Tafseer of The Smoke · Ad-Dukhaan · 44:16
The Day We will strike with the greatest assault, indeed, We will take retribution.
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 His word, the Exalted: On the Day when We shall seize with the great seizing, truly We shall take vengeance (16)
He, exalted is His mention, says: Truly, O polytheists (mushrikīn), if I remove from you the chastisement that has descended upon you, and the harm that has afflicted you, and you then return to your unbelief (kufr) and break the covenant that you have made with your Lord, then I shall take vengeance upon you on the Day when I shall seize against you with My great seizing in this near worldly life, and destroy you. And Allah removed the chastisement from them, whereupon they returned, and He — exalted is His praise — seized against them with His great seizing in the worldly life, and destroyed them through slaying by the sword.
The exegetes differed concerning the great seizing. Some said: it is Allah's seizing against the polytheists of Quraysh on the day of Badr.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of ʿĀmir, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, that he said: the great seizing: the day of Badr.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Zuhrī related to me, saying: Mālik ibn Suʿayr related to us, saying: al-Aʿmash related to us, on the authority of Muslim, on the authority of Masrūq, he said: the day of Badr is the great seizing.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Ayyūb related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad, he said: it has been reported to me that Ibn Masʿūd used to say: ( On the Day when We shall seize with the great seizing ): the day of Badr.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid ( On the Day when We shall seize with the great seizing ), he said: the day of Badr.
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, concerning His word ( On the Day when We shall seize with the great seizing ), he said: the day of Badr.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of ʿAwf, he said: I heard Abū al-ʿĀliya say concerning this verse ( On the Day when We shall seize with the great seizing ): the day of Badr.
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 word ( On the Day when We shall seize with the great seizing ), he said: by this the day of Badr is meant.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿAththām ibn ʿAlī related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: I said: what is the great seizing? Whereupon he said: the Day of Resurrection. I said: but ʿAbd Allāh used to say: the day of Badr. He said: and it has reached me that he was asked about that afterward, whereupon he said: the day of Badr.
Abū Kurayb and Abū al-Sāʾib related to us, both saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, in similar fashion.
Bishr related to us, Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Abū al-Khalīl, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, he said: the day of Badr.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd reported to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word ( On the Day when We shall seize with the great seizing ): the day of Badr.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb reported to us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word ( On the Day when We shall seize with the great seizing ), he said: this is the day of Badr.
And others said: no, rather it is Allah's seizing against His enemies on the Day of Resurrection.
* Mention of who said that:
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Khālid al-Ḥadhdhāʾ related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, he said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: Ibn Masʿūd said: the great seizing: the day of Badr, but I say: it is the Day of Resurrection.
Abū Kurayb and Abū al-Sāʾib related to us, both saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: al-Aʿmash related to us, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: ʿIkrima passed by me, and I asked him about the great seizing, whereupon he said: the Day of Resurrection. He said: I said: but ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd used to say: the day of Badr, and the one who asked him about it afterward reported to me that he said: the day of Badr.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word ( On the Day when We shall seize with the great seizing ), Qatāda said, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: it is the Day of Resurrection.
And we have already expounded earlier the correct view concerning that, as well as the reason why we have chosen the opinion we have chosen concerning it.
