Tafseer of The Chargers · Al-Aadiyaat · 100:2
And the producers of sparks [when] striking
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.
And His saying: فَالْمُورِيَاتِ قَدْحًا (and by those that strike fire by striking).
The exegetes of the Qurʾān differed concerning this. Some of them said: they are the horses that produce fire with their hooves.
*Mention of who said that:*
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, he said: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, he said: Abū Rajāʾ related to us, he said: ʿIkrima was asked about His saying فَالْمُورِيَاتِ قَدْحًا, and he said: "They produced fire and struck it."
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning فَالْمُورِيَاتِ قَدْحًا, he said: "They are the horses." And al-Kalbī said: "They strike with their hooves until fire comes forth from it."
Abū Kurayb related to us, he said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Wāṣil, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, concerning فَالْمُورِيَاتِ قَدْحًا, he said: "They produced fire with their hooves."
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abā Muʿādh say: al-ʿUbayd related to us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His saying فَالْمُورِيَاتِ قَدْحًا: "They produce fire from stones with their hooves."
And others said: the meaning of this is that the horses kindle the war between their riders and their owners.
*Mention of who said that:*
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning فَالْمُورِيَاتِ قَدْحًا, he said: "They kindled the war between them and their enemies."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning فَالْمُورِيَاتِ قَدْحًا, he said: "They kindled the war between them and their enemies."
And others said: what is meant by this are those who produce fire after they return from the battle.
*Mention of who said that:*
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Abū Ṣakhr informed me, on the authority of Abū Muʿāwiya al-Bajalī, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib — may Allah be pleased with him — asked me about وَالْعَادِيَاتِ ضَبْحًا * فَالْمُورِيَاتِ قَدْحًا. I said to him: "The horses that carry out a charge in the way of Allah, then return at night, whereupon the warriors prepare their food and produce their fire."
And others said: rather, the meaning of this is the scheming of men.
*Mention of who said that:*
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning فَالْمُورِيَاتِ قَدْحًا: he said: "The scheming."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the saying of Allah فَالْمُورِيَاتِ قَدْحًا: he said: "The scheming of men."
And others said: they are the tongues.
*Mention of who said that:*
Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿArafa related to us, he said: Yūnus ibn Muḥammad related to us, he said: Ḥammād ibn Salama related to us, on the authority of Simāk ibn Ḥarb, on the authority of ʿIkrima, who said: "Concerning this verse فَالْمُورِيَاتِ قَدْحًا it is said: they are the tongues."
And others said: they are the camels that, when walking, push away the pebbles with the soles of their feet.
*Mention of who said that:*
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of ʿAbdullāh, concerning فَالْمُورِيَاتِ قَدْحًا: he said: "When they push away the pebbles with the soles of their feet, and the pebbles strike against one another, then fire comes forth from it."
And the most preferable opinion in this matter, according to my judgment, is that one says: Allah the Exalted swears by the Mūriyāt that produce fire by striking; the horses produce fire with their hooves, and people produce it with the fire-striker, and the tongue produces it — by way of example — through the spoken word, and men produce it — by way of example — through scheming. Likewise the horses kindle the war between their people: when they meet one another in battle. Allah has given no indication that by all of this only a part is meant to the exclusion of the rest; therefore everything that produces fire by striking falls under what Allah has sworn by, given the generality thereof according to the literal text.
