Tafseer of The Inevitable · Al-Waaqia · 56:6
And become dust dispersing.
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 statement: فَكَانَتْ هَبَاءً مُنْبَثًّا (and they become scattered dust) (56:6). The exegetes differed concerning the meaning of al-habāʾ (the dust). Some said: it is the shaft of sunlight that falls in through the window, in the form of fine dust.
* Mention of those who said this:
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: فَكَانَتْ هَبَاءً مُنْبَثًّا (and they become scattered dust). He says: the shaft of sunlight.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Saʿīd: هَبَاءً مُنْبَثًّا (scattered dust). He said: the shaft of sunlight when it falls in through the window.
He said: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement: فَكَانَتْ هَبَاءً مُنْبَثًّا (and they become scattered dust). He said: the shaft of sunlight that falls in through the window, which is nothing.
And others said: it is the dust kicked up by the riding-beasts.
* Mention of those who said this:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Ḥārith, on the authority of ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: the dust kicked up by the riding-beasts.
And others said: it is what scatters from the sparks of the fire, which have no substance.
* Mention of those who said this:
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 statement: فَكَانَتْ هَبَاءً مُنْبَثًّا (and they become scattered dust). He said: al-habāʾ is that which flies up from the fire when it blazes; from it the sparks fly up, and when they fall down, they are nothing.
And others said: it is the withered wood of the trees that the winds scatter.
* Mention of those who said this:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: فَكَانَتْ هَبَاءً مُنْبَثًّا (and they become scattered dust). It is like the withered wood of the trees, which the winds scatter to the right and to the left.
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 statement: هَبَاءً مُنْبَثًّا (scattered dust). He says: al-habāʾ is that which the wind scatters of the broken-off pieces of the trees.
We have already expounded the meaning of al-habāʾ elsewhere, together with its supporting evidences, so that repeating it in this place is superfluous.
As for His statement: مُنْبَثًّا (scattered), by it He means: dispersed.
