Tafseer of The Rock · Al-Hijr · 15:72
By your life, [O Muhammad], indeed they were, in their intoxication, wandering blindly.
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.
His word لَعَمْرُكَ — Allah the Exalted says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: "By your life, O Muḥammad, your people of the Quraysh لَفِي سَكْرَتِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ " — that is to say: they wander about in their straying and ignorance.
And in a manner similar to what we have said concerning this, the scholars of tafsir spoke.
Mention of those who said that:
Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Muslim ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, saying: Saʿīd ibn Zayd related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Mālik related to us, on the authority of Abū al-Jawzāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: "Allah has not created any soul, nor brought any forth, nor called any into existence that is nobler before Allah than Muḥammad ﷺ, and I have not heard that Allah has sworn by the life of anyone except by him; Allah the Exalted says: لَعَمْرُكَ إِنَّهُمْ لَفِي سَكْرَتِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ ."
Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq al-Ḥaḍramī related to us, saying: al-Ḥasan ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Mālik related to us, on the authority of Abū al-Jawzāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning Allah's word لَعَمْرُكَ إِنَّهُمْ لَفِي سَكْرَتِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ , he said: "Allah the Exalted has not sworn by the life of anyone except by the life of Muḥammad ﷺ"; he said: "By your life, O Muḥammad, and your span of life and your abiding in the world إِنَّهُمْ لَفِي سَكْرَتِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ ."
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his word لَعَمْرُكَ إِنَّهُمْ لَفِي سَكْرَتِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ : "It is an expression from the language of the Arabs; 'in their intoxication' — that is to say: in their straying; 'they wander about' — that is to say: they play."
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, saying: I asked al-Aʿmash about his word لَعَمْرُكَ إِنَّهُمْ لَفِي سَكْرَتِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ , he said: "In their heedlessness they wander about."
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: فِي سَكْرَتِهِم — he said: "In their straying they wander about"; he said: "they play."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, saying: Mujāhid said concerning يَعْمَهُونَ : "they wander about."
Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his word لَعَمْرُكَ : he said: "By your life"; إِنَّهُمْ لَفِي سَكْرَتِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ — he said: "they go on."
Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, who said: "They considered it reprehensible that a man should say: by my life (laʿamrī), because they regarded that as equivalent to saying: by my life (wa-ḥayātī)."
