Tafseer of The Rock · Al-Hijr · 15:95
Indeed, We are sufficient for you against the mockers
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, the Exalted, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: Indeed, We have shielded you, O Muḥammad, from the mockers — those who mock you and ridicule you. Be forthright with the command of Allah and fear none besides Allah, for Allah will protect you against whoever is hostile to you and does you harm, just as He has shielded you from the mockers. The ringleaders of the mockers were well-known men of Quraysh.
Mention of their names: Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to us: The chief mockers were, as Yazīd ibn Rūmān told me on the authority of ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr, five men of his people — men of standing and rank among their people. From the Banū Asad ibn ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā ibn Quṣayy: al-Aswad ibn al-Muṭṭalib, the father of Zamʿa — over whom the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, according to what has reached me, had supplicated when his insult and mockery reached him, and said: "O Allah, make him blind and bereave him of his child." From the Banū Zuhra: al-Aswad ibn ʿAbd Yaghūth ibn Wahb ibn ʿAbd Manāf ibn Zuhra. From the Banū Makhzūm: al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Makhzūm. From the Banū Sahm ibn ʿAmr ibn Huṣayṣ ibn Kaʿb ibn Luʾayy: al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil ibn Hishām ibn Saʿīd ibn Saʿd ibn Sahm. From Khuzāʿa: al-Ḥārith ibn al-Ṭulāṭila ibn ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAmr ibn Malkān. When they persisted in their wrongdoing and mocked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ ever more, Allah, the Exalted, sent down: فَاصْدَعْ بِمَا تُؤْمَرُ وَأَعْرِضْ عَنِ الْمُشْرِكِينَ * إِنَّا كَفَيْنَاكَ الْمُسْتَهْزِئِينَ — up to His word فَسَوْفَ يَعْلَمُونَ . Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq said: Yazīd ibn Rūmān related to me, on the authority of ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr or another scholar: Jibrīl came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ while they were circumambulating the House (al-Bayt). He stood up, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood beside him. Al-Aswad ibn al-Muṭṭalib passed by: he cast a green leaf into his face, and he went blind. Al-Aswad ibn ʿAbd Yaghūth passed by: he pointed to his belly, and his belly swelled up with dropsy, and he died of it. Al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra passed by: he pointed to the mark of an old wound on the lower part of his ankle which he had sustained two years earlier, while he was dragging his garment (sibāl) — that is, his izār (waist-wrapper). For a man of Khuzāʿa had been fletching his arrows, and one of his arrows caught his garment and scratched his leg, though it was only a trifle — but it broke open and killed him. Al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil al-Sahmī passed by: he pointed to the sole of his foot, and he rode on a donkey into al-Ṭāʾif, but trod upon a thorn-bush (shibriqa), so that a thorn pierced the sole of his foot and killed him.
Abū Jaʿfar said: Al-shibriqa is what is known as al-ḥasak; and al-ḥaban is jaundice (the yellow water). Al-Ḥārith ibn al-Ṭulāṭila passed by: he pointed to his head, and he discharged pus from his nose until it killed him.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us on the authority of Salama, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Abī Muḥammad al-Qurayshī, on the authority of a man, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: he said: Their leader was al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra, and he was the one who gathered them together.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us on the authority of Jarīr, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ziyād, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr — concerning إِنَّا كَفَيْنَاكَ الْمُسْتَهْزِئِينَ : he said: The mockers were: al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra, al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil, Abū Zamʿa, al-Aswad ibn ʿAbd Yaghūth, and al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAyṭala. Jibrīl came and pointed with his finger to the head of al-Walīd. The Prophet ﷺ said: "You have done nothing." He said: "You are shielded from him." He pointed with his hand to the sole of al-ʿĀṣ. The Prophet ﷺ said: "You have done nothing." He said: "You are shielded from him." He pointed with his hand to the eye of Abū Zamʿa. The Prophet ﷺ said: "You have done nothing." He said: "You are shielded from him." He pointed with his finger to the head of al-Aswad. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Leave my uncle alone." He said: "You are shielded from him." He pointed with his finger to the belly of al-Ḥārith. The Prophet ﷺ said: "You have done nothing." He said: "You are shielded from him." Al-Walīd passed by a smith of Khuzāʿa while dragging his garment, his garment caught on an arrow and scratched his leg; he remained ill until he died. Al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil mounted his white mule to attend to a need at the foot of Mecca, but when he wished to dismount, he placed the sole of his foot upon a thorn-bush and his leg itched; he kept scratching at it until he died. Abū Zamʿa went blind; al-Aswad was seized by gangrene in his head; al-Ḥārith got dropsy in his belly.
