Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:45
And seek help through patience and prayer, and indeed, it is difficult except for the humbly submissive [to Allah]
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 the saying of the Exalted: وَاسْتَعِينُوا بِالصَّبْرِ وَالصَّلاةِ (And seek help in patience and prayer)
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His words, exalted is His praise, "And seek help in patience (al-ṣabr)," He means: Seek help in fulfilling My covenant which you concluded with Me in your Book — namely, to obey Me, to follow My command, and to give up that which you desire — of leadership and love for the worldly — in favor of that which is repugnant to you, namely submission to My command and following My Messenger Muḥammad ﷺ — through patience with that and through prayer.
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It has been said: The meaning of "the patience (al-ṣabr)" in this place is: fasting (al-ṣawm), and "fasting" is one of the meanings of "patience." The explanation of the one who interprets it thus is, according to us, that Allah, exalted is His mention, commanded them to exercise patience with that which their souls had an aversion to, namely obedience to Allah and the abandonment of disobedience to Him. The original meaning of al-ṣabr is: to restrain the soul from that which it loves, and to hold it back from its desire. Therefore, the one who is patient in a calamity is called "patient (ṣābir)," because he restrains his soul from despair. And the month of Ramaḍān is called "the month of patience (shahr al-ṣabr)," on account of the patience of those who fast in it, who abstain from food and drink during the day. And his "making them patient" of that means: his holding them and his restraining them from that, just as a criminal is "held" (taṣbiru) for the death penalty and is kept imprisoned for it until he is killed. Therefore one says: "so-and-so killed so-and-so ṣabran," by which one means: he held him until he killed him. The one killed is thus "held (maṣbūr)" and the killer is "holding (ṣābir)."
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As for the prayer (al-ṣalāh), we have already mentioned its meaning previously.
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If someone says to us: We have understood the meaning of the command to seek help in patience in fulfilling the covenant and observing obedience, but what then is the meaning of the command to seek help in prayer in obedience to Allah, the abandonment of disobedience to Him, divesting oneself of leadership, and forsaking the worldly? Then it is answered: In the prayer is the recitation of the Book of Allah, whose verses call to the rejection of the worldly and the forsaking of its enjoyments, which console the souls regarding its adornment and its deception, and which remind of the Hereafter and of what Allah has prepared therein for its inhabitants. In reflection upon that lies the help for the people of obedience to Allah to exert themselves therein, as is related from our Prophet ﷺ that, whenever a matter troubled him, he took refuge in prayer.
849 — Ismāʿīl ibn Mūsā al-Fazārī related that to me, saying: Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ritāq al-Hamdānī related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿIkrima ibn ʿAmmār, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd ibn Abī Qudāma, on the authority of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn al-Yamān, on the authority of Ḥudhayfa, who said: "Whenever a matter troubled the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he took refuge in prayer."
850 — And Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār related to me, saying: Khalaf ibn al-Walīd al-Azdī related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyyā related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima ibn ʿAmmār, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Duʾalī, who said: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, the brother of Ḥudhayfa, said: Ḥudhayfa said: "Whenever a matter troubled the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he performed the prayer."
851 — And likewise it is related from him ﷺ that he saw Abū Hurayra lying on his belly, and he said to him: "Ashkanb dard?" (Do you have a stomachache?) He said: Yes. He said: "Stand up and pray, for in prayer is healing."
Thus Allah, exalted is His praise, commanded those whose case He has described — namely, the scholars of the Israelites (Banū Isrāʾīl) — to seek their refuge, in fulfilling the covenant of Allah which they concluded with Him, in patience and prayer, just as He commanded that to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ, for He said to him: فَاصْبِرْ (So be patient) — O Muḥammad — عَلَى مَا يَقُولُونَ وَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ قَبْلَ طُلُوعِ الشَّمْسِ وَقَبْلَ غُرُوبِهَا وَمِنْ آنَاءِ اللَّيْلِ فَسَبِّحْ وَأَطْرَافَ النَّهَارِ لَعَلَّكَ تَرْضَى [Ṭā Hā: 130] (with that which they say, and glorify the praise of your Lord before the rising of the sun and before its setting, and glorify during a part of the night, and at the ends of the day, that you may be content). Thus He commanded him, exalted is His praise, to seek his refuge, in his trials, in patience and prayer. And indeed:
852 — Muḥammad ibn al-ʿAlāʾ and Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, both saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: ʿUyayna ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, on the authority of his father: that the death of his brother Qutham was reported to Ibn ʿAbbās while he was on a journey, whereupon he uttered the istirjāʿ (he said: "Verily, we belong to Allah, and verily, to Him we return"). Then he went off the road, made his mount kneel, and performed two units of prayer (rakʿa) in which he made the sitting long. Then he stood up and walked to his mount, while saying: (And seek help in patience and prayer; and verily, it is heavy, except for the humble).
