Tafseer of The Rock · Al-Hijr · 15:54
He said, "Have you given me good tidings although old age has come upon me? Then of what [wonder] do you inform?"
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.
Allah, exalted be His mention, says: Ibrāhīm spoke to the angels who had brought him the glad tidings of a judicious boy: أَبَشَّرْتُمُونِي عَلَى أَنْ مَسَّنِيَ الْكِبَرُ فَبِمَ تُبَشِّرُونَ — "Do you bring me these glad tidings while old age has befallen me? With what, then, do you bring these glad tidings?" — that is to say: with what thing, then, do you bring me these glad tidings?
Mujāhid had an explanation concerning this, which was related to me by Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr, who said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to me, who said: ʿĪsā related to me. And al-Ḥārith related to me, who said: al-Ḥasan related to me, who said: Warqāʾ related to me. And al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to me, who said: Shubāba related to me, who said: Warqāʾ related to me. And al-Muthanā related to me, who said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to me, who said: Shibl related to me. And al-Muthanā related to me, who said: Isḥāq related to me, who said: ʿAbdullāh related to me, on the authority of Warqāʾ — all of them on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word قَالَ أَبَشَّرْتُمُونِي عَلَى أَنْ مَسَّنِيَ الْكِبَرُ فَبِمَ تُبَشِّرُونَ — he said: "He marveled at his own old age and at the old age of his wife."
Al-Qāsim related to us, who said: al-Ḥusayn related to me, who said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — to the same effect. And he said concerning عَلَى أَنْ مَسَّنِيَ الْكِبَرُ : "Its meaning is: because old age has befallen me, and through old age having befallen me." This is comparable to the word حَقِيقٌ عَلَى أَنْ لا أَقُولَ عَلَى اللَّهِ إِلا الْحَقَّ with the meaning of "through my saying nothing about Allah but the truth." A corresponding example in ordinary usage is: "I came to you because you give, but I did not find you giving."
