Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:260
And [mention] when Abraham said, "My Lord, show me how You give life to the dead." [Allah] said, "Have you not believed?" He said, "Yes, but [I ask] only that my heart may be satisfied." [Allah] said, "Take four birds and commit them to yourself. Then [after slaughtering them] put on each hill a portion of them; then call them - they will come [flying] to you in haste. And know that Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise."
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.
وإذ قال إبراهيم رب أرني كيف تحيي الموتى قال أولم تؤمن قال بلى ولكن ليطمئن قلبي (And when Ibrāhīm said: "My Lord, show me how You bring the dead to life." He said: "Do you then not believe?" He said: "Yes indeed, but so that my heart may be at rest.")
**The statement concerning the interpretation of the words of the Exalted: وإذ قال إبراهيم رب أرني كيف تحيي الموتى قال أولم تؤمن قال بلى ولكن ليطمئن قلبي**
The Exalted — may His praise be exalted — means by this: "Have you not seen when Ibrāhīm said: 'My Lord, show me…'." It is correct to connect the words وإذ قال إبراهيم ("And when Ibrāhīm said") to His words أو كالذي مر على قرية ("Or like the one who passed by a town") and to His words ألم تر إلى الذي حاج إبراهيم في ربه ("Have you not seen the one who disputed with Ibrāhīm about his Lord?"), because the words ألم تر ("Have you not seen?") do not mean: "Have you not seen with your eyes," but rather mean: "Have you not seen with your heart," which thus means: "Have you not known, so that you ponder it?" Although the wording is therefore the wording of seeing (ruʾya), it is sometimes connected to by an expression that accords with its wording, and sometimes by what accords with its meaning.
The people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning the occasion of Ibrāhīm's asking his Lord to show him how He brings the dead to life.
Some of them said: his asking his Lord about that came about because he saw an animal that had been torn to pieces by beasts of prey and birds, and he asked his Lord to show him how He would bring it back to life, while its flesh was scattered in the bellies of the birds of the air and the beasts of prey of the earth — so that he might witness that with his own eyes and thus, in addition to his knowledge of it by report, increase in certainty by seeing it with his own eyes. Thereupon Allah showed him that as an example, in the manner that He mentioned He commanded him.
Mention of those who said that:
4661 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His words: وإذ قال إبراهيم رب أرني كيف تحيي الموتى ("And when Ibrāhīm said: 'My Lord, show me how You bring the dead to life'"): it has been related to us that the friend of Allah, Ibrāhīm — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — came upon an animal that had been torn to pieces by the beasts and the predators, whereupon he said: رب أرني كيف تحيي الموتى قال أولم تؤمن قال بلى ولكن ليطمئن قلبي ("My Lord, show me how You bring the dead to life." He said: "Do you then not believe?" He said: "Yes indeed, but so that my heart may be at rest").
4662 — It has been related to us on the authority of al-Ḥasan, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His words: رب أرني كيف تحيي الموتى ("My Lord, show me how You bring the dead to life"): he said: Ibrāhīm passed by a dead animal that had decomposed and that had been divided into pieces by the winds and the beasts of prey. He stood looking and said: "Exalted is Allah, how does Allah bring this to life?" — while he knew that Allah is capable of that. That, then, is His words: رب أرني كيف تحيي الموتى ("My Lord, show me how You bring the dead to life").
4663 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said: it reached me that Ibrāhīm, while walking along the road, suddenly came upon the carcass of a donkey, upon which there were beasts of prey and birds that had torn its flesh, and only its bones remained. When the beasts of prey had gone away and the birds had flown off to the mountains and the hills, he stood still and marveled. Then he said: "My Lord, I know for certain that You will gather it from the bellies of these beasts of prey and birds. رب أرني كيف تحيي الموتى قال أولم تؤمن قال بلى ('My Lord, show me how You bring the dead to life.' He said: 'Do you then not believe?' He said: 'Yes indeed') — but the report is not like beholding with the eyes."
4664 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: Ibrāhīm passed by a fish, half of which lay on the land and the other half in the sea. What of it was in the sea, the sea creatures ate of it, and what of it was on the land, the beasts of prey and the land animals ate of it. Then the wicked one (al-khabīth) said to him: "O Ibrāhīm, when will Allah gather this from the bellies of these animals?" Thereupon he said: "O my Lord, show me how You bring the dead to life!" He said: "Do you then not believe?" He said: "Yes indeed, but so that my heart may be at rest."
Others said: no, the occasion of his asking his Lord about that was the dispute and the disputation that took place between him and Nimrod concerning that.