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As for Abū al-ʿĀliya, he used to say what:
853 — Al-Muthannā related to me about that, saying: Ādam related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, concerning (And seek help in patience and prayer): He says: Seek help in patience and prayer toward the good pleasure of Allah, and know that both of them belong to the obedience to Allah.
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And Ibn Jurayj said what:
854 — Al-Qāsim related to us about that, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said concerning His words (And seek help in patience and prayer): He said: Both of them are two means of help toward the mercy of Allah.
855 — And Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His words (And seek help in patience and prayer), the verse: He said: The polytheists (mushrikīn) said: By Allah, O Muḥammad, verily you call us to a great matter! He said: To the prayer and belief in Allah, exalted is His praise.
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The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: وَإِنَّهَا لَكَبِيرَةٌ إِلا عَلَى الْخَاشِعِينَ (And verily, it is heavy, except for the humble) (45)
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His words, exalted is His praise, "And verily, it (wa-innahā)," He means: And verily, the prayer; the "hāʾ and alif" in "wa-innahā" refer back to "the prayer (al-ṣalāh)." Some have said that His words "wa-innahā" have the meaning: And verily, the responding to Muḥammad ﷺ. But no mention has preceded with the expression of "responding," so that one could make the "hāʾ and alif" of it a reference to that. It is not permissible to give up the clear, comprehensible meaning of the word in favor of a hidden meaning for which there exists no indication of correctness.
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And by His words "verily, heavy (lakabīra)" He means: verily, hard and burdensome. As:
856 — Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib related to me, saying: Ibn Yazīd informed us, saying: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His words (And verily, it is heavy, except for the humble): He said: Verily, it is burdensome.
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And by His words "except for the humble (illā ʿalā al-khāshiʿīn)" He means: except for those who humbly submit to His obedience, who fear His mighty punishments, who accept as truth His promise and His threat. As:
856 — Al-Muthannā ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: (except for the humble), by whom are meant: those who accept as truth what Allah has sent down.
857 — And al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ādam al-ʿAsqalānī related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya concerning His words (except for the humble): He said: By this are meant the fearful.
858 — And Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Mujāhid: (except for the humble): He said: The true believers.
859 — And 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.
860 — And Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: The humility (al-khushūʿ) is: the fear and the reverent dread of Allah. And he recited the saying of Allah: خَاشِعِينَ مِنَ الذُّلِّ [al-Shūrā: 45] (humbled from disgrace). He said: The fear that descended upon them humbled them, and they became humble before it.
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The original meaning of "al-khushūʿ" is: lowliness, submissiveness, and subjection. Of this is the saying of the poet:
"When the news about al-Zubayr came, there bowed down the walls of Medina and the mountains in humility (al-khushaʿ)."
He means: and the mountains were humble and subjected on account of the magnitude of the calamity through his loss.
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The meaning of the verse is therefore: And seek help, O scholars of the People of the Book (ahl al-kitāb), by restraining your souls in obedience to Allah, and holding them back from disobedience to Allah, and by performing the prayer that restrains from the shameful and the reprehensible, that brings near to that which is pleasing to Allah — a prayer whose performance is heavy, except for those who are humble before Allah, who submit to His obedience, who are humble out of fear of Him.
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Footnotes:
(105) In the printed edition it says: "… one of the meanings of al-ṣabr according to us, but rather the explanation of it according to us …", and in the manuscript: "… one of the meanings of al-ṣabr in the explanation of the one who interprets it thus according to us …". And it appears that the correct reading is what I have adopted.
