Tafseer of The Inevitable · Al-Waaqia · 56:43
And a shade of black smoke,
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 statement: وَظِلٍّ مِنْ يَحْمُومٍ ("And in a shade of black smoke"). The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: and in a shade of smoke that is intensely black. The Arabs say of everything that they describe with intense blackness: aswad yaḥmūm (pitch-black).
And in accordance with what we have said, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Abī al-Shawārib related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Ziyād related to us, saying: Sulaymān al-Shaybānī related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn al-Aṣamm related to me, saying: I heard Ibn ʿAbbās say concerning وَظِلٍّ مِنْ يَحْمُومٍ ("And in a shade of black smoke"): It is the shade of the smoke.
Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd al-Muḥāribī related to us, saying: Qabīṣa ibn Layth related to us, on the authority of al-Shaybānī, on the authority of Yazīd ibn al-Aṣamm, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, the same.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: I heard al-Shaybānī, on the authority of Yazīd ibn al-Aṣamm, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, the same.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Shaybānī, on the authority of Yazīd ibn al-Aṣamm, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَظِلٍّ مِنْ يَحْمُومٍ ("And in a shade of black smoke"), he said: It is the smoke.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Ibrāhīm ibn Ṭuhmān related to us, on the authority of Simāk ibn Ḥarb, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَظِلٍّ مِنْ يَحْمُومٍ ("And in a shade of black smoke"), he said: The smoke.
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 statement: وَظِلٍّ مِنْ يَحْمُومٍ ("And in a shade of black smoke"), he says: of hot smoke.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of ʿIkrima, that he said concerning this verse وَظِلٍّ مِنْ يَحْمُومٍ ("And in a shade of black smoke"): The smoke.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿAththām related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of Abū Mālik, concerning His statement: وَظِلٍّ مِنْ يَحْمُومٍ ("And in a shade of black smoke"), he said: hot smoke.
Saʿīd ibn Yaḥyā al-Umawī related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of Abū Mālik, the same.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَظِلٍّ مِنْ يَحْمُومٍ ("And in a shade of black smoke"), he said: The smoke.
He said: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
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 statement: مِنْ يَحْمُومٍ ("of black smoke"), he said: of hot smoke.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Sulaymān al-Shaybānī, on the authority of Yazīd ibn al-Aṣamm, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, and on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَظِلٍّ مِنْ يَحْمُومٍ ("And in a shade of black smoke"), they both said: smoke.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: وَظِلٍّ مِنْ يَحْمُومٍ ("And in a shade of black smoke"), he said: of smoke.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: وَظِلٍّ مِنْ يَحْمُومٍ ("And in a shade of black smoke"): we were told that it is the shade of the smoke.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: وَظِلٍّ مِنْ يَحْمُومٍ ("And in a shade of black smoke"), he said: the shade of the smoke, the smoke of Hell (jahannam); thus claimed some of the scholars.