Mention of those who said that:
4665 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to me, saying: when there occurred between Ibrāhīm and his people what occurred — that which Allah has narrated in Surah Al-Anbiyāʾ — Nimrod said to Ibrāhīm, according to what they relate: "What do you think of this god of yours whom you worship and to whose worship you call, and of whose power you make mention, by which you exalt him above others — what is he?" Ibrāhīm said to him: "My Lord is He who gives life and causes death." Nimrod said: "I give life and cause death." Thereupon Ibrāhīm said to him: "How then do you give life and cause death?" — Then he mentioned what Allah has narrated of his disputation with him. He said: Thereupon Ibrāhīm said on that occasion: رب أرني كيف تحيي الموتى قال أولم تؤمن قال بلى ولكن ليطمئن قلبي ("My Lord, show me how You bring the dead to life." He said: "Do you then not believe?" He said: "Yes indeed, but so that my heart may be at rest") — without doubt about Allah — may His praise be exalted — nor about His power; but he wished to know that with his own eyes, and his heart longed for it, and therefore he said: "So that my heart may be at rest," that is to say: [at rest concerning] that for which it longs once he comes to know it.
These two statements — I mean the first and this last one — are close to one another in meaning, in that Ibrāhīm's asking his Lord to show him how He brings the dead to life was so that he might behold with his own eyes what he already possessed of knowledge of it by report.
Others said: no, his asking his Lord about that came at the time of the glad tidings that reached him from Allah, namely that He had taken him as an intimate friend (khalīl). Thereupon he asked his Lord to show him forthwith a sign of that, so that his heart might be at rest [in the knowledge] that He had chosen him as an intimate friend for Himself, and so that that might be a confirmation of the certainty he already possessed.
Mention of those who said that:
4666 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: when Allah had taken Ibrāhīm as an intimate friend (khalīl), the Angel of Death asked his Lord to permit him to bring Ibrāhīm glad tidings of that, and He permitted him. He came to Ibrāhīm, but he was not at home, and he entered his house. Ibrāhīm was the most jealously protective (ghayūr) of people: when he went out, he locked the door. When he came, he found in his house a man, and he rushed at him to seize him. He said: "Who permitted you to enter my house?" The Angel of Death said: "The Lord of this house gave me permission." Ibrāhīm said: "You have spoken the truth!" — and he knew that it was the Angel of Death. He said: "Who are you?" He said: "I am the Angel of Death. I have come to you to bring you glad tidings that Allah has taken you as an intimate friend." Thereupon he praised Allah and said: "O Angel of Death, show me the form in which you take the souls of the unbelievers (kuffār)." He said: "O Ibrāhīm, you cannot bear that." He said: "Yes indeed [I can]." He said: "Turn away, then!" Ibrāhīm turned away and then looked at him, and behold: there was a black man whose head reached up to the sky, from whose mouth flames of fire rose, and there was no hair on his body but it had the form of a black man from whose mouth and ears flames of fire rose. Thereupon Ibrāhīm fell unconscious, and when he came to again, the Angel of Death had already returned to his first form. Then he said: "O Angel of Death, even if the unbeliever (kāfir) were to undergo at death nothing of trial and grief except your form, that would be enough for him. Now show me how you take the souls of the believers!" He said: "Turn away, then!" Ibrāhīm turned away and then turned around, and behold: there was a young man, the most beautiful of face and the most pleasant of scent of all people, clad in white garments. Then he said: "O Angel of Death, even if the believer were to have with his Lord nothing of delight of the eye and honor except this form of yours, that would be enough for him." Thereupon the Angel of Death departed, and Ibrāhīm arose to call upon his Lord, saying: رب أرني كيف تحيي الموتى ("My Lord, show me how You bring the dead to life") — until I know that I am Your intimate friend. قال أولم تؤمن ("He said: 'Do you then not believe'") — that I have taken you as an intimate friend — that is to say: "Do you not believe that?" قال بلى ولكن ليطمئن قلبي ("He said: 'Yes indeed, but so that my heart may be at rest'") through your intimate friendship (khulla).
4667 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Thābit related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning ولكن ليطمئن قلبي ("but so that my heart may be at rest"): he said: through the intimate friendship (khulla).
Others said: he said that to his Lord because he doubted Allah's power to bring the dead to life.
Mention of those who said that:
4668 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Ayyūb, concerning His words: ولكن ليطمئن قلبي ("but so that my heart may be at rest"): he said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: there is in the Qurʾān for me no verse more conducive to hope than this.
4669 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: I heard Zayd ibn ʿAlī relate on the authority of a man, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, who said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās and ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr made an appointment to come together — he said: and we were at that time still youths — and one said to the other: "Which verse in the Book of Allah is the most conducive to hope for this community (umma)?" ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr said: يا عبادي الذين أسرفوا على أنفسهم ("O My servants who have acted excessively against themselves") (39:53), to the end of the verse. Thereupon Ibn ʿAbbās said: "As for you, you say that it is that, but what is more conducive to hope for this community than that, are the words of Ibrāhīm — may Allah bless him and grant him peace: رب أرني كيف تحيي الموتى قال أولم تؤمن قال بلى ولكن ليطمئن قلبي ('My Lord, show me how You bring the dead to life.' He said: 'Do you then not believe?' He said: 'Yes indeed, but so that my heart may be at rest')."
