Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:266
Would one of you like to have a garden of palm trees and grapevines underneath which rivers flow in which he has from every fruit? But he is afflicted with old age and has weak offspring, and it is hit by a whirlwind containing fire and is burned. Thus does Allah make clear to you [His] verses that you might give thought.
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.
The explanation of His word: أَيَوَدُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَنْ تَكُونَ لَهُ جَنَّةٌ مِنْ نَخِيلٍ وَأَعْنَابٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ لَهُ فِيهَا مِنْ كُلِّ الثَّمَرَاتِ وَأَصَابَهُ الْكِبَرُ وَلَهُ ذُرِّيَّةٌ ضُعَفَاءُ فَأَصَابَهَا إِعْصَارٌ فِيهِ نَارٌ فَاحْتَرَقَتْ
(Would any one of you desire that he should possess a garden of date-palms and grapevines, beneath which the rivers flow, and in which he has fruits of every kind, while old age strikes him and he has weak offspring, and then that garden is struck by a whirlwind in which there is fire, so that it is burnt up?)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The meaning of this is: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تُبْطِلُوا صَدَقَاتِكُمْ بِالْمَنِّ وَالأَذَى كَالَّذِي يُنْفِقُ مَالَهُ رِئَاءَ النَّاسِ وَلا يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ فَمَثَلُهُ كَمَثَلِ صَفْوَانٍ عَلَيْهِ تُرَابٌ فَأَصَابَهُ وَابِلٌ فَتَرَكَهُ صَلْدًا لا يَقْدِرُونَ عَلَى شَيْءٍ مِمَّا كَسَبُوا
(O you who believe, do not nullify your charitable gifts by making mention of your favour and by causing hurt, like one who spends his wealth to be seen by people and does not believe in Allah and the Last Day. His likeness is as the likeness of a smooth rock upon which there is dust, which is struck by a downpour that leaves it bare. They have no power over anything of what they have earned.) — أيود أحدكم أن تكون له جنة من نخيل وأعناب تجري من تحتها الأنهار له فيها من كل الثمرات وأصابه الكبر, the entire āya.
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The meaning of His word أيود أحدكم (would any one of you desire) is: would any one of you love — أن تكون له جنة (that he should possess a garden), by which an orchard is meant — من نخيل وأعناب تجري من تحتها الأنهار (of date-palms and grapevines, beneath which the rivers flow), that is to say: beneath the garden — وله فيها من كل الثمرات (and in which he has fruits of every kind). The "hāʾ" in His word له (he) refers back to "one (of you)," and the "hāʾ" and the "alif" in فيها (in which) refer to the garden. وأصابه (and there strikes him), that is to say: and there strikes one of you — الكبر وله ذرية ضعفاء (old age, while he has weak offspring).
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He, whose praise be exalted, made the orchard of date-palms and grapevines — concerning which He, whose praise be exalted, said to His believing servants: "Would any one of you desire that he should possess it" — only a likeness for the spending of the hypocrite (munāfiq), which he spends to be seen by people, and not to seek the good pleasure of Allah. For people — on account of what is shown to them of his charity, and of his bestowing what he bestows, and of his outwardly visible deeds — praise him and laud him for that deed throughout the days of his life, in its beauty which is like the beauty of the orchard. And that is the garden (janna) which Allah, mighty and exalted, set as a likeness for his deed: of date-palms and grapevines, in which he has fruits of every kind. For that deed which he outwardly performs in this world brings him all kinds of good from the transient earthly life: by it he wards off danger from his person, his blood, his wealth, and his offspring; by it he acquires praise and good repute among people; and by it he takes his share of the spoils (maghnam), besides many other things too numerous to enumerate. Thus he has therein all kinds of good in the earthly life, just as He, whose praise be exalted, described the garden which He set as a likeness for his deed as containing fruits of every kind.
