Tafseer of The Chargers · Al-Aadiyaat · 100:1
By the racers, panting,
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the words of Allah — exalted be His praise and hallowed be His names —:
وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا (1)
(By the runners that race panting)
The exegetes have differed among themselves concerning the explanation of His word: وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا . Some of them say: by "the runners that race panting" is meant the horses that gallop while they neigh.
*Mention of those who said this:
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا : he said: horses. And someone other than Ibn ʿAbbās claims that they are camels.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najiḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا : Ibn ʿAbbās said: this concerns the fighting (qitāl).
Hannād related to us, saying: Abū al-Aḥwaṣ related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His word وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا : he said: horses.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Abū Rajāʾ informed us, saying: ʿIkrima was asked about وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا ; he said: "Have you not seen the horse, how it pants (yaḍbaḥ) when it runs?"
Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿīd al-Jawharī related to me, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ; he said: "No animal pants (yaḍbaḥ) except the dog and the horse."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najiḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا : he said: "the horses pant."
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا : he said: "they are the horses; they gallop until they pant."
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا : he said: "they are the horses that gallop until they pant."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mahrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda — identical to the narration of Bishr on the authority of Yazīd. Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us; he said: I heard Sālim recite: وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا ; he said: "they are the horses that gallop panting."
He said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Wāṣil, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ: وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا — he said: horses.
He said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān ibn ʿUyayna, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās; he said: "No animal ever pants except a dog or a horse."
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn; he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا : he said: "they are the horses."
Saʿīd ibn al-Rabīʿ al-Rāzī related to me, saying: Sufyān ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās; he said: "they are the horses."
Others say: they are camels.
*Mention of those who said this:
Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh: وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا — he said: "they are camels."
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh — identical.
ʿĪsā ibn ʿUthmān al-Ramlī related to me, saying: my uncle Yaḥyā ibn ʿĪsā al-Ramlī related to me, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh — identical.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh: وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا — he said: "they are camels when they pant while they breathe."
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Abū Ṣakhr informed us, on the authority of Abū Muʿāwiya al-Bajalī, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — who told him the following: "While I was sitting in al-Ḥijr, a man came to me who asked about الْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا . I said to him: the horses when they charge into battle in the way of Allah, then make camp at nightfall, while they prepare their food and kindle their fire. Thereupon he turned away from me and went off to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib — may Allah be pleased with him — who was beneath the canopy of Zamzam, and asked him about الْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا . ʿAlī said: 'Have you asked anyone else about this before me?' He said: 'Yes, I asked Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: the horses when they charge into battle in the way of Allah.' ʿAlī said: 'Go and summon him to me.' When I stood before him, ʿAlī said: 'You give the people a fatwā about something of which you have no knowledge. By Allah, the first military campaign in Islam was Badr, and with us there were only two horses: a horse of al-Zubayr and a horse of al-Miqdād — so how can al-ʿādiyāt ḍabḥan be (the horses)! Rather, al-ʿādiyāt ḍabḥan are (the pilgrims who run) from ʿArafa to Muzdalifa to Minā.' Ibn ʿAbbās said: 'I retracted my statement and returned to what ʿAlī — may Allah be pleased with him — had said.'"
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mahrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا — he said: camels.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najiḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا : he said: Ibn Masʿūd said: "this concerns the ḥajj (the pilgrimage)."
Saʿīd ibn al-Rabīʿ al-Rāzī related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, on the authority of ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr; he said: "they are camels" — that is, concerning وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا .
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا — he said: Ibn Masʿūd said: "they are camels."
Of the two opinions, the most correct in my judgment is the opinion of those who say that by "the runners" the horses are meant. That is because camels do not pant (yaḍbaḥ), but only horses pant. For Allah the Exalted has indeed informed that they gallop while they pant (ḍabḥan). And al-ḍabḥ is as we have already explained above. Those who give the explanation agree with what we say here.
*Mention of those who said this:
Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿīd al-Jawharī related to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ; he said: ʿAlī — may Allah be pleased with him — said: "the panting (al-ḍabḥ) in horses is the neighing, and in camels it is the exhaled breath."
He said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ; he said: "I heard Ibn ʿAbbās describe the panting (al-ḍabḥ): aḥ, aḥ."
