Tafseer of The Cloaked One · Al-Muddaththir · 74:17
I will cover him with arduous torment.
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.
And His statement: سَأُرْهِقُهُ صَعُودًا ("I shall impose upon him a steep ascent"). He — exalted is His mention — says: I shall impose upon him an unbearable burden of punishment from which he has no relief.
And it has been said: indeed, al-ṣaʿūd is a mountain in the Fire which the inhabitants of the Fire are made to climb.
* Mention of the narration about that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿUmāra al-Asadī related to me, he said: Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd ibn Zāʾida related to us, he said: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of ʿUmāra, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya, on the authority of Abū Saʿīd, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ: سَأُرْهِقُهُ صَعُودًا ("I shall impose upon him a steep ascent"), he said: it is a mountain in the Fire, made of fire, which they are made to climb; and when he places his hand upon it, it melts away, and when he lifts it, it returns, and when he sets his foot upon it, the same happens.
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥārith related to me, on the authority of Darrāj, on the authority of Abū al-Haytham, on the authority of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, on the authority of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he said: "Al-Ṣaʿūd is a mountain of fire; one climbs it for seventy autumns, and then one is hurled down from it in the same manner forever."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: سَأُرْهِقُهُ صَعُودًا ("I shall impose upon him a steep ascent"), he said: an unbearable burden of punishment.
Al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, something similar.
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: سَأُرْهِقُهُ صَعُودًا ("I shall impose upon him a steep ascent"): that is to say, a punishment from which there is no relief.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Sulaymān related to us, he said: Abū Hilāl related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: سَأُرْهِقُهُ صَعُودًا ("I shall impose upon him a steep ascent"), he said: an unbearable burden of punishment.
Yūnus related to us, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: سَأُرْهِقُهُ صَعُودًا ("I shall impose upon him a steep ascent"), he said: exhaustion from the punishment.
He — exalted is His mention — says: indeed, this one whom I created alone reflected upon what had been sent down to My servant Muḥammad ﷺ of the Qurʾān, and deliberated over what he would say about it, فَقُتِلَ كَيْفَ قَدَّرَ ("so, may he be cursed, how he deliberated"). He says: then he was cursed — how did he deliberate over what was sent down concerning him, ثُمَّ نَظَرَ ("then he looked"). He says: then he considered that, ثُمَّ عَبَسَ ("then he frowned"). He says: then he drew together what is between his eyes, وَبَسَرَ ("and he scowled"). He says: his face darkened; and of this is the statement of Tawba ibn al-Ḥumayyir:
And there had distressed me from her a rejection that I saw, and her turning away from my need and her scowling look. (1)
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of tafsīr (interpretation) have spoken, and the reports about al-Waḥīd ("the solitary one") have come down that he did that.
Mention of the narration about that:
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of ʿAbbād ibn Manṣūr, on the authority of ʿIkrima, that al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra came to the Prophet ﷺ, and he recited the Qurʾān to him, and it was as though it softened him. That reached Abū Jahl, and he said: O uncle, indeed your people wish to collect money for you. He said: why? He said: they will give it to you, for you went to Muḥammad to obtain what he has. He said: Quraysh already knows that I am the wealthiest of them in possessions. He said: then say something about him by which your people will know that you reject what he said and that you abhor it. He said: what shall I say about him? By Allah, there is not among you a man more knowledgeable of poetry than I, nor better acquainted with its rajaz verses than I, nor with its qaṣīdas, nor with the poetry of the jinn. By Allah, what he says resembles none of this. And by Allah, indeed his speech has a sweetness, and indeed it crushes what lies beneath it, and indeed it ascends and is not surpassed. He said: by Allah, your people will not be satisfied until you say something about him. He said: then leave me, until I reflect upon it. And when he had reflected upon it, he said: this is sorcery which he relates from another. Then there was revealed: ذَرْنِي وَمَنْ خَلَقْتُ وَحِيدًا ("Leave Me with him whom I created alone"). Qatāda said: he came out alone from his mother's belly, and this verse was revealed up to nineteen.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: إِنَّهُ فَكَّرَ وَقَدَّرَ ... ("Indeed, he reflected and deliberated...") up to ثُمَّ عَبَسَ وَبَسَرَ ("then he frowned and scowled"), he said: al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīra went in to Abū Bakr ibn Abī Quḥāfa — may Allah be pleased with him — to question him about the Qurʾān. And when he had informed him, he went out to Quraysh and said: O wonder at what Ibn Abī Kabsha says! By Allah, it is not poetry, nor sorcery, nor the raving of madness, and indeed his speech is of the words of Allah. When that group of Quraysh heard that, they took counsel and said: by Allah, if al-Walīd apostatizes, all of Quraysh will apostatize. When Abū Jahl heard that, he said: I, by Allah, will relieve you of the matter with him. And he set out until he entered his house, and he said to al-Walīd: do you not see that your people have collected the alms for you? He said: am I not the wealthiest of them in possessions and children? Abū Jahl said to him: they relate that you go in to Ibn Abī Quḥāfa only to obtain some of his food. Al-Walīd said: has my tribe already said that? Then he shall not fall short of the rest of the Banū Quṣayy; I will no longer turn to Abū Bakr, nor to ʿUmar, nor to Ibn Abī Kabsha, and his speech is nothing but sorcery that is transmitted. Then Allah revealed to His prophet ﷺ: ذَرْنِي وَمَنْ خَلَقْتُ وَحِيدًا ... ("Leave Me with him whom I created alone...") up to لا تُبْقِي وَلا تَذَرُ ("it spares not, nor leaves anything").