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Then He, whose praise be exalted, said: وأصابه الكبر وله ذرية ضعفاء (and old age strikes him, while he has weak offspring), by which it is meant that the owner of the garden is struck by old age — وله ذرية ضعفاء (while he has weak offspring), small children — فأصابها (and then it is struck), that is to say: and the garden is struck — إعصار فيه نار فاحترقت (by a whirlwind in which there is fire, so that it is burnt up). By this it is meant that that garden of his is burnt up by the wind in which the fire is, precisely at the moment when he is in need of it and when, on account of his old age, he is dependent on its fruits, and when he is too weak to cultivate it, and at the moment when his children are small and unable to bring it to life and to tend it. Thus he is left with nothing, at the moment when he was in greatest need of his garden and its fruits, through the calamity that struck it from the whirlwind in which the fire was.
He says: So too is it with him who spends his wealth to be seen by people: Allah extinguishes his light, removes the lustre of his deed, and makes his reward come to nothing until he meets Him, and it returns to him at the moment when he was in greatest need of his deed — when there is for him no longer any possibility of seeking Allah's good pleasure (mustaʿtab), no remission of his sins, and no repentance — and his deed withers away, just as the garden was burnt up which He, whose praise be exalted, described at the old age of its owner and the childish age of his offspring, at the moment when he was in greatest need of it, so that its benefits were lost to him.
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This likeness which Allah set in this āya for those who spend their wealth to be seen by people is the counterpart of that other likeness which He set for them with His word: فَمَثَلُهُ كَمَثَلِ صَفْوَانٍ عَلَيْهِ تُرَابٌ فَأَصَابَهُ وَابِلٌ فَتَرَكَهُ صَلْدًا لا يَقْدِرُونَ عَلَى شَيْءٍ مِمَّا كَسَبُوا (His likeness is as the likeness of a smooth rock upon which there is dust, which is struck by a downpour that leaves it bare; they have no power over anything of what they have earned).
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) have disputed concerning the explanation of this āya. But the purports of their statements about it — even though their wordings diverge — come back to the meaning which we have given concerning it. And the one who has set forth its meaning most clearly and comes closest to what is correct in his statement about it is al-Suddī.
6091 – Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: أيود أحدكم أن تكون له جنةٌ من نخيل وأعناب تجري من تحتها الأنهار له فيها من كل الثمرات وأصابه الكبر وله ذرية ضعفاء فأصابها إعصار فيه نار فاحترقت — this is another likeness for the spending that is done out of ostentation (riyāʾ). He spends his wealth in order to display himself thereby to people, so that his wealth departs from him while he displays himself, and Allah does not reward him for it. Then, when the Day of Resurrection arrives and he is in need of his spending, he finds that ostentation has burnt it up, so that it is lost — just as this man spent on his garden: until, when he had grown old and his family had become numerous and he was in need of his garden, a wind came in which there was a scorching heat (samūm), which burnt up his garden, so that he found nothing of it. So too is it with him who spends out of ostentation.
6092 – 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 the word of Allah, mighty and exalted: أيود أحدكم أن تكون له جنة من نخيل وأعناب (would any one of you desire that he should possess a garden of date-palms and grapevines) — it is like the likeness of him who is negligent in obedience to Allah until he dies. He said, He says: Would any one of you desire to possess a world in which he does not act in obedience to Allah, like the likeness of this man who possesses gardens beneath which the rivers flow, له فيها من كل الثمرات وأصابه الكبر وله ذرية ضعفاء فأصابها إعصارٌ فيه نار فاحترقت (in which he has fruits of every kind, while old age strikes him and he has weak offspring, and then it is struck by a whirlwind in which there is fire, so that it is burnt up)? His likeness after his death is as the likeness of this man when his garden was burnt up while he was old and could not avail it anything, and his children were small and could not avail it anything. So too is the negligent one after death: everything is for him an occasion of regret.
6093 – 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, the like of it.
