Tafseer of The Smoke · Ad-Dukhaan · 44:29
And the heaven and earth wept not for them, nor were they reprieved.
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 statement, exalted is He: فَمَا بَكَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّمَاءُ وَالأَرْضُ وَمَا كَانُوا مُنْظَرِينَ (And the heaven and the earth wept not over them, nor were they granted respite) (29)
He, exalted is His remembrance, says: and the heaven and the earth wept not over these whom Allah caused to drown in the sea, namely Firʿawn and his people. And it has been said: the weeping of the heaven is the redness of its horizons.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Aḥmasī related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Ḥammād related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam ibn Ẓuhayr, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: when al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī, may the good pleasure of Allah be upon them both, was killed, the heaven wept over him, and its weeping was its redness.
ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to me, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ concerning His statement فَمَا بَكَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّمَاءُ وَالأرْضُ (and the heaven and the earth wept not over them). He said: its weeping is the redness of its horizons.
And it has been said: He said only فَمَا بَكَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّمَاءُ وَالأرْضُ (and the heaven and the earth wept not over them) because, when the believer dies, the heaven and the earth weep over him for forty mornings; and they did not weep over Firʿawn and his people, because they had no good deed that ascended to Allah so that the heaven might weep over them, and no place of prayer on the earth so that the earth might weep over them.
And in like manner to what we have said concerning this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ṭalq ibn Ghannām related to us, on the authority of Zāʾida, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of al-Minhāl, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: a man came to Ibn ʿAbbās and said: O Abū ʿAbbās, what do you say concerning the statement of Allah, blessed and exalted is He: فَمَا بَكَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّمَاءُ وَالأرْضُ وَمَا كَانُوا مُنْظَرِينَ (and the heaven and the earth wept not over them, nor were they granted respite) — do the heaven and the earth then weep over anyone? He said: yes, there is no one among the creatures but he has a gate in the heaven through which his provision descends and through which his deed ascends. When the believer dies and his gate in the heaven, through which his deed ascended and through which his provision descended, is closed, it weeps over him; and when his place of prayer on the earth, in which he used to pray and remember Allah, misses him, it weeps over him. And the people of Firʿawn had no good traces on the earth, and nothing good ascended from them to the heaven; he said: therefore the heaven and the earth wept not over them.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān and Yaḥyā related to us, both of them saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: it used to be said: the earth weeps over the believer for forty mornings.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Yaḥyā al-Qattāt, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, in the same manner.
Yaḥyā ibn Ṭalḥa related to me, saying: Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: I was told that the earth, when the believer dies, weeps over him for forty mornings.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq al-Ḥaḍramī related to us, saying: Bukayr ibn Abī al-Sumayṭ related to us, saying: Qatāda related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, that he used to say: the spots of the earth from which his deed ascended to the heaven weep over him after his death — he means the believer.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of al-Minhāl, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās فَمَا بَكَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّمَاءُ وَالأرْضُ (and the heaven and the earth wept not over them). He said: there is no one but he has a gate in the heaven through which his provision descends and through which his deed ascends; and when he is missed, there weep over him the places upon which he used to prostrate himself. And the people of Firʿawn had no good deed on the earth that was accepted from them and ascended to Allah, mighty and exalted is He. And Mujāhid said: the earth weeps over the believer for forty mornings.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: it used to be said: verily, when the believer dies, the earth weeps over him for forty mornings.
Yaḥyā ibn Ṭalḥa related to me, saying: ʿĪsā ibn Yūnus related to us, on the authority of Ṣafwān ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of Shurayḥ ibn ʿUbayd al-Ḥaḍramī, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Verily, Islam began as something strange and will return as something strange. Lo, there is no estrangement for the believer: no believer dies in a strange land where his mourners are absent, but the heaven and the earth weep over him." Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited فَمَا بَكَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّمَاءُ وَالأرْضُ (and the heaven and the earth wept not over them), after which he said: "They both weep not over the unbeliever (kāfir)."
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 statement فَمَا بَكَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّمَاءُ وَالأرْضُ (and the heaven and the earth wept not over them)... the verse. He said: that is because no believer dies on the earth but the mosques in which he used to pray weep over him when they miss him, and the place in the heaven from which his word was raised up weeps over him. As for the people of His disobedience: فَمَا بَكَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّمَاءُ وَالأرْضُ وَمَا كَانُوا مُنْظَرِينَ (the heaven and the earth wept not over them, nor were they granted respite), because they both weep only over the friends of Allah.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement فَمَا بَكَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّمَاءُ وَالأرْضُ (and the heaven and the earth wept not over them).
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, who said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His statement فَمَا بَكَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّمَاءُ وَالأرْضُ (and the heaven and the earth wept not over them). He says: the heaven and the earth weep not over the unbeliever (kāfir), but over the righteous believer there weep his memorial marks on the earth and the abode of his deed in the heaven.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda concerning His statement فَمَا بَكَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ السَّمَاءُ وَالأرْضُ (and the heaven and the earth wept not over them). He said: the believer's spots on the earth upon which he used to pray weep over him when he dies, and his spots in the heaven from which his deed was raised up.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of al-Minhāl, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās was asked: do the heaven and the earth weep over anyone? He said: yes, there is no one among creation but he has a gate in the heaven through which his deed ascends and through which his provision descends. When he dies, there weeps over him his place on the earth where he used to remember Allah and in which he used to pray, and there weeps over him his gate through which his deed ascended and through which his provision descended. As for the people of Firʿawn: they had no good traces, and nothing good ascended from them to the heaven, so the heaven and the earth wept not over them.
And His statement وَمَا كَانُوا مُنْظَرِينَ (nor were they granted respite). He says: and they were granted no respite from the punishment that befell them, but they were hastened with it when they had angered their Lord, mighty and exalted is He, against themselves.
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The footnotes:
(2) In the original: "for this isnād no exegesis of Qatāda is mentioned; and what is found in al-Durr al-Manthūr on his authority is: he said: they were in Allah's sight more contemptible than that. And he said: and we used to relate that over the believer there weep his spots on the earth in which he prays and the ascent-place of his deed in the heaven."
