Tafseer of Hud · Hud · 11:83
Marked from your Lord. And Allah 's punishment is not from the wrongdoers [very] far.
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.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct of the views on this, in our opinion, is what the exegetes have said — namely that they are stones of clay. By it Allah has described them in another place in His Book: لِنُرْسِلَ عَلَيْهِمْ حِجَارَةً مِنْ طِينٍ * مُسَوَّمَةً عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ لِلْمُسْرِفِينَ (that We may send down upon them stones of clay, marked with your Lord for the transgressors) [al-Dhāriyāt: 33–34].
It has been related from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr that he said: it is Persian and Aramaic.
18435 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: "Persian and Aramaic: 'saj' — 'īl'."
Saʿīd ibn Jubayr held that the name for clay in Persian is "jil" and not "īl," and that the word, if it were Persian, would be "sijl" and not "sijjīl"; for "stone" is called in Persian "saj" and "clay" is called "jil" — so there is no reason for the yāʾ in it if it were Persian.
Abū Jaʿfar said: We have already set out the correct of the views on this at the beginning of this work, in a manner that makes repetition unnecessary.
It has been reported from al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī that he said: "The origin of the stones was clay, but it was hardened."
As for His word: مَنْضُودٍ — Qatāda and ʿIkrima say concerning it:
18436 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda and ʿIkrima: مَنْضُودٍ — that is to say: "piled up one beside another."
18437 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: مَنْضُودٍ — that is to say: "piled up one beside another."
And al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas said concerning it:
18438 — Al-Muthanā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, concerning His word مَنْضُودٍ — he said: "one part stacked upon the other."
18439 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī ibn ʿAbd Allāh: "As for His word: مَنْضُودٍ — they are piled up in heaven: held in readiness; it belongs to the preparations that Allah has made ready for the wrongdoers."
And some said: مَنْضُودٍ — the one follows the other upon them. And that is its piling up.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct of the views on this is what al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas has said: His word مَنْضُودٍ is an attribute of "sijjīl," not of "the stones." For the people were struck by stones of clay, the attribute of which clay is that it was stacked one upon another and made into stones. They were not struck by loose clay that one might describe as having come down upon the people in succession.
Abū Jaʿfar said: It would only have been permissible to understand it as that exegete explained it if the revelation had been in the accusative: "manḍūdatan" — then it would be an attribute of "the stones."
As for His word: مُسَوَّمَةً عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ — that is to say: marked with Allah, marked by Allah. And "al-musawwama" is an attribute of "the stones" — and hence the accusative as an attribute.
In accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes spoke.
Mention of who said this:
18440 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: مُسَوَّمَةً — he said: "marked."
18441 — Al-Muthanā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — the same.
18442 — [...] he said: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — the same.
18443 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — the same. Ibn Jurayj said: مُسَوَّمَةً — "they do not resemble the stones of the earth."
18444 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda and ʿIkrima: مُسَوَّمَةً — they said: "encircled by a tinge of red."
18445 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: مُسَوَّمَةً — "upon it is a known sign." Some who have seen them report that they are stones encircled by, or marked with, a tinge of red — not like your stones.
18446 — Al-Muthanā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His word: مُسَوَّمَةً — he said: "upon them are little marks in the form of stripes."
18447 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: مُسَوَّمَةً — he said: "the marked" — that is to say: stamped.
And as for His word: وَمَا هِيَ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ بِبَعِيدٍ — Allah, exalted be His mention, says by it, threatening the polytheists of Quraysh: "Those stones which I sent down upon the people of Lūṭ are not far from the polytheists of your people, O Muḥammad — that they should come down upon them — if they do not repent of their polytheism (shirk)."
In accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes spoke.
Mention of who said this:
18448 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthanā related to us, saying: Abū ʿAttāb al-Dallāl Sahl ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: Abān ibn Taghlub related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: وَمَا هِيَ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ بِبَعِيدٍ — he said: "That there strike them what struck that people."
18449 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَمَا هِيَ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ بِبَعِيدٍ — he said: "By it He makes fearful whomever He wills."
18450 — Al-Muthanā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — the same.
18451 — [...] he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — the same.
18452 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — the same.
18453 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: وَمَا هِيَ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ بِبَعِيدٍ — that is to say: "Allah has not spared any wrongdoer after them from it, after the people of Lūṭ."
18454 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda and ʿIkrima: وَمَا هِيَ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ بِبَعِيدٍ — that is to say: "There is no wrongdoer after them who has escaped it."
18455 — ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to us, saying: Ḍamra ibn Rabīʿa related to us, on the authority of Ibn Shawdhab, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: وَمَا هِيَ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ بِبَعِيدٍ — he said: "By it are meant the wrongdoers of this community. By Allah, no wrongdoer after them has escaped it!"
18456 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: وَمَا هِيَ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ بِبَعِيدٍ — that is to say: "of the wrongdoers of the Arabs — if they do not repent, they will be punished by it."