(106) In the printed edition and the manuscript it says: "on account of his patience, fasting …", but the sentence does not run well due to the confusion of the pronouns in the following sentence.
(107) The pronoun in his words "and his making patient" refers to the month of Ramaḍān.
(108) In the manuscript and the printed edition it says: "as one holds … and imprisons him … until one kills him," all with the yāʾ (masculine third person), but the correct reading is what I have adopted.
(109) See what preceded: 1: 242–243.
(110) The ḥadīth: 849 — "Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ritāq al-Hamdānī": thus it is in the printed edition. I have not found a narrator with this name, nor anything resembling it, in the sources at my disposal. In the manuscript it says "al-Ḥusayn ibn Ziyād al-Hamdānī" — and I have not found among the narrators anyone named "al-Ḥusayn ibn Ziyād" except two persons, neither of whom is mentioned as al-Hamdānī, and neither of whom fits this isnād. The one: "Ḥusayn ibn Ziyād," without further specification, whose biography al-Bukhārī recorded in al-Kabīr 1/2/387 under number 2881, and he mentions that he narrates on the authority of ʿIkrima, and that Jarīr ibn Ḥāzim narrates from him, and Jarīr died in the year 175, so this is very old, and Ismāʿīl ibn Mūsā al-Fazārī, who died in the year 245, cannot have reached him. And the second: "Ḥusayn ibn Ziyād Abū ʿAlī al-Marwazī," whose biography al-Bukhārī recorded thereafter, and he mentions that he died in the year 220. This one is thus too late to reach the narration on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who died in the year 150. And ʿIkrima ibn ʿAmmār: that is al-ʿIjlī al-Yamāmī. In the manuscript it says "ʿIkrima ʿan ʿAmmār" (ʿIkrima on the authority of ʿAmmār). That is an error. And the ḥadīth will follow hereafter with another, authentic isnād.
(111) The ḥadīth: 850 — It is the same as the preceding one in meaning. "Khalaf ibn al-Walīd": that is Abū al-Walīd al-ʿAtakī al-Jawharī, and "al-ʿAtakī" is an ascription to "al-ʿAtīk," a subdivision of Azd. He belongs to the trustworthy teachers of Aḥmad. Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyyā: that is Ibn Abī Zāʾida. Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Duʾalī: that is "Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd Abū Qudāma" who is in the preceding isnād. And in the source texts it says here "Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd ibn Abī Qudāma." That is an error. Rather, "Abū Qudāma" is the kunya of "Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd." We have already examined his biography in the elucidation of another ḥadīth in al-Musnad: 6548, and we have preferred the view that Ibn Abī Zāʾida erred in his name and called him "Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh." The ḥadīth was narrated by Aḥmad in al-Musnad 5: 388 (Ḥalabī edition) on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUmar and Khalaf ibn al-Walīd, both on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyyā. And Abū Dāwūd narrated it: 1319, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyyā — with this isnād. And al-Bukhārī referred to it in al-Kabīr 1/1/172, in the biography of "Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd Abū Qudāma al-Ḥanafī," where he said: "And al-Naḍr said, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd Abū Qudāma, that he heard ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, the brother of Ḥudhayfa, on the authority of Ḥudhayfa: Whenever a matter troubled the Prophet ﷺ, he performed the prayer. And Ibn Abī Zāʾida said: on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Duʾalī." And "al-Naḍr" to whom al-Bukhārī refers: that is al-Naḍr ibn Muḥammad al-Jurashī al-Yamāmī. And "ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn al-Yamān": that is the brother of Ḥudhayfa ibn al-Yamān, as his lineage is expressly mentioned in the preceding narration, and as he is also described in this narration, and in the two narrations of al-Musnad and of al-Bukhārī in al-Kabīr. As for the narration of Abū Dāwūd, it says therein "on the authority of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, the nephew (son of the brother) of Ḥudhayfa." And likewise in the narration of Ibn Manda, to which al-Ḥāfiẓ referred in al-Iṣāba 5: 159. And al-Ḥāfiẓ, in that place, and in al-Tahdhīb 6: 364–365, preferred the view that he is the nephew of Ḥudhayfa, not his brother. But most of the narrators mention that he is his brother, as we have indicated, and none of them deviated except "Muḥammad ibn ʿĪsā," the teacher of Abū Dāwūd — as far as I have seen. I therefore do not know on what this preference is based. Rather, what I consider correct is to prefer the narration of the majority, among whom is "al-Naḍr ibn Muḥammad," who narrated much on the authority of ʿIkrima ibn ʿAmmār. And thus Ibn Abī Ḥātim firmly established it in the biography of "ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn al-Yamān" in the book al-Jarḥ wa-l-taʿdīl 2/2/399, and he mentioned no disagreement nor any other view. The ḥadīth is also mentioned by Ibn Kathīr 1: 157–158, on the authority of the narrations of al-Musnad, Abū Dāwūd, and al-Ṭabarī, and then he mentioned something similar in more extensive form, on the authority of the narration of Muḥammad Naṣr al-Marwazī in the book al-Ṣalāh.
