Tafseer of The Clans · Al-Ahzaab · 33:72
Indeed, we offered the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, and they declined to bear it and feared it; but man [undertook to] bear it. Indeed, he was unjust and ignorant.
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 explanation of the Exalted saying: إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الأَمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَالْجِبَالِ فَأَبَيْنَ أَنْ يَحْمِلْنَهَا وَأَشْفَقْنَ مِنْهَا وَحَمَلَهَا الإِنْسَانُ إِنَّهُ كَانَ ظَلُومًا جَهُولا (72) (We offered the trust (al-amāna) to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, but they refused to bear it and were afraid of it; yet man bore it. Verily, he is very unjust and very ignorant.) (33:72)
The scholars of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning its meaning. Some said: its meaning is that Allah offered His obedience and His obligatory ordinances (farāʾiḍ) to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, on the condition that, if they acted well, they would be rewarded and recompensed, and if they fell short, they would be punished. They refused to bear it out of fear (shafaq) that they would not fulfil the duty incumbent upon them, and Ādam bore it. إِنَّهُ كَانَ ظَلُومًا (Verily, he was very unjust) toward himself, َجُهولا (very ignorant) concerning that in which his benefit lay.
* Mention of who said that:
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning His saying إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الأمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأرْضِ وَالْجِبَالِ فَأَبَيْنَ أَنْ يَحْمِلْنَهَا وَأَشْفَقْنَ مِنْهَا (We offered the trust to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, but they refused to bear it and were afraid of it). He said: the trust is the obligatory ordinances (al-farāʾiḍ) which Allah imposed upon the servants.
He said: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of al-ʿAwwām, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الأمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأرْضِ وَالْجِبَالِ فَأَبَيْنَ أَنْ يَحْمِلْنَهَا (We offered the trust to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, but they refused to bear it). He said: the trust is the obligatory ordinances which Allah imposed upon His servants.
He said: Hushaym related to us, saying: al-ʿAwwām ibn Ḥawshab and Juwaybir both informed us, both on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الأمَانَةَ ... (We offered the trust …) up to His saying جَهُولا (very ignorant). He said: the trust is the obligatory ordinances. Juwaybir said in his narration: when it was offered to Ādam, he said: O my Lord, what is the trust? He said: it was said: if you fulfil it, you are rewarded, and if you neglect it, you are punished. He said: O my Lord, I bear it with all that it entails. He said: and he remained in the Garden only for the span of time that lies between the afternoon prayer (al-ʿaṣr) and sunset, until he committed the disobedience and was driven out of it.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he said concerning this verse إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الأمَانَةَ (We offered the trust): it was offered to Ādam, and He said: take it with all that it entails; if you obey, I forgive you, and if you disobey, I punish you. He said: I have accepted it. And there elapsed only the span of time that lies between the afternoon prayer and the night of that same day, until he committed the transgression.
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الأمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأرْضِ وَالْجِبَالِ (We offered the trust to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains): if they were to fulfil it, He would reward them, and if they were to neglect it, He would punish them. They disliked that and were afraid of it, not out of disobedience, but out of reverence for the religion of Allah, lest they fall short in it. Then He offered it to Ādam, and he accepted it with all that it entails. That is His saying: وَحَمَلَهَا الإنْسَانُ إِنَّهُ كَانَ ظَلُومًا جَهُولا (yet man bore it; verily, he was very unjust and very ignorant), deceived concerning the command of Allah.
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 saying إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الأمَانَةَ (We offered the trust): it is the obedience which He offered to them before He offered it to Ādam, but they were not capable of it. Then He said to Ādam: O Ādam, I offered the trust to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, but they were not capable of it. Will you take it with all that it entails? He said: O my Lord, and what does it entail? He said: if you act well, you are rewarded, and if you act badly, you are punished. Then Ādam took it and bore it. That is His saying: وَحَمَلَهَا الإنْسَانُ إِنَّهُ كَانَ ظَلُومًا جَهُولا (yet man bore it; verily, he was very unjust and very ignorant).