4670 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: I asked ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ concerning His words: وإذ قال إبراهيم رب أرني كيف تحيي الموتى قال أولم تؤمن قال بلى ولكن ليطمئن قلبي ("And when Ibrāhīm said: 'My Lord, show me how You bring the dead to life.' He said: 'Do you then not believe?' He said: 'Yes indeed, but so that my heart may be at rest'"). He said: there entered into the heart of Ibrāhīm something of what enters into the hearts of people, and therefore he said: رب أرني كيف تحيي الموتى قال أولم تؤمن قال بلى ("My Lord, show me how You bring the dead to life." He said: "Do you then not believe?" He said: "Yes indeed…") قال فخذ أربعة من الطير ("He said: 'Take then four birds'") in order to show it to him.
4671 — Zakariyyā ibn Yaḥyā ibn Abān al-Miṣrī related to me, they said: Saʿīd ibn Talīd related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Bakr ibn Muḍar related to me, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥārith, on the authority of Yūnus ibn Yazīd, on the authority of Ibn Shihāb, who said: Abū Salama ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān and Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib informed me, on the authority of Abū Hurayra: that the Messenger of Allah — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — said: "We have more right to doubt than Ibrāhīm, when he said: 'My Lord, show me how You bring the dead to life.' He said: 'Do you then not believe?' He said: 'Yes indeed, but so that my heart may be at rest'."
* — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Yūnus informed me, on the authority of Ibn Shihāb and Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyib, on the authority of Abū Hurayra: that the Messenger of Allah — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — said: and he mentioned something similar.
The correct of these statements concerning the interpretation of the verse is that which has been established by the authentic narration from the Messenger of Allah — may [Allah bless him] — namely that he said: "We have more right to doubt than Ibrāhīm, when he said: 'My Lord, show me how You bring the dead to life.' He said: 'Do you then not believe?'" — and that his asking his Lord to show him what he asked Him, namely the bringing of the dead to life, was on account of a whispering of Satan (al-shayṭān) that arose in his heart, as in what we just mentioned from Ibn Zayd: that when Ibrāhīm saw the fish, part of which lay on the land and part in the sea, and which had been devoured in turn by the land animals, the sea creatures, and the birds of the air, Satan whispered into his soul, so that he said: "When will Allah gather this from the bellies of these animals?" Thereupon Ibrāhīm at that moment asked his Lord to show him how He brings the dead to life, so that he might behold that with his own eyes, so that Satan would thereafter no longer be able to whisper into his heart anything like what he whispered into it upon seeing what he saw of that. Thereupon his Lord said to him: أولم تؤمن ("Do you then not believe?") — that is to say: "Do you not believe, O Ibrāhīm, that I am capable of that?" He said: "Yes indeed, O my Lord, but I asked You to show me that so that my heart may be at rest, so that Satan would not be able to whisper into my heart anything like what he did upon my seeing this fish."
4672 — Yūnus related that to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, on the authority of Ibn Zayd.
The meaning of His words: ليطمئن قلبي ("so that my heart may be at rest") is: so that it may come to rest and calm through the certainty that he knows with certainty. This interpretation that we gave concerning it is the interpretation of those who directed the meaning of His words ليطمئن قلبي ("so that my heart may be at rest") to the sense: so that he might increase in faith, or: so that aid might be granted to him.
Mention of those who said that — "so that aid is granted to him," or "so that he increases in certainty or faith":
4673 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Qays ibn Muslim, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning ليطمئن قلبي ("so that my heart may be at rest"): he said: so that aid is granted to him.
4674 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us. And Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū al-Haytham, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning ليطمئن قلبي ("so that my heart may be at rest"): he said: so that my certainty may increase.
4675 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Zuhayr related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning ولكن ليطمئن قلبي ("but so that my heart may be at rest"): he says: so that it may increase in certainty.
4676 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning ولكن ليطمئن قلبي ("but so that my heart may be at rest"): he said: the prophet of Allah, Ibrāhīm, wished that his certainty might increase upon his certainty.
* — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar said and Qatāda said: so that he might increase in certainty.
4677 — It has been related to us on the authority of ʿAmmār, who said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning ولكن ليطمئن قلبي ("but so that my heart may be at rest"): he said: Ibrāhīm wished to increase in certainty.
* — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Kathīr al-Baṣrī related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, saying: Abū al-Haytham related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning ليطمئن قلبي ("so that my heart may be at rest"): he said: so that my certainty may increase.
* — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Faḍl ibn Dukayn related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū al-Haytham, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning ولكن ليطمئن قلبي ("but so that my heart may be at rest"): he said: so that he might increase in certainty.
