Tafseer Ibn Kathir of AL HAAQQAH [1]

1. Al-Haqqah! 2. What is Al-Haqqah 3. And what will make you know what Al-Haqqah is 4. Thamud and `Ad denied the Qari`ah! 5. As for Thamud, they were destroyed by the Taghiyah! 6. And as for `Ad, they were destroyed by a wind, Sarsar `Atiyah! 7. Which Allah imposed on them for seven nights and eight days Husum, so that you could see men lying toppled, as if they were trunks of date palms, Khawiyah! 8. Do you see any remnants of them 9. And Fir`awn, and those before him, and the cities overthrown committed Al-Khati'ah. 10. And they disobeyed their Lord's Messenger, so He seized them with a punishment that was Rabiyah. 11. Verily, when the water rose beyond its limits, We carried you in the ship. 12. That We might make it an admonition for you and that it might be retained by the retaining ears. Al-Haqqah is one of the names of the Day of Judgement, because during it the promise and the threat will inevitably occur. Due to this, Allah has declared the greatness of this matter. So He says,

(And what will make you know what Al-Haqqah is) Then Allah mentions the destruction of the nations that denied the Resurrection. He says,

(As for Thamud, they were destroyed by the Taghiyah!) It is the cry which will silence them, and the quake that will silence them. Qatadah said similar to this when he said, ”At-Taghiyah is the shout.'' Mujahid said, ”At-Taghiyah means the sins.'' This was also said by Ar-Rabi` bin Anas and bin Zayd. They said that it means transgression. After mentioning this, Ibn Zayd recited the following Ayat as proof for his statement,

(Thamud denied through their transgression.) Then Allah says,

(And as for `Ad, they were destroyed by a wind Sarsar) meaning, a cold wind. Qatadah, As-Suddi, Ar-Rabi` bin Anas and Ath-Thawri all said about,

(`Atiyah) ”This means severe blowing of the wind.'' Qatadah said, ”It blew fiercely upon them until it pierced their hearts.'' Ad-Dahhak said,

(Sarsar) ”This means cold, and

(`Atiyah) means, it blew fiercely upon them without any mercy or blessing.'' `Ali and others said, ”It blew fiercely upon their stored harvest until it was brought out worthless.''

(Which Allah imposed on them) meaning, He made it overpower them.

(for seven nights and eight days Husum,) Husum means, complete, successive and unfortunately evil. Ibn Mas`ud, Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Ath-Thawri and others all said, ”Husum means in succession.'' It has been reported that `Ikrimah and Ar-Rabi` bin Khuthaym both said, ”It means it was unfortunately evil upon them.'' This is similar to Allah's statement,

(in days of calamity) (41: 16) It has been said that it is that which people now call A`jaz (apparently used to mean evil devastation). It seems as though the people took this term from Allah's statement,

(so that you could see the people lying toppled, as if they were A`jaz (trunks) of date palms, Khawiyah!) Ibn `Abbas said about,

(Khawiyah) ”It means ruined.'' Others besides him said, ”It means dilapidated.'' This means that the wind would cause one of them (palm tree) to hit the ground, and it will fall down dead on his head. Then his head would shatter and it would remain a lifeless corpse as if it were without branches, motionless. It has been confirmed in the Two Sahihs that the Messenger of Allah said,

(I was helped by an easterly wind and the people of `Ad were destroyed by a westerly wind.)

(Do you see any remnants of them) meaning, `do you find any one of them left or anyone who even attributes himself to being from them' Rather they are all gone, right down to the last of them, and Allah did not make for them any successors. Then Allah says,

(And Fir`awn and those before him committed (sin)) This has been recited with a Kasrah under the letter Qaf (in the word Qabalahu, as Qiblahu), which changes the meaning to those who were with him in his time, and they were his followers who were disbelieving Coptic people. Others recited it with a Fathah over the letter Qaf (as the word Qablahu), which means those nations before him who were similar to him. Concerning Allah's statement,

(the overthrown cities) those nations that rejected their Messengers.

(committed Al-Khati'ah.) Al-Khati'ah means their rejection of what Allah revealed. Ar-Rabi` said,

(committed Al-Khati'ah.) ”This means disobedience.'' Mujahid said, ”They committed errors.'' Thus, Allah says,

(And they disobeyed their Lord's Messenger, ) meaning they were all of the same type, they all denied the Messenger of Allah who was sent to them. As Allah says,

(Everyone of them denied the Messengers, so My threat took effect.) So whoever denies a Messenger, then verily, he denies all of the Messengers. This is as Allah says,

(The people of Nuh belied the Messengers)

(`Ad belied the Messengers.)

(Thamud belied the Messengers.) However, only one Messenger came to every nation. Thus, Allah says here,

(And they disobeyed their Lord's Messenger, so He seized them with a punishment that was Rabiyah.) Rabiyah means, great, severe and painful. Mujahid said, ”Rabiyah means severe.'' As-Suddi said, ”It means destructive.''   Then, Allah says,

(Verily, when the water rose beyond its limits,) meaning, it rose up over its shores by the leave of Allah and it overcame all that existed. Ibn `Abbas and others said, ”The water rising beyond its boundary means it increased abundantly.'' This happened due to the supplication of Nuh against his people when they denied him, opposed him and worshipped other than Allah. Therefore, Allah answered his supplication and the people of the earth were covered with the flood except for those who were with Nuh in the ship. Thus, are humans all from the loins of Nuh and his progeny. For this reason Allah reminds humanity of His blessing,

(Verily, when the water rose beyond its limits, We carried you in the ship.) meaning, a ship running along upon the surface of the water.

(That We might make it an admonition for you) The pronoun ”it'' here refers to the species of the object (ships) due to the general meaning alluding to this. Thus, the meaning is, `We caused its type of creation (ships) to remain (in the earth) for you, so that you ride upon the currents of the water in the seas. ' This is as Allah says,

(and has appointed for you ships and cattle on which you ride; In order that you may mount on their backs, and then may remember the favor of your Lord when you mount thereon) (43:12,13) And Allah said,

(And an Ayah for them is that We bore their offspring in the laden ship. And We have created for them of the like thereunto, on which they ride.) (36:41,42) Qatadah said, ”Allah caused this ship to remain until the first people of this Ummah saw it.'' However, the first view (that it refers to all ships in general) is the most apparent. Allah continues saying,

(and that it might be retained by the retaining ears.) meaning, that a receptive ear may understand and reflect upon this bounty. Ibn `Abbas said, ”This means an ear that is retentive and hearing.'' Qatadah said,

(by the retaining ears.) means, ”An ear that Allah gives intelligence, so it benefits by what it hears from Allah's Book.'' Ad-Dahhak said,

(and that it might be retained by the retaining ears.) (69:12) means, ”An ear that hears it and retains it, meaning the person who has sound hearing, and correct intellect.'' And this is general concerning everyone who understands and retains.