Tafseer of The Thunder · Ar-Ra'd · 13:41
Have they not seen that We set upon the land, reducing it from its borders? And Allah decides; there is no adjuster of His decision. And He is swift in account.
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 exegetes differed concerning the interpretation of this.
Some of them said: the meaning is — have these polytheists of Mecca, who ask Muḥammad for signs, not seen that We approach the land and conquer it for him — land after land, all around their land? Do they not then fear that We will conquer their land too for him, just as We have conquered others?
Mention of who said that:
20514 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ related to us, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: أَنَّا نَأْتِي الأَرْضَ نَنْقُصُهَا مِنْ أَطْرَافِهَا — he said: have they not seen that We conquer for Muḥammad one land after another?
20515 — 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 His word: أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّا نَأْتِي الأَرْضَ نَنْقُصُهَا مِنْ أَطْرَافِهَا — by this he means: what Allah has conquered for Muḥammad. He says: that is its diminishing.
20516 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Salama ibn Nubayt, on the authority of Al-Ḍaḥḥāk — he said: what you gain from the land of the enemy.
20517 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar — he said: Al-Ḥasan used to say concerning His word: أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّا نَأْتِي الأَرْضَ نَنْقُصُهَا مِنْ أَطْرَافِهَا — it is the victory of the Muslims over the polytheists.
20518 — It was related to me on the authority of Al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard Al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word: أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّا نَأْتِي الأَرْضَ نَنْقُصُهَا مِنْ أَطْرَافِهَا — he means that the surrounding lands around them were diminished for the Prophet ﷺ — they saw that but drew no lesson from it. Allah said in Surah Al-Anbiyāʾ: نَأْتِي الأَرْضَ نَنْقُصُهَا مِنْ أَطْرَافِهَا أَفَهُمُ الْغَالِبُونَ [Surah Al-Anbiyāʾ 21:44] — nay, the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions are the victors.
And others said: nay, the meaning is — have they not seen that We approach the land and lay it waste? Do they not then fear that We will do the same to them and their land — destroy them and lay their land waste?
Mention of who said that:
20519 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: ʿAlī ibn ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of Ḥuṣayn ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: أَنَّا نَأْتِي الأَرْضَ نَنْقُصُهَا مِنْ أَطْرَافِهَا — he said: have they not seen how the village is laid waste until the buildings remain on only one side?
20520 — … he said: Ḥajjāj ibn Muḥammad related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Al-Aʿraj, that he heard Mujāhid say: نَأْتِي الأَرْضَ نَنْقُصُهَا مِنْ أَطْرَافِهَا — he said: its laying waste.
20521 — 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 Al-Aʿraj, on the authority of Mujāhid — the same. He said: and Ibn Jurayj said: its laying waste and the perishing of the people.
20522 — Aḥmad related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar al-Farrāʾ, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His word: أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّا نَأْتِي الأَرْضَ نَنْقُصُهَا مِنْ أَطْرَافِهَا — he said: We lay it waste from its edges.
And others said: nay, the meaning is — We diminish its blessing, its fruits, and its inhabitants by death.
Mention of who said that:
20523 — Al-Muthanā 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 word: نَنْقُصُهَا مِنْ أَطْرَافِهَا — he says: diminishing of its inhabitants and its blessing.
20524 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: نَنْقُصُهَا مِنْ أَطْرَافِهَا — he said: in the persons, in the fruits, and in the laying waste of the land.
20525 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Ṭalḥa al-Qaṭṭān, on the authority of someone who heard Al-Shaʿbī — he said: if the earth were to diminish, your privy would become too narrow for you. Rather, the persons and the fruits diminish.
And others said: the meaning is — We approach the land and diminish its inhabitants by taking them away at its edges through death.
Mention of who said that:
20526 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Shabāba related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: نَنْقُصُهَا مِنْ أَطْرَافِهَا — he said: the death of its inhabitants.
20527 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّا نَأْتِي الأَرْضَ نَنْقُصُهَا مِنْ أَطْرَافِهَا — he said: death.
20528 — Al-Muthanā related to me, saying: Muslim ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, saying: Hārūn al-Naḥwī related to us, saying: Al-Zubayr ibn al-Khirrit related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His word: نَنْقُصُهَا مِنْ أَطْرَافِهَا — he said: it is death. Then he said: if the earth were to diminish, we would find no place to sit.
20529 — 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 — he said: ʿIkrima used to say: it is the taking away of the people.
20530 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda — he said: ʿIkrima was asked about the diminishing of the earth. He said: the taking away of the people.
20531 — Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Jarīr ibn Ḥāzim related to us, on the authority of Yaʿlā ibn Ḥakīm, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His word: أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّا نَأْتِي الأَرْضَ نَنْقُصُهَا مِنْ أَطْرَافِهَا — he said: if it were as they say, none of you would find a pit in which to relieve himself.
20532 — Al-Faḍl ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Abū Rajāʾ — he said: ʿIkrima was asked, while I was listening, about this verse: أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّا نَأْتِي الأَرْضَ نَنْقُصُهَا مِنْ أَطْرَافِهَا — he said: death.
And others said: نَنْقُصُهَا مِنْ أَطْرَافِهَا by the passing away of its jurists, its best people, and its righteous people.
Mention of who said that:
20533 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Ṭalḥa ibn ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — he said: the passing away of its scholars, its jurists, and the best of its people.
20534 — He said: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid — he said: the death of the scholars.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The most correct of these statements concerning the interpretation of this is the view of him who said: أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّا نَأْتِي الأَرْضَ نَنْقُصُهَا مِنْ أَطْرَافِهَا — by the victory of the Muslims, the Companions of Muḥammad ﷺ, over it and their subjugation of its inhabitants. Do they not then draw a lesson from that and fear the victory over their land and their subjugation? That is because Allah threatened those who asked the Prophet ﷺ for signs — the polytheists of his people — with His word: وَإِنْ مَا نُرِيَنَّكَ بَعْضَ الَّذِي نَعِدُهُمْ أَوْ نَتَوَفَّيَنَّكَ فَإِنَّمَا عَلَيْكَ الْبَلاغُ وَعَلَيْنَا الْحِسَابُ — after which the Exalted rebuked them for their poor readiness to take a lesson from what they saw of Allah's dealing with their like among the disbelievers, while they nonetheless continued to ask for signs. He said: أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّا نَأْتِي الأَرْضَ نَنْقُصُهَا مِنْ أَطْرَافِهَا — by the subjugation of its inhabitants and the victory over it from its edges and sides — while they drew no lesson from what they saw.
As for His word: وَاللَّهُ يَحْكُمُ لا مُعَقِّبَ لِحُكْمِهِ (and Allah judges — there is none to reverse His judgment) — He says: and Allah is the One who judges and carries out His judgment, and who decides and executes His decision. And when the judgment and decision of Allah come upon these polytheists of Mecca, they cannot avert it. By His word لا مُعَقِّبَ لِحُكْمِهِ He means: there is none who averts His judgment.
"Al-muʿaqqib" in Arabic is the one who repeatedly reverses something.
And His word: وَهُوَ سَرِيعُ الْحِسَابِ (and He is swift in reckoning) — He says: and Allah is swift in reckoning — He counts the deeds of these polytheists and nothing is hidden from Him — and He will requite them for that.