6094 – Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, who said: ʿUmar asked the people about this āya, but he found no one who satisfied him, until Ibn ʿAbbās, who was standing behind him, said: "O Commander of the Believers, I find something concerning it within myself." He said: Then he turned to him and said: "Come here, why do you reckon yourself lowly?" He said: "This is a likeness which Allah, mighty and exalted, has set, and He said: Would any one of you desire to act, all his life long, with the deeds of the people of good and the people of felicity, until, precisely when he is in greatest need that he should seal it with good — while his life draws to its close and his hour of death approaches — he seals it with a deed of the people of wretchedness, so that he spoils all of that and it is burnt up at the moment when he was in greatest need of it?"
6095 – Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Sulaym, on the authority of Ibn Abī Mulayka: that ʿUmar recited this āya: أيود أحدكم أن تكون له جنة من نخيل وأعناب (Would any one of you desire that he should possess a garden of date-palms and grapevines). He said: "This is a likeness set for man: he performs a pious deed, until, when he is at the end of his life and is in greatest need of it, he performs an evil deed."
6096 – Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: I heard Abū Bakr ibn Abī Mulayka report on the authority of ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr, that he heard him say: ʿUmar asked the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said: "Concerning what do you hold that it was revealed: أيود أحدكم أن تكون له جنة من نخيل وأعناب (Would any one of you desire that he should possess a garden of date-palms and grapevines)?" They said: "Allah knows best." Then ʿUmar became angry and said: "Say, 'we know' or 'we do not know.'" Then Ibn ʿAbbās said: "Within myself I find something concerning it, O Commander of the Believers." ʿUmar said: "Speak, O son of my brother, and do not reckon yourself lowly!" Ibn ʿAbbās said: "It is set as a likeness for a deed." ʿUmar said: "Which deed?" He said: "For a deed." Then ʿUmar said: "A wealthy man who performs good deeds, and then Allah sends him the satan, so that he commits sins until he drowns all his deeds." He (Ibn Jurayj) said: And I heard ʿAbdallāh ibn Abī Mulayka relate something similar on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, which he had heard from him.
6097 – 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 heard Abū Bakr ibn Abī Mulayka report that he heard ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr — Ibn Jurayj said: and I heard ʿAbdallāh ibn Abī Mulayka, who said: I heard Ibn ʿAbbās — both of them said: ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb asked the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he mentioned the like of it, except that ʿUmar said: "For the man who performs good deeds, and then the satan is sent to him so that he commits sins."
6098 – 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 asked ʿAṭāʾ about it — then Ibn Jurayj said: and ʿAbdallāh ibn Kathīr informed me, on the authority of Mujāhid — both of them said: it is set as a likeness for deeds. Ibn Jurayj said: And Ibn ʿAbbās said: it is set as a likeness for the deed. He begins and performs a pious deed, so that it becomes like the garden which is of date-palms and grapevines, beneath which the rivers flow and in which he has fruits of every kind — and then he acts wickedly at the end of his life, and continues acting wickedly until he dies therein, so that the whirlwind in which the fire is, which burnt up the garden, is a likeness for the wicked acting in which he died. Ibn ʿAbbās said: The garden is his livelihood and the livelihood of his children, and it was burnt up, so that he was unable to defend his garden on account of his old age, and his offspring were unable to defend their garden on account of their youth, until it was burnt up.
He says: This is his likeness. He meets it [his deed] while he is in greatest need of it of all things, and he finds nothing of it with Me, and he is unable to ward off from himself even the least of Allah's punishment, and he is — on account of his old age and the youth of his children — unable to plant a garden. Thus too there is no repentance when the deed is cut off at the moment when he dies. Ibn Jurayj said, on the authority of Mujāhid: I heard Ibn ʿAbbās say: It is the likeness of him who is negligent in obedience to Allah until he dies. Ibn Jurayj said, and Mujāhid said: Would any one of you desire to possess a world in which he does not act in obedience to Allah, like the likeness of this man who possesses a garden? His likeness after his death is as the likeness of this man when his garden was burnt up while he was old and could not avail it anything, and his children were small and could not avail him anything. So too is the negligent one after death: everything is for him an occasion of regret.
