Tafseer of Hud · Hud · 11:71
And his Wife was standing, and she smiled. Then We gave her good tidings of Isaac and after Isaac, Jacob.
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 the Exalted: وَامْرَأَتُهُ قَائِمَةٌ فَضَحِكَتْ (And his wife was standing, and she laughed.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah the Exalted here says: وَامْرَأَتُهُ — Sāra, daughter of Hārān ibn Nāḥūr ibn Sārūj ibn Rāʿū ibn Fāligh — and she was the niece of Ibrāhīm. قَائِمَةٌ — it has been said: she was standing behind the curtain listening to the conversation of the messengers and Ibrāhīm ﷺ. It has also been said: she was standing serving the messengers, while Ibrāhīm was seated with the messengers.
فَضَحِكَتْ — the exegetes differed concerning the meaning of فَضَحِكَتْ and concerning the reason why she laughed.
Some said: she laughed the well-known laugh, out of astonishment that she and her husband Ibrāhīm were personally serving their guests in their honor, while these guests did not touch their food.
*Mention of those who said this:*
18314. Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: Allah sent the angels to destroy the people of Lūṭ; they arrived in the form of young men, until they halted at Ibrāhīm's and became his guests. When he saw them, he held them in great awe; he slipped away to his family and brought a fat calf, slaughtered it and roasted it on hot stones — that is "ḥanīdh" when it is roasted. He brought it and sat down with them, while Sāra was serving them. This, then, is the meaning of: وَامْرَأَتُهُ قَائِمَةٌ وَهُوَ جَالِسٌ — in the reading of Ibn Masʿūd. When he offered them the food he said: Do eat! They said: O Ibrāhīm, we do not eat food except for a payment. He said: But there is a payment for it! They said: And what is that payment? He said: You mention the name of Allah at its beginning and you praise Him at its end. Jibrīl looked at Mīkāʾīl and said: It is fitting that the Lord has taken him as His friend (khalīl)! When Ibrāhīm saw that their hands did not reach the food — that is: they did not eat — he was alarmed by them and felt fear of them in his soul. When Sāra saw him, how he honored them and she was standing serving them, she laughed and said: How strange are our guests — we serve them personally in their honor, yet they do not eat our food!
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Others said: she laughed because the people of Lūṭ were in heedlessness while the messengers of Allah had come for their destruction.
*Mention of those who said this:*
18315. Bishr related to us: Yazīd related to us: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: When Ibrāhīm felt fear in his soul, they informed him on that occasion of why they had come. His wife laughed and was astonished that a people would be struck by the punishment while they were in heedlessness. She laughed at that and was astonished — فَبَشَّرْنَاهَا بِإِسْحَاقَ وَمِنْ وَرَاءِ إِسْحَاقَ يَعْقُوبَ .
18316. Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: She laughed out of astonishment at the heedlessness of the people of Lūṭ and at the punishment that had struck them.
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Others said: she laughed out of the supposition that they intended to commit the deeds of the people of Lūṭ.
*Mention of those who said this:*
18317. Al-Ḥārith related to us: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us: Abū Maʿshar related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Qays, concerning the saying: وَامْرَأَتُهُ قَائِمَةٌ فَضَحِكَتْ — he said: When the angels entered, she thought that they intended to do what the people of Lūṭ did.
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Others said: she laughed when she saw the terror that had seized her husband Ibrāhīm.
*Mention of those who said this:*
18318. Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Kalbī, concerning the saying: فَضَحِكَتْ — he said: she laughed when she saw the terror that had seized Ibrāhīm at what they saw.
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Others said: she laughed when she received the glad tidings of Isḥāq, out of astonishment that she would have a child given her advanced age and the age of her husband.
*Mention of those who said this:*
18319. Al-Muthanná related to me, Isḥāq said: Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm related to us: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad related to me that he heard Wahb ibn Munabbih say: When the angels visited Ibrāhīm ﷺ and he saw them, their appearance and beauty disquieted him; they greeted him and sat down with him. He ordered that a fat calf be prepared and offered it to him roasted; he set the food before them. فَلَمَّا رَأَى أَيْدِيَهُمْ لا تَصِلُ إِلَيْهِ نَكِرَهُمْ وَأَوْجَسَ مِنْهُمْ خِيفَةً — while Sāra was standing behind the house listening. They said: Do not fear! We bring you the glad tidings of a forbearing, blessed boy! They also brought the glad tidings to his wife Sāra, whereupon she laughed and was astonished: How shall I have a child, while I am an old woman and he is an old man? They said: Do you wonder at the affair of Allah? He is indeed capable of everything He wills! Allah has granted that to you both — so receive the glad tidings.
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Some adherents of this interpretation said: this is a case of anticipation in the sense of postponement, as though the meaning of the words according to them is: and his wife was standing, and We gave her the glad tidings of Isḥāq and after Isḥāq Yaʿqūb, and she laughed and said: Woe to me, shall I bear a child while I am an old woman?
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Others said: the meaning of "fa-ḍaḥikat" in this place is: she had her menstruation.
