Tafseer of The Pilgrimage · Al-Hajj · 22:15
Whoever should think that Allah will not support [Prophet Muhammad] in this world and the Hereafter - let him extend a rope to the ceiling, then cut off [his breath], and let him see: will his effort remove that which enrages [him]?
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 exegetes differed over who is meant by the pronoun in His word أَنْ لَنْ يَنْصُرَهُ اللَّهُ ('that Allah will never help him').
Some said: thereby is meant the Prophet of Allah ﷺ. The interpretation of this verse according to some of those who said this is: whoever among the people supposes that Allah will never help Muḥammad in this world and the Hereafter, let him stretch out a rope to the ceiling of the house — that is, the ceiling of the house — and then, after strangling himself, cut the rope, and then look whether his scheme removes that which enrages him; that is, whether that strangling removes the anger in his breast.
Account of those who said this:
Naṣr ibn ʿAlī related to us, saying: my father related to me, saying: Khālid ibn Qays related to me, on the authority of Qatāda: 'Whoever supposes that Allah will never help His prophet, His religion, and His Book — فَلْيَمْدُدْ بِسَبَبٍ — he says: with a rope to the ceiling of the house, and let him strangle himself with it — فَلْيَنْظُرْ هَلْ يُذْهِبَنَّ كَيْدُهُ مَا يَغِيظُ .'
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: مَنْ كَانَ يَظُنُّ أَنْ لَنْ يَنْصُرَهُ اللَّهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالآخِرَةِ — he said: whoever supposes that Allah will never help His prophet ﷺ — فَلْيَمْدُدْ بِسَبَبٍ — he says: with a rope to the ceiling of the house — ثُمَّ لِيَقْطَعْ — he says: then let him strangle himself, and then look whether his scheme removes that which enrages him.
Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, the like of it.
Others who likewise said that the pronoun in 'He helps him' refers to the name of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said that the heaven mentioned in this verse is the well-known heaven.
They said: the meaning of the words is what Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word مَنْ كَانَ يَظُنُّ أَنْ لَنْ يَنْصُرَهُ اللَّهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالآخِرَةِ — he recited until he reached هَلْ يُذْهِبَنَّ كَيْدُهُ مَا يَغِيظُ — he said: whoever supposes that Allah will never help His prophet ﷺ, and sets himself against it to obstruct and cut it off — then let him cut it off at the root from where it comes to him; for its root is in heaven; let him then stretch out a rope to the heaven and cut off the Revelation that comes to the Prophet ﷺ of Allah; for he can devise no scheme until he has cut off its root from him — so let him devise the scheme until he cuts off its root from him. فَلْيَنْظُرْ هَلْ يُذْهِبَنَّ كَيْدُهُ مَا يَغِيظُ — that which has entered into them therein and by which Allah has enraged them through the support of the Prophet ﷺ and what descends upon him.
Others who likewise said that the pronoun in يَنْصُرَهُ refers to Muḥammad ﷺ said: the meaning of 'help' here is 'provision (sustenance)'. According to them, the interpretation of the words is: whoever supposes that Allah will never provide Muḥammad with provision in this world and will give him nothing. They cited as heard from the Arabs: 'man naṣaranī naṣara-hu Allāh' — with the meaning: whoever gives me, may Allah give him; and they also related as heard from them: 'naṣara al-maṭar arḍa kadhā' — when it [the rain] sprinkles [the ground] abundantly and brings it to life.
They adduced as proof for that a verse of al-Faqʿasī:
'And indeed, you give a man no more than his portion, and you do not possess the share which the rain sprinkles.'
Account of those who said this:
Abū Kurayb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿAṭiyya related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Tamīmī, who said: I asked Ibn ʿAbbās: what do you think of His word مَنْ كَانَ يَظُنُّ أَنْ لَنْ يَنْصُرَهُ اللَّهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالآخِرَةِ فَلْيَمْدُدْ بِسَبَبٍ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ ثُمَّ لِيَقْطَعْ فَلْيَنْظُرْ هَلْ يُذْهِبَنَّ كَيْدُهُ مَا يَغِيظُ ? He said: whoever supposes that Allah will never help Muḥammad, let him tie a rope to the ceiling and strangle himself with it until he dies.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq al-Hamdānī, on the authority of al-Tamīmī, who said: I asked Ibn ʿAbbās about His word مَنْ كَانَ يَظُنُّ أَنْ لَنْ يَنْصُرَهُ اللَّهُ : he said: that Allah does not provide him with provision in this world and the Hereafter. فَلْيَمْدُدْ بِسَبَبٍ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ — the sabab is the rope, and the heaven is the ceiling of the house. Let him hang a rope from the ceiling of the house and then strangle himself. فَلْيَنْظُرْ هَلْ يُذْهِبَنَّ كَيْدُهُ — this which he has done — the anger that he feels.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Muṭarrif, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of a man from Banū Tamīm, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — the like of it.