6099 – Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: أيود أحدكم أن تكون له جنة من نخيل وأعناب تجري من تحتها الأنهار (Would any one of you desire that he should possess a garden of date-palms and grapevines, beneath which the rivers flow), the āya. He says: there struck it a wind in which there was a severe scorching heat (samūm). كَذَلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمُ الآيَاتِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَفَكَّرُونَ (Thus does Allah make clear to you the signs, that you may reflect): this is a likeness, so understand from Allah, the mighty and exalted, His likenesses, for He said: وَتِلْكَ الأَمْثَالُ نَضْرِبُهَا لِلنَّاسِ وَمَا يَعْقِلُهَا إِلا الْعَالِمُونَ (And these likenesses We set forth for people, but none comprehend them save those who know) [Sūrat al-ʿAnkabūt: 43]. This is a man whose age grew high, whose bones grew brittle, and whose family grew numerous, and then his garden was burnt up while he was in that state, at the moment when he was in greatest need of it. He says: Would any one of you love that his deed should escape him on the Day of Resurrection, precisely at the moment when he is in greatest need of it?
6100 – Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: أيود أحدكم أن تكون له جنةٌ (Would any one of you desire that he should possess a garden) up to His word فاحترقت (so that it is burnt up). He says: his garden departed at the moment when he was in greatest need of it, when his age grew high and he became too weak to earn — وله ذرية ضعفاء (and he has weak offspring) who do not avail him. He said: And al-Ḥasan used to say concerning فاحترقت (so that it is burnt up): it departed at the moment when he was in greatest need of it, and that is His word: would any one of you desire that his deed should depart at the moment when he was in greatest need of it?
6101 – 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: Allah has set a fair likeness, and all His likenesses are fair, blessed and exalted is He. And he said: أيود أحدكم أن تكون له جنة من نخيل (Would any one of you desire that he should possess a garden of date-palms) up to His word فيها من كل الثمرات (in which are fruits of every kind). He says: he planted it in his youth, and then old age struck him while he had weak offspring at the end of his life, and there came a whirlwind in which there was fire, so that his orchard was burnt up. He had no strength to plant another like it, and among his progeny there was no good that would revert to him. So too is the unbeliever (kāfir) on the Day of Resurrection: when he is brought back to Allah, the exalted, he has no good with which he can seek Allah's good pleasure, just as he has no strength to plant a garden like his, and he finds no good that he has sent forward for himself and that reverts to him, just as his child did not avail him, and his reward was denied to him at the moment when he was in greatest need of it, just as this man was denied his garden at the moment when he was in greatest need of it at his old age and the weakness of his offspring. And it is a likeness which Allah has set for the believer and the unbeliever with respect to what was given to them both in the earthly life: how He saved the believer in the Hereafter and stored up for him honour and felicity, while He withheld from him wealth in this world; and how He spread out for the unbeliever in this world wealth that is cut off, while He stored up for him evil that will never leave him, and he remains therein abased forever, because he [exalted himself above his companion] and relied upon what he possessed, and did not have certainty that he would meet his Lord.
6102 – It was 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: أيود أحدكم أن تكون له جنة (Would any one of you desire that he should possess a garden), the āya. He said: [This is a likeness which Allah has set]: would any one of you desire that he should possess a garden of date-palms and grapevines, [in which he has fruits of every kind], while the man [has already grown old and weak], and he has small children [and Allah tests them] in their garden, so that Allah sends upon it a whirlwind in which there is fire, so that it is burnt up; and the man is unable to defend his garden on account of old age, nor his children on account of their youth, so that his garden departed at the moment when he was in greatest need of it. He says: Would any one of you love to live in error and sins until death strikes him, and then he comes on the Day of Resurrection while his deed has escaped him at the moment when he is in greatest need of it? Then He says: "O son of Ādam, you came to Me at the moment when you were ever most in need of good — where, then, is what you sent forward for yourself?"
