Tafseer of The Heights · Al-A'raaf · 7:40
Indeed, those who deny Our verses and are arrogant toward them - the gates of Heaven will not be opened for them, nor will they enter Paradise until a camel enters into the eye of a needle. And thus do We recompense the criminals.
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 word concerning the exegesis of His statement: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا وَاسْتَكْبَرُوا عَنْهَا لا تُفَتَّحُ لَهُمْ أَبْوَابُ السَّمَاءِ ("Verily, for those who denied Our signs and arrogantly turned away from them (istakbarū), the gates of heaven shall not be opened").
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: verily, those who took Our proofs and evidences for lies and so did not accept them as true and did not follow Our messengers — واستكبروا عنها ("and arrogantly turned away from them") — He says: and they were too arrogant to accept them as true and disdained to follow them and to submit to them, out of arrogance — لا تفتح لهم ("there shall not be opened for them"), namely for their souls when they depart from their bodies — أبواب السماء ("the gates of heaven"), and during their lives no word and no deed of theirs ascends to Allah, because their deeds are impure. It is only the good word and the righteous deed that are raised up, as the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, said: إِلَيْهِ يَصْعَدُ الْكَلِمُ الطَّيِّبُ وَالْعَمَلُ الصَّالِحُ يَرْفَعُهُ (Sūrat Fāṭir: 10) ("To Him ascends the good word, and the righteous deed He raises up").
* * *
Then the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning the exegesis of His statement: لا تفتح لهم أبواب السماء ("the gates of heaven shall not be opened for them").
Some of them said: its meaning is: the gates of heaven shall not be opened for the souls of these unbelievers (al-kuffār).
* Mention of who said that:
13603 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yaʿlā related to us, on the authority of Abū Sinān, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: لا تفتح لهم أبواب السماء ("the gates of heaven shall not be opened for them"), he said: by this the unbelievers (al-kuffār) are meant; that heaven is not opened for their souls, but it is opened for the souls of the believers.
14604 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Abū Sinān, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, he said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: heaven is opened for the soul of the believer, but not opened for the soul of the unbeliever (al-kāfir).
14605 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: لا تفتح لهم أبواب السماء ("the gates of heaven shall not be opened for them"), he said: verily, when the soul of the unbeliever (al-kāfir) is taken away, the angels of the earth strike him until he ascends to heaven; when he reaches the lowest heaven, the angels of heaven strike him, so that he descends; then the angels of the earth strike him, so that he ascends; and when he reaches the lowest heaven, the angels of the lowest heaven strike him, so that he descends to the lowest of the earths. And when it is a believer, his soul is breathed in, and the gates of heaven are opened for him, and he passes no angel without that one greeting him and wishing him peace, until he arrives at Allah; then He fulfils his need. After that Allah says: bring the soul of My servant back into him to the earth, for I have decreed that his creation is from the dust, and to the dust he returns, and from it he comes forth.
* * *
And others said: the meaning of that is that no righteous deed and no supplication to Allah ascends from them.
* Mention of who said that:
14606 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: لا تفتح لهم أبواب السماء ("the gates of heaven shall not be opened for them"), no word and no deed ascends from them.
14607 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, his statement: إن الذين كذبوا بآياتنا واستكبروا عنها لا تفتح لهم أبواب السماء ("verily, those who denied Our signs and arrogantly turned away from them, for them the gates of heaven shall not be opened"), he means: nothing of their deeds ascends to Allah.
14608 — 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: لا تفتح لهم أبواب السماء ("the gates of heaven shall not be opened for them"), he says: they are not opened for any good that they perform.
14609 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: لا تفتح لهم أبواب السماء ("the gates of heaven shall not be opened for them"), he said: no word and no deed ascends from them.
14610 — Maṭar ibn Muḥammad al-Ḍabbī related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Dāwūd related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, concerning his statement: لا تفتح لهم أبواب السماء ("the gates of heaven shall not be opened for them"), he said: no deed and no supplication is raised up from them.
14611 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Ādam related to us, on the authority of Sharīk, on the authority of Sālim, on the authority of Saʿīd: لا تفتح لهم أبواب السماء ("the gates of heaven shall not be opened for them"), he said: no deed and no supplication is raised up from them.