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Tamīmī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: مَنْ كَانَ يَظُنُّ أَنْ لَنْ يَنْصُرَهُ اللَّهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالآخِرَةِ فَلْيَمْدُدْ بِسَبَبٍ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ — he said: the ceiling of the house.
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Abū Dāwūd related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, who said: I heard al-Tamīmī saying: I asked Ibn ʿAbbās — and he mentioned the like of it.
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, concerning His word مَنْ كَانَ يَظُنُّ أَنْ لَنْ يَنْصُرَهُ اللَّهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالآخِرَةِ ... up to His word مَا يَغِيظُ : he said: the heaven to which Allah commanded that a rope be stretched is the ceiling of the house; the command was given to stretch a rope to it and to strangle oneself with it. He said: let him then look whether his scheme removes that which enrages him, when he strangles himself out of fear that Allah will not help him!
Others said: the pronoun in 'He helps him' refers to the 'man' (whoever) himself. They said: the meaning of the words is: whoever supposes that Allah will not provide him with provision in this world and the Hereafter, let him stretch out a rope to the ceiling of the house and strangle himself; let him then look whether his deed removes that which enrages him — namely, that he receives no provision!
Account of those who said this:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah أَنْ لَنْ يَنْصُرَهُ اللَّهُ : he said: Allah will provide him with provision. فَلْيَمْدُدْ بِسَبَبٍ — he said: with a rope — إِلَى السَّمَاءِ — the heaven above you — ثُمَّ لِيَقْطَعْ — let him strangle himself; does his scheme — his strangling — remove anything of the fact that he receives no provision?
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 Mujāhid, concerning His word مَنْ كَانَ يَظُنُّ أَنْ لَنْ يَنْصُرَهُ اللَّهُ — that Allah provides him with provision — فَلْيَمْدُدْ بِسَبَبٍ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ — he said: with a rope to the heaven.
Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, said: إِلَى السَّمَاءِ — to the ceiling of the house. Ibn Jurayj said: and Mujāhid said: ثُمَّ لِيَقْطَعْ — let him strangle himself; that is his scheme — مَا يَغِيظُ — that is to say: his strangling on account of the fact that Allah furnishes him with no provision.
It was related to me by al-Ḥusayn, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh saying: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk saying concerning His word فَلْيَمْدُدْ بِسَبَبٍ — that is to say: with a rope — إِلَى السَّمَاءِ — that is to say: the ceiling of the house.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿAṭiyya related to us, saying: Abū Rajāʾ informed us, saying: ʿIkrima was asked about His word فَلْيَمْدُدْ بِسَبَبٍ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ : he said: the ceiling of the house. ثُمَّ لِيَقْطَعْ — he said: let him strangle himself.
What in my judgment is the soundest interpretation of this verse is the position of those who said that the pronoun refers to the Prophet of Allah ﷺ and his religion. This is because Allah, exalted be His mention, had mentioned a group of His creation — people who worship Him upon an edge — and that they settle into faith if some good befalls them in that worship, and that they apostatize from their faith at an adversity that strikes them. Then Allah followed this verse upon that, as a rebuke to them for their apostasy from faith, or their doubt therein and their hypocrisy, on account of their delaying of ease in provision or fullness of provision. And if it is correct that this stands directly after the report about their hypocrisy, then the meaning of the words is thus: whoever supposes that Allah will never provide Muḥammad ﷺ and his community with provision in this world, by pouring out His abundance upon them, and providing for them in the Hereafter with His abundant gifts and honor — on account of his impatience with this dealing of Allah with him and them — let him then stretch out a rope to a heaven above him: whether the ceiling of a house, or something else to which the rope can be fastened from above; then let him strangle himself if he is enraged over part of what Allah has decreed, and longs for a remedy — let him then look whether his scheme — his strangling himself in that manner — removes that which enrages him. For if that does not remove his anger — until Allah brings relief from His side and removes it — then his impatience with Allah's support of Muḥammad and his religion will neither delay what Allah has decreed for him therein until its appointed time, nor hasten it before its time. It has been mentioned that this verse descended concerning Asad and Ghaṭafān, who delayed [embracing] Islam and said: 'We fear that Muḥammad ﷺ may not be helped, so that the bond between us and our Jewish allies may be severed, and they no longer supply us with provisions and drink.' Allah, blessed and exalted, said to them: whoever wishes to hasten Allah's support of Muḥammad, let him stretch out a rope to the heaven and strangle himself, and consider his impatience thereby in himself — does that remove his anger? Thus his impatience for Allah's support of Muḥammad will not hasten His support before its time.
The Arabic-language scholars differed over 'mā' in His word مَا يَغِيظُ . Some of the Baṣran grammarians said: it has the meaning of the relative pronoun 'alladhī', and the meaning of the words is: 'does his scheme remove that which enrages him'; they said: the referential pronoun has been omitted because it is the qualification of the relative pronoun, for when they together form a single noun, omission is lighter. Another said: rather it is a verbal noun that requires no referential pronoun: 'does his scheme remove his anger'.