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of a man, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim, concerning His saying إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الأمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأرْضِ وَالْجِبَالِ فَأَبَيْنَ أَنْ يَحْمِلْنَهَا وَأَشْفَقْنَ مِنْهَا وَحَمَلَهَا الإنْسَانُ إِنَّهُ كَانَ ظَلُومًا جَهُولا (We offered the trust to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, but they refused to bear it and were afraid of it; yet man bore it; verily, he was very unjust and very ignorant). He said: it was said to Ādam: take it with its right. He said: and what is its right? It was said: if you act well, you are rewarded, and if you act badly, you are punished. And he remained only the time between the noon prayer (al-ẓuhr) and the afternoon prayer (al-ʿaṣr), until he was driven out of it.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His saying: إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الأمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأرْضِ وَالْجِبَالِ (We offered the trust to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains): but they were not able to bear it. Will you then, O Ādam, take it with all that it entails? Ādam said: and what does it entail, O my Lord? He said: if you act well, you are rewarded, and if you act badly, you are punished. He said: I have taken it upon myself. Then Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, said: I have given it to you to bear. And Ādam remained only for the span of time between the first prayer (al-ūlā) and the afternoon prayer (al-ʿaṣr), until Iblīs — Allah's curse be upon him — drove him out of the Garden. And the trust is obedience.
Saʿīd ibn ʿAmr al-Sakūnī related to me, saying: Baqiyya related to us, saying: ʿĪsā ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, on the authority of Mūsā ibn Abī Ḥabīb, on the authority of al-Ḥakam ibn ʿAmr — and he was among the companions of the Prophet ﷺ — he said: the Prophet ﷺ said: "Verily, the trust and fidelity (al-wafāʾ) descended upon the son of Ādam together with the prophets, and they were sent with it. Among them is a messenger of Allah, among them is a prophet, and among them is a prophet who is also a messenger. The Qurʾān descended — and it is the word of Allah — and the Arabic and the non-Arabic descended. Thus they learned the matter of the Qurʾān and learned the matter of the transmitted practices (al-sunan) in their languages. And Allah left nothing of His command — of that which they do and that which they avoid, and these are the proofs against them — unclarified for them. There is no people with a language but they distinguish the good from the reprehensible. Then the trust is the first thing that will be taken away, while its traces remain in the roots of people's hearts. After that, fidelity, the covenant, and the obligations are taken away, while the scriptures remain. So there is a scholar who acts upon it and an ignorant one who knows it but rejects it, until it has reached me and my community (umma). Thus none comes to Allah with it except whoever is damned, and none neglects it except whoever abandons it. So be watchful, O people, and beware of the slinking whisperer (al-waswās al-khannās). Verily, He only tests you to see which of you acts best."
Muḥammad ibn Khalaf al-ʿAsqalānī related to me, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿAbd al-Majīd al-Ḥanafī related to us, saying: al-ʿAwwām al-ʿAṭṭār related to us, saying: Qatāda and Abān ibn Abī ʿAyyāsh related to us, on the authority of Khulayd al-ʿAṣarī, on the authority of Abū al-Dardāʾ, he said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Five matters — whoever comes with them on the Day of Resurrection together with faith (īmān) enters the Garden: whoever observes the five prayers (al-ṣalawāt al-khams) — their ablution, their bowings, their prostrations, and their appointed times —, and gives the obligatory alms (al-zakāh) from his wealth with a willing heart." And he used to say: and by Allah, none does that except a believer; and whoever fasts the month of Ramaḍān, and performs the pilgrimage to the House if he is able to find a way to it, and fulfils the trust. They said: O Abū al-Dardāʾ, and what is the trust? He said: the washing from major ritual impurity (al-ghusl min al-janāba), for Allah has entrusted the son of Ādam with nothing of his religion more than that.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Abū al-Ḍuḥā, on the authority of Masrūq, on the authority of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, he said: among the trust is that the woman is entrusted with her private part (farj).