18457 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Hudhalī, who said: "The verse says: وَمَا هِيَ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ بِبَعِيدٍ — from the wrongdoers of your community not far — no wrongdoer among them is safe from it."
And the turning of the upper to the lower by the angels took place as follows:
18458 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Jābir ibn Nūḥ related to us, saying: Al-Aʿmash related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: "Jibrīl (peace be upon him) lifted up the people of Lūṭ — with their livestock and their goods — and carried them until the inhabitants of heaven heard the barking of their dogs; then he turned them upside down."
18459 — Abū Kurayb related to us again from Mujāhid, who said: "Jibrīl thrust his wing beneath the lowest earth of the people of Lūṭ, then seized them with the right wing — them and their livestock — and raised them up."
18460 — Al-Muthanā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said concerning the word فَلَمَّا جَاءَ أَمْرُنَا جَعَلْنَا عَالِيَهَا سَافِلَهَا : "When the morning came, Jibrīl tore open their town from its corners, then thrust his wing into it and carried it upon the tips of his wing."
18461 — [...] he said: Shibl related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Najīḥ related this to me, on the authority of Ibrāhīm ibn Abī Bakr — and Ibn Abī Najīḥ did not hear it from Mujāhid — on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: "He carried it upon the tips of his wing with what was in it, ascended with it to heaven until the inhabitants of heaven heard the barking of their dogs; then he turned it over. The first of it to fall were the rafters of the roofs." And that is the word of Allah: جَعَلْنَا عَالِيَهَا سَافِلَهَا وَأَمْطَرْنَا عَلَيْهَا حِجَارَةً مِنْ سِجِّيلٍ . Mujāhid said: "No people were ever struck by what struck them — Allah blinded their eyes, then turned over their town, and sent down upon them stones of baked clay."
18462 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: "It has reached us that Jibrīl (peace be upon him) seized the middle handle of the town, then hurled it into heaven, until the inhabitants of heaven heard the howling of their dogs; then he destroyed one part upon the other, and made the upper the lower, and made the stones follow upon it." Qatāda said: "It has reached us that they were four million."
18463 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: "It was mentioned to us that Jibrīl (peace be upon him) seized the middle handle, then hurled it up into the air until the angels heard the howling of their dogs, then he destroyed one part upon the other, and afterward pursued those who lingered apart with boulders." He said: "They are three towns called 'Sadūm,' situated between Medina and al-Shām. It was mentioned to us that in them were four million. It was mentioned to us that Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him) looked out and said: Sadūm, what a day awaits you!"
18464 — Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: When the morning came — that is, for the people of Lūṭ — Jibrīl descended, tore the earth loose from the seven earths, carried it until he reached the lowest heaven — until the inhabitants of heaven heard the barking of their dogs and the voices of their roosters — and then turned it over and killed them. And that is the moment about which Allah says: وَالْمُؤْتَفِكَةَ أَهْوَى [al-Najm: 53] — the overturned place, when Jibrīl cast the earth down after he had torn it loose with his wing. Whoever did not die when the earth fell, upon him Allah sent down stones while he was beneath the earth; and whoever of them lingered apart upon the earth — and that is the word of Allah: جَعَلْنَا عَالِيَهَا سَافِلَهَا وَأَمْطَرْنَا عَلَيْهَا حِجَارَةً مِنْ سِجِّيلٍ . Then it pursued them in the towns — a man would be conversing somewhere, and then a stone would strike him and kill him. And that is the word of Allah, the Exalted: وَأَمْطَرْنَا عَلَيْهَا حِجَارَةً مِنْ سِجِّيلٍ .
18465 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Abū Bakr and Abū Sufyān on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: "It has reached us that Jibrīl (peace be upon him), when the morning came, spread out his wing and with it tore away their earth with what was in it — the palaces, the animals, the stones, the trees, and all that was in it. He folded it up in his wing and covered it within the inside of his wing; then he ascended with it to the lowest heaven until the inhabitants of heaven heard the voices of the people and the dogs — they were four million — then he turned it over and let it fall upside down to the earth; he crushed one part upon the other, made the upper the lower, and then made stones of baked clay follow upon it."
18466 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us; he said: Ibn Isḥāq related to me; he said: Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī related to me, who said: I was told that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ said: "Allah sent Jibrīl (peace be upon him) to al-Muʾtafika — the town of Lūṭ (peace be upon him) where Lūṭ was among them. He lifted it up with his wing, ascended with it until the inhabitants of the lowest heaven heard the barking of their dogs and the voices of their fowl; then he turned it upside down, and Allah afterward made the stones follow upon it. Allah says: جَعَلْنَا عَالِيَهَا سَافِلَهَا وَأَمْطَرْنَا عَلَيْهَا حِجَارَةً مِنْ سِجِّيلٍ . Allah destroyed it and the surrounding al-Muʾtafikāt — they were five towns: Ṣanʿa, Ṣaʿwa, ʿUthara, Dūmā and Sadūm; and Sadūm was the greatest town. Allah saved Lūṭ and those who were with him of his family, except his wife — she was among the destroyed."