Tafseer of Abraham · Ibrahim · 14:9
Has there not reached you the news of those before you - the people of Noah and 'Aad and Thamud and those after them? No one knows them but Allah. Their messengers brought them clear proofs, but they returned their hands to their mouths and said, "Indeed, we disbelieve in that with which you have been sent, and indeed we are, about that to which you invite us, in disquieting doubt."
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.
Imam al-Ṭabarī said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says — informing about what Mūsā spoke to his people: O my people, ألم يأتكم نبأ الذين من قبلكم ("Has the tidings of those who were before you not come to you"), that is to say: the tidings of those who were before you, of the communities that passed away before you, قوم نوح وعاد وثمود ("the people of Nūḥ, and ʿĀd and Thamūd"). "The people of Nūḥ" serves as a further specification (badal) of "those who," and "ʿĀd" is joined to it by conjunction upon "the people of Nūḥ." والذين من بعدهم ("and those who came after them"), that is to say: after the people of Nūḥ and ʿĀd and Thamūd. لا يعلمهم إلا الله ("none knows them except Allah"), that is to say: none counts their number and none knows their extent except Allah. As in:
20590 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Maymūn, concerning وعاد وثمود والذين من بعدهم لا يعلمهم إلا الله ("and ʿĀd and Thamūd and those who came after them — none knows them except Allah"): he said: The genealogists have lied.
20591 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Maymūn, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, the like of it.
20592 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Shabāba related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl informed us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Maymūn, he said: Ibn Masʿūd related to us that he used to recite it thus: "wa-ʿĀdan wa-Thamūda wa-lladhīna min baʿdihim lā yaʿlamuhum illā Allāh," and then he said: The genealogists have lied.
20593 — Ibn al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿĪsā ibn Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Maymūn, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, the like of it.
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And His word جاءتهم رسلهم بالبينات ("their messengers came to them with the clear proofs"), that is to say: to these communities came their messengers, whom Allah had sent to them to call them to the pure devotion of worship to Him — "with the clear proofs," that is to say: with proofs and indications of the truthfulness of that to which they called them, consisting of miracles.
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And His word فردوا أيديهم في أفواههم ("then they brought their hands back to their mouths"): the scholars of interpretation differed concerning its interpretation. Some of them said: The meaning of it is: they bit on their fingers, out of rage against them on account of their call to them to that to which they called them.
* Mention of who said that:
20594 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār and Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, both of them saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, concerning فردوا أيديهم في أفواههم ("then they brought their hands back to their mouths"): he said: They bit on them out of rage.
20595 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, concerning His word فردوا أيديهم في أفواههم ("then they brought their hands back to their mouths"): he said: Out of rage, like this — and he bit on his hand.
20596 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, concerning فردوا أيديهم في أفواههم ("then they brought their hands back to their mouths"): he said: They bit on them.
20597 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Rajāʾ al-Baṣrī related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, concerning the word of Allah, mighty and exalted is He فردوا أيديهم في أفواههم ("then they brought their hands back to their mouths"): he said: They bit on their fingers.
20598 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Al-Ḥimmānī related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, concerning فردوا أيديهم في أفواههم ("then they brought their hands back to their mouths"): he said: They bit on the tips of their fingers.
20599 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Hubayra, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, that he said concerning this verse فردوا أيديهم في أفواههم ("then they brought their hands back to their mouths"): he said: It means that one puts his finger in his mouth.
20600 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, they said: Abū Qaṭan related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Hubayra, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, concerning the word of Allah, mighty and exalted is He فردوا أيديهم في أفواههم ("then they brought their hands back to their mouths") — and Shuʿba placed the tips of the fingers of his left hand upon his mouth.
20601 — Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbbād related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: Abū Isḥāq informed us, on the authority of Hubayra, he said: ʿAbd Allāh said concerning فردوا أيديهم في أفواههم ("then they brought their hands back to their mouths"): he said: Like this — and he put his fingers in his mouth.
20602 — Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAffān related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us: Abū Isḥāq said: he informed us, on the authority of Hubayra, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, that he said concerning this verse فردوا أيديهم في أفواههم ("then they brought their hands back to their mouths") — Abū ʿAlī said: ʿAffān showed it to us, and he put the tips of the fingers of his outstretched palm in his mouth, and he mentioned that Shuʿba had shown it to him thus.
20603 — Aḥmad related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān and Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, concerning فردوا أيديهم في أفواههم ("then they brought their hands back to their mouths"): he said: They bit on their fingertips. And Sufyān said: They bit out of rage.
