Tafseer of The Criterion · Al-Furqaan · 25:23
And We will regard what they have done of deeds and make them as dust dispersed.
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.
Allah, exalted is His mention, says: وَقَدِمْنَا — We proceeded to the deeds that these criminals performed مِنْ عَمَلٍ ; hence also the expression of the poet of the verse:
وَقَدِمَ الْخَوَارِجُ الضُّلَّالُ إِلَى عِبَادِ رَبِّهِمْ وَقَالُوا إِنَّ دِمَاءَكُمْ لَنَا حَلَالُ
He means by "qadima": he proceeded to.
In the same manner as we have explained this, the exegetes also spoke.
* Mention of who said this:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, 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 — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najiḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word وَقَدِمْنَا — he said: We proceeded to.
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 — the same.
And His word فَجَعَلْنَاهُ هَبَاءً مَنْثُورًا — that is to say: We have made it into vanity, because they did not perform it for Allah but for Satan.
Al-habāʾ (the scattered dust) is what one sees as something like dust when sunlight falls in through an opening and the onlooker takes it for dust, without anything being able to grasp it with the hands or touch it; in the shade it is not visible.
The exegetes differed in the explanation of this; some said nearly what we have said.
* Mention of who said this:
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Muḥammad related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, who said concerning this verse هَبَاءً مَنْثُورًا : the dust that is in the sun.
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Abū Rajāʾ, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His word وَقَدِمْنَا إِلَى مَا عَمِلُوا مِنْ عَمَلٍ فَجَعَلْنَاهُ هَبَاءً مَنْثُورًا — he said: the ray of light in a person's opening — when he tries to grasp it, he cannot.
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 — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najiḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word هَبَاءً مَنْثُورًا — he said: the sunbeam through the opening.
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 — the same.
Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His word هَبَاءً مَنْثُورًا — he said: what I see as something that the sun casts into a house when it falls in through the opening, that is the habāʾ.
Others said: it is what the winds stir up of earth-dust and scatter of fragments of trees and the like.
* Mention of who said this:
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 ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word هَبَاءً مَنْثُورًا — he said: what the wind stirs up and scatters.
Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda — هَبَاءً مَنْثُورًا — he said: it is what the wind scatters of fragments of these trees.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word هَبَاءً مَنْثُورًا — he said: al-habāʾ is the dust.
And others said: it is the poured-out water.
* Mention of who said this:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word هَبَاءً مَنْثُورًا — it is said: the poured-out water.
