Tafseer of The Mount · At-Tur · 52:44
And if they were to see a fragment from the sky falling, they would say, "[It is merely] clouds heaped up."
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 saying of the Exalted: وَإِنْ يَرَوْا كِسْفًا مِنَ السَّمَاءِ سَاقِطًا يَقُولُوا سَحَابٌ مَرْكُومٌ (And if they were to see a fragment falling from the sky, they would say: it is a heaped-up cloud) (44)
He, exalted is His mention, says: And if these polytheists (mushrikīn) were to see fragments falling from the sky — and "al-kisf" is the plural of "kisfa", just as "al-tamr" (dates) is the plural of "tamra", and "al-sidr" (lotus-trees) is the plural of "sidra".
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of 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 saying: ( kisafan ) He says: fragments.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: ( And if they were to see a fragment ) He says: and if they were to see fragments ( falling from the sky, they would say: it is a heaped-up cloud ) He, exalted is His praise, says: they would say concerning that fragment falling from the sky: this is a heaped-up cloud. By His word "heaped-up" (markūm) He means: one piece upon another.
By this He, exalted is His praise, meant precisely the polytheists of Quraysh who asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for the signs and said to him: لَنْ نُؤْمِنَ لَكَ حَتَّى تَفْجُرَ لَنَا مِنَ الأَرْضِ يَنْبُوعًا (We will not believe you until you cause a spring to gush forth for us from the earth) ... up to His saying عَلَيْنَا كِسَفًا (upon us fragments). Then Allah said to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: And if these polytheists were to see that for which they asked as signs, and with their own eyes were to see fragments falling from the sky, they would not turn away from the denial in which they persist, and they would say: this is merely a cloud, one piece above another — for Allah has irrevocably decreed concerning them that they will not believe.
As Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: they would say ( it is a heaped-up cloud ) He says: they believe no report and believe no sign.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying ( And if they were to see a fragment falling from the sky, they would say: it is a heaped-up cloud ) he said: when they asked for the fragment, they said: cause a fragment from the sky to fall upon us, if you are of the truthful. He says: were We to do that, they would say: it is a heaped-up cloud.
