Tafseer of The Winnowing Winds · Adh-Dhaariyat · 51:29
And his wife approached with a cry [of alarm] and struck her face and said, "[I am] a barren old woman!"
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.
His words فَأَقْبَلَتِ امْرَأَتُهُ فِي صَرَّةٍ ("Then his wife came forward with a cry") (51:29) — by this is meant Sāra (Sarah). And this "coming forward" is not a movement from one place to another, nor a relocation from one abode to another; rather it is like when someone says, "he came reviling me," in the sense: he began to revile me. And His words فِي صَرَّةٍ ("with a cry") mean: with a shout.
And in line with what we have said concerning this spoke the scholars of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl).
* Mention of those who said that:
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 words فِي صَرَّةٍ ("with a cry"), he says: with a shout.
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 words فَأَقْبَلَتِ امْرَأَتُهُ فِي صَرَّةٍ فَصَكَّتْ وَجْهَهَا ("Then his wife came forward with a cry and struck her face"): by "al-ṣarra" is meant the shout.
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: فِي صَرَّةٍ ("with a cry"), he said: a shout.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His words فَأَقْبَلَتِ امْرَأَتُهُ فِي صَرَّةٍ ("Then his wife came forward with a cry"): that is, she came forward with a wail of lamentation.
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 words صَرَّةٍ ("a cry"), he said: she came forward wailing.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-ʿAlāʾ ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Yāmī, on the authority of Ibn Sābiṭ, concerning His words فَأَقْبَلَتِ امْرَأَتُهُ فِي صَرَّةٍ ("Then his wife came forward with a cry"), he said: with a shout.
Yūnus related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His words فَأَقْبَلَتِ امْرَأَتُهُ فِي صَرَّةٍ ("Then his wife came forward with a cry"), he said: "al-ṣarra" is the shout.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His words فِي صَرَّةٍ ("with a cry"), he means: a shout. And some said: that shout was "awwah" with a shortened alif.
And His words فَصَكَّتْ وَجْهَهَا ("and struck her face"). The scholars of interpretation differ over the meaning of her "striking" (ṣakk), and over the part of her face that she struck. Some of them said: the meaning of her striking her face is: that she slapped it (laṭm).
* Mention of those who said that:
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 words فَصَكَّتْ وَجْهَهَا ("and struck her face"), he says: she gave herself a slap (laṭamat).
And others said: no, she struck her forehead with her hand out of astonishment.
* Mention of those 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, he said: when Jibrīl (Gabriel) brought Sāra the good news of Isḥāq (Isaac), and after Isḥāq of Yaʿqūb (Jacob), she struck her forehead out of astonishment; that is His words فَصَكَّتْ وَجْهَهَا ("and struck her face").
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 words فَصَكَّتْ وَجْهَهَا ("and struck her face"), he said: her forehead.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to me, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-ʿAlāʾ ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Yāmī, on the authority of Ibn Sābiṭ, concerning His words فَصَكَّتْ وَجْهَهَا ("and struck her face"), he said: she did thus — and Sufyān struck his forehead with his hand.
He said: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān: فَصَكَّتْ وَجْهَهَا ("and struck her face"): she placed her hand on her forehead out of astonishment. And "al-ṣakk" among the Arabs is: striking. And it has been said: her striking her face was that she brought her fingers together and struck her forehead with them. وَقَالَتْ عَجُوزٌ عَقِيمٌ ("and she said: an old, barren woman"), He says: and she said: "shall I bear a child?" The "shall I bear a child" has been omitted because of the indication of the words upon it, and with the suppressed "shall I bear a child" the phrase "ʿajūzun ʿaqīmun" is placed in the nominative. And by "al-ʿaqīm" is meant: she who does not bear children.
* Mention of those who said that:
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Sulaymān Abū Dāwūd related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Mishāsh, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His words عَجُوزٌ عَقِيمٌ ("an old, barren woman"), he said: she who does not bear children.
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: a man from the people of Khurāsān, of the Azd, nicknamed Abū Sāsān, informed us, saying: I asked al-Ḍaḥḥāk about His words عَقِيمٌ ("barren"), he said: she who has no child.
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Footnotes:
(7) "Al-ranna" is the sorrowful cry. "Rannat tarinnu raninan" and "arānat": she cried out.
