Tafseer of The Star · An-Najm · 53:60
And you laugh and do not weep
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.
Ibn ʿAbbās said: أَزِفَتِ الآزِفَةُ (The approaching [Hour] has approached) is one of the names of the Day of Resurrection; Allah magnified that [day] and warned His servants of it.
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 أَزِفَتِ الآزِفَةُ (The approaching [Hour] has approached), he said: The Hour has drawn near.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word أَزِفَتِ الآزِفَةُ (The approaching [Hour] has approached), he said: [It is] the Hour. لَيْسَ لَهَا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ كَاشِفَةٌ (None besides Allah can disclose it).
And His word لَيْسَ لَهَا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ كَاشِفَةٌ (None besides Allah can disclose it): the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: for the approaching [Hour] that has already drawn near — and that is the Hour that has already come close — there is no discloser besides Allah. He says: it is not disclosed so that it arrives except by Allah's making it arrive and disclosing it, apart from all who are besides Him among His creatures, for He has not informed any angel brought near of it, nor any sent prophet. It has been said: kāshifah, which is in the feminine form, while it has the meaning of "the disclosure" (al-inkishāf); as it is said: فَهَلْ تَرَى لَهُمْ مِنْ بَاقِيَةٍ (So do you see any remnant of them?) in the meaning of: do you see any continued existence (baqāʾ) of them; and as it is said: "the outcome, and he has no restrainer (nāhiyah)"; and as it is said: لَيْسَ لِوَقْعَتِهَا كَاذِبَةٌ (For its occurrence there is no lie) in the meaning of denial (takdhīb); وَلا تَزَالُ تَطَّلِعُ عَلَى خَائِنَةٍ مِنْهُمْ (And you will continue to discover treachery from them) in the meaning of treachery (khiyānah).
The statement concerning the explanation of His word, the Exalted: أَفَمِنْ هَذَا الْحَدِيثِ تَعْجَبُونَ (٥٩) وَتَضْحَكُونَ وَلا تَبْكُونَ (٦٠) وَأَنْتُمْ سَامِدُونَ (٦١) فَاسْجُدُوا لِلَّهِ وَاعْبُدُوا (٦٢) (Do you then marvel at this discourse (59), and laugh and not weep (60), while you are heedlessly absorbed (61)? So prostrate yourselves to Allah and worship [Him] (62)).
The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says to the polytheists (mushrikīn) of Quraysh: Do you then marvel, O people, at this Qurʾān, that it has been sent down upon Muḥammad ﷺ, and do you laugh at it in mockery of it, and not weep at the threat contained in it against those who disobey Allah, while you yourselves are among those who disobey Him? وَأَنْتُمْ سَامِدُونَ (while you are heedlessly absorbed). He says: while you are heedless of the lessons and the admonition contained in it, turning away from His signs. One says to a man: "Leave off your sumūd," meaning: leave off your heedless amusement. From this one says: samada fulān yasmudu sumūdan (so-and-so was heedlessly absorbed, he is heedlessly absorbed, heedless absorption).
And approximately what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have said, even though their wordings differ in expressing it. Some of them said: the heedless. And others said: those who sing. And yet others said: those who frown and turn away sullenly (mubarṭimūn).
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word سَامِدُونَ (heedlessly absorbed), he said: That is singing. When they would hear the Qurʾān, they would begin to sing and play. It is the language of the people of Yemen; the Yemeni says: ismud (sing).
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 word سَامِدُونَ (heedlessly absorbed), he says: the heedless.
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 وَأَنْتُمْ سَامِدُونَ (while you are heedlessly absorbed), he says: the heedless.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: It is Yemeni: ismud — sing for us.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: al-Ashjaʿī related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: It is singing, and it is Yemeni; they say: ismud lanā — sing for us.
He said: ʿUbaydallāh al-Ashjaʿī related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ḥakīm ibn al-Daylam, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, وَأَنْتُمْ سَامِدُونَ (while you are heedlessly absorbed), he said: They used to pass by the Prophet ﷺ haughtily. Have you not seen the stallion among the camels, in rut and with its head raised high?
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His word وَأَنْتُمْ سَامِدُونَ (while you are heedlessly absorbed), he said: the heedless.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, وَأَنْتُمْ سَامِدُونَ (while you are heedlessly absorbed), he said: They used to pass by the Prophet ﷺ angry and frowning sullenly. And ʿIkrima said: it is singing in Ḥimyaritic.
He said: al-Ashjaʿī and Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: It is the sullen frowning (al-barṭama).
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word وَأَنْتُمْ سَامِدُونَ (while you are heedlessly absorbed), he said: the sullen frowning (al-barṭama).
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 وَأَنْتُمْ سَامِدُونَ (while you are heedlessly absorbed), he said: the sullen frowning (al-barṭama).
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: The sāmidūn (heedlessly absorbed) are those who sing in Ḥimyaritic.
Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, Ibn Abī Najīḥ related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: ʿIkrima used to say: the sāmidūn sing in Ḥimyaritic — without Ibn ʿAbbās occurring in it.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word سَامِدُونَ (heedlessly absorbed): that is to say the heedless.
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 word سَامِدُونَ (heedlessly absorbed), he said: the heedless.
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 word وَأَنْتُمْ سَامِدُونَ (while you are heedlessly absorbed): the sumūd is heedless amusement and play.
Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Sufyān ibn Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Fiṭr, on the authority of Abū Khālid al-Wālibī, on the authority of ʿAlī — may Allah be pleased with him — he said: He saw them standing in expectation of the imam, and said: What is the matter with you that you are sāmidūn (standing heedlessly waiting)?
Ibn Sinān al-Qazzāz related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿImrān ibn Zāʾida ibn Nashīṭ, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abū Khālid, he said: ʿAlī — may Allah be pleased with him — came to us while we were standing, and said: How is it that I see you sāmidīn (standing heedlessly waiting)?
He said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: Sufyān informed us, on the authority of Maṭar, on the authority of Zāʾida, on the authority of Abū Khālid, with the same import.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Abū Maʿshar, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, concerning His word وَأَنْتُمْ سَامِدُونَ (while you are heedlessly absorbed), he said: the standing of the people before the imam comes.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of ʿImrān al-Khayyāṭ, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, concerning the people who wait standing for the prayer; he said: they used to say: that is the sumūd.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, on the authority of Layth and al-ʿAzramī, on the authority of Mujāhid, وَأَنْتُمْ سَامِدُونَ (while you are heedlessly absorbed), he said: the sullen frowning (al-barṭama).
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, وَأَنْتُمْ سَامِدُونَ (while you are heedlessly absorbed), he said: singing in Yemeni: ismud lanā — sing for us.
Yūnus related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word وَأَنْتُمْ سَامِدُونَ (while you are heedlessly absorbed), he said: the sāmid is the heedless one.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: They used to dislike standing up when the muezzin pronounced the iqāma for the prayer while the imam was not yet present among them, and they disliked waiting for him standing, and one used to say: that is the sumūd, or [it is derived] from the sumūd.
And His word فَاسْجُدُوا لِلَّهِ وَاعْبُدُوا (So prostrate yourselves to Allah and worship [Him]): the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: So prostrate yourselves to Allah, O people, in your prayer, apart from all who are besides Him among gods and partners, and worship Him alone, apart from all else, for it is not fitting that worship belong to anyone other than Him. So devote worship and prostration purely to Him, and ascribe to Him no partner in your worship of Him.
End of the tafsīr of Surah An-Najm.