Yaʿqūb related to us on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr — concerning إِنَّا كَفَيْنَاكَ الْمُسْتَهْزِئِينَ : he said: They are five men of Quraysh: al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra, al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil, Abū Zamʿa, al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAyṭala, and al-Aswad ibn Qays.
Al-Muthannā related to me on the authority of Hushaym, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: Al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra, al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil al-Sahmī, al-Aswad ibn ʿAbd Yaghūth, al-Aswad ibn al-Muṭṭalib, and al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAyṭala.
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, on the authority of Ibn ʿUyayna, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, on the authority of ʿIkrima — concerning إِنَّا كَفَيْنَاكَ الْمُسْتَهْزِئِينَ : he said: They are five, all of whom perished before Badr: al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil, al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra, Abū Zamʿa ibn ʿAbd al-Aswad, al-Ḥārith ibn Qays, and al-Aswad ibn ʿAbd Yaghūth.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us on the authority of Ibn ʿUyayna, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of ʿIkrima: Al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra, al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil, al-Aswad ibn ʿAbd Yaghūth, and al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAyṭala.
Al-Muthannā related to me on the authority of Hushaym: he said: Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī said: I said to al-Zuhrī: Saʿīd ibn Jubayr and ʿIkrima differed concerning one of the mockers — Saʿīd said: he is al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAyṭala, and ʿIkrima said: he is al-Ḥārith ibn Qays. Al-Zuhrī said: They are both correct — his mother was named ʿAyṭala and his father Qays.
Al-Muthannā related to me on the authority of Hushaym, on the authority of Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī: The mockers were seven, and he named four of them.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of ʿĀmir: The mockers were five men of Quraysh: al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil al-Sahmī — he was shielded against by a headache that struck him in his head, so that his brains flowed out until he spoke through his nose; al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra al-Makhzūmī — he was shielded against when a man of Khuzāʿa was re-trimming an arrow and a splinter flew off it, whereupon he stepped on it and died; Habbār ibn al-Aswad; ʿAbd Yaghūth ibn Wahb; and al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAyṭala.
Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of ʿĀmir: Al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil was shielded against by a headache in his head that made his brains flow out so that he could only speak from beneath his nose; al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAyṭala by jaundice in his belly; Ibn al-Aswad by smallpox; al-Walīd when a man went to repair an arrow and a splinter flew off upon which he stepped; and ʿAbd Yaghūth by blindness — his eyesight vanished.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda and of Miqsam: The mockers are: al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra, al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil, ʿAdī ibn Qays, al-Aswad ibn ʿAbd Yaghūth, and al-Aswad ibn al-Muṭṭalib. They passed by the Prophet ﷺ man by man while Jibrīl was with him; whenever one of them passed by, Jibrīl said: How do you regard this one? He said: A wicked servant of Allah. Then Jibrīl said: You are shielded from him. Al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra stumbled, so that an arrow caught his cloak; he wished to sit down but the arrow severed his artery, and he bled to death. Al-Aswad ibn ʿAbd Yaghūth was struck with a branch bearing thorns, with which his face was beaten, so that his eyeballs ran down upon his face; he said afterward: I invoked a curse upon Muḥammad and he invoked a curse upon me, and Allah answered me, and Allah answered him — he invoked upon me that I should be blind, and so it has become; and I invoked upon him that he should be alone and forsaken in Yathrib, and so it has been. Al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil trod upon a thorn and his flesh fell from his bones piece by piece until he died. Al-Aswad ibn al-Muṭṭalib and ʿAdī ibn Qays: one of them rose in the night thirsty and drank water from a jug, but kept drinking until his belly burst and he died; the other was bitten by a snake and died.