*Mention of those who said this:*
18320. Saʿīd ibn ʿAmr al-Sakūnī related to me: Baqiyya ibn al-Walīd related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Hārūn, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn al-Azhar, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the saying: فَضَحِكَتْ — he said: she had her menstruation, and she was a woman of somewhere in her nineties. He said: Ibrāhīm was a hundred years old.
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Others said: she laughed out of joy at the reassurance, after they had said to Ibrāhīm: Do not fear — for she had feared him and was herself also afraid of them just as Ibrāhīm was afraid of them. When she was reassured, she laughed, whereupon they gave her the glad tidings of Isḥāq.
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Some of the language scholars of Kufa claimed that one had not heard "ḍaḥikat" in the sense of "she had her menstruation" from a reliable source.
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One of the Basran language scholars mentioned that some people of Ḥijāz reported to him from some of them that the Arabs say: "ḍaḥikat al-marʾa" (the woman laughed) in the sense of: she had her menstruation. He said: it has also been said: "al-ḍaḥk" is menstruation; and some said: "al-ḍaḥk" is the appearing of the molar tooth (in a smile). He cited a verse of Abū Dhuʾayb:
"Fa-jāʾa bi-mizjin lam yara l-nāsu mithlahu huwa l-ḍaḥku illā annahu ʿamalu l-naḥli"
(He brought a mixture the like of which people had not seen — it is the "smile," except that it is the work of bees.)
And he mentioned that one of his companions recited to him the following verse concerning "al-ḍaḥk" in the sense of menstruation:
"Wa-ḍiḥku l-arānibi fawqa l-ṣafā ka-mithli dami l-jawfi yawma l-liqā"
(And the "laughing" of rabbits upon the smooth rock, like the blood from the breast on the day of the encounter.)
And he mentioned that one of his companions recited to him the following verse of al-Kumayt:
"Fa-aḍḥakat al-ḍibāʿa suyūfu Saʿdin bi-qatlā mā dufinna wa-lā wudīnā"
(The swords of Saʿd made the hyenas "laugh" through slain ones who were not buried and for whom no blood-money was paid.)
He said: by that he meant menstruation. He said: among the tribe of Banū Ḥārith ibn Kaʿb they say: "ḍaḥikat al-nakhla" (the palm tree laughed), when it puts forth its pollen or the unripe date-spathe. And they said: "al-ḍaḥk" is the pollen. He said: I have also heard people say: "aḍḥaktu ḥawḍan" — that is: I filled it to the brim so that it overflowed. He said: the meaning of all this is close to one another, for it is as it were something that becomes full and overflows.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The most correct of the opinions I have mentioned is the opinion of the one who says: the meaning of "fa-ḍaḥikat" is: she was astonished at the heedlessness of the people of Lūṭ concerning what surrounded them of the punishment of Allah and their inattention to it.
We hold that this is the most correct because this comes immediately after their words to Ibrāhīm: لا تَخَفْ إِنَّا أُرْسِلْنَا إِلَى قَوْمِ لُوطٍ . When this is so, then there is no cause for laughter and astonishment at their words to Ibrāhīm: لا تَخَفْ — so the laughter and the astonishment are nothing other than at the affair of the people of Lūṭ.
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The explanation of the words of Allah the Exalted: فَبَشَّرْنَاهَا بِإِسْحَاقَ وَمِنْ وَرَاءِ إِسْحَاقَ يَعْقُوبَ (71) (And We gave her the glad tidings of Isḥāq, and after Isḥāq of Yaʿqūb.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah the Exalted here says: We gave glad tidings to Sāra, the wife of Ibrāhīm, as a reward from Us for her indignation and astonishment at the deed of the people of Lūṭ, بِإِسْحَاقَ — a child for her — وَمِنْ وَرَاءِ إِسْحَاقَ يَعْقُوبَ — that is: and after Isḥāq Yaʿqūb, as a child of her son Isḥāq.
"Al-warāʾ" in Arabic means the child of the child; and so the exegetes have understood it as well.
*Mention of those who said this:*
18321. Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us: Bishr ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of ʿĀmir, who said: وَمِنْ وَرَاءِ إِسْحَاقَ يَعْقُوبَ — he said: al-warāʾ is the child of the child.
18322. ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī and Muḥammad ibn al-Muthanná related to us, each of them: Abū l-Yasaʿ Ismāʿīl ibn Ḥammād ibn Abī l-Mughīra, freedman of the Ashʿarī, related to me: I was sitting beside my grandfather Abū l-Mughīra ibn Mihrān in the mosque of ʿAlī ibn Zayd, and al-Ḥasan ibn Abī l-Ḥasan passed by us and said: O Abū l-Mughīra, who is this young man? He said: He is my child after me (ibn min warāʾī). Then al-Ḥasan said: فَبَشَّرْنَاهَا بِإِسْحَاقَ وَمِنْ وَرَاءِ إِسْحَاقَ يَعْقُوبَ .
18323. ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī and Muḥammad ibn al-Muthanná related to us: Muḥammad ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us: Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind related to us, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, concerning the saying: فَبَشَّرْنَاهَا بِإِسْحَاقَ وَمِنْ وَرَاءِ إِسْحَاقَ يَعْقُوبَ — he said: al-warāʾ is the child of the child.
