Tafseer of The Pilgrimage · Al-Hajj · 22:2
On the Day you see it every nursing mother will be distracted from that [child] she was nursing, and every pregnant woman will abort her pregnancy, and you will see the people [appearing] intoxicated while they are not intoxicated; but the punishment of Allah is severe.
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.
As Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning the words of Allah يَوْمَ تَرَوْنَهَا تَذْهَلُ كُلُّ مُرْضِعَةٍ عَمَّا أَرْضَعَتْ (on the day you see it, every nursing mother will forget her suckling infant): he said: she abandons her child because of the calamity that has descended upon her.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Abū Bakr, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning تَذْهَلُ كُلُّ مُرْضِعَةٍ عَمَّا أَرْضَعَتْ : he said: she loses her children without the nursing period being completed. Concerning وَتَضَعُ كُلُّ ذَاتِ حَمْلٍ حَمْلَهَا : he said: the pregnant women cast down what is in their wombs before the full term. وَتَضَعُ كُلُّ ذَاتِ حَمْلٍ حَمْلَهَا : he said: every pregnant woman loses her unborn child because of the intensity of that terrible distress.
As for His words وَتَرَى النَّاسَ سُكَارَى (and you see the people as drunkards): the reciters of the great cities read وَتَرَى النَّاسَ سُكَارَى in the form of address to a single person, as if it were: you see, O Muḥammad ﷺ, the people then as drunkards while they are not drunkards. It has also been transmitted from Abū Zurʿa ibn ʿAmr ibn Jarīr the reading وَتُرَى النَّاسَ with a ḍamma on the tāʾ and an accusative for al-nās, by analogy with the verb arāyta/turā which requires a noun and a verb, comparable to ẓanna and its related verbs.
The correct reading according to us is the reading upon which the reciters of the great cities are, because of the consensus of the learned authoritative reciters.
The reciters differed over the reading of سُكَارَى : most of the reciters of Medina and Basra and some of the people of Kufa read سُكَارَى وَمَا هُمْ بِسُكَارَى . Most of the reciters of Kufa read وَتَرَى النَّاسَ سَكْرَى وَمَا هُمْ بِسَكْرَى .
The correct judgment regarding this according to us is that both readings are widespread among the reciters of the great cities, close to one another in meaning, and whoever reads with either of them has hit upon the correct. The meaning of the words is: you see the people, O Muḥammad ﷺ, through the weight of the calamity that has struck them and the intensity of it, as drunkards from the terror — while they are not drunkards from the drinking of wine.
In the direction of what we have said regarding this the exegetes spoke.
Mention of who said that: al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Abū Bakr, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning وَتَرَى النَّاسَ سُكَارَى : from the fear; وَمَا هُمْ بِسُكَارَى : from the drink.
He said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, concerning the words وَمَا هُمْ بِسُكَارَى : he said: they are not drunkards from the drink; وَلَكِنَّ عَذَابَ اللَّهِ شَدِيدٌ .
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning the words وَتَرَى النَّاسَ سُكَارَى وَمَا هُمْ بِسُكَارَى : he said: they have not drunk wine. Allah the Exalted said: وَلَكِنَّ عَذَابَ اللَّهِ شَدِيدٌ . Allah the Exalted said: rather they have become drunk from the dread of the punishment of Allah upon witnessing what they witnessed of the distress before it and its awesome terror, while they know how severe the punishment of Allah is.