20604 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word فردوا أيديهم في أفواههم ("then they brought their hands back to their mouths") — and he recited: عضوا عليكم الأنامل من الغيظ ("they bite their fingertips out of rage against you") [Surah Āl ʿImrān: 119], he said: This is it: ردوا أيديهم في أفواههم ("they brought their hands back to their mouths"). He said: They put their fingers in their mouths. And he said: When a human being becomes enraged, he bites on his hand.
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And others said: Rather, the meaning of it is: that they, when they heard the Book of Allah, marveled at it and placed their hands upon their mouths.
* Mention of who said that:
20605 — 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 فردوا أيديهم في أفواههم ("then they brought their hands back to their mouths"): he said: When they heard the Book of Allah, they marveled and brought their hands back to their mouths.
* * *
And others said: Rather, the meaning of it is that they accused them of lying with their mouths.
* Mention of who said that:
20606 — 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 — ḥ (transition to another chain) — and 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 the word of Allah فردوا أيديهم في أفواههم ("then they brought their hands back to their mouths"): he said: They rejected their word and accused them of lying.
20607 — 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, the like of it.
20608 — 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 like of it.
20609 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word جاءتهم رسلهم بالبينات فردوا أيديهم في أفواههم ("their messengers came to them with the clear proofs, then they brought their hands back to their mouths"): he says: Their people declared their messengers liars and rejected that with which they had come of the clear proofs, and they rejected it with their mouths and said: We are indeed in doubt, in disquieting doubt, concerning that to which you call us.
20610 — 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 His word فردوا أيديهم في أفواههم ("then they brought their hands back to their mouths"): he said: They rejected, in the face of the messengers, that with which they had come.
* * *
Imam al-Ṭabarī said: It is as though Mujāhid understood His word فردوا أيديهم في أفواههم ("then they brought their hands back to their mouths") in the sense of: they rejected the benefactions (ayādī) of Allah, which — had they accepted them — would have been benefactions and favors for them, but they did not accept them. And he understood His word في أفواههم ("in their mouths") in the sense of: with their mouths, that is to say: with their tongues which are located in their mouths.
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And it has been transmitted, heard from some of the Arabs: "Adkhalaka Allāhu bi-l-jannati" ("May Allah bring you into the Garden"), by which they mean: into the Garden (fī l-janna). And this verse is recited:
Wa-arghabu fīhā ʿan Laqīṭin wa-rahṭihi … wa-lākinnanī ʿan Sinbisin lastu arghabu (And I turn away from her in favor of Laqīṭ and his clan … but I do not turn away from Sinbis.)
He means: "wa-arghabu bihā" (I turn away with her), by which he refers to a daughter of his, in favor of Laqīṭ, and I do not turn away with her from my clan.
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And others said: Rather, the meaning of it is that they used to place their hands upon the mouths of the messengers, as a rejection of their word and as an accusation of lying against them.
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And others said: This is a similitude (mathal), and all that was meant is that they refrained from that which they had been commanded to utter of truth, and they did not believe in it nor submit. And he said: It is said of the man, when he refrains from answering and does not answer: "radda yadahu fī famihi" ("he brought his hand back into his mouth"). And some of them mentioned that the Arabs say: "kallamtu fulānan fī ḥājatin fa-radda yadahu fī fīhi" ("I spoke to so-and-so about a need, and he brought his hand back into his mouth"), when he kept silent and did not answer.
* * *
Imam al-Ṭabarī said: This too is a statement that has no basis, for Allah — exalted is His remembrance — has informed about them that they said: "We disbelieve in that with which you have been sent," and they thus answered with an accusation of lying.
* * *
Imam al-Ṭabarī said:
And the statement that, in my judgment, comes closest to the correct concerning the interpretation of this verse, is the statement which we have mentioned on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd: that they brought their hands back to their mouths and bit on them, out of rage against the messengers, just as Allah, mighty and exalted is He, has described their brethren among the hypocrites (munāfiqīn), when He said: وإذا خلوا عضوا عليكم الأنامل من الغيظ ("and when they are alone, they bite their fingertips out of rage against you") [Surah Āl ʿImrān: 119]. This, then, is the well-known expression and the comprehensible meaning of "the bringing back of the hand to the mouth."
* * *
And His word وقالوا إنا كفرنا بما أرسلتم به ("and they said: We disbelieve in that with which you have been sent"), Allah, mighty and exalted is He, says: and they said to their messengers: We disbelieve in that with which He who sent you has sent you, namely the call to abandon the worship of idols and false gods, وإنا لفي شك ("and we are indeed in doubt") about the truthfulness of that to which you call us, namely the profession of the Oneness of Allah, مريب ("disquieting"), that is to say: that doubt disquiets us, that is to say: it produces in us misgiving and suspicion about it.
* * *
One says of that: "arāba al-rajulu" ("the man aroused suspicion"), when he commits something suspicious, "yurību irābatan."