4678 — Ṣāliḥ ibn Mismār related to us, saying: Zayd ibn al-Ḥubāb related to us, saying: Khalaf ibn Khalīfa related to us, saying: Layth ibn Abī Sulaym related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid and Ibrāhīm, concerning His words: ليطمئن قلبي ("so that my heart may be at rest"): he said: so that I might increase in faith alongside my faith.
* — Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Zayd related to us, saying: Ziyād informed us, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh al-ʿĀmirī, who said: Layth related to us, on the authority of Abū al-Haytham, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning the words of Allah: ليطمئن قلبي ("so that my heart may be at rest"): he said: so that I might increase in faith alongside my faith.
And we have already previously mentioned the statement of those who said: the meaning of His words ليطمئن قلبي ("so that my heart may be at rest") is: [so that my heart may be at rest in the knowledge] that I am Your intimate friend.
Others said: the meaning of His words ليطمئن قلبي ("so that my heart may be at rest") is: so that I might know that You answer me when I call upon You and give to me when I ask You.
Mention of those who said that:
4679 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His words: ليطمئن قلبي ("so that my heart may be at rest"): he said: so that I might know that You answer me when I call upon You, and give to me when I ask You.
As for the interpretation of His words: قال أولم تؤمن ("He said: 'Do you then not believe?'"), it is: "Do you not believe?", as in:
4680 — Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī. And Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Qays ibn Muslim, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning His words: أولم تؤمن ("Do you then not believe?"): he said: "Are you not certain that you are my intimate friend?"
4681 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His words: أولم تؤمن ("Do you then not believe?"): he said: "Are you not certain?"
**قال فخذ أربعة من الطير** (He said: "Take then four birds.")
**The statement concerning the interpretation of the words of the Exalted: قال فخذ أربعة من الطير**
The Exalted — may His praise be exalted — means by this: Allah said to him: "Take then four birds." It has been mentioned that the four birds were: the rooster, the peacock, the crow, and the dove.
Mention of those who said that:
4682 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to me, on the authority of some of the scholars: that the People of the First Book (ahl al-kitāb al-awwal) mention that he took a peacock, a rooster, a crow, and a dove.
4683 — Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: the four birds are: the rooster, the peacock, the crow, and the dove.
4684 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me: قال فخذ أربعة من الطير ("He said: 'Take then four birds'"): Ibn Jurayj said: they alleged that they were a rooster, a crow, a peacock, and a dove.
4685 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: قال فخذ أربعة من الطير ("He said: 'Take then four birds'"): he said: he took a peacock, a dove, a crow, and a rooster, differing in kinds and colors.
**فصرهن إليك** (and draw them to you / cut them into pieces toward you)
**The statement concerning the interpretation of the words of the Exalted: فصرهن إليك**
The reciters (qurrāʾ) differed over the reading of it. The majority of the reciters of Medina, the Ḥijāz, and Basra read it فصرهن إليك (fa-ṣurhunna) with a ḍamma on the ṣād, derived from the saying of one: "ṣurtu ilā hādhā al-amr" — "I inclined to it" — "aṣūru ṣawran". One also says: "innī ilaykum la-aṣwaru," that is to say: longing and inclined. Of that too is the saying of the poet:
*Allah knows that we, in ourselves, ever look back, on the day of parting, toward our beloved ones, [yearningly] inclined (ṣūr)*
And "ṣūr" is the plural of "aṣwar," "ṣawrāʾ," and "ṣūr," like "aswad" and "sawdāʾ." Of that too is the saying of al-Ṭirimmāḥ:
*Chaste, except that, or that passion (hawā) makes her incline, and passion fells the lovers to the ground*
By his words "or that passion makes her incline" he means: makes her lean over. The meaning of His words فصرهن إليك is therefore: draw them to you and direct them toward you, direct them toward you, as one says: "ṣir wajhaka ilayya," that is to say: turn it toward me. Whoever directs the words فصرهن إليك to this interpretation, for his view there is something omitted in the sentence, the mention of which has been left out because the apparent meaning indicates it. The meaning, then, according to him is: "He said: take four birds and draw them to you, then cut them into pieces, then place on each mountain a part of them."
It is also possible that the meaning of it, when it is read thus with a ḍamma on the ṣād, is "cut them into pieces," as Tawba ibn al-Ḥumayyir said:
*When I pulled on the rope, its thongs creaked about the ends of the stakes, with strong bindings; it brought the means [near to me] until I reached her by my standing up, while my climbing cut it [the rope] through (yaṣūruhā)*
— that is to say: cuts it through. And when that is the interpretation of His words "fa-ṣurhunna," then "ilayka" belongs to the complement of "khudh" ("take").