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb related to us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning Allah's saying إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الأمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأرْضِ وَالْجِبَالِ فَأَبَيْنَ أَنْ يَحْمِلْنَهَا وَأَشْفَقْنَ مِنْهَا (We offered the trust to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, but they refused to bear it and were afraid of it). He said: Allah offered them the trust, namely that He would impose the religion upon them as an obligation, and would establish for them reward and punishment, and would entrust the religion to them. Then they said: no, we are made subservient to Your command; we desire neither reward nor punishment. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "And Allah offered it to Ādam, and he said: between my two ears and my shoulder." Ibn Zayd said: then Allah said to him: now that you have taken this upon yourself, I will assist you. I will make a covering for your sight: when you fear to look at what is not permitted to you, then lower the covering over it. And I will make for your tongue a door and a bolt: when you fear, then close it. And I will make for your private part a garment: so uncover it only for that which I have permitted you.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الأمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأرْضِ وَالْجِبَالِ (We offered the trust to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains): by this He means: the religion, the obligatory ordinances, and the prescribed punishments (al-ḥudūd). فَأَبَيْنَ أَنْ يَحْمِلْنَهَا وَأَشْفَقْنَ مِنْهَا (but they refused to bear it and were afraid of it): it was said to them: bear it, will you fulfil its right? Then they said: we are not able to do that. وَحَمَلَهَا الإنْسَانُ إِنَّهُ كَانَ ظَلُومًا جَهُولا (yet man bore it; verily, he was very unjust and very ignorant): it was said to him: will you bear it? He said: yes. It was said: will you fulfil its right? He said: yes. Allah said: verily, he was very unjust and very ignorant concerning its right.
Others said: no, by the trust in this place are meant the mutual trusts of people among one another.
* Mention of who said that:
Tamīm ibn al-Muntaṣir related to us, saying: Isḥāq related to us, on the authority of Sharīk, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Zādhān, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh ibn Masʿūd, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, that he said: "Being killed in the way of Allah wipes out all sins" — or he said: "wipes out everything except the trust. The bearer of the trust is brought, and it is said to him: fulfil your trust. Then he says: O my Lord, how, when the world has passed away? — three times. Then it is said: take him to the abyss (al-hāwiya). So he is taken to it and plunges into it, until he reaches the bottom of it. There he finds the trust in the very same form, and he bears it and places it on his shoulder and climbs with it to the edge of Hell (jahannam). But as soon as he supposes that he has got out of it, it slips away, and he plunges after it, forever and ever." They said: and the trust in prayer, and the trust in fasting, and the trust in speech — and the weightiest of these are goods given in safekeeping (al-wadāʾiʿ). Then I met al-Barāʾ and said: do you not hear what your brother ʿAbdallāh says? He said: he has spoken the truth.
Sharīk said: and ʿAyyāsh al-ʿĀmirī related to me, on the authority of Zādhān, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh ibn Masʿūd, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, something similar, but he did not mention the trust in prayer and in everything.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥārith informed me, on the authority of Ibn Abī Hilāl, on the authority of Abū Ḥāzim, he said: Allah offered the trust to the nearest heaven, but it refused; then to the one that follows it, until He finished with them; then to the earths; then to the mountains. Then He offered it to Ādam, and he said: yes, between my two ears and my shoulder. Then He said: then I enjoin upon you three things, for they will be a support to you: I have made for you a tongue between two jaws, so restrain it from all that I have forbidden you; and I have made for you a private part and concealed it, so do not uncover it with that which I have forbidden you.
Others said: no, by it is meant only that Ādam entrusted to his son Qābīl his wife and his children, and the treachery of Qābīl toward his father by killing his brother.
