Tafseer of The Moon · Al-Qamar · 54:19
Indeed, We sent upon them a screaming wind on a day of continuous misfortune,
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.
And His word إِنَّا أَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ رِيحًا صَرْصَرًا ("We indeed sent against them a howling wind") (54:19). The Exalted — exalted is His mention — says: We indeed sent against ʿĀd, when they persisted in their transgression and their disbelief in Allah, a howling wind (rīḥ ṣarṣar); and that is the wind that blows violently in cold, which by its sound produces a howling. It is derived from the violence of the sound of its blowing, when one hears in it something like the utterance of one who says: ṣarr; and from that it is then said: ṣarṣar, just as it is said fakubkibū fīhā ("they were cast down into it") from fakubbū, and nahnahta from nahahta.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
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 رِيحًا صَرْصَرًا, he said: a cold wind.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word إِنَّا أَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ رِيحًا صَرْصَرًا, and the ṣarṣar is the cold.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: the ṣarṣar is the cold.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word رِيحًا صَرْصَرًا: cold.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, concerning رِيحًا صَرْصَرًا, he said: violent, and the ṣarṣar is the cold.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His word رِيحًا صَرْصَرًا, he said: the ṣarṣar is the violent.
And His word فِي يَوْمِ نَحْسٍ مُسْتَمِرٍّ ("on a day of continuous misfortune"). He says: on a day of evil and misfortune for them.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: al-naḥs is misfortune.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His word فِي يَوْمِ نَحْسٍ, he said: al-naḥs is evil; فِي يَوْمِ نَحْسٍ: on a day of evil.
And others have interpreted that in the meaning of "violent"; and whoever interprets it thus makes it an attribute of the day, and whoever makes it an attribute of the day, for him its reading ought to be with tanwīn of al-yawm and with kasra of the ḥāʾ of al-naḥis, so that it becomes فِي يَوْمٍ نَحِسٍ, just as He — exalted is His praise — said فِي أَيَّامٍ نَحِسَاتٍ ("in inauspicious days") (41:16). But I know of no one who has read it thus in this place, except that the narration which I have mentioned in the exegesis thereof from those whom I have mentioned, in the manner we have described, indicates that this was a reading.
* Mention of who said that:
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 فِي يَوْمِ نَحْسٍ, he said: violent days.
And it was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word فِي يَوْمِ نَحْسٍ: a violent day.
And His word مُسْتَمِرٍّ ("continuous"). He says: on a day of evil and misfortune, on which the affliction and the punishment continued for them until it brought them down into Hell (jahannam).
As Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning فِي يَوْمِ نَحْسٍ مُسْتَمِرٍّ: it continues with them until the Fire of Hell (jahannam).
