Tafseer of Hud · Hud · 11:99
And they were followed in this [world] with a curse and on the Day of Resurrection. And wretched is the gift which is given.
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 discourse on the explanation of the words of Allah, the Exalted: وَأُتْبِعُوا فِي هَذِهِ لَعْنَةً وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ بِئْسَ الرِّفْدُ الْمَرْفُودُ (And they were pursued in this [life] by a curse, and [also] on the Day of Resurrection. Wretched is the gift that is given.) — (11:99)
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah, the Exalted, whose remembrance is glorified, says: Allah pursued them in هَذِهِ — that is to say: in this world — together with the punishment that He hastily sent down upon them therein in the form of the drowning in the sea, with His curse. وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ — and on the Day of Resurrection they shall likewise be cursed with yet another curse, as in the following:
18536 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning وَأُتْبِعُوا فِي هَذِهِ لَعْنَةً وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ — he said: yet another curse.
18537 — 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, concerning وَأُتْبِعُوا فِي هَذِهِ لَعْنَةً وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ — he said: on top of His curse they were given yet another curse, so that those are two curses.
18538 — Al-Muthanná 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, concerning وَأُتْبِعُوا فِي هَذِهِ لَعْنَةً وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ بِئْسَ الرِّفْدُ الْمَرْفُودُ — the one curse following upon the other.
18539 — ... he said: 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, concerning his words وَأُتْبِعُوا فِي هَذِهِ لَعْنَةً وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ — he said: they were given yet another curse, so that those are two curses.
18540 — 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, concerning فِي هَذِهِ — he said: in the world — وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ — they were burdened with yet another curse, they were increased by it, and those are two curses.
And His words بِئْسَ الرِّفْدُ الْمَرْفُودُ — that is to say: what a wretched aid is the one aided, — the curse to which yet another of the same kind is added.
The root meaning of "al-rifd" is aid. One says: "rafada fulān fulānan ʿinda al-amīr yarfiduh rifdan" (with kasra of the r) — when one opens the r, it refers to the offering of drink in a large bowl, and "al-rafd" is the large bowl itself. From this is also the verse of al-Aʿshā:
"How many a rifad did you let run off on that day, and many a captive of a band of adversaries."
And one says: "rafada fulān ḥāʾitahu" — when one props it up with a beam, so that it does not collapse. "Al-rafd" (with open r) is the verbal noun of the action. One says: "rafadahu yarfiduh rafdan", and "al-rifd" (with closed r) is the designation of the thing that is given to someone, and that is "al-marfad."
With what we have said concerning this the scholars of exegesis incline to agree.
Mention of those who said this:
18541 — Al-Muthanná related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his words بِئْسَ الرِّفْدُ الْمَرْفُودُ — he said: the curse of the world and the Hereafter.
18542 — 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, concerning بِئْسَ الرِّفْدُ الْمَرْفُودُ — he said: Allah cursed them in the world, and the curse was completed for them in the Hereafter.
18543 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his words وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ بِئْسَ الرِّفْدُ الْمَرْفُودُ — he said: a curse in the world, and to it was added for them a curse in the Hereafter.
18544 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning وَأُتْبِعُوا فِي هَذِهِ لَعْنَةً وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ بِئْسَ الرِّفْدُ الْمَرْفُودُ — he says: the two curses of Allah piled up over them — a curse in the world and a curse in the Hereafter.
18545 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Khālid related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, who said: two curses struck them in the world, the one reinforcing the other, and that is His words وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ بِئْسَ الرِّفْدُ الْمَرْفُودُ.