A group from Kūfa read it "fa-ṣirhunna ilayka" with a kasra, with the meaning "cut them into pieces." A group of the grammarians of Kūfa, however, claimed that they do not know "fa-ṣurhunna" nor "fa-ṣirhunna" in the meaning of "cut them into pieces" in the usage of the Arabs, and that they do not know the kasra of the ṣād in it as a dialectal form in [the tribes of] Hudhayl and Sulaym; and they cited [as evidence] a verse by a member of the Banū Sulaym:
*And a lock of hair that makes the neck incline (yaṣīru), thick and luxuriant, as though they were on the neck the hanging clusters of the grapevines*
By his words "yaṣīru" he means: makes [it] lean over. And [they hold] that the speakers of this dialect say: "ṣārūhu wa-huwa yaṣīruhu ṣayran," and "ṣir wajhaka ilayya," that is to say: make it lean over, as you say: "ṣurhu."
One of the grammarians of Kūfa claimed that he knows no basis for His words فصرهن ("fa-ṣurhunna"), nor for the reading of one who read "fa-ṣirhunna" — with a ḍamma on the ṣād and with a kasra — in the meaning of "cutting into pieces," unless "fa-ṣirhunna ilayka" in the reading of one who read it with a kasra on the ṣād belongs to the inverted (al-maqlūb), namely that the lām of the verb has been placed in the position of its ʿayn, and its ʿayn in the position of its lām, so that it is derived from "ṣarā yaṣrī ṣaryan." For the Arabs say: "bāta yaṣrī fī ḥawḍihi" when he draws water and then cuts it off and draws again. Of that too is the saying of the poet:
*A cut-off glance (ṣarrat naẓra) — had it struck the breast of an armored one, he would lie [dead] in the morning, while the veins of blood flow from within*
"Ṣarrat": cut off — [that is to say] a glance. Of that too is the saying of another:
*They say that Syria kills its inhabitants; who then remains to me when I do not come there with immortality? My fathers pitched their tents there — would that death had cut them off (ṣarāhum), so that they had not gone [there], and my grandfathers!*
— that is to say: cut them off. Then his yāʾ, which is the lām of the verb, was transposed and made the ʿayn of the verb, and his ʿayn was shifted and made his lām, so that one said "ṣāra yaṣīru," as one said: "ʿathiya yaʿthā ʿathan," after which his lām was shifted and made his ʿayn, so that one said "ʿātha yaʿīthu."
As for the grammarians of Basra, they said: فصرهن إليك has the same meaning, whether it is read with the ḍamma on the ṣād or with the kasra, in that by it in this place cutting into pieces is meant. They said: they are two dialectal forms: one is "ṣāra yaṣūru" and the other is "ṣāra yaṣīru." They cited as evidence for that the verse of Tawba ibn al-Ḥumayyir that we mentioned earlier, and the verse of al-Muʿallā ibn Jamāl al-ʿAbdī:
*There came a herd of grayish-brown [goats], pure choice animals; a dark-brown [buck] without ears separates and divides their kids (yaṣūru ʿunūqahā)*
— with the meaning: separates their kids and cuts them [apart]. And [they cited] the verse of al-Khansāʾ:
*…so that the high [mountains] (al-shumm) of it remained, while they split (tanṣāru)*
By "al-shumm" she means: the mountains, [namely] that they crack and split. And [they cited] the verse of Abū Dhuʾayb:
*They turned away in fear, and its openings were blocked by dust-colored rending [hounds], two complete and one with a cropped ear*
They said: the saying of one "ṣurtu al-shayʾa" has two meanings: I made it lean over, and I cut it into pieces. And they transmitted as heard [usage]: "ṣirnā bihi al-ḥukm" — we passed judgment by it.
This statement that we mentioned from the Basrans — namely that the meaning of the ḍamma on the ṣād in His words فصرهن إليك and that of the kasra is the same and has one meaning, and that they are two dialectal forms whose meaning in this place is "then cut them into pieces," and that the meaning of "ilayka" is that it is fronted before "fa-ṣurhunna" because it is a complement of His words "fa-khudh" ("take") — is more in accord with the correct than the statement of those whose view we transmitted from the grammarians of Kūfa, who denied that there would be in it any intelligible basis for cutting into pieces except on the grounds of the inversion (qalb) that I mentioned. This is on account of the consensus of the people of interpretation that the meaning of His words فصرهن does not fall outside one of two meanings: either "cut them into pieces," or "draw them to you" — whether it is read with the kasra or with the ḍamma.
