Tafseer of The Ascending Stairways · Al-Ma'aarij · 70:37
[To sit] on [your] right and [your] left in separate groups?
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.
His statement: ( on the right and on the left in groups ) He says: on your right, O Muḥammad, and on your left, dispersed in circles and gatherings, group after group, turning away from you and from the Book of Allah.
And in the sense of what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) 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: ( What is the matter with those who disbelieve that they come hastening toward you ) he said: looking toward you, ( on the right and on the left in groups ) he said: al-ʿizīn are the small bands of people, on the right and the left, who turn away from him and mock him.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement: ( on the right and on the left in groups ) he said: gatherings, divided into groups.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: ( What is the matter with those who disbelieve that they come hastening toward you ) he says: coming deliberately, ( on the right and on the left in groups ): that is, dispersed in small bands around the Prophet of Allah ﷺ, with no desire for the Book of Allah nor for His Prophet.
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: ( ʿizīn ) he said: al-ʿizīn are the circles, the gatherings.
It was related to us 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: ( ʿizīn ) he said: circles and companions.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: ( on the right and on the left in groups ) he said: the gathering in which three or four sit, and the gatherings of three and four — those are al-ʿizūn.
Ismāʿīl ibn Mūsā al-Fazārī related to us, saying: Abū al-Aḥwaṣ informed us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Abī Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, who attributed it to the Prophet, and said: "What is it with me that I see you in groups (ʿizīn)" — and al-ʿizīn are the scattered circles.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muʾammal related to us, saying: Shaqīq related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr, on the authority of Abī Salama, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, that the Prophet ﷺ went out to his companions while they were sitting in circle after circle, and he said: "What is it with me that I see you in groups (ʿizīn)."
Abū Ḥuṣayn related to me, saying: ʿAbthar related to us, saying: al-Aʿmash related to us, on the authority of al-Musayyab ibn Rāfiʿ, on the authority of Tamīm ibn Ṭarafa al-Ṭāʾī, on the authority of Jābir ibn Samura, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ came in upon us while we were sitting dispersed, and he said: "What is it with you that you are in groups (ʿizīn)."
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr al-Ghazzī related to me, saying: al-Firyābī related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of al-Musayyab ibn Rāfiʿ, on the authority of Tamīm ibn Ṭarafa, on the authority of Jābir ibn Samura, who said: the Prophet ﷺ came upon some people of his companions while they were sitting, and he said: "What is it with me that I see you in groups (ʿizīn), in circles."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of al-Musayyab ibn Rāfiʿ, on the authority of Tamīm ibn Ṭarafa, on the authority of Jābir ibn Samura, who said: the Prophet ﷺ came upon some people of his companions while they were sitting, and he said: "What is it with me that I see you in groups (ʿizīn), in circles."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to me, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of al-Musayyab ibn Rāfiʿ, on the authority of Tamīm ibn Ṭarafa al-Ṭāʾī, saying: Jābir ibn Samura related to us that the Prophet ﷺ went out to them while they were sitting in circles, and he said: "What is it with me that I see you in groups (ʿizīn)" — he means: in circles, namely His statement: ( on the right and on the left in groups ).
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀmir related to us, saying: Qurra related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His statement: ( on the right and on the left in groups ) he said: ʿizīn: dispersed, going to the right and to the left, saying: what did this man say.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Qurra related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, something similar. The singular of al-ʿizīn is ʿiza, just as the singular of al-thubīn is thuba, and the singular of al-kurīn is kura. And among the [usages of] al-ʿizīn is the saying of the camel-herd:
O Caliph of the Most Merciful, indeed my tribe — their free-grazing herd is at evening scattered in groups (ʿizīn), fallen apart in pieces.
