Tafseer of Sincerity · Al-Ikhlaas · 112:2
Allah, the Eternal Refuge.
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 اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ — Allah, the Exalted whose remembrance is glorified, says: The Worshipped One, for whom worship alone is fitting, is al-Ṣamad.
The scholars of exegesis differed over the meaning of al-Ṣamad. Some said: it is the One Who is not hollow within, Who does not eat and does not drink.
Mention of those who said this:
ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Aswad related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Rabīʿa related to us, on the authority of Salama ibn Sābūr, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: al-Ṣamad: the One Who is not hollow within.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: al-Ṣamad: the compact One Who has no bowels.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, likewise.
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, who said: al-Ṣamad: the compact One Who has no bowels.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān and Wakīʿ related to us, both of whom said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: al-Ṣamad: the One Who has no bowels.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ; and Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān — both together on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, likewise.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Al-Rabīʿ ibn Muslim related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, who said: al-Ṣamad: the One Who has no bowels.
He said: Al-Rabīʿ ibn Muslim related to us, on the authority of Ibrāhīm ibn Maysara, who said: Mujāhid sent me to Saʿīd ibn Jubayr to ask him about al-Ṣamad, and he said: the One Who has no bowels.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid related to us, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, who said: al-Ṣamad: the One Who does not eat food.
Yaʿqūb related to us, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, that he said: al-Ṣamad: the One Who does not eat food and does not drink any drink.
Abū Kurayb and Ibn Bashshār related to us, both of whom said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Salama ibn Nubayt, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, who said: al-Ṣamad: the One Who has no bowels.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Zāʾida related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of ʿĀmir, who said: al-Ṣamad: the One Who does not eat food.
Ibn Bashshār and Zayd ibn Akhzam related to us, both of whom said: Ibn Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of al-Mustaqīm ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, who said: al-Ṣamad: the One Who has no bowels.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His words al-Ṣamad: the One Who has no bowels.
Al-ʿAbbās ibn Abī Ṭālib related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar ibn Rūmī related to us, on the authority of ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Saʿīd, the guide of al-Aʿmash, he said: Ṣāliḥ ibn Ḥayyān related to me, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Burayda, on the authority of his father — I do not think otherwise than that he raised it [as a marfūʿ report] — who said: al-Ṣamad: the One Who has no bowels.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Bishr ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Muslim, who said: I heard al-Ḥasan say: al-Ṣamad: the One Who has no bowels.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of ʿIkrima, who said: al-Ṣamad: the One Who has no bowels.
Others said: it is the One out of Whom nothing comes forth.
Mention of those who said this:
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Abū Rajāʾ, who said: I heard ʿIkrima say concerning His words al-Ṣamad: the One out of Whom nothing has come forth, and Who has not begotten and has not been begotten.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Rajāʾ Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf, on the authority of ʿIkrima, who said: al-Ṣamad: the One out of Whom nothing comes forth.
Others said: it is the One Who has not begotten and has not been begotten.
Mention of those who said this:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, who said: al-Ṣamad: the One Who has not begotten and has not been begotten, for nothing begets except that it will perish, and nothing is begotten except that it will die. Allah, the Exalted whose remembrance is glorified, informed them that He is not inherited and does not die.
Aḥmad ibn Manīʿ and Maḥmūd ibn Khidāsh related to us, both of whom said: Abū Saʿīd al-Ṣanʿānī related to us, saying: The polytheists (mushrikīn) said to the Prophet ﷺ: "Describe to us your Lord" — and Allah revealed: قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ * اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ * لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ * وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ — for nothing is begotten except that it will die, and nothing dies except that it will be inherited. Allah, the Exalted whose praise is glorified, does not die and is not inherited. وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ: and there was no equal to Him, nor peer, and nothing is like unto Him.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Abū Maʿshar, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb: al-Ṣamad: the One Who has not begotten and has not been begotten, and for Whom there is no equal.
Others said: it is the One Whose dominion has reached its utmost limit.
Mention of those who said this:
Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Shaqīq, who said: al-Ṣamad is the Master Whose dominion has reached its utmost limit.
Abū Kurayb, Ibn Bashshār and Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us — all of them said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Abū Wāʾil, who said: al-Ṣamad: the Master Whose dominion has reached its utmost limit — Abū Kurayb and Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā did not say "its utmost limit."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Abū Wāʾil, likewise.
ʿAlī related to us, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His words al-Ṣamad — he says: the Master Who is perfect in His dominion, the Noble One Who is perfect in His nobility, the Magnificent One Who is perfect in His magnificence, the Forbearing One Who is perfect in His forbearance, the Rich One Who is perfect in His richness, the Almighty One Who is perfect in His might, the Knowing One Who is perfect in His knowledge, the Wise One Who is perfect in His wisdom — and He is the One Who is perfect in all kinds of nobility and dominion. And that is Allah, blessed is He, that is His attribute. That belongs to none other than Him.
Others said: rather it is the Eternal One Who does not pass away.
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 His words قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ * اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ * لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ — he said: Al-Ḥasan and Qatāda both said: the Eternal One after His creation. He said: This is an exclusive sūra; there is in it no mention of any matter of this life or the hereafter.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: al-Ṣamad: the Eternal One.
Abū Jaʿfar said: Al-Ṣamad among the Arabs is: the Master to whom one resorts, above whom there is no one. Thus the Arabs likewise call their notables. From this is also the verse of the poet:
"How early did the herald of tidings bring evil news about the two best of Banū Asad — about ʿAmr ibn Masʿūd and the Lord, al-Ṣamad."
And al-Zabriqān said: "And no pledge except a lord, al-Ṣamad."
If that is so, then the interpretation most deserving of preference for the word is the meaning that is known from the usage of those in whose tongue the Qurʾān was sent down. And if the report of Ibn Burayda, on the authority of his father, were sound, then it would be the most correct of the statements, because the Messenger of Allah ﷺ knows best what Allah, the Exalted whose praise is glorified, intended and what was revealed to him.