* Mention of who said that:
Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, in a report which he mentioned on the authority of Abū Mālik and on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, and on the authority of Murra al-Hamdānī, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, and on the authority of some people from among the companions of the Prophet ﷺ. He said: no child was born to Ādam but a girl was born together with him. Thus he used to marry the boy of this pregnancy to the girl of the other pregnancy, and the girl of this pregnancy to the boy of the other pregnancy, until two sons were born to him, who were called Qābīl and Hābīl. Qābīl was a farmer and Hābīl was a herdsman. Qābīl was the elder of the two, and he had a sister who was more beautiful than the sister of Hābīl. Hābīl desired to marry the sister of Qābīl, but he refused him that and said: she is my sister, born with me, and she is more beautiful than your sister, and I have more right to marry her. Then his father commanded him to marry her to Hābīl, but he refused. Thereupon the two of them offered a sacrifice to Allah, to determine which of them had more right to the girl. Ādam was absent from them that day, namely at Mecca, to behold it. Allah had said to Ādam: O Ādam, do you know that I have a House on the earth? He said: O Allah, no. He said: I have a House at Mecca, so go to it. Then Ādam said to the heaven: guard my child as a trust, but it refused. And he said it to the earth, but it refused. And he said it to the mountains, but they refused. And he said it to Qābīl, and he said: yes, go and return, and you will find your family as it pleases you. When Ādam had departed, the two of them offered a sacrifice. Qābīl used to boast over him and said: I have more right to her than you; she is my sister, and I am older than you, and I am the deputy of my father. When the two of them sacrificed, Hābīl brought a fat young goat, and Qābīl brought a bundle of ears of grain. Among them he found a large ear, which he rubbed and ate. Then the fire descended and consumed the sacrifice of Hābīl, but left the sacrifice of Qābīl untouched. Thereupon he became angry and said: I will surely kill you, so that you do not marry my sister. Hābīl said: إِنَّمَا يَتَقَبَّلُ اللَّهُ مِنَ الْمُتَّقِينَ * لَئِنْ بَسَطْتَ إِلَيَّ يَدَكَ لِتَقْتُلَنِي مَا أَنَا بِبَاسِطٍ يَدِيَ إِلَيْكَ لأَقْتُلَكَ إِنِّي أَخَافُ اللَّهَ رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ (Allah accepts only from the God-fearing. If you stretch out your hand against me to kill me, I am not one who stretches out his hand against you to kill you; verily, I fear Allah, the Lord of the worlds) up to His saying فَطَوَّعَتْ لَهُ نَفْسُهُ قَتْلَ أَخِيهِ (Then his soul prompted him to kill his brother). So he sought him out to kill him, but the youth evaded him on the peaks of the mountains. One day, however, he came upon him while he was pasturing his sheep on a mountain and sleeping. Then he lifted up a boulder and smashed his head with it, so that he died. And he left him in the open plain, not knowing how to bury him. Then Allah sent two ravens, brothers, who fought with each other, and the one killed the other, dug a pit for him, and then cast earth upon it. When he saw that, he said: يَا وَيْلَتَا أَعَجَزْتُ أَنْ أَكُونَ مِثْلَ هَذَا الْغُرَابِ فَأُوَارِيَ سَوْأَةَ أَخِي (Woe to me! Am I not even able to be like this raven, so that I might hide the corpse of my brother?). That is the saying of Allah, the Blessed and Exalted: فَبَعَثَ اللَّهُ غُرَابًا يَبْحَثُ فِي الأَرْضِ لِيُرِيَهُ كَيْفَ يُوَارِي سَوْأَةَ أَخِيهِ (Then Allah sent a raven that dug in the earth to show him how he might hide the corpse of his brother). Then Ādam returned and found that his son had killed his brother. That is the moment of which He says: إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الأمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأرْضِ وَالْجِبَالِ ... (We offered the trust to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains …) to the end of the verse.
The correct of the views concerning this is what was said by those who said: by the trust in this place are meant all the meanings of the trusts, both in religion and the mutual trusts of people among one another. That is because Allah, by His saying عَرَضْنَا الأمَانَةَ (We offered the trust), did not single out one part of the meanings of the trusts, for the reason which we have described.
And in agreement with our view, the scholars of interpretation have spoken concerning the meaning of Allah's saying إِنَّهُ كَانَ ظَلُومًا جَهُولا (verily, he was very unjust and very ignorant).
* Mention of who said that:
Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī إِنَّهُ كَانَ ظَلُومًا جَهُولا (verily, he was very unjust and very ignorant): by this Qābīl is meant, when he bore the trust of Ādam but did not guard his family for him.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of a man, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His saying وَحَملَهَا الإنْسَانُ (yet man bore it): he said: that is Ādam. إِنَّهُ كَانَ ظَلُومًا جَهُولا (verily, he was very unjust and very ignorant): he said: very unjust toward himself, very ignorant concerning that which he took upon himself in the relationship between him and his Lord.
ʿAlī related to us, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās إِنَّهُ كَانَ ظَلُومًا جَهُولا (verily, he was very unjust and very ignorant): deceived concerning the command of Allah.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda إِنَّه كَانَ ظَلُومًا جَهُولا (verily, he was very unjust and very ignorant): he said: very unjust toward it — that is, toward the trust —, very ignorant concerning its right.