(112) The ḥadīth: 851 — Thus al-Ṭabarī mentioned it without an isnād (muʿallaq). Aḥmad narrated it in al-Musnad: 9054 (2: 390 Ḥalabī), on the authority of Aswad ibn ʿĀmir, on the authority of Dhawwād Abū al-Mundhir, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Abū Hurayra. Then he narrated it again: 9229 (2: 403 Ḥalabī), on the authority of Mūsā ibn Dāwūd, on the authority of Dhawwād. And likewise Ibn Māja narrated it: 3458, with two isnāds on the authority of Dhawwād. And "Dhawwād": with fatḥa on the dotted dhāl, with doubling of the wāw, and at the end an undotted dāl. The author of al-Khulāṣa vocalized it "Dhuʾād" with ḍamma on the dotted dhāl and then a hamza with fatḥa, and that is an error. And Dhawwād: that is Ibn ʿUlba al-Ḥārithī, and he was a pious, upright sheikh, but Ibn Maʿīn declared him weak and said: "He amounts to nothing." And al-Bukhārī recorded his biography in al-Kabīr 2/1/241, and in al-Ṣaghīr, p. 214, and he said: "He is contradicted in a part of his ḥadīth." And he narrated this ḥadīth in al-Ṣaghīr on the authority of Ibn al-Aṣbahānī, on the authority of al-Muḥāribī, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid: "Abū Hurayra said to me: O Persian, shakam dard." Then al-Bukhārī said: "Ibn al-Aṣbahānī said: And Dhawwād traced it back to the Prophet (made it marfūʿ), but that has no basis, for Abū Hurayra was not a Persian; rather it is Mujāhid who was a Persian." This is thus a precise statement of the weakness (taʿlīl) of Ibn al-Aṣbahānī, and then of al-Bukhārī, which indicates that the isnād of the ḥadīth in marfūʿ form is weak. His words in the text (matn) of the narration "ashkanb dard": concerning that, the following was written in the Būlāq edition: "That means: 'Do you have trouble with your belly?', in Persian. Thus in the margin of the source text." And likewise this expression is in al-Musnad, except that in the first place therein "dhard" is written with a dot above the first dāl, which is a corruption (taṣḥīf). And this expression is in the narration of al-Bukhārī in al-Tārīkh al-Ṣaghīr, p. 214: "shakam dard." And in the narration of Ibn Māja: "ashkamat dard." And the learned Fuʾād ʿAbd al-Bāqī wrote, by way of elucidation thereof: "In Persian: 'ashkam,' that is, belly. And 'dard,' that is, pain. And the tāʾ is for the address. And the hamza is a connecting hamza (hamzat waṣl). Thus Dr. Ḥusayn al-Hamdānī investigated it. And its meaning is: Do you have trouble with your belly? But in Takmilat Majmaʿ Biḥār al-Anwār, p. 7, there occurs: 'ashkanb dadam.' And in a narration with sukūn on the bāʾ." And I am of the opinion that in this last rendering there is an error, for I noted long ago in annotations on al-Musnad that the correct reading is "ashkanb dardam." And my strongest supposition now is that I took that from Takmilat Majmaʿ Biḥār al-Anwār, which I do not have at hand while I write this.
