Tafseer of The Ant · An-Naml · 27:21
I will surely punish him with a severe punishment or slaughter him unless he brings me clear authorization."
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.
And His word: لَأُعَذِّبَنَّهُ عَذَابًا شَدِيدًا (I shall surely punish him with a severe punishment): He says: When Sulaymān was informed that the hoopoe was not among them and that it was absent and not present, he swore: I shall surely punish him with a severe punishment. His punishment of birds consisted, according to what has been transmitted concerning him, when he punished them, of plucking out their feathers.
In accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation also spoke.
Mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: al-Ḥammānī related to us, from al-Aʿmash, from al-Minhāl, from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word لَأُعَذِّبَنَّهُ عَذَابًا شَدِيدًا, he said: the plucking out of his feathers.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn ʿAṭiyya related to us, from Sharīk, from ʿAṭāʾ, from Mujāhid, from Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning لَأُعَذِّبَنَّهُ عَذَابًا شَدِيدًا: his punishment was the plucking out of his feathers and exposing him to the sun.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, from his father, from Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word لَأُعَذِّبَنَّهُ عَذَابًا شَدِيدًا: he said: the plucking out of his feathers and exposing him to the sun.
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 of them — from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid: لَأُعَذِّبَنَّهُ عَذَابًا شَدِيدًا, he said: the plucking out of all his feathers.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, from Ibn Jurayj, from Mujāhid, concerning His word لَأُعَذِّبَنَّهُ عَذَابًا شَدِيدًا: he said: the plucking out of all the hoopoe's feathers, so that he cannot take a nap.
He said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Abū Sufyān related to us, from Maʿmar, from Qatāda: he said: the plucking out of his feathers.
It was related to me from al-Ḥusayn, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh saying: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk saying, concerning His word لَأُعَذِّبَنَّهُ عَذَابًا شَدِيدًا: he said: the plucking out of his feathers.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Ibn Isḥāq related to me, from Yazīd ibn Rūmān, that he transmitted that his punishment with which he punished birds was the plucking out of his wing.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: one of the people of knowledge was asked: this is slaughter — so what then is the severe punishment? He said: the plucking out of his feathers while he makes him take a piece of meat that leaps about.
Saʿīd ibn al-Rabīʿ al-Rāzī related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, from ʿAmr ibn Bashār, from Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word لَأُعَذِّبَنَّهُ عَذَابًا شَدِيدًا: he said: the plucking out of his feathers.
Saʿīd ibn al-Rabīʿ related to me, saying: Sufyān related to us, from Ḥusayn ibn Abī Shaddād, he said: the plucking out of his feathers and exposure to the sun. أَوْ لَأَذْبَحَنَّهُ: he says: or I shall surely slaughter him.
As it was related to me from al-Ḥusayn, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh saying: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk saying, concerning His word أَوْ لَأَذْبَحَنَّهُ: he says: or I shall surely slaughter him.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: ʿAbbād ibn al-ʿAwwām related to us, from Ḥuṣayn, from ʿAbdullāh ibn Shaddād: لَأُعَذِّبَنَّهُ عَذَابًا شَدِيدًا أَوْ لَأَذْبَحَنَّهُ... the verse, he said: the birds met him and informed him, and he said: did he perhaps make a reservation?
And His word: أَوْ لَيَأْتِيَنِّي بِسُلْطَانٍ مُّبِينٍ: he says: or he must surely bring me a proof that makes clear its correctness and reality to whoever hears it.
In accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation also spoke.
Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Azdī related to us, saying: al-Muʿāfā ibn ʿImrān related to us, from Sufyān, from ʿAmmār al-Duhnī, from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: every sulṭān in the Qurʾān means proof (ḥujja).
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, from his father, from Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word أَوْ لَيَأْتِيَنِّي بِسُلْطَانٍ مُّبِينٍ: he says: with a clear proof (bayyina) that exonerates him before me, and this is equivalent to His word: الَّذِينَ يُجَادِلُونَ فِي آيَاتِ اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ سُلْطَانٍ — he says: without proof.
Ibn Bashār related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, from a man, from ʿIkrima, he said: everything in the Qurʾān that is called sulṭān is a proof (ḥujja).
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: ʿAbdullāh ibn Yazīd related to us, from Qubāth ibn Razīn, that he heard ʿIkrima saying: I heard Ibn ʿAbbās saying: every sulṭān in the Qurʾān is a proof; the hoopoe had a proof.
Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Abū Sufyān related to us, from Maʿmar, from Qatāda: أَوْ لَيَأْتِيَنِّي بِسُلْطَانٍ مُّبِينٍ: he said: with a clear excuse.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, from Ibn Isḥāq, from one of the people of knowledge, from Wahb ibn Munabbih: أَوْ لَيَأْتِيَنِّي بِسُلْطَانٍ مُّبِينٍ: that is to say: with a proof that exonerates him in his absence.
It was related to me from al-Ḥusayn, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh saying: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk saying, concerning His word أَوْ لَيَأْتِيَنِّي بِسُلْطَانٍ مُّبِينٍ: he says: with a proof; and this is His word: الَّذِينَ يُجَادِلُونَ فِي آيَاتِ اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ سُلْطَانٍ — without proof.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His word أَوْ لَيَأْتِيَنِّي بِسُلْطَانٍ مُّبِينٍ: he said: with an excuse that exonerates him before me.
