Tafseer of The Iron · Al-Hadid · 57:22
No disaster strikes upon the earth or among yourselves except that it is in a register before We bring it into being - indeed that, for Allah, is easy -
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 Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: No calamity strikes you, O people, on the earth — through its drought, its barrenness, the perishing of its crops and its corruption — وَلا فِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ ("nor in your souls") through defects, pains, and illnesses, إِلا فِي كِتَابٍ ("but it is in a book"), that is to say: but it is in the Mother of the Book (umm al-kitāb), مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ نَبْرَأَهَا ("before We created it"). He says: before We created the souls, that is to say: before We brought them into being. One says: "Allah has brought this thing into being (baraʾa)," in the sense: He created it, and so He is the Bringer-into-being of it (bāriʾuhu).
And in the sense of what we have said concerning 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 statement: مَا أَصَابَ مِنْ مُصِيبَةٍ فِي الأرْضِ وَلا فِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ إِلا فِي كِتَابٍ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ نَبْرَأَهَا ("No calamity strikes on the earth or in your souls but it is in a book before We created it"), he said: it is something already concluded before We brought the soul into being.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: مَا أَصَابَ مِنْ مُصِيبَةٍ فِي الأرْضِ ("No calamity strikes on the earth"): as for the calamity on the earth, those are the years of drought. And as for in your souls, those are these illnesses and defects. مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ نَبْرَأَهَا ("before We created it"): before We created it.
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: مَا أَصَابَ مِنْ مُصِيبَةٍ فِي الأرْضِ ("No calamity strikes on the earth"), he said: those are the years of drought, وَلا فِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ ("nor in your souls"), he said: the pains and illnesses. He said: and it has been transmitted to us that there is no one whom a scratch from a branch, a stubbing of his foot, or the throbbing of a vein strikes, but it is because of a sin, and what He pardons is more.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, saying: I was sitting with al-Ḥasan, and a man said: ask him about His statement: مَا أَصَابَ مِنْ مُصِيبَةٍ فِي الأرْضِ وَلا فِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ إِلا فِي كِتَابٍ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ نَبْرَأَهَا ("No calamity strikes on the earth or in your souls but it is in a book before We created it"). I asked him about that, and he said: Glory be to Allah, who doubts this? Every calamity between heaven and earth is in the book of Allah before man was brought into being.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His statement: مَا أَصَابَ مِنْ مُصِيبَةٍ فِي الأرْضِ وَلا فِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ إِلا فِي كِتَابٍ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ نَبْرَأَهَا ("No calamity strikes on the earth or in your souls but it is in a book before We created it"), he says: it is something already concluded, من قبل أن نبرأها ("before We created it"): before We brought the souls into being.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning the statement of Allah, mighty is He and exalted is His praise: فِي كِتَابٍ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ نَبْرَأَهَا ("in a book before We created it"), he said: before We created it. He said: the calamities, the sustenance, and all things, what you love and what you loathe — Allah has concluded all of that before He brought the souls into being and created them.
Others said: by this was meant: no calamity that strikes in religion nor in the worldly matters.
* 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 statement: مَا أَصَابَ مِنْ مُصِيبَةٍ فِي الأرْضِ وَلا فِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ إِلا فِي كِتَابٍ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ نَبْرَأَهَا ("No calamity strikes on the earth or in your souls but it is in a book before We created it"), he says: in religion and in the worldly matters, إلا في كتاب ("but it is in a book"): before We created it.
The linguists differed over the meaning of the word فِي ("in") that comes after His statement "إِلا" ("but it is"). Some of the grammarians of Basra said: what is meant — and Allah knows best — is "but it (hiya) is in a book," so that ellipsis (iḍmār) is permitted. He said: and one says: "with me this is nothing more than that," meaning: nothing more than it. Another of them said: His statement: فِي كِتَابٍ ("in a book") belongs to what is connected with "strikes," and the omission of "hiya" is nothing, and he said: his statement "with me this is nothing more than that" is not comparable to it, because "illā" suffices in place of the verb, as though he said: "it is nothing but it."
And His statement: إِنَّ ذَلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسِيرٌ ("Indeed, that is easy for Allah"), the Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: indeed, the creating of the souls and the reckoning of the calamities that will strike them is simple and easy for Allah.
