Tafseer of The Clans · Al-Ahzaab · 33:10
[Remember] when they came at you from above you and from below you, and when eyes shifted [in fear], and hearts reached the throats and you assumed about Allah [various] assumptions.
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 discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: إِذْ جَاءُوكُمْ مِنْ فَوْقِكُمْ وَمِنْ أَسْفَلَ مِنْكُمْ وَإِذْ زَاغَتِ الأَبْصَارُ وَبَلَغَتِ الْقُلُوبُ الْحَنَاجِرَ وَتَظُنُّونَ بِاللَّهِ الظُّنُونَا (33:10) (When they came upon you from above you and from below you, and when the eyes swerved aside and the hearts reached up to the throats, and you held all manner of conjectures about Allah.)
Allah, exalted be His mention, says: and Allah was Seeing of what you do, when the armies of the confederates (al-aḥzāb) came upon you from above you and from below you. And it has been said: those who reached them from below were Abū Sufyān with Quraysh and whoever was with him.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
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 Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: إِذْ جَاءُوكُمْ مِنْ فَوْقِكُمْ (When they came upon you from above you) — he said: that was ʿUyayna ibn Badr with the people of Najd; وَمِنْ أَسْفَلَ مِنْكُمْ (and from below you) — he said: that was Abū Sufyān. He said: and the Qurayẓa were facing them.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿAbda related to us, on the authority of Hishām ibn ʿUrwa, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, that she mentioned the day of the Trench (al-Khandaq) and recited: إِذْ جَاءُوكُمْ مِنْ فَوْقِكُمْ وَمِنْ أَسْفَلَ مِنْكُمْ وَإِذْ زَاغَتِ الأبْصَارُ وَبَلَغَتِ الْقُلُوبُ الْحَنَاجِرَ . She said: that was the day of the Trench.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to me, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Rūmān, the freedman of the family of al-Zubayr, on the authority of ʿUrwa ibn al-Zubayr, and from someone whom I do not suspect, on the authority of ʿUbayd Allah ibn Kaʿb ibn Mālik, and on the authority of al-Zuhrī, and on the authority of ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUmar ibn Qatāda, on the authority of ʿAbd Allah ibn Abī Bakr ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr ibn Ḥazm, and on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Qurazī, and on the authority of others among our scholars, that the account of the Trench was as follows: a small group of the Jews, among them Sallām ibn Abī al-Ḥuqayq al-Naḍrī, and Ḥuyayy ibn Akhṭab al-Naḍrī, and Kināna ibn al-Rabīʿ ibn Abī al-Ḥuqayq al-Naḍrī, and Hawdha ibn Qays al-Wāʾilī, and Abū ʿAmmār al-Wāʾilī, in a group of the Banū al-Naḍīr and a group of the Banū Wāʾil — and they were the ones who rallied the confederates (al-aḥzāb) against the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — set out until they arrived in Mecca at Quraysh, and they called them to war against the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and they said: we will be with you against him until we root him out. Then Quraysh said to them: O community of Jews, you are the people of the first Book, and possessors of knowledge concerning that over which we and Muḥammad differ; is our religion better or his religion? They said: no, your religion is better than his religion, and you are more in the right than he. He said: they are the ones about whom Allah revealed: أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا نَصِيبًا مِنَ الْكِتَابِ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْجِبْتِ وَالطَّاغُوتِ وَيَقُولُونَ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا هَؤُلاءِ أَهْدَى مِنَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا سَبِيلا (Have you not seen those who were given a portion of the Book, who believe in idolatry and false gods, and who say of those who disbelieve: these are better guided on the way than those who believe) ... up to His statement: وَكَفَى بِجَهَنَّمَ سَعِيرًا (and Hell suffices as a blazing fire). When they said that to Quraysh, their statement gladdened them, and they grew eager for that to which they were being called, namely war against the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. They assembled for it and made an appointment for it. Then that small group of the Jews set out until they came to Ghaṭafān of Qays ʿAylān, and they called them to war against the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and they informed them that they would be with them against him, and that Quraysh had already followed them in that and had assembled for it; so they responded to them.
Thus Quraysh set out, with Abū Sufyān ibn Ḥarb as their commander, and Ghaṭafān set out with ʿUyayna ibn Ḥiṣn ibn Ḥudhayfa ibn Badr as their commander, with the Banū Fazāra, and al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAwf ibn Abī Ḥāritha al-Murrī with the Banū Murra, and Misʿar ibn Rukhayla ibn Nuwayra ibn Ṭarīf ibn Saḥma ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn Hilāl ibn Khalāwa ibn Ashjaʿ ibn Rayth ibn Ghaṭafān, with whoever followed him of his people from Ashjaʿ. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ heard about them and about that for which they had assembled, he had the trench dug around Medina. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had finished the trench, Quraysh came on until they encamped at the confluence of the watercourses of Rūma, between al-Jurf and al-Ghāba, with ten thousand men from their allied troops (aḥābīsh) and whoever followed them of the Banū Kināna and the people of Tihāma. And Ghaṭafān came on, with whoever followed them of the people of Najd, until they encamped at Dhanab Naqmā, at the side of [the mountain] Uḥud. And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the Muslims set out, until they put their backs to [the mountain] Salʿ, with three thousand Muslims, and he pitched his camp there, with the trench between him and the people. And he gave orders [that care be taken] for the children and the women, and they were placed in the fortified towers (āṭām).
