Tafseer of The Exile · Al-Hashr · 59:5
Whatever you have cut down of [their] palm trees or left standing on their trunks - it was by permission of Allah and so He would disgrace the defiantly disobedient.
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 explanation of the saying of the Exalted: مَا قَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ لِينَةٍ أَوْ تَرَكْتُمُوهَا قَائِمَةً عَلَى أُصُولِهَا فَبِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ وَلِيُخْزِيَ الْفَاسِقِينَ (59:5) (Whatever līna-palm you cut down, or left standing upon its roots — it was by the permission of Allah, and that He might disgrace the wicked.)
The Exalted, whose praise is sublime, says: Whatever kinds of date palms you cut down, or left standing upon their roots.
The exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning the meaning of al-līna. Some of them said: it is all kinds of date palms except the ʿajwa [variety].
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind, on the authority of ʿIkrima: ( مَا قَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ لِينَةٍ ) (Whatever līna you cut down) he said: the date palm.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, that he said concerning this verse: ( مَا قَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ لِينَةٍ أَوْ تَرَكْتُمُوهَا ) (Whatever līna you cut down, or left standing) he said: al-līna is what is other than the ʿajwa among the date palms.
Ibn Humayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Ishāq, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Rūmān, concerning his saying: ( مَا قَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ لِينَةٍ ) (Whatever līna you cut down) he said: al-līna is what is other than the ʿajwa among the dates.
And he narrated it to us another time and then said: among the date palms.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his saying: ( مَا قَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ لِينَةٍ ) (Whatever līna you cut down) he said: all date palms except the ʿajwa.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his saying: ( مَا قَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ لِينَةٍ ) (Whatever līna you cut down), and al-līna is what is other than the ʿajwa among the date palms.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Zuhrī: ( مَا قَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ لِينَةٍ ) (Whatever līna you cut down): all kinds of date palms except the ʿajwa.
Ibn Humayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: ( مَا قَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ لِينَةٍ ) (Whatever līna you cut down) he said: the date palm, except the ʿajwa.
And others said: all date palms are līna, both the ʿajwa among them and what is not ʿajwa.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Humayd related to us, saying: Hakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: ( مَا قَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ لِينَةٍ ) (Whatever līna you cut down) he said: the date palm.
Muhammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Hārith related to me, saying: al-Hasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīh, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his saying: ( مَا قَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ لِينَةٍ ) (Whatever līna you cut down) he said: a date palm. He said: Some of the Emigrants (muhājirūn) forbade others from cutting down the date palms, and they said: "It is indeed war booty of the Muslims." Then the Qurʾān was sent down confirming whoever forbade the cutting, and exempting from sin whoever cut down; for both the cutting of them and the leaving of them standing was by His permission.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Yahyā ibn Abī Bukayr related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Abū Ishāq, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Maymūn: ( مَا قَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ لِينَةٍ ) (Whatever līna you cut down) he said: the date palm.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning his saying: ( مَا قَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ لِينَةٍ ) (Whatever līna you cut down) he said: al-līna is the date palm, whether it was the ʿajwa or another. Allah said: ( مَا قَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ لِينَةٍ ) (Whatever līna you cut down) he said: that is what they cut down from the date palms of [Banū] al-Naḍīr, when al-Naḍīr committed treachery.
And others said: it is a [particular] kind of date palm.
* Mention of who said that:
Muhammad 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 saying: ( مَا قَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ لِينَةٍ ) (Whatever līna you cut down) he said: al-līna is a kind of the date palm.
And others said: it is the noble [excellent] date palms.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Humayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us concerning ( مَا قَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ لِينَةٍ ) (Whatever līna you cut down) he said: of their noble date palms.
And the correct judgment concerning this is the judgment of whoever said: al-līna is the date palm, and that is the kinds of date palms inasmuch as it is not ʿajwa. And it is what Dhū al-Rumma intended with his verse:
The [bird] with overlapping wing-feathers, having alighted above a līna,
the dew of its night glistening, gleaming, in its plumage. (1)
And some of the Arabic philologists of Basra said: al-līna is derived from al-lawn (the color/kind), and al-liyān in the plural, of which the singular is al-līna. He said: and it was called līna because it is [the form] fiʿla from faʿl, namely al-lawn, and that is a kind of date palm; but because the [vowel] before it was broken, it turned into the yāʾ. And some of them rejected this statement and said: if it were as he said, they would have formed it [in the plural] as al-lūwān, not al-liyān. And some of the grammarians of Kufa said: the plural of al-līna is līn. This verse was, according to what has been mentioned, sent down because the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, when he cut down and burned the date palms of Banū al-Naḍīr, Banū al-Naḍīr said to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: "You forbade the spreading of corruption and condemned it; how then is it that you cut down and burn our date palms?" Then Allah sent down this verse, and He informed them that whatever the Messenger of Allah ﷺ cut down of them or left standing happened by the command of Allah.
