Tafseer of The Cloaked One · Al-Muddaththir · 74:50
As if they were alarmed donkeys
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.
He, exalted is His mention, says: what is the matter with these polytheists (mushrikīn) toward Allah, that they turn away from the admonition, recoiling from it just as startled game recoils — farrat min qaswara ("fleeing from a lion").
The Qurʾān reciters differed over the reading of His word: mustanfira ("startled"). Most of the reciters of Kūfa and Baṣra read it with a kasra on the fāʾ (mustanfira), while according to the reading of some Meccans it is also read with the meaning "fleeing" (nāfira), [namely with a fatḥa on the fāʾ: mustanfara] (1).
And the correct judgment concerning this is, in our view, that they are two well-known readings, both correct in meaning; with whichever of the two the reciter reads, he is correct. Al-Farrāʾ used to say: the fatḥa and the kasra are both frequent in this in the language of the Arabs. And he cited [as proof]:
"Hold fast your donkey, for indeed it is startled (mustanfir), on the track of donkeys that have gone to Ghurrāb" (2).