6103 – Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: and he recited the word of Allah, mighty and exalted: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تُبْطِلُوا صَدَقَاتِكُمْ بِالْمَنِّ وَالأَذَى (O you who believe, do not nullify your charitable gifts by making mention of your favour and by causing hurt), and then he set that as a likeness and said: أيود أحدكم أن تكون له جنّة من نخيل وأعناب (Would any one of you desire that he should possess a garden of date-palms and grapevines), until he reached: فأصابها إعصار فيه نار فاحترقت (and then it is struck by a whirlwind in which there is fire, so that it is burnt up). He said: its rivers flowed and its fruits came forth, and he has weak offspring, and then a whirlwind in which there was fire struck it, so that it was burnt up. Would any one of you desire this? Just as one of you adorns himself when he gives of his charity and his spending, until — when he had with Me a garden and its rivers and fruits flowed, and it was destined for his children and his children's children — a whirlwind struck it and burnt it up.
6104 – Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Zuhayr related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His word: أيود أحدكم أن تكون له جنة من نخيل وأعناب تجري من تحتها الأنهار (Would any one of you desire that he should possess a garden of date-palms and grapevines, beneath which the rivers flow): a man who planted an orchard in which there were fruits of every kind, and then old age struck him, while he had weak offspring, and a whirlwind in which there was fire struck it, so that it was burnt up, and he is unable to defend his orchard on account of his old age, and his offspring are unable to defend his orchard, so that his livelihood and the livelihood of his offspring departed. This is a likeness which Allah has set for the unbeliever (kāfir). He says: he meets Me on the Day of Resurrection while he is in greatest need of the good that would befall him, but he finds for himself no good with Me, and he is unable to ward off from himself even the least of Allah's punishment.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: We have only demonstrated that the most fitting interpretation of this is what we have mentioned, because Allah, whose praise be exalted, had previously addressed His believing servants with the prohibition against making mention of a favour and causing hurt in their charitable gifts, and then set a likeness for whoever makes mention of his favour and causes hurt to the one to whom he has shown charity, and equated him with the ostentatious one among the hypocrites (munāfiqīn) who spend their wealth to be seen by people. The theme of this āya and of the likeness that preceded it is the counterpart of the likeness that was set before it for them, so that joining it to its counterpart is more fitting than construing its interpretation as though it were a likeness for something of which neither before it nor with it any mention has been made.
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If someone were to ask us: How can it be said وأصابه الكبر (and old age strikes him), seeing that this is a perfect [past-tense] verb, while it is connected to His word أيود أحدكم (would any one of you desire)?
The answer is: That is so because His word أيود (would he desire) permits that one place therein "law" (if) in place of "an" (that). And since both "law" and "an" are suitable for it — while the meaning of both is the future — the Arabs permitted that they make a perfect verb (in the sense of "law") answer to an imperfect verb (with "an"). For this reason He said فأصابها (and then it is struck), which by its nature takes the place of "law," since it approaches "an" in the sense of the conditional; thus they were placed in each other's stead, and "an" was answered with the answer of "law," and "law" with the answer of "an." It is therefore as though it were said: would any one of you desire that, if he possessed a garden of date-palms and grapevines, beneath which the rivers flow, and in which he has fruits of every kind, and old age strikes him?
If he asks: How is it said here وله ذرية ضعفاء (while he has weak offspring [ḍuʿafāʾ]), whereas He said in [Sūrat al-Nisāʾ: 9]: وَلْيَخْشَ الَّذِينَ لَوْ تَرَكُوا مِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّةً ضِعَافًا (And let those fear who, if they left behind weak offspring [ḍiʿāf]...)?
The answer is: Because "faʿīl" forms both the plural "fuʿalāʾ" and "fiʿāl," so that one says: "a charming man (ẓarīf) of a charming people (ẓurafāʾ or ẓirāf)."