And the enemy of Allah, Ḥuyayy ibn Akhṭab al-Naḍrī, set out until he came to Kaʿb ibn Asad al-Qurazī, the holder of the covenant and the pact of the Banū Qurayẓa. He had concluded a truce with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on behalf of his people, and had pledged him that and agreed upon that with him. When Kaʿb heard of Ḥuyayy ibn Akhṭab, he shut his fortress against him. He asked permission to enter upon him, but he refused to open for him. Then Ḥuyayy called out to him: O Kaʿb, open for me! He said: woe to you, O Ḥuyayy, you are an ill-omened man; I have concluded a covenant with Muḥammad, and I am not one to break what is between me and him, and I have seen from him nothing but faithfulness and sincerity. He said: woe to you, open for me so that I may speak to you! He said: I will not do it. He said: by Allah, you have shut [the door] against me only out of fear for your supper, that I might eat of it with you. This stung the man, and he opened for him. Then he said: O Kaʿb, I have come to you with the glory of the ages, and with a brimming sea; I have come to you with Quraysh with their leaders and chiefs, until I made them encamp at the confluence of the watercourses of Rūma, and with Ghaṭafān with their leaders and chiefs, until I made them encamp at Dhanab Naqmā at the side of Uḥud. They have pledged to me and agreed with me that they will not depart until they root out Muḥammad and whoever is with him. Then Kaʿb ibn Asad said to him: by Allah, you have come to me with the disgrace of the ages, and with a cloud that has already poured out its water, which thunders and lightens while there is nothing in it. Leave me alone with Muḥammad and with that upon which I stand, for I have seen from Muḥammad nothing but sincerity and faithfulness. But Ḥuyayy kept working on Kaʿb, turning him this way and that, until he yielded to him, on condition that he give them a covenant of Allah and a pact: if Quraysh and Ghaṭafān should turn back without striking Muḥammad, then he would enter his fortress with him, so that there would befall him what befell him. Thus Kaʿb ibn Asad broke his covenant, and he disengaged from that which he had stood for, as regards what was between him and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
When the report reached the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the Muslims, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent Saʿd ibn Muʿādh ibn al-Nuʿmān ibn Imriʾ al-Qays, one of the Banū al-Ashhal — and he was at that time the lord of the Aws — and Saʿd ibn ʿUbāda ibn Dulaym, brother of the Banū Sāʿida ibn Kaʿb ibn al-Khazraj — and he was at that time the lord of the Khazraj — and with them ʿAbd Allah ibn Rawāḥa, brother of Balḥārith ibn al-Khazraj, and Khawwāt ibn Jubayr, brother of the Banū ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf. He said: "Go until you see whether what has reached us about these people is true or not. If it is true, then give it to me in veiled terms that I will understand, and do not break the spirit of the people; and if they remain faithful to what is between us and them, then proclaim it openly to the people." So they set out, until they came to them, and they found them in the worst state that had reached them about them. They insulted the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said: there is no covenant between us and Muḥammad and no pact. Then Saʿd ibn ʿUbāda reviled them and they reviled him, and he was a man with hot-temperedness in him; then Saʿd ibn Muʿādh said to him: leave off reviling them, for what is between us and them is worse than reviling. Then Saʿd and Saʿd and whoever was with them came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and they greeted him, and then they said: ʿAḍal and al-Qāra! — that is to say: like the treachery of ʿAḍal and al-Qāra against the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, the people of al-Rajīʿ, Khubayb ibn ʿAdī and his companions. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Allah is the Greatest, rejoice, O community of Muslims!
And then the trial became severe, and the fear grew intense, and their enemy came upon them from above them and from below them, until the Muslims held all manner of conjectures, and hypocrisy sprouted among some of the hypocrites (munāfiqīn), until Muʿattib ibn Qushayr, brother of the Banū ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf, said: Muḥammad used to promise us that we would eat the treasures of Kisrā and Qayṣar, while not one of us is able to go to the privy! And until Aws ibn Qayẓī, one of the Banū Ḥāritha ibn al-Ḥārith, said: O Messenger of Allah, our houses lie exposed and unprotected to the enemy — and that on behalf of a group of the men of his people — so permit us to return to our dwelling, for it lies outside Medina. And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ remained some twenty nights, nearly a month, and there was no fighting between the people except the shooting of arrows and the siege.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, he said: Yazīd ibn Rūmān related to me concerning His statement: إِذْ جَاءُوكُمْ مِنْ فَوْقِكُمْ وَمِنْ أَسْفَلَ مِنْكُمْ (When they came upon you from above you and from below you) — those who came upon them from above them were the Qurayẓa, and those who came upon them from below them were Quraysh and Ghaṭafān.