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us on the authority of ʿAbd al-Razzāq, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda and ʿUthmān, on the authority of Miqsam — freedman of Ibn ʿAbbās — concerning إِنَّا كَفَيْنَاكَ الْمُسْتَهْزِئِينَ — then he mentioned a like report.
Bishr related to us on the authority of Qatāda: كَمَا أَنزَلْنَا عَلَى الْمُقْتَسِمِينَ * الَّذِينَ جَعَلُوا الْقُرْآنَ عِضِينَ — a group of five from Quraysh who reworked the Book of Allah: some claimed it was sorcery, some that it was poetry, some that it was tales of the ancients. As for the first of them: al-Aswad ibn ʿAbd Yaghūth — he approached the Prophet of Allah ﷺ while he was at the House, and the angel said to him: How do you regard this one? He said: A wicked servant of Allah — but he is my uncle. He said: We have shielded you from him. Then al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra, ʿAdī ibn Qays the brother of the Banū Sahm, al-Aswad ibn al-Muṭṭalib, and al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil passed by, and each time the angel said: We have shielded you from him. Al-Aswad ibn ʿAbd Yaghūth was struck with a thorn-branch with which his face was beaten until his eyeballs ran down upon his face; he said afterward: Muḥammad invoked a curse upon me and I invoked a curse upon him — Allah answered him and answered me. Al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra stumbled and his cloak caught a stray arrow; he was wounded in all that concerned it and died. Al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil trod upon a thorn and his flesh fell limb by limb until he thus died. Al-Aswad ibn al-Muṭṭalib and ʿAdī ibn Qays — I do not know what befell them.
It is related to us that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ, on the day of Badr, forbade his companions to kill Abū al-Bukhtarī, and said: Take him captive, for he had acted in his favor. The companions of the Prophet ﷺ said to him: O Abū al-Bukhtarī, we are forbidden to kill you, so come to safety and protection. Abū al-Bukhtarī said: And my cousin too? They said: We have been commanded only concerning you. They offered it to him three times but he refused unless his cousin also came along; he spoke harshly to the Prophet ﷺ, so that a man of the people thrust at him and killed him. His killer approached as though a mountain rested upon his back weighing him down out of fear that the Prophet ﷺ would rebuke him; but when his words were conveyed to him, the Prophet ﷺ said: "May Allah ruin and destroy him." And they — the mockers — are those concerning whom Allah said: إِنَّا كَفَيْنَاكَ الْمُسْتَهْزِئِينَ — the five concerning whom it was said إِنَّا كَفَيْنَاكَ الْمُسْتَهْزِئِينَ — they mocked the Book of Allah and His Prophet ﷺ.
Al-Muthannā related to me on the authority of Shibl, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — إِنَّا كَفَيْنَاكَ الْمُسْتَهْزِئِينَ : They are of Quraysh.
Al-Muthannā related to me — Ibn Abī Bazza claimed: they are al-ʿĀṣ ibn Wāʾil al-Sahmī, al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra al-Waḥīd, al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAdī ibn Sahm ibn al-ʿAyṭala, al-Aswad ibn al-Muṭṭalib ibn Asad ibn ʿAbd al-ʿUzzā ibn Quṣayy — he is Abū Zamʿa — and al-Aswad ibn ʿAbd Yaghūth — he is the cousin of the Mother of the Believers on the side of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Al-Qāsim related to us on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — like the report of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Thawr, except that he said: They were eight, and then he enumerated them and said: They all died before Badr.