Tafseer of Taa-Haa · Taa-Haa · 20:111
And [all] faces will be humbled before the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of existence. And he will have failed who carries injustice.
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 statement concerning the explanation of the words of Allah the Exalted: وَعَنَتِ الْوُجُوهُ لِلْحَيِّ الْقَيُّومِ وَقَدْ خَابَ مَنْ حَمَلَ ظُلْمًا ("And the faces are humbled before the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting; and disappointed is he who bears wrongdoing") (20:111)
Allah the Exalted says: The faces of the creatures bowed and submitted themselves to the Ever-Living (al-Ḥayy), who does not die, the Self-Subsisting (al-Qayyūm) over His creatures, who governs them and turns them wherever He wills. The origin of ʿunūw is humiliation; one says: the face of so-and-so shrank in submission before his Lord, it shrinks with ʿunūw — that is to say: it bowed and humbled itself. For that reason the captive (asīr) is called a ʿān (a submissive one), because of the humiliation of captivity.
As for their expression "I took something ʿanwatan" — this may mean that one took it by force, but it may also mean that one took it through surrender and obedience, as the poet said:
"Will you obey me, O heart, by compulsion (ʿanwatan)? And the soul that was not blameworthy in its vanity shall not be blamed."
And another said:
"Did they take it as lawful spoils of war (ʿanwatan), or out of love? But the sword of al-Mashrafī (al-mashrafi) drew it away."
In a manner similar to what we said, the exegetes spoke.
Mention of those who said this:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, from Ibn ʿAbbās, his word وَعَنَتِ الْوُجُوهُ لِلْحَيِّ الْقَيُّومِ : he says: they humbled themselves.
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, his word وَعَنَتِ الْوُجُوهُ لِلْحَيِّ الْقَيُّومِ — he means by ʿanat: they submitted themselves to Me.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — all on the authority of Ibn Abī Naǧīḥ, on the authority of Muǧāhid, his word وَعَنَتِ الْوُجُوهُ : he said: they humbled themselves with fear.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Muǧāhid — the same.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, his word وَعَنَتِ الْوُجُوهُ لِلْحَيِّ الْقَيُّومِ : that is to say: the faces humbled themselves before the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting.
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 وَعَنَتِ الْوُجُوهُ لِلْحَيِّ الْقَيُّومِ : he said: the faces humbled themselves.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of his father, who said: Ṭalq said: when a man makes a sujūd (prostration), then his face has humbled itself — or he said: it has humbled itself (ʿanā).
Abū Ḥuṣayn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad related to me, saying: ʿAbthar related to us, saying: Ḥuṣayn related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Murra, on the authority of Ṭalq ibn Ḥabīb, concerning this verse وَعَنَتِ الْوُجُوهُ لِلْحَيِّ الْقَيُّومِ : he said: it is that a man lays down his head, his hands, and the tips of his feet.
Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Ibn Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Murra, on the authority of Ṭalq ibn Ḥabīb, concerning his word وَعَنَتِ الْوُجُوهُ لِلْحَيِّ الْقَيُّومِ : he said: it is that you lay down your forehead, your palms, your knees, and the tips of your feet in the sujūd.
Khallād ibn Aslam related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Murra, on the authority of Ṭalq ibn Ḥabīb, concerning his word وَعَنَتِ الْوُجُوهُ لِلْحَيِّ الْقَيُّومِ : he said: the laying down of the forehead and the nose upon the ground.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Ḥuṣayn informed us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Murra, on the authority of Ṭalq ibn Ḥabīb, concerning his word وَعَنَتِ الْوُجُوهُ لِلْحَيِّ الْقَيُّومِ : he said: it is the sujūd upon the forehead, the palm, the knees, and the feet.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning his word وَعَنَتِ الْوُجُوهُ لِلْحَيِّ الْقَيُّومِ : he said: the faces became as captives (asārā) before the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting — they all became His captives. He said: the ʿānī is the captive. And we have already explained the meaning of al-Ḥayy al-Qayyūm previously in a manner that makes it unnecessary to repeat it here.
His word وَقَدْ خَابَ مَنْ حَمَلَ ظُلْمًا — Allah the Exalted says: whoever has carried to the standing-place of the gathering the ascription of partners to Allah (shirk), disbelief (kufr) toward Him, and acting in disobedience to Him — that one has not attained his aim and his desire.
In a manner similar to what we said in the explanation, the exegetes spoke.
Mention of those who said this:
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 وَقَدْ خَابَ مَنْ حَمَلَ ظُلْمًا : he said: whoever has carried shirk.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning his word وَقَدْ خَابَ مَنْ حَمَلَ ظُلْمًا : he said: whoever carried shirk. The wrongdoing (ẓulm) here is shirk.
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Notes:
(3) I have not been able to identify the poet of this verse. And ʿanwatan: it is stated in al-Lisān (ʿanā), in the narration concerning the conquest, that he entered Mecca by force (ʿanwatan): that is to say by compulsion and domination. Ibn al-Athīr said: it is from ʿanā yaʿnū: when he was humbled and subjugated. And al-ʿanwa is the single instance thereof, as though the one seized by it bows and is humbled. And one conquered the land by force: by domination and humiliating compulsion. Ibn al-Aʿrābī: ʿanā yaʿnū: when he took something by force. And ʿanā yaʿnū ʿanwatan: when he took something in peace, with reverence and gentleness. And al-ʿanwa is also love. Al-Azharī said: I took something ʿanwatan: that is to say by force; and it may also mean: through the surrender and obedience of the one from whom it is taken. And al-Farrāʾ recited for Kathīr: "Why did they not take it ʿanwatan, that is to say out of love, but the sword of al-mashrafi took it away" — this then accords with the meaning of surrender and obedience without combat. And al-Akhfash said concerning His word the Exalted: "and the faces humbled themselves": they became as captives (istaʾsarat). He said: and the ʿānī is the captive. And Abū al-Haytham said: the ʿānī is the submissive one.
(4) This verse is by Kathīr ʿAzza, as in (al-Lisān: ʿanā); the explanation of its meaning has already been given with the previous citation before it. Al-Mashrafī: the sword that is ascribed to a village called Mashārif in Syria or Yemen. Waistaqālahā: it took it and snatched it away.