And His statement: وَإذْ زَاغَتِ الأبْصَارُ (and when the eyes swerved aside) says: and when the eyes deviated from their place and stared up fixedly.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: وَإذْ زَاغَتِ الأبْصَارُ (and when the eyes swerved aside): stared fixedly.
And His statement: وَبَلَغَتِ القُلُوبُ الحَناجِرَ (and the hearts reached up to the throats) says: the hearts deviated from their places out of terror and fear, and they rose up to the throats.
As Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Suwayd ibn ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Ḥammād ibn Zayd, on the authority of Ayyūb, on the authority of ʿIkrima: وَبَلَغَتِ القُلُوبُ الحَناجِرَ (and the hearts reached up to the throats), he said: out of fear.
And His statement: وَتَظُنُّونَ بِاللَّهِ الظُّنُونَا (and you held all manner of conjectures about Allah) says: and you held about Allah lying conjectures, and that was like the conjecture of whoever among them conjectured that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would be overcome, and that that which Allah had promised him of victory would not come to pass, and similar lying conjectures that were held by whoever held them among those who were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in his camp.
Bishr related to us, saying: Hawdha ibn Khalīfa related to us, saying: ʿAwf related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: وَتَظُنُّونَ باللَّه الظُّنُونا (and you held all manner of conjectures about Allah), he said: divergent conjectures: the hypocrites conjectured that Muḥammad and his companions would be rooted out, and the believers knew for certain that what Allah had promised them was true, namely that He would make him prevail over the entire religion, even though the polytheists (mushrikīn) hated it.
And the reciters differed concerning the recitation of His statement: وَتَظُنُّونَ بالله الظُّنُونا (and you held all manner of conjectures about Allah). Most of the reciters of Medina, and some of the Kufans, recited it as (al-ẓunūnā) with the alif retained, and likewise وَأَطَعْنَا الرَّسُولَا (and we obeyed the Messenger) and فَأَضَلُّونَا السَّبِيلَا (so they made us lose the way), both in the joining (waṣl) and at the stopping (waqf). And the argument of the one who adduces [an extra letter] herein was that this occurs in all the codices (maṣāḥif) of the Muslims with the alif retained in all these words. And some of the reciters of Kufa retained the alif therein at the stopping and dropped it in the joining, with the argument that the Arabs do that in the rhyme-words and the hemistichs of poetry: they add the alif in place of the fatḥa for the sake of stopping, but they do not do that in the interior of the verses; and since these words are verse-ends (raʾs al-āy), the retention of the alif therein was fitting, treating them as equivalent to the rhyme-words.
And some of the reciters of Basra and Kufa recited it with the dropping of the alif in all cases, both at the stopping and in the joining, with the argument that this does not occur in the speech of the Arabs except in the rhyme-words of poetry and not in anything else of their speech, and that they do that only in the rhyme-words for the sake of completing the meter of the poetry, for if they did not do that therein, the poetry would not be sound; and that is not so in the Qurʾān, for there is nothing in the Qurʾān that compels them to it. And they said: moreover, they stand in the codex of ʿAbd Allah without an alif.
And the most correct of the recitations herein, according to me, is the recitation of the one who recites it with the dropping of the alif in the joining and at the stopping, because that is the well-known speech from the language of the Arabs, together with the well-knownness of the recitation thereof among the reciters of the two cities: Kufa and Basra. Then [comes] the recitation with the retention of the alif therein in the state of stopping and joining; for the argument of whoever retains it in the state of stopping is that it is so in the written forms of the codices of the Muslims. And when the argument for the retention of the alif in some states is that it is retained in the codices of the Muslims, then it is obligatory that the recitation be retained in all states, because it is retained in their codices. And it is not permissible that the argument which makes the recitation thereof obligatory in a certain manner in some states be present in another state while the recitation [then nevertheless] differs. And that is not comparable to the rhyme-words of poetry, for in the rhyme-words of poetry the alifs are added only in the places of the fatḥa, and the yāʾ in the places of the kasra, and the wāw in the places of the ḍamma, for the sake of completing the meter, and because that, if it were not done so, it would cease to be poetry on account of its falling out of meter; and there is nothing that compels the reciter of the Qurʾān to do that in the Qurʾān.