18324. Isḥāq ibn Shāhīn related to me: Khālid related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd, on the authority of ʿĀmir, concerning the saying: وَمِنْ وَرَاءِ إِسْحَاقَ يَعْقُوبَ — he said: al-warāʾ is the child of the child.
18325. Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī — the same.
18326. Al-Ḥārith related to me: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us: Abū ʿAmr al-Azdī related to us: I heard al-Shaʿbī say: the children of the child are the child of after (al-warāʾ).
18327. Al-Ḥārith related to me: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ḥabīb ibn Abī Thābit, who said: A man came to Ibn ʿAbbās while his grandson was with him. He said: Who is that with you? He said: This is the son of my son. Ibn ʿAbbās said: This is your child of after! The man seemed to find this too hard to bear, whereupon Ibn ʿAbbās said: Allah indeed says: فَبَشَّرْنَاهَا بِإِسْحَاقَ وَمِنْ وَرَاءِ إِسْحَاقَ يَعْقُوبَ — the children of the child are the children of after (al-warāʾ).
18328. Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: When Sāra laughed and said: How strange are our guests — we serve them personally in their honor yet they do not eat our food! — Jibrīl said to her: Receive the glad tidings of a child whose name is Isḥāq, and after Isḥāq Yaʿqūb. She struck her face in astonishment, which is the meaning of His word: فَصَكَّتْ وَجْهَهَا (Sūrat al-Dhāriyāt: 29). And she said: أَأَلِدُ وَأَنَا عَجُوزٌ وَهَذَا بَعْلِي شَيْخًا إِنَّ هَذَا لَشَيْءٌ عَجِيبٌ — they said: أَتَعْجَبِينَ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ رَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ عَلَيْكُمْ أَهْلَ الْبَيْتِ إِنَّهُ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ . Sāra said: What is the sign of it? He took a dry branch and bent it between his fingers; it radiated green, whereupon Ibrāhīm said: This, then, belongs to Allah as a sacrifice.
18329. Ibn Ḥumayd related to us: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: فَضَحِكَتْ — that is: Sāra, when she had recognized the affair of Allah the Exalted and knew how matters stood with the people of Lūṭ; and they gave her the glad tidings of Isḥāq and after Isḥāq Yaʿqūb — a son and a grandchild. She said, striking her face: يَا وَيْلَتَى أَأَلِدُ وَأَنَا عَجُوزٌ up to His word: إِنَّهُ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ .
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The reciters differed concerning the reading of that word. The majority of the reciters of Iraq and Ḥijāz read: وَمِنْ وَرَاءِ إِسْحَاقَ يَعْقُوبُ — with "Yaʿqūb" in the nominative, beginning the sentence anew with the words وَمِنْ وَرَاءِ إِسْحَاقَ يَعْقُوبُ ; and although this is a new opening, it contains the indication of the meaning of the glad tidings.
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Some reciters of Kufa and Syria read: وَمِنْ وَرَاءِ إِسْحَاقَ يَعْقُوبَ — in the accusative.
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As for the Syrian among them, he seems to explain "Yaʿqūb" in the accusative by connecting it with an elided verb similar to the glad tidings, as though he says: and We granted him, out of what would come after Isḥāq, Yaʿqūb. Since "wahabnā" was not pronounced, "al-tabshīr" (the glad tidings) acted upon it, and he connected it by coordination with the position of "Isḥāq," for although "Isḥāq" stands grammatically in the genitive, it is in meaning in the accusative through the operation of "basharnā." As the poet said:
"Jiʾnī bi-mithli banī Badrin li-qawmihim aw mithli usrati manẓūrin ibni Sayyāri aw ʿāmiri bni Ṭufaylin fī murakkabih aw Ḥārithā yawma nādā l-qawmu yā Ḥāri"
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As for the Kufan among them, he read it — it is said — on the basis of the genitive explanation, but put it in the accusative because it is indeclinable. The language scholars of Arabic disapproved of this because an attributive qualifier stands between the conjunction and the noun. They said: it is incorrect to say: "marartu bi-ʿAmrin fi l-dāri wa-fi l-dāri Zaydun" while coupling "Zayd" to "ʿAmr," unless you repeat the bāʾ; if one does not do that, then the nominative is the correct way and the accusative is permissible; and if the noun is placed before the attributive qualifier, then the genitive is also permissible, namely when you say: "marartu bi-ʿAmrin fi l-dāri wa-Zaydin fi l-bayti." Some grammarians of Basra permitted the genitive even when the attributive qualifier is inserted between the conjunction and the noun.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The most correct of the two readings in my judgment is the reading of the one who reads it in the nominative, because this is the established manner of speech in Arabic which the language scholars of Arabic do not reject, and with which one reads in all the cities. The accusative has a possibility but I do not prefer it, because the Book of Allah has come down in the most eloquent language of the Arabs, and the one who is best acquainted with what has come down in terms of eloquence has the most right to it.