14612 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥimmānī related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd: لا تفتح لهم أبواب السماء ("the gates of heaven shall not be opened for them"), he said: no righteous deed and no supplication is raised up from them.
* * *
And others said: the meaning of that is: the gates of heaven shall not be opened for their souls, nor for their deeds.
* Mention of who said that:
14613 — Al-Qāsim related to me, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: لا تفتح لهم أبواب السماء ("the gates of heaven shall not be opened for them"), he said: for their souls, nor for their deeds.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: We have, in the exegesis of that, chosen only what we have chosen of this view, on account of the general character of Allah's notice, whose praise is exalted, that the gates of heaven shall not be opened for them. The notice does not specify that it is opened for them in any respect; therefore it remains in accordance with what Allah's notice, the Exalted, has made general: that the gates shall not be opened for them in any respect whatsoever — together with the confirmation of the narration of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, for what we have said about this; and that is what:
14614 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of al-Minhāl, on the authority of Zādhān, on the authority of al-Barāʾ: that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, mentioned the taking away of the soul of the wicked man (al-fājir), and that it is carried up with it to heaven. He said: they ascend with it, and they pass no host of the angels without those saying: "What is this impure soul?" Whereupon they answer: "So-and-so," with the most hideous of his names by which he was called in the world, until they arrive with it at heaven, and they ask whether it is opened for him, but it is not opened for him. Then the Messenger of Allah recited: لا تفتح لهم أبواب السماء ولا يدخلون الجنة حتى يلج الجمل في سم الخياط ("the gates of heaven shall not be opened for them, and they shall not enter Paradise until the camel passes through the eye of the needle").
14615 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿUthmān ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Dhiʾb, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Yasār, on the authority of Abū Hurayra: that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: the dying person is attended by the angels. If it is the righteous man (al-rajul al-ṣāliḥ), they say: "Come forth, O good soul, that was in a good body; come forth, praised, and rejoice over rest, fragrant scent, and a Lord who is not wrathful." He said: they keep saying that until it is carried up with it to heaven, and it is opened for it, and it is asked: "Who is this?" Whereupon they answer: "So-and-so." Then it is said: "Welcome, O good soul, that was in a good body; enter, praised, and rejoice over rest, fragrant scent, and a Lord who is not wrathful." Thus it is addressed until it reaches the heaven in which Allah is. And if it is the evil man (al-rajul al-sawʾ), it is said: "Come forth, O impure soul, that was in an impure body; come forth, blamed, and receive the tidings of boiling water (ḥamīm), festering fluid (ghassāq), and other, like it, of various sorts." They keep saying that until it comes forth; then it is carried up with it to heaven, and they ask whether it is opened for it, and it is asked: "Who is this?" Whereupon they answer: "So-and-so." Then they say: "No welcome for the impure soul, that was in an impure body; return, blamed, for the gates of heaven shall not be opened for you." Then it is let loose between heaven and earth, and it ends up in the grave.
14616 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related to me, saying: Ibn Abī Fudayk related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Dhiʾb related to me, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Yasār, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, on the authority of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, with a similar import.
* * *
The reciters differed in the recitation of that.
The majority of the reciters of Kūfa recited it: "lā yuftaḥu lahum abwābu al-samāʾ" ("the gates of heaven shall not be opened for them"), with the yāʾ in "yuftaḥu", and with softening (takhfīf) of the tāʾ in it, with the meaning: they are not opened for them all at once and with a single opening.
* * *
And some of the Medinans and some of the Kūfans recited it: لا تُفَتَّحُ ("lā tufattaḥu"), with the tāʾ and doubling (tashdīd) of the second tāʾ, with the meaning: there shall not be opened for them gate after gate, and thing after thing.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the correct view in that, according to my judgement, is that one says: they are both well-known recitations, both correct in meaning. That is because for the souls of the unbelievers, nor for their impure deeds, are the gates of heaven opened, neither all at once, nor time after time and gate after gate. Both meanings in it are therefore correct.
