Tafseer of The Pen · Al-Qalam · 68:19
So there came upon the garden an affliction from your Lord while they were asleep.
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 statement on the explanation of His saying, the Exalted: فَطَافَ عَلَيْهَا طَائِفٌ مِنْ رَبِّكَ وَهُمْ نَائِمُونَ (19) ("Then a visitant from your Lord went round over it while they were sleeping") (68:19).
He — exalted be His mention — says: Then there descended by night a visitant from the decree of Allah upon the garden of these people, while they were sleeping. The word ṭā-if (the visitant who goes round) is, in the language of the Arabs, used exclusively for the night and not for the day, although they do say: "aṭaftu bihā nahāran" (I went round it by day).
Al-Farrā- mentioned that Abū al-Jarrāḥ recited to him the following:
"I went round it by day, not by night, and her lord was distracted by seeking the ewe-lambs (al-rikhāl)."
And al-rikhāl: these are the female young of the sheep.
And just as we have said concerning the meaning of this, so too have the exegetes (ahl al-ta-wīl) spoken.
* Mention of those who said that:
Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn al-Ṣalt related to us, saying: Abū Kurayb related to us, on the authority of Qābūs, on the authority of his father, who said: I asked Ibn ʿAbbās about the ṭawafān (the going round) — فَطَافَ عَلَيْهَا طَائِفٌ مِنْ رَبِّكَ ("Then a visitant from your Lord went round over it") —. He said: it is a decree from the decree of Allah.
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 saying: فَطَافَ عَلَيْهَا طَائِفٌ مِنْ رَبِّكَ وَهُمْ نَائِمُونَ ("Then a visitant from your Lord went round over it while they were sleeping"). He said: a decree from the decree of Allah went round over it, while they were sleeping.