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As for "al-iʿṣār" (the whirlwind): it is the storm-wind that rises up from the earth toward the sky as though it were a column. Its plural is "aʿāṣīr." Of this is the saying of Yazīd ibn Mufarrigh al-Ḥimyarī:
"A people who granted us protection, and their protection was like whirlwinds from the farts of prodigal Iraq."
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The exegetes have disputed concerning the explanation of His word إعصار فيه نار فاحترقت (a whirlwind in which there is fire, so that it is burnt up).
Some of them said: the meaning of this is: a wind in which there was a severe scorching heat (samūm).
* Mention of those who said that:
6105 – Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn Bazīʿ related to me, saying: Yūsuf ibn Khālid al-Samtī related to us, saying: Nāfiʿ ibn Mālik related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word إعصار فيه نار (a whirlwind in which there is fire): a wind in which there was a severe scorching heat.
6106 – Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn ʿAṭiyya related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Tamīmī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning إعصارٌ فيه نار (a whirlwind in which there is fire), he said: the hot scorching heat (samūm) from which the jinn was created, which burns.
6107 – Aḥmad related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Tamīmī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: فأصابها إعصار فيه نار فاحترقت (and then it is struck by a whirlwind in which there is fire, so that it is burnt up), he said: it is the hot scorching heat that spares no one.
6108 – Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Al-Ḥimmānī related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Tamīmī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: إعصار فيه نار فاحترقت (a whirlwind in which there is fire, so that it is burnt up): that [heat] which kills.
6109 – Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of one whom he named, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: The scorching heat (samūm) from which the jinn was created is one part of the seventy parts of the Fire.
6110 – 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: إعصار فيه نار فاحترقت (a whirlwind in which there is fire, so that it is burnt up): it is a wind in which there is a severe scorching heat.
6111 – Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: إعصار فيه نار (a whirlwind in which there is fire), he said: a severe scorching heat.
6112 – Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: إعصار فيه نار (a whirlwind in which there is fire), he says: there struck it a wind in which there was a severe scorching heat.
6113 – Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, the like of it.
6114 – Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: إعصار فيه نار فاحترقت (a whirlwind in which there is fire, so that it is burnt up): as for the whirlwind (iʿṣār), it is the wind; and as for the fire, it is the scorching heat (samūm).
6115 – It was 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: إعصار فيه نار (a whirlwind in which there is fire), he says: a wind in which there is a severe scorching heat.
* * *
And others said: it is a wind in which there is a severe cold.
* Mention of those who said that:
6116 – Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, saying: Al-Ḥasan used to say concerning His word إعصار فيه نار فاحترقت (a whirlwind in which there is fire, so that it is burnt up): in it there was an icy chill (ṣirr) and cold.
6117 – 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: إعصار فيه نار فاحترقت (a whirlwind in which there is fire, so that it is burnt up), by which is meant, by the whirlwind, a wind in which there is cold.
* * *
The explanation of His word: كَذَلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمُ الآيَاتِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَفَكَّرُونَ (266)
(Thus does Allah make clear to you the signs, that you may reflect)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, whose praise be exalted, means by it: just as your Lord, blessed and exalted is He, has made clear to you the matter of spending in His way — and how its proper form is, and what you may and may not do with it — so too does He make clear to you the signs besides that, and acquaints you with their rulings (aḥkām), and what of them is permitted and what is forbidden, and clarifies for you His proofs (ḥujaj), as a mercy from Him thereby to you — لعلكم تتفكرون (that you may reflect), he says: that you may reflect with your intellects, and ponder the proofs of Allah therein and take instruction from them, and act according to the rulings that are therein, so that you may thereby obey Allah.
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said concerning it, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of those who said that:
6118 – Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Al-Thawrī informed us, saying: Mujāhid said: لعلكم تتفكرون (that you may reflect), he said: that you may obey.
6119 – 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: كذلك يبين الله لكم الآيات لعلكم تتفكرون (Thus does Allah make clear to you the signs, that you may reflect), by which is meant: concerning the perishing of this world and its passing away, and the approach of the Hereafter and its permanence.
