Tafseer of The Winnowing Winds · Adh-Dhaariyat · 51:4
And those [angels] apportioning [each] matter,
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.
فَالْمُقَسِّمَاتِ أَمْرًا ("and by those who apportion the matter") — He says: they are the angels who apportion the decree of Allah among His creatures.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of those who said that:
Hannād related to us, saying: Abū al-Aḥwaṣ related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of Khālid ibn ʿArʿara, who said: A man stood up (and went) to ʿAlī — may Allah be pleased with him — and said: "What are 'al-jāriyāt yusrā' (those that sail with ease)?" He said: "They are the ships." He said: "And what are 'al-ḥāmilāt wiqrā' (the bearers of a load)?" He said: "They are the clouds." He said: "And what are 'al-muqassimāt amrā' (those that apportion the matter)?" He said: "They are the angels."
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Simāk, who said: I heard Khālid ibn ʿArʿara saying: I heard ʿAlī — may Allah be pleased with him — and it was said to him: "What are 'al-ḥāmilāt wiqrā'?" He said: "They are the clouds." He said: "And what are 'al-jāriyāt yusrā'?" He said: "They are the ships." He said: "And what are 'al-muqassimāt amrā'?" He said: "They are the angels."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of Khālid ibn ʿArʿara, on the authority of ʿAlī, in a similar manner.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUbayd Allāh al-Hilālī and Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to me, both of them saying: Muḥammad ibn Khālid ibn ʿAthma related to us, saying: Mūsā al-Zamʿī related to us, saying: Abū al-Ḥuwayrith related to me, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Jubayr ibn Muṭʿim, who informed him, saying: I heard ʿAlī delivering a sermon to the people, whereupon ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Kawwāʾ stood up and said: "O Commander of the Believers, inform me about the saying of Allah, the Blessed and Exalted: فَالْحَامِلاتِ وِقْرًا ." He said: "They are the clouds." فَالْجَارِيَاتِ يُسْرًا — he said: "They are the ships." فَالْمُقَسِّمَاتِ أَمْرًا — he said: "The angels."
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza, who said: I heard Abū al-Ṭufayl, who said: I heard ʿAlī — may Allah be pleased with him — and he mentioned something similar.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Rufayʿ, on the authority of Abū al-Ṭufayl, who said: Ibn al-Kawwāʾ said to ʿAlī, and he mentioned something similar.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Wahb ibn ʿAbd Allāh, on the authority of Abū al-Ṭufayl, who said: I was present with ʿAlī — may Allah be pleased with him — and Ibn al-Kawwāʾ stood up toward him, and he mentioned something similar.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ṭalq ibn Ghannām related to us, on the authority of Zāʾida, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Rabīʿa, who said: Ibn al-Kawwāʾ asked ʿAlī, and he mentioned something similar.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Ayyūb related to me, on the authority of Abū Ṣakhr, on the authority of Abū Muʿāwiya al-Bajalī, on the authority of Abū al-Ṣahbāʾ al-Bakrī, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib — may Allah be pleased with him — in a similar manner.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, that a man asked ʿAlī, and he mentioned something similar.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ḥabīb ibn Abī Thābit, on the authority of Abū al-Ṭufayl, on the authority of ʿAlī, the like of it.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ḥabīb ibn Abī Thābit, on the authority of Abū al-Ṭufayl, who said: it was asked, and he mentioned the like of it.
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 فَالْحَامِلاتِ وِقْرًا — he said: the clouds; (and concerning) His saying فَالْمُقَسِّمَاتِ أَمْرًا — he said: the angels.
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: فَالْحَامِلاتِ وِقْرًا — he said: the clouds that bear the rain, فَالْجَارِيَاتِ يُسْرًا — he said: the ships, فَالْمُقَسِّمَاتِ أَمْرًا — he said: the angels, whom He sends down with His command upon whom He wills.