(113) The report: 852 — Its isnād is authentic. ʿUyayna ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān: trustworthy. And his father ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Jaushan al-Ghaṭafānī: a trustworthy tābiʿī. The report is mentioned by al-Suyūṭī in al-Durr al-Manthūr 1: 68, and he also ascribed it to Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr, Ibn al-Mundhir, and al-Bayhaqī in al-Shuʿab. Qutham ibn al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, the brother of ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-ʿAbbās. And his mother was Umm al-Faḍl. He resembled the Prophet ﷺ, but his direct narration from him is not correct, for he was at the end of the time of the Prophet ﷺ older than eight years. And he set out with Saʿīd ibn ʿUthmān in the time of Muʿāwiya toward Samarkand, and fell there as a martyr. Istarjaʿa (he uttered the istirjāʿ): he said: "Verily, we belong to Allah, and verily, to Him we return."
(114) The report: 854 — Al-Ḥusayn: that is Sunayd ibn Dāwūd al-Miṣṣīṣī, and "Sunayd" is a nickname of his, as has already preceded: 144.
(115) The clear (al-ẓāhir): that is what the Arabs know from their speech. And the hidden (al-bāṭin): that is what comes forth by derivation from the clear in the manner of the Arabs in their mode of expression. And see what preceded 1: 72, footnote 2.
(116) The report: 856 — In the printed edition it says "Ibn Zayd informed us," but the correct reading is "Yazīd," from the manuscript. And that is "Yazīd ibn Hārūn." A similar isnād has already correctly preceded: 284. And among the narrators on the authority of Juwaybir is "Ḥammād ibn Zayd," but it is not possible that he is intended in this isnād, for Ḥammād ibn Zayd died in the year 179. It is thus not possible that Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib narrates from him, for the latter was born in the year 182, as in his biography in Tārīkh Baghdād of al-Khaṭīb 14: 220–221.
(117) The report: 858 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr, that is: Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿAbbās, Abū Bakr al-Bāhilī, and he belongs to the trustworthy teachers of al-Ṭabarī, who narrated much on his authority; he died in the year 249. And he has a biography in Tārīkh Baghdād 3: 127. And "Abū ʿĀṣim": that is al-Nabīl, al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Makhlad. And "Sufyān": that is al-Thawrī. And "Jābir": that is Ibn Yazīd al-Juʿfī. And thus this isnād occurs in this place in the manuscript. In the printed edition it says "Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar" in place of "Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr," and that is undoubtedly an error. The only obscurity here is: that this isnād — "Abū ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Jābir" — is narrated by al-Ṭabarī in most places "on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Bashshār," on the authority of Abū ʿĀṣim. As for his narration on the authority of "Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr," that rather concerns the isnād "Abū ʿĀṣim, on the authority of ʿĪsā ibn Maymūn, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid." And the matter is close together, and perhaps he narrated both this and that.
(118) The verse is by Jarīr.
(119) Dīwān Jarīr: 345, and al-Naqāʾiḍ: 969. It is ascribed to him in his (al-Ṭabarī's) tafsīr (1: 289 / 7: 157 Būlāq), and in Ṭabaqāt Ibn Saʿd: 3/1/79, and in Sībawayh 1: 25, and in al-Aḍdād of Ibn al-Anbārī: 258, and in al-Khizāna 2: 166. Sībawayh adduced it as proof that the tāʾ of femininity came before the verb, because he added "walls (sūr)" to a feminine word, namely "the city (al-madīna)," and it is a part of it. Sībawayh said: "And sometimes one says in a part of speech: 'A part (baʿḍ) of his fingers disappeared (dhahabat, with feminine form),' and one made 'baʿḍ' feminine only because one added it to a feminine word of which it is a part. And if it were not a part of it, one would not make it feminine, for if one were to say: 'Ghulām (the slave/boy of) your mother disappeared (with feminine form),' then that would not be correct." (1: 25). And with this verse he reproaches al-Farazdaq for treachery and satirizes him, for al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām, may Allah be pleased with him, when he withdrew on the Day of the Camel, was intercepted by a man of the Banū Mujāshiʿ, the tribe of al-Farazdaq, who shot him and killed him treacherously (ghīla). And he described the mountains as being "humble (khushaʿ)," by which he means: at his death they bowed down humbly and inclined down on account of the horror of the calamity that struck the close companion (ḥawārī) of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and on account of the heinousness of the treachery that he suffered from the Banū Mujāshiʿ.
