111. Sūrat al-Masad

١١١۔ سُورَةُ المَسَد

Qurʾān > Chapter 111 > Section 1
القرآن > كتاب ١١١ > باب ١

111.1 Curse of God on Abu Lahab, his wife and the opponents of the Prophet.

١١١۔١ مقطع في سُورَةُ المَسَد

111:1 May the hands of Abu Lahab be ruined, and ruined is he.  2 His wealth will not avail him or that which he gained.  3 He will ˹enter to˺ burn in a Fire of ˹blazing˺ flame  4 And his wife ˹as well˺ - the carrier of firewood.  5 Around her neck is a rope of ˹twisted˺ fiber. 

١١١:١ تَبَّتْ يَدَا أَبِي لَهَبٍ وَتَبَّ ۝ ٢ مَا أَغْنَىٰ عَنْهُ مَالُهُ وَمَا كَسَبَ ۝ ٣ سَيَصْلَىٰ نَارًا ذَاتَ لَهَبٍ ۝ ٤ وَامْرَأَتُهُ حَمَّالَةَ الْحَطَبِ ۝ ٥ فِي جِيدِهَا حَبْلٌ مِنْ مَسَدٍ ۝

1 Perish, ruined be, the hands of Abū Lahab, in other words, all of him — the use of ‘hands’ here to denote ˹all of˺ him is figurative, and is because most actions are performed by them; the statement is an invocation — and perish he!, may he be ruined! (this ˹tabba˺ is a predicate, as where one says, ahlakahu’Llāhu wa-qad halak, ‘God destroyed him and he indeed is destroyed’. When the Prophet threatened him with the chastisement, he said, ‘If what my brother’s son says is true, then I shall ransom ˹myself˺ from it with my wealth and sons!’; so the following was revealed:

١ لما دعا النبي ﷺ قومه وقال: إني نذير لكم بين يدي عذاب شديد، فقال عمه أبو لهب: تبًا لك ألهذا دعوتنا، نزل {تبت} خسرت {يدا أبي لهب} أي جملته وعبر عنها باليدين مجازًا لأن أكثر الأفعال تزاول بهما، وهذه الجملة دعاء {وتبَّ} خسر هو، وهذه خبر كقولهم: أهلكه الله وقد هلك، ولما خوَّفه النبي بالعذاب، فقال: إن كان ابن أخي حقاً فإني أفتدي منه بمالي وولدي نزل: {ما أغنى عنه ماله وما كسب}.

2 His wealth will not avail him, nor what he has earned (wa-kasab means wa-kasbihi, that is to say, his sons; mā aghnā means ˹mā˺ yughnī).

٢ {ما أَغنى عنه ماله وما كسب} أي وكسبه، أي ولده ما أغنى بمعنى يغني.

3 He will ˹soon˺ enter a Fire of flames, that is to say, ˹a fire that is˺ flaming and ignited (this ˹statement˺ is the source of his nickname, ˹which was given to him˺ on account of his flaming reddish fair face),

٣ {سيصلى ناراً ذات لهب} أي تلهب وتوقد فهي مآل تكنيته لتلهب وجهه إشراقاً وحمرة.

4 and his wife (wa’mra’atuhu is a supplement to the person ˹of the verb˺ yaslā, ‘he will enter’, separated by the clause of the direct object and its qualification) — and this was Umm Jamīl — the carrier (read hammālatu or hammālata) of firewood, cactus and thorns which she used to fling into the path of the Prophet (s).

٤ {وامرأته} عطف على ضمير يصلى سوغه الفصل بالمفعول وصفته وهي أم جميل {حمالة} بالرفع والنصب {الحطب} الشوك والسعدان تلقيه في طريق النبي ﷺ .

5 with a rope of palm-fibre around her neck (fī jīdihā hablun min masadin is a circumstantial qualifier referring to hammālata’l-hatab, which in turn is ˹either˺ a description of imra’atahu, ‘his wife’, or the predicate of an implied subject). Meccan or Medinese, consisting of 4 or 5 verses. The Prophet (s) was asked about his Lord and the following was revealed:

٥ {في جيدها} عنقها {حبل من مسد} أي ليف وهذه الجملة حال من حمالة الحطب الذي هو نعت لامرأته أو خبر مبتدأ مقدر.