In the consensus of all of them concerning that, without their paying heed to the kasra or the ḍamma of the ṣād, and without their distinguishing between the meanings of the two readings — I mean the kasra and the ḍamma — lies the clearest evidence for the soundness of the statement of the adherents among the grammarians of Basra, namely the statement that we transmitted from them, and for the unsoundness of the statement of the grammarians of Kūfa. For if they had interpreted His words فصرهن only in the meaning of "then cut them into pieces" on the grounds that the original form of the expression would be "fa-ṣirhunna" [from "fāṣirhunna"], and that it was then inverted so that one said "fa-ṣirhunna" with a kasra on the ṣād — by the transposition of the yāʾ of "fāṣirhunna" to the position of its rāʾ and the shifting of its rāʾ to the position of its yāʾ — then they would undoubtedly, with their knowledge of their language and their insight into their speech, have distinguished between the meaning of it when it is read with a kasra on the ṣād and that of it when it is read with a ḍamma; for it is not permissible that one who inverts "fāṣirhunna" into "fa-ṣirhunna" should read it as "fa-ṣurhunna" with a ḍamma on the ṣād. But they have, despite their difference in reading it, interpreted it in one and the same way, according to one of the two meanings that we mentioned. In that lies the clearest evidence for the unsoundness of the statement of one who said: that this, when it is read with a kasra on the ṣād with the interpretation of "cutting into pieces," is inverted from "ṣarā yaṣrī" to "ṣāra yaṣīru," and for the ignorance of one who claimed that the saying of one "ṣāra yaṣūru" and "ṣāra yaṣīru" is not known in the usage of the Arabs in the meaning of "cutting."
Mention of those whom we were able to find who said, in the interpretation of the words of Allah — may His praise be exalted — فصرهن, that it has the meaning of "then cut them into pieces":
4686 — Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn al-Ṣalt related to us, saying: Abū Kudayna related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning فصرهن: he said: it is Nabataean [and means]: cut them into pieces.
4687 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Jamra, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he said concerning this verse: فخذ أربعة من الطير فصرهن إليك ("Take then four birds and draw them to you"): he said: it is only a parable. He said: cut them into pieces, then place them in the four corners of the world, a part here and a part there, then call them, and they will come to you hastening.
4688 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning فصرهن: he said: cut them into pieces.
4689 — Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Ḥuṣayn informed us, on the authority of Abū Mālik, concerning His words: فصرهن إليك: he says: cut them into pieces.
* — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, saying: Hushaym informed us, on the authority of Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of Abū Mālik, something similar.
4690 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Saʿīd, concerning فصرهن: he said: he placed the wing of this one by the head of that one, and the head of that one by the wing of this one.
4691 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of his father, who said: Abū ʿAmr claimed, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His words: فصرهن إليك: he said: ʿIkrima said: in Nabataean [it means]: cut them into pieces.
4692 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Yaḥyā, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning فصرهن إليك: he said: cut them into pieces.
4693 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning فصرهن إليك: pluck them of their feathers and their flesh, [tear them] to pieces, then mix their flesh with their feathers.
* — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning فصرهن إليك: he said: pluck them of their feathers and their flesh, [tear them] to pieces.
4694 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning فصرهن إليك: the prophet of Allah — peace be upon him — was commanded to take four birds and to slaughter them, then to mix together their flesh, their feathers, and their blood.
4695 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His words: فصرهن إليك: he said: tear them apart. He said: he was commanded to mix the bloods with the bloods and the feathers with the feathers, then to place on each mountain a part of them.
4696 — It has been related to us on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk [say]: فصرهن إليك: he says: cut them into pieces — it is in Nabataean "ṣarā," and that is cutting into pieces.
4697 — Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning فصرهن إليك: he says: cut them into pieces.
4698 — It has been related to us on the authority of ʿAmmār, who said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His words: فصرهن إليك: he says: cut them into pieces toward you and tear them apart thoroughly.
4699 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: فصرهن إليك: that is to say: cut them into pieces — and that is "al-ṣawr" in the usage of the Arabs.
In what we have mentioned of the statements of those whom we transmitted in the interpretation of His words فصرهن إليك, namely that it has the meaning of "then cut them into pieces toward you," lies a clear indication of the soundness of what we said concerning it, and of the unsoundness of the statement of one who contradicted us in that. And since that is so, it is all the same whether the reciter reads this with a ḍamma on the ṣād, "fa-ṣurhunna ilayka," or with the kasra of it, "fa-ṣirhunna," since the two dialectal forms are known with one and the same meaning. Although the matter is so, however, the dearer of the two to me for reciting is "fa-ṣurhunna ilayka" with a ḍamma on the ṣād, because that is the loftier of the two dialectal forms, the most well-known and the most frequent among the living [tribes] of the Arabs.
With a small number of the people of interpretation it has the meaning of "bind them firmly (awthiq)."
Mention of those who said that:
4700 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my paternal uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning فصرهن إليك: "ṣurhunna" [means]: bind them firmly.
4701 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: I said to ʿAṭāʾ [concerning] His words: فصرهن إليك: he said: draw them to you.
4702 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: فصرهن إليك: he said: bring them together.
**ثم اجعل على كل جبل منهن جزءا ثم ادعهن يأتينك سعيا** (Then place on each mountain a part of them, then call them, and they will come to you hastening.)
**The statement concerning the interpretation of the words of the Exalted: ثم اجعل على كل جبل منهن جزءا ثم ادعهن يأتينك سعيا**
The people of interpretation differed concerning the interpretation of His words: ثم اجعل على كل جبل منهن جزءا ("Then place on each mountain a part of them").
Some of them said: by it is meant: on each quarter of the quarters of the world a part of them.