And so likewise it applies to the "yāʾ" and the "tāʾ" in "yuftaḥu" and "tuftaḥu": that the "yāʾ" is built upon the verb of the singular, indicating singularity, and the "tāʾ" because the "gates" are a plural (jamāʿa), so that one reports about it as one reports about a plural.
* * *
The word concerning the exegesis of His statement: وَلا يَدْخُلُونَ الْجَنَّةَ حَتَّى يَلِجَ الْجَمَلُ فِي سَمِّ الْخِيَاطِ وَكَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُجْرِمِينَ (40) ("And they shall not enter Paradise (al-janna) until the camel passes through the eye of the needle. Thus do We requite the criminals").
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: and these people who took Our signs for lies and arrogantly turned away from them shall never enter Paradise (al-janna) which Allah has prepared for His believing friends (awliyāʾ), just as the camel shall never pass through the eye of the needle — and that is the opening of the needle.
* * *
Every opening in an eye, a nose, or anything else the Arabs call "samm", and its plural is "sumūm"; and "simām" as the plural of "samm" in the sense of the deadly poison is better known and more eloquent than "sumūm", whereas in the plural of "samm" which has the sense of opening it is more eloquent. Both are current among the Arabs. Sometimes one says for one of the "sumūm" which are the openings: "samm" and "summ", with fatḥa and with ḍamma on the sīn. And of the "samm" which has the sense of opening is the saying of al-Farazdaq:
"Thus I gave breath through his two [nasal] openings, until he breathed again, and I said to him: fear nothing behind me."
He means by "his two samm-openings": the two openings of his nose.
* * *
And as for "al-khiyāṭ": that is "al-mikhyaṭ", that is, the needle. It is called "khiyāṭ" and "mikhyaṭ", as one says "qināʿ" and "miqnaʿ", "izār" and "miʾzar", "qirām" and "miqram", "liḥāf" and "milḥaf".
And as for the reciters of all the cities: they recited His statement فِي سَمِّ الْخِيَاطِ ("through the eye of the needle") with fatḥa on the "sīn", and they were in agreement upon the recitation "al-jamal" with fatḥa on the "jīm" and the "mīm" and with the softening thereof.
* * *
And as for Ibn ʿAbbās, ʿIkrima, and Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: it is narrated from them that they recited that as "al-jummal", with ḍamma on the "jīm" and doubling of the "mīm" — with disagreement about it narrated from Saʿīd and Ibn ʿAbbās.
* * *
As for those who recited it with fatḥa of the two letters and softening: they directed its exegesis to the well-known "jamal" (camel), and thus too they interpreted it.
* Mention of who said that:
14617 — Yaḥyā ibn Ṭalḥa al-Yarbūʿī related to us, saying: Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh concerning his statement: حتى يلج الجمل في سم الخياط ("until the camel passes through the eye of the needle"), he said: the "jamal" is the offspring of the she-camel, or: the mate of the she-camel.
14618 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Ḥaṣīn, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh: حتى يلج الجمل في سم الخياط ("until the camel passes through the eye of the needle"), he said: the "jamal" is the mate of the she-camel.
14619 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Ḥaṣīn, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, with the same import.
14620 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn Mahdī related to us, on the authority of Hushaym, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, he said: the "jamal" is the mate of the she-camel.
14621 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, saying: Hushaym informed us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, with the same import.
14622 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Qurra related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḥasan say: the "jamal" is the one that stands in the enclosure (al-mirbad).
14623 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: حتى يلج الجمل في سم الخياط ("until the camel passes through the eye of the needle"), he said: until the camel passes through the opening of the needle.
14624 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn Mahdī related to us, on the authority of Hushaym, on the authority of ʿAbbād ibn Rāshid, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: it is the camel! But when they pressed him, he said: it is the "ashtar" [Persian for camel].
14625 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of ʿAbbād ibn Rāshid, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, with the same import.
14626 — Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: al-Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, on the authority of Yaḥyā, he said: al-Ḥasan recited it: حتى يلج الجمل في سم الخياط ("until the camel passes through the eye of the needle"). He said: when some asked him for clarification, he said: "ashtar, ashtar" [Persian for camel].
