Tafseer of The Palm Fibre · Al-Masad · 111:5
Around her neck is a rope of [twisted] fiber.
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 words فِي جِيدِهَا حَبْلٌ مِنْ مَسَدٍ — that is to say: upon her neck; the Arabs call the neck "jīd." Of this is also the verse of Dhū al-Rumma:
"Your eyes are her eyes and your color is her color, and your neck, but she wears no ornament."
With what we have said about this, the scholars of exegesis are in agreement.
Mention of those who said this:
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning the words of Allah فِي جِيدِهَا حَبْلٌ — he said: upon her neck.
And His words حَبْلٌ مِنْ مَسَدٍ — the scholars of exegesis differed concerning this. Some said: they are ropes that are made in Mecca.
Mention of those who said this:
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abā Muʿādh saying: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk saying concerning His words فِي جِيدِهَا حَبْلٌ مِنْ مَسَدٍ — he said: a rope of tree-fiber, and it is the rope with which she carried firewood.
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 حَبْلٌ مِنْ مَسَدٍ — he said: they are ropes that are made in Mecca; and it is said: al-masad is the spindle that is in the pulley-wheel; and it is said: al-masad is a necklace of shells (wadaʿ) about her neck.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His words حَبْلٌ مِنْ مَسَدٍ — he said: ropes from a tree that grows in Yemen and has fiber, which they would plait; and he said concerning حَبْلٌ مِنْ مَسَدٍ: a rope of fire upon her neck.
Others said: al-masad is fibers.
Mention of those who said this:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Yazīd, on the authority of ʿUrwa, concerning فِي جِيدِهَا حَبْلٌ مِنْ مَسَدٍ — he said: an iron chain, seventy cubits long.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of a man called Yazīd, on the authority of ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr, concerning فِي جِيدِهَا حَبْلٌ مِنْ مَسَدٍ — he said: a chain, seventy cubits long.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Yazīd, on the authority of ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr, concerning فِي جِيدِهَا حَبْلٌ مِنْ مَسَدٍ — he said: a chain, seventy cubits long.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning مِنْ مَسَدٍ — he said: of iron.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, concerning فِي جِيدِهَا حَبْلٌ مِنْ مَسَدٍ — he said: a rope upon her neck in the Fire, like a collar, seventy cubits long.
Others said: al-masad is the iron that is in the pulley-wheel.
Mention of those who said this:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning فِي جِيدِهَا حَبْلٌ مِنْ مَسَدٍ — he said: the piece of iron that is in the pulley-wheel.
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 — all together on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning حَبْلٌ مِنْ مَسَدٍ — he said: the wooden spindle of the pulley-wheel of iron.
Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning حَبْلٌ مِنْ مَسَدٍ — he said: the piece of iron for the pulley-wheel.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda; and al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: Abū al-Muʿtamir said: Muḥammad claimed that ʿIkrima said, concerning فِي جِيدِهَا حَبْلٌ مِنْ مَسَدٍ: it is the piece of iron in the middle of the pulley-wheel.
Others said: it is a necklace of shells (wadaʿ) about her neck.
Mention of those who said this:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning فِي جِيدِهَا حَبْلٌ مِنْ مَسَدٍ — he said: a necklace of shells (wadaʿ).
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning حَبْلٌ مِنْ مَسَدٍ — he said: a necklace of shells (wadaʿ).
The interpretation that in my view is most preferable for its correctness is the opinion of the one who said: it is a rope composed of various kinds. For this reason the scholars of exegesis differed in its interpretation in the manner that we have mentioned. And what indicates the correctness of what we have said about this is the verse of the rajaz-poet:
"And a masad plaited from young camels, reddish, noble, full of marrow."
He made its plaiting out of various things. So too is the masad that is about the neck of the wife of Abū Lahab, composed of various things: of fiber, iron, and the bark of plants, and about her neck was placed a collar like a necklace of shells (wadaʿ). Of this is also the verse of al-Aʿshā:
"In the evening she closes her door before us with a creaking of a pulley-wheel with its cables."
By "al-amṣād" he means: the plural of masad, and those are the cables.
End of the exegesis of Sūrat Tabbat.