And others said: no, that was sent down on account of a disagreement that existed among the Muslims concerning the cutting of them down and the leaving of them standing.
* Mention of who said: that was sent down on account of the saying of the Jews to the Muslims, what they said:
Ibn Humayd related to us, saying: Salama ibn al-Fadl related to us, saying: Muhammad ibn Ishāq related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Rūmān related to us, saying: When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came upon them — that is, upon Banū al-Naḍīr — they fortified themselves against him in the strongholds. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded that the date palms be cut down and that fire be set in them. Then they called out to him: "O Muhammad, you used to forbid the spreading of corruption and to condemn whoever did it; how then is it that you cut down and burn the date palms?" Then Allah, mighty and exalted is He, sent down: ( مَا قَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ لِينَةٍ أَوْ تَرَكْتُمُوهَا قَائِمَةً عَلَى أُصُولِهَا فَبِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ وَلِيُخْزِيَ الْفَاسِقِينَ ) (Whatever līna-palm you cut down, or left standing upon its roots — it was by the permission of Allah, and that He might disgrace the wicked).
* Mention of who said: that was sent down on account of a disagreement that existed among the Muslims concerning the matter of it:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his saying: ( مَا قَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ لِينَةٍ أَوْ تَرَكْتُمُوهَا ) (Whatever līna you cut down, or left standing) ... the verse, that is to say: to admonish them. On that day the Muslims cut down the date palms, while others refrained out of dislike that it might be the spreading of corruption. Then the Jews said: "Has Allah given you permission for corruption?" Then Allah sent down: ( مَا قَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ لِينَةٍ ) (Whatever līna you cut down).
Muhammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Hārith related to me, saying: al-Hasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīh, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his saying: ( مَا قَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ لِينَةٍ أَوْ تَرَكْتُمُوهَا قَائِمَةً عَلَى أُصُولِهَا ) (Whatever līna you cut down, or left standing upon its roots) he said: Some of the Emigrants forbade others from cutting down the date palms, and they said: "It is indeed war booty of the Muslims." Then the Qurʾān was sent down confirming whoever forbade the cutting, and exempting from sin whoever cut down; for both the cutting of them and the leaving of them standing was by His permission.
Sulaymān ibn ʿUmar ibn Khālid al-Barqī related to us, [saying:] Ibn al-Mubārak said, on the authority of Mūsā ibn ʿUqba, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ cut down the date palms of Banū al-Naḍīr, and concerning that was sent down: ( مَا قَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ لِينَةٍ ) (Whatever līna you cut down) ... the verse. And concerning that Hassān ibn Thābit says:
And it was a small matter for the chiefs of Banū Luʾayy,
the widespread blaze at al-Buwayra. (2)
And His saying: ( فَبِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ ) (it was by the permission of Allah) He says: so by the command of Allah you cut down what you cut down, and left standing what you left standing, and that thereby He might enrage His enemies — and it was not corruption.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Humayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Ishāq, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Rūmān: ( فَبِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ ) (it was by the permission of Allah): that is to say: by the command of Allah it was cut down, and it was not corruption, but a vengeance from Allah, and that He might disgrace the wicked.
And His saying: ( وَلِيُخْزِيَ الْفَاسِقِينَ ) (and that He might disgrace the wicked) and that He might disgrace those who go out from obedience to Allah, mighty and exalted is He, who oppose His command and His prohibition — and they are the Jews of Banū al-Naḍīr.
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The footnotes:
(1) The verse is by Dhū al-Rumma (al-Lisān: ryʿ); the transmission therein has "rīʿahu" in the place of "līna". Al-līna is the date palm, and everything of the date palms except the ʿajwa belongs to al-līn. The author has already cited this verse at His saying, the Exalted: "Do you build on every high place a sign?", and we have explained it in detail there; so consult that in (19:93).
(2) The verse is by Hassān ibn Thābit (Muʿjam mā istaʿjam of al-Bakrī: entry al-Buwayra, 285). He said: al-Buwayra, with a ḍamma on the first letter and with the undotted rāʾ, in the diminutive form, belongs to Taymāʾ. Abū ʿUbayda said in the Kitāb al-Amwāl: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ burned the date palms of Banū al-Naḍīr and cut down the blossom of al-Buwayra, whereupon concerning them was sent down: "Whatever līna-palm you cut down, or left standing upon its roots — it was by the permission of Allah, and that He might disgrace the wicked." Hassān said: "And it was a small matter for the chiefs ... [the] verse." Hassān said that because it was the Quraysh who induced Kaʿb ibn Asad al-Quraẓī, the holder of the covenant of Banū Qurayẓa, to break the covenant between him and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, until he went out with them to [the battle of] al-Khandaq; and at that moment the trial and the fear became heavy for the Muslims. End.