14627 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū al-Nuʿmān ʿĀrim related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Zayd related to us, on the authority of Shuʿayb ibn al-Ḥabḥāb, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya: حتى يلج الجمل ("until the camel passes [through]"), he said: the "jamal" is the four-legged animal.
14628 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of Abū Ḥaṣīn — or: Ḥuṣayn —, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd concerning his statement: حتى يلج الجمل في سم الخياط ("until the camel passes through the eye of the needle"), he said: the mate of the she-camel, that is, the "jamal".
14629 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, that he recited: الجمل ("al-jamal"), and that is the four-legged animal.
14630 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Tumayla related to us, on the authority of ʿUbayd, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: حتى يلج الجمل ("until the camel passes [through]"), the four-legged animal.
14631 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Zayd ibn al-Ḥubāb related to us, on the authority of Qurra, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: حتى يلج الجمل ("until the camel passes [through]"), he said: the one that is in the enclosure (al-mirbad).
14632 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, that he recited: "ḥattā yalija al-jamalu al-aṣfaru" ("until the yellow camel passes through").
14633 — Naṣr ibn ʿAlī related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Sulaym related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Abī al-Mukhāriq related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan concerning his statement: حتى يلج الجمل في سم الخياط ("until the camel passes through the eye of the needle"), he said: the "jamal" is the offspring of the she-camel, or the male mate (baʿl) of the she-camel.
* * *
As for those who contradicted this recitation: they differed in opinion.
From Ibn ʿAbbās two narrations are narrated about it: the first is in agreement with this recitation and this exegesis.
* Mention of the narration about it from him:
14634 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: حتى يلج الجمل في سم الخياط ("until the camel passes through the eye of the needle"), and the "jamal" is the animal with legs.
* * *
And it is mentioned that Ibn Masʿūd said that.
14635 — 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: حتى يلج الجمل في سم الخياط ("until the camel passes through the eye of the needle"), and it is the enormous camel, which does not go into the opening of the needle, because it is larger than it.
* * *
And the other narration is what:
14636 — Yaḥyā ibn Ṭalḥa al-Yarbūʿī related to me, saying: Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning his statement: "ḥattā yalija al-jummalu fī sammi al-khiyāṭ", he said: it is the anchor cable (qals) of the ship.
14637 — ʿAbd al-Aʿlā ibn Wāṣil related to me, saying: Abū Ghassān Mālik ibn Ismāʿīl related to us, on the authority of Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Wāsiṭī, on the authority of Ḥanẓala al-Sadūsī, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he recited: "ḥattā yalija al-jummalu fī sammi al-khiyāṭ", by which he means the thick rope. — I mentioned that to al-Ḥasan, whereupon he said: حتى يلج الجمل ("ḥattā yalija al-jamal"). ʿAbd al-Aʿlā said: Abū Ghassān said: Khālid said: he means: the camel.
14638 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Fuḍayl, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he recited: "al-jummal", with doubling, and he said: it is the rope of the ship.
14639 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn Mahdī related to us, on the authority of Hushaym, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: the "jummal" are the ropes of the ships.
14640 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Ādam related to us, on the authority of Ibn Mubārak, on the authority of Ḥanẓala, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "ḥattā yalija al-jummalu fī sammi al-khiyāṭ", he said: the thick rope.
14641 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "ḥattā yalija al-jummalu fī sammi al-khiyāṭ", he said: it is the rope that is on the ship.
* * *
And concerning Saʿīd ibn Jubayr it is likewise narrated differently about it; from him two narrations are narrated, one of which is the same as what we have mentioned from Ibn ʿAbbās: with ḍamma on the "jīm" and heavying of the "mīm".
* Mention of the narration about it from him:
14642 — ʿImrān ibn Mūsā al-Qazzāz related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wārith ibn Saʿīd related to us, saying: Ḥusayn al-Muʿallim related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: that he recited it: "ḥattā yalija al-jummalu", by which he means the anchor cables (qulūs) of the ships, that is: the thick ropes.
* * *
And the other of the two is with ḍamma on the "jīm" and softening of the "mīm".
