most of people will stricken with terror, and all will rush to their Lord upon the same blowing of the Trumpet. In conclusion, we can say that the Trumpet will be blown twice.
As for those whom God wills to exempt from falling dead as a result of the blowing of the Trumpet, it is not clear who they will be. However, if we take into account verses 37: 58–59 and 44: 56, which state that the believers taste death only once while the unbelievers taste it twice (40: 11), they may be the spirits of the believers who have already died. The true knowledge always rests with God, the All-Knowing.