Tafseer of The Ascending Stairways · Al-Ma'aarij · 70:25
For the petitioner and the deprived -
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.
Sahl ibn Mūsā al-Rāzī related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Qays ibn Karkam, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: لِلسَّائِلِ وَالْمَحْرُومِ ("for the beggar and the deprived"): the deprived (al-maḥrūm) is the needy one (al-muḥārif) who has no share in Islam.
He said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Qays ibn Karkam, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he said: the deprived is the needy one who has no share in Islam.
Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Qays ibn Karkam, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning this verse لِلسَّائِلِ وَالْمَحْرُومِ ("for the beggar and the deprived"), he said: the beggar is the one who begs, and the deprived is the needy one.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: I heard Abū Isḥāq narrating on the authority of Qays ibn Karkam, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that concerning this verse لِلسَّائِلِ وَالْمَحْرُومِ ("for the beggar and the deprived") he said: the beggar is the one who begs, and the deprived is the needy one.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Qays ibn Karkam, who said: I asked Ibn ʿAbbās about His words: لِلسَّائِلِ وَالْمَحْرُومِ ("for the beggar and the deprived"), he said: the beggar is the one who begs, and the deprived is the needy one who has no share in Islam.
Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar ibn ʿAlī al-Muqaddamī related to me, saying: Quraysh ibn Anas related to us, on the authority of Sulaymān, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab: the deprived is the needy one.
Ibn Bashshār and Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, both of them saying: Quraysh related to us, on the authority of Sulaymān, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, the same.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, who said: I asked Saʿīd ibn Jubayr about the deprived, and he said nothing about it; he said: and ʿAṭāʾ said: it is the hindered needy one.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Qays ibn Karkam, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: the beggar is the one who begs from people, and the deprived is the one who has no share in Islam, and he is a needy one among the people.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: the deprived is the one to whom nothing is given and who is needy.
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, who said: the deprived is the needy one who pursues the worldly life while it turns away from him, and who does not beg from the people.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, who said concerning the deprived: it is the needy one who has no one to show him compassion or to give him anything.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, who said: the deprived is the one who has no share from the spoils (fayʾ) in Islam, and he is needy among the people.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Ayyūb informed us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ: the deprived is the needy one.
And others said: it is the one who has no share in the war spoils (ghanīma).
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, that some people came to ʿAlī — may Allah be pleased with him — in Kūfa after the Battle of the Camel, and he said: share with them, and he said: this is the deprived.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, who said: the deprived is the needy one who has no share in the war spoils.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, the same.
He said: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Qays ibn Muslim al-Jadalī, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafiyya, that the Prophet ﷺ sent out a raiding party, and they took war spoils and victory was granted to them; then a people came who had not been present, and so it was revealed: فِي أَمْوَالِهِمْ حَقٌّ مَعْلُومٌ * لِلسَّائِلِ وَالْمَحْرُومِ ("in their wealth is a known right, for the beggar and the deprived"), by which these are meant.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Qays ibn Muslim, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent out a raiding party, and they took war spoils; then a people came who had not been present at the war spoils, and so it was revealed: فِي أَمْوَالِهِمْ حَقٌّ مَعْلُومٌ * لِلسَّائِلِ وَالْمَحْرُومِ ("in their wealth is a known right, for the beggar and the deprived").
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Abī Zāʾida related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Qays ibn Muslim al-Jadalī, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad, who said: a raiding party was sent out and they took war spoils; then after them a people came, he said: and so it was revealed: لِلسَّائِلِ وَالْمَحْرُومِ ("for the beggar and the deprived").
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Qays ibn Muslim, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad: "that a people obtained war spoils in the time of the Prophet ﷺ, and after that a people came, and so it was revealed: فِي أَمْوَالِهِمْ حَقٌّ مَعْلُومٌ * لِلسَّائِلِ وَالْمَحْرُومِ ('in their wealth is a known right, for the beggar and the deprived')".
And others said: it is the one whose wealth does not increase.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of Ḥuṣayn, who said: I asked ʿIkrima about the beggar and the deprived, he said: the beggar is the one who begs from you, and the deprived is the one whose wealth does not increase.
And others said: it is the one whose wealth has been destroyed.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Wahb ibn Jarīr related to us, saying: Shuʿba informed us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Abū Qilāba, who said: a flood came in al-Yamāma which carried away a man's wealth, and a man of the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ said: this is the deprived.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His words: وَالْمَحْرُومِ ("and the deprived"), he said: the deprived is the one whose fruits and crops have been stricken, and he recited: أَفَرَأَيْتُمْ مَا تَحْرُثُونَ * أَأَنْتُمْ تَزْرَعُونَهُ ("Have you then considered what you sow? Is it you who make it grow?") ... until he reached مَحْرُومُونَ ("deprived"), and the owners of the garden said: إِنَّا لَضَالُّونَ * بَلْ نَحْنُ مَحْرُومُونَ ("Indeed, we have lost our way; nay, we are deprived").
And al-Shaʿbī said — according to what Yaʿqūb related to me concerning that, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿAwn, who said: al-Shaʿbī said: I have not been able to find out what the deprived is.
And Qatāda said — according to what Ibn Bashshār related to me concerning that, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His words: لِلسَّائِلِ وَالْمَحْرُومِ ("for the beggar and the deprived"), he said: the beggar is the one who begs with his hand, and the deprived is the one who abstains; and both have a right upon you, O son of Ādam.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His words: لِلسَّائِلِ وَالْمَحْرُومِ ("for the beggar and the deprived"): it is a beggar who begs from you with his hand, and a poor one who abstains and does not beg from the people; and both have a right upon you.