* Mention of the narration about it from him:
14643 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Sālim ibn ʿAjlān al-Afṭas, he said: I recited for my father: "ḥattā yalija al-jummala", whereupon he said: "ḥattā yalija al-jumalu", with softening; it is the rope of the ship. — Thus did Saʿīd ibn Jubayr have me recite it.
* * *
And as for ʿIkrima: he recited that as "al-jummal", with ḍamma on the "jīm" and doubling of the "mīm", and with his exegesis of it, such as:
14644 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to me, saying: Abū Tumayla related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā ibn ʿUbayd, he said: I heard ʿIkrima recite: "al-jummal", with heavying, and he said: it is the rope with which one climbs up the date palm.
14645 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muslim ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, saying: Kaʿb ibn Farrūkh related to us, saying: Qatāda related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning his statement: "ḥattā yalija al-jummalu fī sammi al-khiyāṭ", he said: the thick rope in the opening of the needle.
14646 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning his statement: "ḥattā yalija al-jummalu fī sammi al-khiyāṭ", he said: the rope of the ship through the eye of the needle.
14647 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kathīr said: I heard Mujāhid say: the rope of the ropes of the ships.
* * *
It is as if he who recited that with softening of the "mīm" and ḍamma on the "jīm", as we have mentioned from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr — on the pattern of "al-ṣurad" and "al-juʿal" —, directed it to a collection, a "jumla" of the ropes, joined together into "jumal", as one joins "al-ẓulma" into "ẓulam", and "al-khurba" into "khurab".
* * *
And some of the philologists rejected the doubling in the "mīm" and said: the narrator meant only "al-jumal" with softening, but it was not understood from him, so that it was doubled.
* * *
14648 — And it was related to me on the authority of al-Farrāʾ, on the authority of al-Kisāʾī, that he said: the one who narrated it from Ibn ʿAbbās was a non-Arab (aʿjamī).
* * *
And as for him who doubled the "mīm" and gave ḍamma on the "jīm": he directed it to its being a single designation, namely the rope, or the thick thread.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the correct view of the recitation in that, according to us, is what the reciters of the cities have adhered to, namely: حَتَّى يَلِجَ الْجَمَلُ فِي سَمِّ الْخِيَاطِ ("until the camel passes through the eye of the needle"), with fatḥa on the "jīm" and the "mīm" of "al-jamal" and with the softening thereof, and fatḥa on the "sīn" of "al-samm", because it is the widespread recitation among the reciters of the cities, and it is not permissible to deviate from that concerning which the concordant proof from the recitation has come.
And so it applies also to the fatḥa on the "sīn" in His statement: سَمِّ الخياط ("the eye of the needle").
* * *
And since the correct recitation is that, the exegesis of the words is: and they shall not enter Paradise until there passes — and "al-wulūj" is entering, from their saying: "walaja fulān al-dāra yaliju wulūjan" ("so-and-so entered the house, he enters, with entering"), in the sense of: he entered — the camel through the eye of the needle, and that is its opening.
— وكذلك نجزي المجرمين ("Thus do We requite the criminals"), He says: and thus do We requite those who committed crimes in the world with what they have earned with Allah: the painful punishment (al-ʿadhāb al-alīm) in the Hereafter.
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said concerning the exegesis of His statement سم الخياط ("the eye of the needle") the exegetes spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
14649 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Usāma and Ibn Mahdī and Suwayd al-Kalbī related to us, on the authority of Ḥammād ibn Zayd, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn ʿAtīq, he said: I asked al-Ḥasan about his statement: حتى يلج الجمل في سم الخياط ("until the camel passes through the eye of the needle"), he said: the opening of the needle.
14650 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muslim ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, saying: Kaʿb ibn Farrūkh related to us, saying: Qatāda related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima: في سم الخياط ("through the eye of the needle"), he said: the opening of the needle.
14651 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, with the same import.
14652 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: في سم الخياط ("through the eye of the needle"), he said: the hole of the needle.
14653 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: في سم الخياط ("through the eye of the needle"), he says: the hole of the needle.
14654 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to me, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: في سم الخياط ("through the eye of the needle"), he said: through its opening.