Mention of those who said that:
4703 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Jamra, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning ثم اجعل على كل جبل منهن جزءا ("Then place on each mountain a part of them"): he said: place them in the four quarters of the world: a quarter here, a quarter there, a quarter here, and a quarter there, then call them, and they will come to you hastening.
* — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my paternal uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning ثم اجعل على كل جبل منهن جزءا: he said: when he had bound them, he slaughtered them, then placed on each mountain a part of them.
4704 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: the prophet of Allah was commanded to take four birds and to slaughter them, then to mix together their flesh, their feathers, and their blood, and then to distribute them over four mountains. It has been related to us that he bound their wings [together] and held their heads in his hand, and then the bone went to the bone, the feather to the feather, and the piece of flesh to the piece of flesh — and that before the eyes of the friend of Allah, Ibrāhīm — may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Then he called them, and they came to him hastening on their legs, while each bird met its head. This is a parable that Allah set forth for Ibrāhīm. He says: as He raised up these birds from these four mountains, so does Allah raise up the people on the Day of Resurrection from the quarters of the earth and its regions.
4705 — It has been related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, who said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, who said: he slaughtered them, then cut them into pieces, then mixed their flesh with their feathers, then divided them into four parts and placed on each mountain a part of them. Then the bone went to the bone, the feather to the feather, and the piece of flesh to the piece of flesh — and that before the eyes of the friend of Allah, Ibrāhīm. Then he called them, and they came to him hastening — he says: swiftly on their legs. This is a parable that Allah showed Ibrāhīm. He says: as I raised up these birds from these four mountains, so does Allah raise up the people on the Day of Resurrection from the quarters of the earth and its regions.
4706 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Ibn Isḥāq related to us, on the authority of some of the scholars: that the People of the Book (ahl al-kitāb) mention that he took the four birds, then cut each bird into four parts, then betook himself to four mountains and placed on each mountain a quarter of each bird — so that on each mountain there lay a quarter of the peacock, a quarter of the rooster, a quarter of the crow, and a quarter of the dove. Then he called them and said: "Come, by the permission of Allah, as you were!" Then each quarter of them leaped toward its companion until they came together, and each bird became as it was before he cut it into pieces. Then they came to him hastening, as Allah said. And it was said: "O Ibrāhīm, thus does Allah bring the servants together and raise the dead to life for the resurrection, from the easts of the earth and its wests, its north and its south." Thus did Allah show him the bringing of the dead to life through His power, until he knew that, apart from what Nimrod had spoken of lie and falsehood.
4707 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: ثم اجعل على كل جبل منهن جزءا ("Then place on each mountain a part of them"): he said: he took a peacock, a dove, a crow, and a rooster, and then it was said: divide them, place the head of each and the breast of another and the two wings of another and the legs of another together! Then he cut them into pieces and divided them in quarters over the mountains, and then he called them and they all came to him. Thereupon Allah said: as you called them and they came to you, and as you brought these to life and gathered them after this, so do I also gather these — He means the dead.
Others said: no, the meaning of it is: then place on each mountain of the mountains upon which the birds and the beasts of prey were that ate of the flesh of the animal that Ibrāhīm saw dead, [a part] — upon seeing which Ibrāhīm asked Him to show him how He brings it and the rest of the dead besides that to life. They said: they were seven mountains.
Mention of those who said that:
4708 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: when Ibrāhīm said what he said upon seeing the animal from which the birds and the beasts of prey dispersed when he approached it, and he asked his Lord what he asked, He said: "Take then four birds" — Ibn Jurayj said: and he slaughtered them — "then mix together their bloods, their feathers, and their flesh, then place on each mountain a part of them, there where you saw the birds go and the beasts of prey!" He said: then he divided them into seven parts and kept their heads with him, and then he called them by the permission of Allah. Then he saw how each drop of blood flew to the other drop, each feather flew to the other feather, and each piece of flesh and each bone of [parts of] itself flew toward each other from the tops of the mountains, until each body met its parts in the air. Then they came forward hastening until [each body] reached its head.
4709 — Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: "Take then four birds and draw them to you, then place them on seven mountains, and place on each mountain a part of them, then call them, and they will come to you hastening!" Then Ibrāhīm took four birds and cut them into limbs, without placing a limb of the one bird with its companion; then he placed the head of this one by the leg of that one, and the breast of this one by the wing of that one, and divided them over seven mountains. Then he called them, and each limb flew to its companion, and then they all came to him.
Others said: no, Allah commanded him to place that on each mountain.
Mention of those who said that:
4710 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning ثم اجعل على كل جبل منهن جزءا: he said: then scatter them over each mountain, [and] they will come to you hastening — and thus does Allah bring the dead to life.
* — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: then place them as parts on each mountain, then call them, [and] they will come to you hastening; thus does Allah bring the dead to life. It is a parable that Allah set forth for Ibrāhīm.
* — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ibn Jurayj said: Mujāhid said: ثم اجعل على كل جبل منهن جزءا: then scatter them as parts over each mountain, then call them: "Come, by the permission of Allah!" And thus does Allah bring the dead to life — a parable that Allah set forth for Ibrāhīm — may Allah bless him and grant him peace.
4711 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to me, saying: Abū Zuhayr related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, who said: He commanded him to place their legs, their heads, and their wings intermingled, and then to place on each mountain a part of them.
* — It has been related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His words: ثم اجعل على كل جبل منهن جزءا: then Ibrāhīm placed their legs and their wings intermingled.
The correct of the interpretations concerning the verse is what Mujāhid said, namely that Allah — may His praise be exalted — commanded Ibrāhīm to scatter the limbs of the four birds, after he had cut them into pieces, over all the mountains that Ibrāhīm could reach at the moment that Allah commanded him to scatter that and to lay it out as parts over them. For Allah — may His praise be exalted — said to him: ثم اجعل على كل جبل منهن جزءا ("Then place on each mountain a part of them"), and "kull" ("each/all") is a word that indicates the comprehending of that to which it is annexed; its form is singular and its meaning is plural. Since that is so, the mountains over which Allah commanded Ibrāhīm to scatter the parts of the four birds cannot but fall outside one of two meanings: either a part [of the mountains], or all [the mountains]. If it was a part, then it is not permissible that that part be anything other than that over which Ibrāhīm had the ability to scatter the limbs of the four birds. Or it is the whole, and then it is likewise. Allah — may His praise be exalted — has, however, reported that He commanded him to place that on each mountain, and that is either each mountain — while Ibrāhīm knew them individually — or [all] the mountains that are on the earth.
As for the statement of one who said: that they were four mountains, and the statement of one who said: they were seven — there is according to us no indication of the soundness of any of that, such that we would allow ourselves to make that statement. Allah commanded Ibrāhīm — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — only to place the four birds as scattered parts on each mountain, in order to show Ibrāhīm His power to gather their parts while they were scattered and cast about in various, differing places, until He would join them together, so that they would return to their form as before their cutting and tearing apart, and before the scattering of their parts over the mountains — as living birds that fly — so that the heart of Ibrāhīm might be at rest and he might know that Allah likewise brings together the limbs of the dead for the raising of the Resurrection, and joins their parts after decay, and returns each limb of their members to its place as it was before the returning.
The "part" (al-juzʾ) of each thing is a portion of it, whether the whole of it is divided over it in an equal manner or is not divided. It thus differs in meaning from the meaning of "al-sahm" (share); for "al-sahm" of a thing is the portion over which the whole of it is divided in an equal manner, and therefore people make frequent use, in their language, when they name their shares from inheritances (mawārīth), of [the word] "al-suhām" (shares) and not of "al-ajzāʾ" (parts).
As for His words: ثم ادعهن ("then call them"), the meaning of it is what I just mentioned from Mujāhid, who said: it is that He commanded him to say to the parts of the birds, after he had scattered them over each mountain: "Come, by the permission of Allah."
If someone were to say: was Ibrāhīm commanded to call them while they were torn apart, as parts on the tops of the mountains, dead — or after they had been brought to life? If he was commanded to call them while they were torn apart and there was no soul in them, what is the sense of commanding something in which there is no life to come? And if he was commanded to call them after they had been brought to life, what need did Ibrāhīm have to call them, while he had already beheld them when they came back to life on the tops of the mountains? — Then it is answered: the command of Allah — may His praise be exalted — to Ibrāhīm — may Allah bless him and grant him peace — to call them while they were scattered parts is only a command of bringing into being (takwīn), like the saying of Allah to those whom He transformed into apes after they had been humans: كونوا قردة خاسئين ("Be despised apes") (2:65) — not a command of devotional worship (taʿabbud), for that would be impossible except after the existence of the one commanded who performs the worship.
**واعلم أن الله عزيز حكيم** (And know that Allah is Almighty, All-Wise.)
**The statement concerning the interpretation of the words of the Exalted: واعلم أن الله عزيز حكيم**
The Exalted — may His praise be exalted — means by this: and know, O Ibrāhīm, that He who brought these birds to life after you had torn them apart and scattered their parts over the mountains, and who then brought them together and returned the soul into them until He made them return to their form as before their scattering, is عزيز ("Almighty") in His grip when He seizes whom He seizes of the tyrants and the arrogant who resisted His command, disobeyed His messengers, and worshiped other than Him, and in His vengeance until He takes vengeance upon them; حكيم ("All-Wise") in His disposition.
4712 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Ibn Isḥāq related to us: واعلم أن الله عزيز حكيم ("And know that Allah is Almighty, All-Wise"): he said: Almighty in His grip, All-Wise in His disposition.
4713 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: واعلم أن الله عزيز ("And know that Allah is Almighty") in His vengeance, حكيم ("All-Wise") in His disposition.
