Tafseer of The Cloaked One · Al-Muddaththir · 74:4
And your clothing purify
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 word: وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ ("and purify your garments"). The exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) differ over the interpretation of this. Some of them said: its meaning is: do not wear your garments in disobedience (maʿṣiya), nor in treachery.
* Mention of who said that:
Mohammed 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: وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ ("and purify your garments"), he said: have you not heard the word of Ghaylān ibn Salama:
"And I, praise be to Allah, have not worn the garment of a sinner, nor do I cloak myself in treachery."
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Muṣʿab ibn Sallām related to us, on the authority of al-Ajlaḥ, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: a man came to him while I was seated, and he said: what is your opinion about the word of Allah: وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ ("and purify your garments")? He said: do not wear them in disobedience nor in treachery. Then he said: have you not heard the word of Ghaylān ibn Salama al-Thaqafī:
"And I, praise be to Allah, have not worn the garment of a sinner, nor do I cloak myself in treachery."
Saʿīd ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth related to us, on the authority of al-Ajlaḥ, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His word: وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ ("and purify your garments"), he said: do not wear them in treachery, nor in depravity; then he cited this poem of Ghaylān ibn Salama.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Ajlaḥ ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Kindī, on the authority of ʿIkrima: وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ ("and purify your garments"), he said: do not wear your garments in disobedience. Have you not heard the word of Ghaylān ibn Salama al-Thaqafī:
"And I, praise be to Allah, have not worn the garment of a sinner, nor do I cloak myself in treachery."
Zakariyyā ibn Yaḥyā ibn Abī Zāʾida related to me, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, Ibn Jurayj said: ʿAṭāʾ informed me, that he heard Ibn ʿAbbās saying: وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ ("and purify your garments"), he said: from sin; then he said: "pure of garments" is, in the language of the Arabs, (an expression).
Saʿīd ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth al-Qāḍī related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ ("and purify your garments"), he said: in the language of the Arabs: "pure of garments".
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ ("and purify your garments"), he said: from sins.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ ("and purify your garments"), he said: from sins.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ ("and purify your garments"), he said: it is an expression from Arabic which the Arabs used to say: "purify your garments", that is to say: from sins.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ ("and purify your garments"), he says: purify them from acts of disobedience. The Arabs called a man, when he broke a covenant and was not faithful, "soiled of garments", and when he was faithful and acted righteously, they said: "pure of garments".
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ ("and purify your garments"), he said: from sin.
He said: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ ("and purify your garments"), he said: from sin.
I was related to, on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh saying: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk saying concerning His word: وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ ("and purify your garments"), he says: do not wear your garments in disobedience.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ ("and purify your garments"), he said: from sin.
He said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: from sin.
He said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Ajlaḥ, who heard ʿIkrima saying: do not wear your garments in disobedience.
He said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of ʿĀmir and ʿAṭāʾ, who both said: from transgressions.
Others said: no, its meaning is: do not wear your garments from an impure acquisition.
* Mention of who said that:
Mohammed 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: وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ ("and purify your garments"), he said: let not your garments that you wear be from an impure acquisition; and it is said: do not wear your garments in disobedience.
Others said: no, its meaning is: make your work righteous.
* Mention of who said that:
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, concerning His word: وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ ("and purify your garments"), he said: your work, so make it righteous.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Abū Razīn, concerning His word: وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ ("and purify your garments"), he said: your work, so make it righteous. When a man was evil of work, they said: "so-and-so is soiled of garments", and when he was good of work, they said: "so-and-so is pure of garments".
Others said concerning this what Mohammed ibn ʿAmr related to us, 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 word: وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ ("and purify your garments"), he said: you are not a soothsayer and not a sorcerer, so turn away from what they said.
Others said: no, its meaning is: wash them with water and purify them from impurity (najāsa).
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAbbās ibn Abī Ṭālib related to me, saying: ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of Aḥmad ibn Mūsā ibn Abī Maryam, the pearl-merchant, he said: Ibn ʿAwn informed us, on the authority of Mohammed ibn Sīrīn: وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ ("and purify your garments"), he said: wash them with water.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: وَثِيَابَكَ فَطَهِّرْ ("and purify your garments"), he said: the polytheists (mushrikīn) did not purify themselves, so He commanded him to purify himself and to purify his garments.
This judgment which Ibn Sīrīn and Ibn Zayd have given concerning this is the clearest of its meanings; and the judgment which Ibn ʿAbbās, ʿIkrima, and Ibn Zakariyyā have given — upon which the majority of the early predecessors (salaf) are agreed — is that what is intended by it is: so purify your body from sins. And Allah knows best what He intended by it.
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Footnotes:
(2) The verse is by Ghaylān ibn Salama al-Thaqafī, as the author said: he recited it in connection with His word, the Exalted: وثيابك فطهر ("and purify your garments"). Al-Farrāʾ said in Maʿānī al-Qurʾān (folio 246): and His word: وثيابك فطهر , he says: be not treacherous, so that your garments become soiled, for the treacherous one is soiled of garments. And it is said: وثيابك فطهر , and "make your work righteous". And some said: وثيابك فطهر means: shorten them, for the shortening of garments is purity. End. And in (al-Lisān: th-w-b): and His word, mighty and exalted: وثيابك فطهر , Ibn ʿAbbās said: he says: do not wear your garments in disobedience, nor in the depravity of unbelief, and he adduced as proof the word of the poet: "I, praise be to Allah, have not worn a garment..." the verse. And Abū al-ʿAbbās (Thaʿlab) said: the garments (al-thiyāb): the clothing. And it is also used for the heart. End. He said: and it is said: so purify your soul, for the Arabs designate the soul by "garments". And "so-and-so is soiled of garments" when he is evil of deed and conduct, wicked of honor. Imruʾ al-Qays said:
"The garments of the sons of ʿAwf are pure and clean, and their faces are white, radiant from the journeys."
